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Any love for econoboxes?

elcoholic said:
Bought a new first year '74 Civic. 60hp 1650 lbs and an 86" wheelbase. It really was a go cart. The real mini was 80" and the new mini is 98" for comparison. I once entered it a slalom race with my friend who ran his MGB. My civic was bone stock. I lowered the tire pressure and inverted the air cleaner lid. It was a tight course. The Civic was bested only by a couple of minis and a Lotus Europa. Sadly it was totaled in 77.
And replaced by new Accord.
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Had the 600 Coupe in high school, I guess the forerunner of the Civic? Like a Japanese Mini. '71 or '72. Crappy orange color. My so called friends thought it was funny to pick it up and put it in various places that you couldn't just drive out of, ie: between 2 trees lengthwise, stage in auditorium, cafeteria, propped up on building etc. .Also had an Izeta that I paid $300 for, ran great until a friend drove it into a pond during a "trail race".
 
Reminds me that I used to have one of the worst of the worst small cars--a Renault Alliance. I had only a few problems during the two years/19,000 miles I owned it (the steering gearbox breaking was a real treat--luckily I was pulling into the driveway when that happened). But the fella who bought it I heard had quite a few issues with it. I only bought it due to my dad having a supplier discount via AMC, and having a job fresh out of high school. :D (Little did I know that the lemon I would replace it with would be one of the worst cars I'd ever own... ;) )
 
89 Festiva (Mazda 121 Ford helped design)) with 4 sp. bought new (only new car) that I kept for 10 yrs. and 200K KM (120K mi.) It handled (the faster you drove it the better it felt) like a VW Rabbit (78 Diesel) my mother had so I gave it a try. Reliable and so stable on good pavement (watch out on black ice, slush or standing H2O, & so learned to slow right down then)) you could pass people with the speedo buried (it would do 95 MPH) and look at them as you flew buy. It had only about 60 HP so you had to take a run at it, but fine for that go cart! They made a Dohc engine version with 13" tires overseas that would have been nice I bet.

Got rid of it has people in South Sask. didn't see it even with the lights on and not speeding. When I sold it a leak down test showed engine was still like new thanks to Mobil 1 and careful warmups.
 
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In New England it's rare to see econos on the road. Seems like they have a ~25 year limit before they rot out and get scrapped. Especially the Japanese ones. Heck, the 70s Hondas & Datsuns were rotting out at the end of the 80s. Toyotas held on a little longer but not much. Road salt during the winter is the destroyer of recycled steel.

Always had a soft spot for the mid-80s Chevy Nova (Corolla). Would love to find one of the unicorn ones with the 4A-GE motor -

http://www.curbsideclassic.com/curb...-chevy-twin-cam-nova-a-toyota-from-chevrolet/


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Or an FX16, same motor -

ad_toyota_corolla_fx16_white_1987.jpeg


Here's another I'd love to find, the early 80s Dodge Colt (Mitsubishi) Twin-Stick 2x4 transmission -

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Jimerson said:
Had the 600 Coupe in high school, I guess the forerunner of the Civic? Like a Japanese Mini. '71 or '72. Crappy orange color. My so called friends thought it was funny to pick it up and put it in various places that you couldn't just drive out of, ie: between 2 trees lengthwise, stage in auditorium, cafeteria, propped up on building etc. .Also had an Izeta that I paid $300 for, ran great until a friend drove it into a pond during a "trail race".
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In mid 70s HS, our art teacher had an orange 600. She was pretty hot and that car was carried all over campus, turned around in parking places, or placed between trees. It was so frequent she finally swapped cars with her husband; that one was too big to lift.
 
Honda Fit hard to beat. Hauled my Cornwalls home with one. 200,000+ miles before we gave it away and bought another.
 
Here in NZ we have a LOT of 'econoboxes' on the road. We are a direct export market for used Jap vehicles and there are great cars, most all JDM, that you don't often find in other countries. We don't salt our roads in winter either, which helps longevity of Japanese steel :-)

I ran a 93 Toyota Cynos for 3 years after I bought it in 2013. It had near 300k kms on it and was pretty beat but man was it great fun. JDM spec high output 1500cc 5eFHE with red line at 8k rpm, it sounds like a sport bike when it was booted. Huge fun and it's still going, we gave it away to our son's mate and he loves it too. It refuses to die....
 
Markoneswift said:
Here in NZ we have a LOT of 'econoboxes' on the road. We are a direct export market for used Jap vehicles and there are great cars, most all JDM, that you don't often find in other countries. We don't salt our roads in winter either, which helps longevity of Japanese steel :)

I ran a 93 Toyota Cynos for 3 years after I bought it in 2013. It had near 300k kms on it and was pretty beat but man was it great fun. JDM spec high output 1500cc 5eFHE with red line at 8k rpm, it sounds like a sport bike when it was booted. Huge fun and it's still going, we gave it away to our son's mate and he loves it too. It refuses to die....
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Your screen name refers to the Suzuki Swift, doesn't it ? I have two Swift GTi motors and parts. Hopefully, I'll get one built for Samurai.

One of my back up vehicles is a mildly modified Ford Festiva. It's a Mazda design, the 121. Built by KIA. Kia's first car actually.
 
RamblinE said:
How is the Ecoboost? When I was in the market they had just dropped. I couldn't even find one within 250 miles to test drive.
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Very good car. Quiet and decent ride, excellent handling. The motor is great, very strong at low RPMs and will pull strongly and smoothly in 5th gear from 45mph without lugging. The car is pretty quick too. Lots of fun. I'm averaging a little better than 41mpg since buying the car (11,000 miles now) and I drive it hard--it thrives being driven hard. 80 mph freeway cruising is no sweat for the motor. I think it would cruise well at 90 and easily go well and over 100.

However it's not a comfortable all day interstate cruiser, not for my wife and I anyway. We did a day trip from St. Augustine down to Pompano Beach and back and we were sore at the end, the trip would've been a piece of cake in the Edge Limited we traded in on the Fiesta. Younger bodies and bones might do better than ours. But it's comfortable driving locally and short trips, the way we use it as a "toad".

I bought mine, a 2016, about a year ago and the dealer, in Palm Coast Florida, had three on the lot.
 
Only had 2 econo boxes.Vauxhaul Viva and a Hyundia Pony.The pony was a brand new 87 that got 49 to 55 mpg!Back then hyundia was new in the Canadian market and were pretty crappy.Lots of guys also bought the Lada
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BigElCat said:
Your screen name refers to the Suzuki Swift, doesn't it ? I have two Swift GTi motors and parts. Hopefully, I'll get one built for Samurai.

One of my back up vehicles is a mildly modified Ford Festiva. It's a Mazda design, the 121. Built by KIA. Kia's first car actually.
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Yes it is in reference to a Mk1 Swift GTi and you are the only person to ever make that connection so you win a prize :-)

I bought one years ago in the UK, it had been sat in a friends garden gathering moss so needed a new exhaust, new tyres, new brakes. It was a total blast to drive though :-)
 
I drive a 2010 Ford Focus with a manual transmission. If I baby it on my journey to work, I can easily get over 40mpg. It has a lot more features than the econoboxes of old, but I'd gladly trade stuff like power windows and central locking for a heated front windshield.

Lee.
 
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