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Detroit, 8:10 PM
Sun Nov 29
14 posts in the last 24 hours
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06/04/09
06/04/09
My girlfriend's dad was just recounting to me this past weekend the period in the early 80s in which he owned 7 Aspens and Volares, and had a total of about $1000 into the lot of them, and three running cars at any given time.
Ugly, shitty, forgettable cars. There's a reason that these don't show up at Barrett-Jackson commanding 6 figures (at least I hope they won't in the future).
06/04/09
T-top's like a Corvette? No, dude. T-top's like a Chrysler Cordoba. T-top's like a Mustang II (Boredom - zero).
My parents had a '78 Aspen wagon back then. 318, auto, woodgrain, roof rack, no 8-track, though. Quite the Brady-mobile. The car would stall constantly, even in the middle of a turn. At 16, I got to be quite skilled at restarting the car quickly while still maintaining control.
This '77 is sweet. PM yellow, t-tops (hell, yeah!), white disco interior, padded vinyl roof, 8-track.... its got it all!
If I had this car, I'd get dressed in my best Urban Cowboy clothes, drop in my Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, pick up my lady and head on over to Tony Roma's, then maybe catch a late showing of Annie Hall. Nice...
06/04/09
So no. Tis crack, my fellow Jalopniks, crack.
06/04/09
06/04/09
It has T-Tops! That's worth $5,000 alone, according to the engineerd Fair Market Value (eFMV patent pending) calculator. Add on to it the fact that it's the same color as the Oldsmobile our very own Crazy Euro Car Guy wrote about and you get to a Nice Price. Nice Price, indeed.
Now, where did I hide that back-up bottle of brefass scotch?
06/04/09
06/04/09
06/04/09
T-Tops? Check
PM Yellow paint? Check
Sweet padded white vinyl top? Check
8-Track? Check
Made the year I was born? Check
Could cause you to spontaineously grow a mullet while listening to Foghat on the 8-track player? Check
You are correct. Nice price indeed.
06/04/09
06/04/09
Consider the many ways this car stinks: It has a nice, big motor - enough twist to do yeoman duty in a fullsize truck - but less power than in a ten-year old Subaru. It's named after a plant, which suggests immobility. It's thirty years old, which no matter how nice the car was to start, is getting long in the tooth. It looks fabulously good for its age, which strongly suggests the owner didn't really like it that much, not enough to actually get in and, you know, drive it.
And it has T-tops. KITT had T-tops, and I don't want to emulate that in any way, shape or form.
And the price is insane. I can get a five-year old Civic for that, why would I bother with the Volare clone?
06/04/09
06/04/09
06/04/09
06/04/09
06/04/09
Go dig out that 8 track tape box, glue on your 'stache, find your stash, get your boots+jeans+Who t-shirt and rock on!
06/04/09
06/04/09
10/29/08
10/29/08
10/29/08
10/29/08
10/29/08
and 5 years from now, if i want a vehicle that can do "heavy duty" work - like pull a big boat, or attach to a snow plow, etc, but actually has a closed passenger and cargo compartment, what do i buy? will i even have the choice of something like the chevy avalanche?
10/29/08
Hmmm
This should be a no brainer..
The Lambda Lambda Lambda vehicles are just as big and portly / fullsize as the Tahoe / Burban brethen. In fact they are a coupla inches longer. But the styling, and trimmed lines make ya think.. smaller.
But as for as "heavy duty" work.. ya can buy a variety of Trucks like the SilveRam From Chevy. And the F-150, 250 etc etc. Ya can also get the 4dr versions with the cap.
The Avalanche had a modified platform to be a unit body (I think).
But the concept of driving a Tahoe or Burban when the majority of your uses dont occur enough to be doing it daily, there are just other vehicles, variations to drive.
But correction is needed because you, like the majority of the US has bought a vehicle far larger than they need. And for that the used market will be around for a while, until they are all crushed.. YAY!
10/29/08
10/29/08
Hmmm
I am sensibility.
If I actually could decide what everyone needed.. ya wouldnt have 1 person in a Caddy Burban or any of the fullsize SUVS.
If I decided.. ya wouldnt have the 4 copies of the Lambda Lambda Lambda vehicles running around masquerading as something smaller.. (which they arent.)
If I decided..
Ya wouldnt have people buying more than they could afford, putting it on leases with their home loans and getting caught anal reamed cause they cant afford the gas, cant trade it, and now.. they realize.. they are trapped and dont need it.
I wish I decided.
-------------------
Apparently the average motorist cant..
And when gas prices go up or sensiblity kicks in, they themselves figure out that they dont need that heap of crap weighing 4500-6500lbs to do the majority of what they think they need it for.
A Standard F250 4dr with a cap can do just fine. Heck a F-150 with the 11,000 tow rating and the 4drs would be even better, than an Exploder or Expedition.
10/29/08
I'm serious.
10/29/08
It's a shame that it's going to die so soon. If I were in the market for a big SUV, it would be at the top of my list.
10/29/08
Hmmm
I actually feel bad for you.
You have a 99 Galant... and you put a Aspen HYBRID at the top of your list.
I cant for the life of me imagine why anyone besides the majority of empty headed, basket cases on the highway would want one.
I mean doesnt the idea of the vehicle's sheer weight, vs the option of "hemi"- in name only, paired with a battery to move this thing.. even slightly bother you?
Then again, I apologize cause you drive a Galant.
I feel bad for the workers that make them.
I feel bad for the businesses that are close by that make money from the workers.
Heck, I feel bad for anyone related to the Chrysler workers who is goign to have a drop off in sales.. cause someone in that OPERATIONALLY BANKRUPT shitbox of a company had the lame brained idea to put that overloaded, top heavy, obese, Piece Of Domestic Dog Shit, into a market that WAS THEN.. cratering.
Poor bastards.
10/29/08
10/29/08
10/29/08
Such an innovative styling element that went completely unnoticed. Tragic, really.