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Any love for econoboxes?

BigElCat said:
I have a non-running Mk 1 water-cooled VW Rabbit, too. May restore it someday.
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What year is it? I had a '76 (swallowtail). Converted it to 5-spd and drove it until one of the inside brake lines burst from rot. At that point I was done with it.

Fun car though. Even with ~75HP it was spry as they don't weigh much.
 
A non-audio topic that is dear to my heart. My first new car out of college was a 74 Dodge(Mitsubishi) Colt GT. The Gt part was mainly the gaudy stripes on the sides, but it did have wider tires and a stick shift (4-speed?). I moved upscale from there to a Saab. But I hated being on a first name basis with a mechanic. So I got rid of it and bought a 81 Toyota Celica. I was amazed with how little maintenance it needed. Next an 86 Chevy(Toyota) Nova Hatchback. 2001 Toyota Celica, 08 Pontiac Vibe and now a 15 Fiesta ST. Back in the days when I did occasional business trips I would always try to down grade my rental car. My favorite was an 80's Corolla hatchback with the 16 valve engine.
 
soundmotor said:
What year is it? I had a '76 (swallowtail). Converted it to 5-spd and drove it until one of the inside brake lines burst from rot. At that point I was done with it.

Fun car though. Even with ~75HP it was spry as they don't weigh much.
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Mine's a '78 two door, gasoline, not diesel. The mechanical fuel injection had been replaced with a Weber carb. 4-speed, wish it was five.

I had an inside brake line burst as I exited a highway at 90mph. It was on a down hill off-ramp. I sailed through the stop sign at the bottom, and went back up on the highway via the on-ramp that was straight ahead at the intersection. I replaced the brake line, and then the motor spun a round bearing.

The car is still in pretty good shape. It's been in a barn since 1991.
 
BobHol said:
A non-audio topic that is dear to my heart. My first new car out of college was a 74 Dodge(Mitsubishi) Colt GT. The Gt part was mainly the gaudy stripes on the sides, but it did have wider tires and a stick shift (4-speed?). I moved upscale from there to a Saab. But I hated being on a first name basis with a mechanic. So I got rid of it and bought a 81 Toyota Celica. I was amazed with how little maintenance it needed. Next an 86 Chevy(Toyota) Nova Hatchback. 2001 Toyota Celica, 08 Pontiac Vibe and now a 15 Fiesta ST. Back in the days when I did occasional business trips I would always try to down grade my rental car. My favorite was an 80's Corolla hatchback with the 16 valve engine.
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Those Colts were unique. They had dual range manual transmission. IIRC, it was a 3 speed manual transmission, with a second lever for high and low range (economy or power).
 
My favorite econoboxes is the A1 Rabbit GTI and the MK1 Ford Fiesta (and they looked like brothers). I *loved* my Fiesta - quick, great milage and could park it anywhere.
 
Fella i knew at work had the early 70,s colt or cricket i cant remember which .To this day thats all he,s ever driven or owned!Now thats love for a car!Bought it band new and he,s never changed other than buying a couple for spare parts.
 
BigElCat said:
Mine's a '78 two door, gasoline, not diesel. The mechanical fuel injection had been replaced with a Weber carb. 4-speed, wish it was five.

I had an inside brake line burst as I exited a highway at 90mph. It was on a down hill off-ramp. I sailed through the stop sign at the bottom, and went back up on the highway via the on-ramp that was straight ahead at the intersection. I replaced the brake line, and then the motor spun a round bearing.

The car is still in pretty good shape. It's been in a barn since 1991.
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'78, is that a Westmoreland PA built one? You dodged a bullet on your brakes. Mine popped at the end of my street @ 15 mph so little drama. It still had the K-Jetronic on it and that worked great, about the only thing. Not so much for the rest. 5-spd swap not bad, did it in driveway with Bentley & Muir books for guidance. Took a weekend to do it w/ trans from an '81 Scirocco. Once I had it rolling the chase was on to fix all the other loose ends. Every day an issue but I finally hit stasis for a few weeks when the line popped. Getting close to winter and I bailed on it. Now wish I hadn't as it was a 2-door in white. I got it the week after we bought our first house. It was door deep in the weeds at a sketchy local gas station where it sat for at least 5 years. The only good news was they put a tarp down before they parked it so it wasn't on dirt and a tarp over the top kept most of the water out of it. It took me about a year of noodling on it before it rolled under its own power.
 
soundmotor said:
'78, is that a Westmoreland PA built one?
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The guy I bought it from said it was one of the last ones made in Germany. I don't know how to check.

It had been repainted midnight blue, and has a super high quality luggage rack on the roof. The rack gave it sort of a rally look. I love the fact that it has window wing vents.
 
mkane said:
Honda Fit hard to beat. Hauled my Cornwalls home with one. 200,000+ miles before we gave it away and bought another.
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Utterly brilliant small car - wife has a 2010 model with 1300 i-vtec which goes way better than any car that size should ! Chain driven, great on gas, fun to drive. Did I mention, it was cheap too ?? :-)
 
soundmotor said:
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/


stinkin-badge.jpg
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Those were made here in California in what is now the Tesla factory.
 
Best car I ever owned was a 1980 Honda Accord hatchback LX 5 speed manual. Only new car I ever bought. Wish I had a half dozen stored and pull one out when I need one.

Simple, elegant, nice driving, and very easy to work on.
 
Use to watch nascar till they came out with the chase which i think is totally stupid.Hope they start showing more rallyecross on the tube.
 
I loved my 2008 VW Rabbit - for the price point in 2008 - $16k - it had more power and performance than anything in its price range - 5 cylinder,
170 hp engine with 5 speed manual gave it some get up and go! It also cruised like a German car at expressway speeds - had a nice audio system, automatic climate control system (Climatic) and was overall a very reliable car. I only did oil and filter changes to her and tires - in 94,000 miles of driving - before I traded in, in January 2012 - for a new AWD SUV so I could tow my boat.

I was sorry to see this car go. Super dependable, and with studded 4 wheel snow tires in the winter, would drive thru just about anything.

PS - VW doesn't even SELL a 2 door or coupe any more - everything is a 'sedan' - I'd never buy one now. :(

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