#31
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Another thing I can't figure out is these 'Smart Cars"... Mom and Dad went and looked at one... they were wanting something to take on vacation road trips... they once put 5,500 miles on the Festiva on vacation, travelling all over the US over a period of a couple/three weeks. They liked the Festiva because it was pretty roomy, which is saying something when you're 400+ lbs like my Dad has gotten, and 350+ lbs like my Mom, and hauling a bunch of stuff in the back... They drove their Dodge minivan on their last vacation but it only gets about 26 mpg or so on the freeway, versus right around 50 for the Festiva... and with gas prices through the roof, they wanted the better mileage... but the Festiva is kinda worn and they don't trust it on that long of a road trip in their condition, and my mom wants A/C, so...
If you've ever seen 900 pounds of fat people get into a two seat smart car, it's something to see... thing is, a smart car only gets about 42 mpg or so TOPS, and has NO back seat, NO trunk, NO cargo capacity whatsoever; yes it has A/C but that's it... and the mileage is STILL rather sucky compared to the Festiva which had a 1.5 liter (1500cc) four cylinder gas engine and 5 speed manual, and was really quite peppy despite being a small car... we used to p!$$ people off because when we'd get into the hill country with passing lanes, we'd be passing people in big cars, pickups, and Suburbans with V-8's like they were standing still going uphill... they'd get PO'd that this little Festiva passed them and they'd pass you going about 80 going downhill just to 'show you up'... The smart car AIN'T CHEAP either, and I told them they'd have to drive on vacation for the next 40 years in order to save enough gas money to make back what the stupid dinky car cost, and they STILL would have to find a way to carry their suitcases and junk on vacation... no sale... LateR! OL JR
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#32
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Yet only 10 years or so down the road, the successful Taurus wagon looked very much like a stretched Pacer. Doug .
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#33
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I think Ford was still doing that on the Mustangs, at least until recently. But I'm not sure if the most recent, fastback, 70-ish retro Mustangs include the 4-bolt wheels on the 6-banger versions or not. Doug .
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#34
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A pair of brothers here used to be the Mecca of AMC Javelin and AMX cars from the late 70's through the early 90's. They restored them, raced them, bought them, sold them, scavenged for parts across the country, etc. Their daily drivers were Javelins too. They used to run a pretty big auto salvage here, so they had the infrastructure and contacts to find the hard-to-find stuff. The tricked out AMX that they raced was on several national magazine covers over the years. I remember one cover from a big event at Beach Bend where the AMX was launching and they caught it in a nice wheelie. I'd like to see that cover again someday. There are still a few Javelins and AMX's in the family, but they don't actively deal with them any more. I graduated with one of their cousins. He had a Javlin that he fixed up, wrecked, fixed up, wrecked, fixed up....etc. He would brake torque it in the school parking lot and smoke the tires just about every week. How he never got in trouble is beyond me. Heck, how he afforded the tires, bondo, and paint every few months is beyond me!
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#35
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Doug .
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#36
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My favorite Stangs were the 1969's with the extra lights in the grill. The surrounding years were cool too, but the 1969 Mach 1, with the hood and side scoops were my favorite. I loved the Cobra Jet and Boss too....heck, a plain Stang would do. I have a neighbor that dirt tracks Fords. He has a 1970 Mustang Cobra Jet that he restored. The interior and exterior is restored to factory look, but the classic engine and drive train are sitting in his shop. Instead, he's dropped in one of his racing engines mated to a modern overdrive transmission and a medium ratio rear end...low 3's, IIRC. He's getting well over 600 horsepower, but can cruise the interstate at a very respectable 27 mpg....according to him.
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#37
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Did you guys ever notice that the Cobra II they used in Charlie's Angels had a busted front spoiler/air dam about half the time in several episodes? I figure they had one car for all the parked or easy driving beauty shots and a few others that they beat the crap out for the action shots. They either didn't notice or didn't care about damage showing in the action scenes.
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#38
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Mustangs have last had 4-lug wheels in 1993.
I had a 1988 Mustang GT 5.0L that had about double the horsepower it had from the factory. The 4-lug Wheels WERE PLENTY. Number of lugs has NOTHING to do with load capacity if the fastener (stud) is appropriate. One theroretically could get away with three, but would be a pain to torque in a proper sequence. I would not be caught dead in any rinky-dink car as small as a Festiva or Escort unless it was a Porsche 911 Turbo. If I had to spend 200K mi. in one I would consider it to be FETID. 4-cylinder econo boxes almost invariably are low content vehicles that would drive me nuts to be in for more than ten minutes...others like them but they are NOT my cup of tea. The ONLY small cars that I consider to be DECENT are SPORTS cars with very high power-to-weight ratios. I have the following four minimums I expect out of a DAILY driver for my 120mi commute: 1) 140+mph top speed (not joking) 2) 1/4 mile time 14.00 sec or less. 3) V8 engine 4) Horsepower level vastly exceeding that of virtually all common police patrol vehicles There are ZERO four-cylinder vehicles that meet all the above criteria and very few can even meet two of the above. Very few six-cylinder cars can meet 3 of the above criteria. Most small cars react about like a BEER CAN when faced with some real iron in a wreck. The Smart Car never was and never was intended to be CHEAP. It is produced by a division of Mercedes-Benz; most Mercedes HOOD ORNAMENTS are worth more than a 4-cyl econobox. The Mustang II was a total pile of crap that was Pinto-based with sheet metal changes. The biggest engine one could get was a 130hp 302cid (5L) 2bbl carbed V8. Total Trash. The Cobra II added hideously gaudy graphics to a pile-of-crap car...it was lipstick on a PIG ! Best Mustang ever was the 1969 or 1970 Boss 429; second place was the 1971 Mach1 Sports-Roof 429 SCJ with Ram-Air. I would take a new 630+HP Corvette ZR1 or 525HP Corvette Z06 over ANY vintage musclecar. Faster and quicker along with about 25mpg.
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#39
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That one is starting to become a bit tougher these days. There are more and more Chargers being put into service now. Lower budgets have cars with V6's, but they still push around 300 hp. We have the small 5.7L hemi in ours, which I think is about 380 hp along with a bucket full of torque. I believe our state trooper cars have the small hemi. Personally, I'd love to have a new Challenger with the big 6.4L 470 hp hemi. I'd also love to have a new Mustang sitting next to it with their brand new aluminum block 412 hp real 5.0 liter!!! (the old windsor block 5.0L 302ci was really 4.9L, iirc) Next to those, I'd love to have a pair of 69's! The Challenger with the classic 426 hemi and the Mustang with the classic (and outlawed by NASCAR thanks to Chrysler) 427 SOHC hemi!
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#40
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Yep, but I think the engine is made by Mitsubishi. Oh...and I've read that the Yaris is cheaper, gets better milage, handles better, safer in crashes, and has a ton more room. Smart cars ain't so smart.
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