We really, really wanted the 2000s iteration of the Marauder to be as badasstical as its NASCAR forebears (or at least the admittedly bloated yet still fantastic X-100 Marauder), but its Grand Marquisness was a bit too apparent.
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In the mid-90s, Chrysler had finally built an all-American compact car that struck fear into the Japanese auto industry. The Neon was pretty quick, looked good, and sipped gas. Then… disaster!More »
What kind of slacker gets the déclassé '85 Seville when he could have the Eldorado he's dreamed of since he was valeting for Judge Smales back in the day?
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Reagan is cutting your taxes, Rocketdyne stock is going way up thanks to the war on the Evil Empire, and your sexy blond wife just handed you your latest polo trophy. Ahhh, the Rewards Of Success!
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The Cyclone Assassination film just didn't provide enough Cyclonic goodness, so here's a grooo-ooovy FoMoCo promo film featuring the '68 Cyclone GT with the 390 engine.
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Was the new-for-1976 Chevettereally a "new kind of American car," as claimed in this ad? With rear-wheel drive, anemic pushrod engine, and abysmal build quality, it was more like a new kind of unconditional surrender to the Honda Civic.
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Even by the standards of Japanese-market car ads, this one for the '84 Mazda Familia (aka 323) seems exceptionally incomprehensible. There's what appears to be a fuzzy Dustbuster. There are oversized backpacks. And, of course, the Familia Gals!
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The Charade's ill-considered name didn't help its North American sales any, but perhaps Daihatsu would have moved more of them off the showroom floor if they'd pushed its glorious racing history over here.
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When the family's patriarch leaves town (no doubt to do some guns-for-hostages deals involving Adnan Khashoggi), he leaves stern instructions to leave his Subaru XT6 alone. Ha ha, sucka!
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Check out the sequence of photos showing the interior of the '85 Camry. See how cramped it was? Why, those passengers are almost touching each other! And where will they set their 256-ounce Bladder Buster™ convenience-store sodas?
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We might as well continue our week of Carpocalyptic Saab Mourning, right? Say you're driving your beloved Saab 99 and hydraulic pressure forces you to take an impromptu roadside stop. Then the parking brake fails…
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When you bought a mid-80s Saab 900, you were really buying a Saab 37 Viggen fighter plane! Even by the standards of the 1980s, when attention spans weren't limited to four seconds, this ad sort of drags... but such drama!More »
With Renault's American partner, AMC, on the ropes in 1987, the lords of Kenosha decided that a factory-hot-rod version of the AMC-ified Renault 11 would be just the thing to fend off disaster.
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When you drive the 9000 out to the middle of some godforsaken Arctic Circle shack for your incomprehensible sauna rituals, what happens when you get locked out wearing nothing but Scandinavian despair?
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Featuring music by Hideki Naoi and Alphaville, this quartet of Japan-market ads for the mid-80s Toyota Corona let potential buyers know that the LASRE 3A engine gave the Coronamagical powers!More »
In the final year of the Malaise Era, American car shoppers were still steamed about those muscle cars that were "legislated off the highways" (under pinko socialist Richard Nixon's watch). Then, from socialist Sweden, came the 240 Turbo!
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