Cars From The Past That Didn’t Last Long

Discussion in 'Automotive' started by Yvonne Smith, Aug 7, 2018.

  1. Yvonne Smith

    Yvonne Smith Senior Staff
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    We all know of some of these cars, and some of them went on to become collector classics, like the Ford Edsel.
    There were also some great car makers that have completely disappeared, like Nash Rambler, which produced Nashes early on, and later made and sold Ramblers, which were a popular family vehicle back in the 1960’s.
    The first car we had when I grew up and got married was a little Rambler American. It got great gas mileage, and would probably have lasted forever if my ex-husband hadn’t been very drunk and smashed it to smithereens against a tree one night. (amazingly, he walked away from the wreck .......... came home mad, and tore the claw foot bathtub out of the wall)

    Anyway, back to the topic, I know we have several people here who like older cars, so I thought that some pictures and information of some of these cars would be fun to look at and discuss.

    One of my favorites, and the vehicle that I would personally LOVE to own, is the Subaru Baja. It is kind of an updated version of the Subaru BRAT, which I also liked. It was manufactured for a few years in the early 2000’s; and you still see one advertised now and then; but I have never seen anyone actually driving one. Subaru is one of my favorite car manufacturers, and the ones I have seen friends have, have been great dependable little cars.

     
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    Last edited: Aug 7, 2018
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  2. Joe Riley

    Joe Riley Supreme Member
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    DMC-12 88 MPH!:eek:

    [​IMG]

    "The car was named the DMC-12 because of its intended price of US$12,000. Upon release in 1981, a DMC-12 had a suggested retail price of US$25,000 ($650 more when equipped with an automatic transmission); this is equivalent to approximately US$67,295 in 2017.[31]. MSRP would increase in 1982 to $29,825[32] and again in 1983 to $34,000[33]. At the outset, there were extensive waiting lists of people willing to pay up to $10,000 above the list price; however, after the collapse of the DeLorean Motor Company, unsold cars could be purchased for less than the retail price".


    "In an interview with James Espey of the new incarnation of the DeLorean Motor Company of Texas, a drawing surfaced showing that the car originally had the potential to be named "Z Tavio". John DeLorean's middle name and his son's first name were both Zachary, while Tavio was his father's name and his son's middle name. Due to only sporadic documentation, there is little more that is currently known about the Z Tavio name and why it was ultimately rejected in favor of the DMC-12".
     
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  3. Patsy Faye

    Patsy Faye Supreme Member
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    Ugh ! Looks like an ANT ! :eek:
     
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  4. Beatrice Taylor

    Beatrice Taylor Veteran Member
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  5. Thomas Stearn

    Thomas Stearn Veteran Member
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    Uh, what car is that? The pic was taken in Germany, probably Wuppertal in North Rhine-Westphalia, but I don't know the car?
     
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    Last edited: Aug 8, 2018
  6. Yvonne Smith

    Yvonne Smith Senior Staff
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    What car IS that, @Beatrice Taylor ? It looks familiar, but I can’t read the name in the front . Is it a Hornet ? Please tell us more about this car.
     
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  7. Beatrice Taylor

    Beatrice Taylor Veteran Member
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    It's an AMC Pacer in production from 1975-1979.
     
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  8. Beatrice Taylor

    Beatrice Taylor Veteran Member
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    The car that I had high hopes for was the Ford Maverick 1969-1977.

    Ford advertised it originally as a basic car that the average person could maintain with basic tools and limited skills.

    I guess Ford eventually realized that there was no money to be made using that approach, LOL!

    [​IMG]
     
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  9. Yvonne Smith

    Yvonne Smith Senior Staff
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    Here is the AMC Gremlin, which was sold from 1970-1978, and was one of the sub-sompact cars for the 70’s.
    7102DC70-B6AF-406D-A3F7-0DB62C672FF2.jpeg
     
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  10. Yvonne Smith

    Yvonne Smith Senior Staff
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    This is another little car/pickup that I fell in love with when I first saw it, and really wanted one. It is a Dodge Rampage, and was kind of the sub-compact version of a Chevy El Camino, with the sporty look to it, and the functional pickup bed in the back.
    The Rampage was only made for a couple of years, 1982-1984, and apparently there was also a similar Plymouth version called the Scamp.
    This one in the picture was on EBay for over $12,000 !
    9B1F973D-8890-4F60-B44A-16E0EB5C16B0.jpeg
     
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  11. Hal Pollner

    Hal Pollner Veteran Member
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    @Yvonne is right about the Edsel; it was the butt of jokes around the auto industry for awhile.

    The 1948 Tucker was an innovative piece of automotive engineering, but it didn't last long either...except for the movie with Jeff Bridges.

    Then there was the 3-wheeled Davis, which dropped out of sight even before dealerships could be organized!

    Hal
     
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    Last edited: Aug 14, 2018
  12. Nancy Hart

    Nancy Hart Veteran Member
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    I remember the joke at the time about the Gremlin was that they forgot to put the back end on it. Times sure change.
     
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