"I remember that thing!!"

ColonelPanic · Post by **ColonelPanic** » Sun Feb 06, 2005 8:54 pm

I think I may start an interesting thread that may even bring back memories. Sorry if it's been done before, I don't remember one though!In our daily travels, I'm sure we all see a vehicle that we haven't thought of or seen for years upon years... Something you forgot about until you see one.So, let this be a discussion about good memories, bad memories, or being very fortunate that any particular horrible era in automotive engineering has passed us by. In my case, uh, I saw a Dodge Rampage today. Been a looong time since I've saw one of those out on the road! On the car/pickup thing, also spotted a VW Rabbit pickup just last week. I'm interested to see what you guys run across in your travels, and your thoughts... Attached is a pic of a Rampage in Hotwheels form, (removed) I used to have this same thing as a kid! From the site I found it on, I could be $30 richer if I wouldn't have trashed it! (I wasn't too kind to it, not sure how I ended up with it, but being a Chevy kid, the Dodge took quite a beating.) LOL! Ahh, memories - that was somewhere around 1986 IIRC.

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MJN2 · Post by **MJN2** » Sun Feb 06, 2005 11:17 pm

I see one of these every so often.Despite what Subaru claims, this car was "the world's first sport utility wagon" IMO.

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kostby · Post by **kostby** » Sun Feb 06, 2005 11:35 pm

Speaking of VW Rabbits, here's a pic of my '84 VW Rabbit Convertible.A white Cabriolet was the daily driver of Laura Holt (Stephanie Zimbalist) in the TV show 'Remington Steele'. It wasn't called 'Cabriolet' until 1985.

kostby · Post by **kostby** » Sun Feb 06, 2005 11:45 pm

I had the um, opportunity to drive an AMC wagon like that as rental car circa 1986!It was literally the last vehicle left at the rental counter in Boston! Inline 6. Gobs of torque. The switchable 4WD wasn't much use in springtime Boston traffic!

AzFusionGT · Post by **AzFusionGT** » Mon Feb 07, 2005 12:20 pm

(removed)! A Dodge Rampage! There's one that lives by my work, that I see everyday. Scary too that I actually have that very toy. I hated the atv in the back, so I took it out using pliers and an exacto (sp?) knife.

ragingfish · Post by **ragingfish** » Mon Feb 07, 2005 12:28 pm

It's hardly old in comparison to the cars you folks speak of, but I've seen a lot of Eagle Talons:and Eagle Visions: on the road lately...Oh yeah, and of course, who could forget the 4 door Toyota Cressida!

ColonelPanic · Post by **ColonelPanic** » Mon Feb 07, 2005 1:27 pm

Ooh! And the Plymouth Laser, when you brought up the Talon that made me think. Attached is a tiny pic... I saw one the other day along the exit ramp off the interstate completely trashed. Quote, originally posted by AzFusionGT Â»(removed)! A Dodge Rampage! There's one that lives by my work, that I see everyday. Scary too that I actually have that very toy. I hated the atv in the back, so I took it out using pliers and an exacto (sp?) knife.I remember trying to get that stupid 3-wheeler out of there too. I can't remember how I got it out of there, but I did. lol!

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kostby · Post by **kostby** » Mon Feb 07, 2005 2:55 pm

How about another blast from the past?The mid-70's (This one's a 1977) Cadillac Seville, based on the Chevy Nova platform! A local guy has two of them, one green and one white! I see them all the time.

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kostby · Post by **kostby** » Mon Feb 07, 2005 3:01 pm

I don't remember Eagle Talon in Mustard Yellow! S'pose it's an Earl Scheib color?

ragingfish · Post by **ragingfish** » Mon Feb 07, 2005 3:05 pm

Oh, oh, oh, how about the Geo Storm!A lot of kids in my HS drove them...

ColonelPanic · Post by **ColonelPanic** » Mon Feb 07, 2005 3:37 pm

Oh god yes! I had two friends that owned those things in high school. SUCKED! Especially riding in the back!

ColonelPanic · Post by **ColonelPanic** » Mon Feb 07, 2005 9:11 pm

DODGE 600 CONVERTIBLE! lol Check out that marketing material - 0 to 50! And also note the catchy slogan, "An American Revolution." Hmm, kinda sounds a lot like the one Chevrolet is using these days. What was the version of this car called that had the woodgrain paneling?

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ToolGuy · Post by **ToolGuy** » Mon Feb 07, 2005 11:59 pm

Alright CP, I thought you were going to say the "thing". And here is a pic of one! I have not seen one in a long time!Other cars worth noting 4 dr Chrysler Lebaron GTS hatchback with ground effects, Dodge Omni Shelby, Chevy CitatIon X11 (became the real "Ion" when the rest of the word Citation fell off), any AMC vehicle 4 dr or wagon like the pic above. Saw an AMC sedan last year, running in decent shape too! Saw two Chevy Chevette's last year, still putting along! The real "Vette" LOL!!! Oh I could go on...

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Mr. Poopypants · Post by **Mr. Poopypants** » Tue Feb 08, 2005 1:15 am

Oh how quickly we all forget about the Plymouth Reliant. Or as most lovingly know it, "The 'K' Car"

kostby · Post by **kostby** » Tue Feb 08, 2005 1:19 am

Quote, originally posted by ColonelPanic Â»DODGE 600 CONVERTIBLE! What was the version of this car called that had the woodgrain paneling? Ugly. Very Ugly.

ToolGuy · Post by **ToolGuy** » Tue Feb 08, 2005 3:45 am

Quote, originally posted by Mr. Poopypants Â»Oh how quickly we all forget about the Plymouth Reliant. Or as most lovingly know it, "The 'K' Car"Oh yeah we had two Dodge K cars growing up one 1980's totalled in an accident replaced with a 1986! Besdies the lack of power, you could not kill that engine! The transmissions were another story, our lasted for the most part. Developed a leak that could only be fixed with a rebuild but it still drove the car. My dad actually traded that POS in on a 1995 Stratus.

Psychobroker · Post by **Psychobroker** » Tue Feb 08, 2005 6:31 am

Quote, originally posted by ragingfish Â»It's hardly old in comparison to the cars you folks speak of, but I've seen a lot of Eagle Talons:AKA Mitsubishi Eclipse The AWD turbo'd Talons are beasts!

ragingfish · Post by **ragingfish** » Tue Feb 08, 2005 8:47 am

Quote, originally posted by MiVibe-ToolGuy Â»Oh yeah we had two Dodge K cars growing up one 1980's totalled in an accident replaced with a 1986! Besdies the lack of power, you could not kill that engine! The transmissions were another story, our lasted for the most part. Developed a leak that could only be fixed with a rebuild but it still drove the car. My dad actually traded that POS in on a 1995 Stratus.Someone, PLEASE enlighten me.WHY, oh WHY is it called a K-car?

greenfire · Post by **greenfire** » Tue Feb 08, 2005 10:07 am

Ill let you guys guess what this is. And yes, I currently own it.

ragingfish · Post by **ragingfish** » Tue Feb 08, 2005 10:13 am

That's not one of the "classic" Cherokees is it?I used to go to day camp, far back in the day, and the director of the camp, affectionately known as "Coach" drove a Jeep that looked a heck of a lot like that...

greenfire · Post by **greenfire** » Tue Feb 08, 2005 10:28 am

You are close...

ColonelPanic · Post by **ColonelPanic** » Tue Feb 08, 2005 12:03 pm

Quote, originally posted by ragingfish Â»Someone, PLEASE enlighten me.WHY, oh WHY is it called a K-car?"K-car" is basically just a way of saying it was built on Chrysler's K platform or whatever. Darn near every FWD 80's Chrysler product was some sort of derivitave of the K car. IIRC, even the minivans had some sort of K-car stuff underneath to some degree.

ColonelPanic · Post by **ColonelPanic** » Tue Feb 08, 2005 12:37 pm

How about the Seville of a few years down the road... Oh my. Not quite sure what they were thinking when they designed that rear end. A friend of my father used to own one of 'em. A diesel at that- even had two batteries. lol

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ColonelPanic · Post by **ColonelPanic** » Tue Feb 08, 2005 12:38 pm

And here's another pic of the offensive (removed)!

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ColonelPanic · Post by **ColonelPanic** » Tue Feb 08, 2005 12:43 pm

And while I'm talking Cadillac, how can we not forget about the Cimarron? A winning formula (not!): Take a Cavalier, add chrome and leather, viola - you have a Cadillac! Um, ok. http://www.cadillacforums.com/....htmlI'm hoping that the worst era of platform sharing at GM is long gone by now.

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Mr. Poopypants · Post by **Mr. Poopypants** » Tue Feb 08, 2005 8:44 pm

If I am not mistaken, I think it is because of the style of unibody that the Reliant used. I know there was a little badge with a "K" on it right beside the Reliant badge. But I do believe that is why. ........... MADBILL??? TOOLGUY?????? ANYONE!!! Can I get some backup on this one.EDIT>>> Turns out this was already answered in so many words. If you'll excuse me I have a window to lick!!

ColonelPanic · Post by **ColonelPanic** » Tue Feb 08, 2005 8:51 pm

Woah, nice lookin' Jeep there, greenfire! I think there wasn't a John Hughes movie in the 1980's that didn't have one of those in there. Is that a Grand Wagoneer? A guy I knew back in college bought one of those, used to be a highway department truck... Almost school bus yellow!

ToolGuy · Post by **ToolGuy** » Tue Feb 08, 2005 8:51 pm

Quote, originally posted by greenfire Â»Ill let you guys guess what this is. And yes, I currently own it. JEEP Wagoner... (1st guess)

ColonelPanic · Post by **ColonelPanic** » Tue Feb 08, 2005 8:55 pm

We both guessed the same thing at the same exact time. And I believe we're right!

kostby · Post by **kostby** » Tue Feb 08, 2005 10:47 pm

'K-car' is significant because it was the product that helped Lee Iacocca 'save' Chrysler (with help in no small measure from a US Government bail-out). Yup, they built darn near everything from some variation of the K-car platform for a few years.

ToolGuy · Post by **ToolGuy** » Tue Feb 08, 2005 11:02 pm

Quote, originally posted by kostby Â»'K-car' is significant because it was the product that helped Lee Iacocca 'save' Chrysler (with help in no small measure from a US Government bail-out). Yup, they built darn near everything from some variation of the K-car platform for a few years.Yep and if you visit the Chrysler Museum here in Michigan you can see brand new K-cars on display! Made me laugh when I saw them...

ColonelPanic · Post by **ColonelPanic** » Tue Feb 08, 2005 11:14 pm

Brand new K-Car! Woo hoo! I was up at the Henry Ford musem a few years back, they had (probably still have) a brand new 80-something Accord (one of the first to roll off an American assembly line) and best of all, one of the first Escorts. LOL!

Baltovibe · Post by **Baltovibe** » Tue Feb 08, 2005 11:16 pm

Quote, originally posted by ColonelPanic Â»In our daily travels, I'm sure we all see a vehicle that we haven't thought of or seen for years upon years...How about the Ford Fairmont ... the chassis where my Mustang is based on. So sad!

Mr. Poopypants · Post by **Mr. Poopypants** » Wed Feb 09, 2005 1:30 am

Quote, originally posted by ragingfish Â»Oh, oh, oh, how about the Geo Storm!A lot of kids in my HS drove them...For those of you who have not seen this from the other post, Catch a glimpse of an inexpensive mod to a Geo Storm.http://www.big-boys.com/articles/smalltobig.html

Stang2Vibe · Post by **Stang2Vibe** » Wed Feb 09, 2005 12:20 pm

Quote, originally posted by greenfire Â»Ill let you guys guess what this is. And yes, I currently own it. Before reading the other replies, I thought this was a Grand Wagoneer also. I remember the one in the movie "What About Bob" with Bill Murray and Richard Dreyfus.

Stang2Vibe · Post by **Stang2Vibe** » Wed Feb 09, 2005 12:22 pm

Quote, originally posted by ColonelPanic Â»DODGE 600 CONVERTIBLE! lol Check out that marketing material - 0 to 50! And also note the catchy slogan, "An American Revolution." Hmm, kinda sounds a lot like the one Chevrolet is using these days. What was the version of this car called that had the woodgrain paneling? I think it was the Dodge Caravelle. Yet another God-awful K car derivitive.

Stang2Vibe · Post by **Stang2Vibe** » Wed Feb 09, 2005 1:13 pm

Oh man, this is a GREAT thread! I could really enjoy this. Now I'll add my rarely-seen car to the list.Well, the car isn't mine, let me make that clear, but I did see it in person. We were paving a driveway this past summer and the house next door to the one where we were working had a covered car parked under the deck on the back of the house. I saw the guy who lived there leave in the morning and when we took a break for lunch, curiosity got the best of me and I had to sneak over and peek at what was under the cover. I lifted the cover up a bit to see part of the car and I was thinking, (removed) could this thing be? It looked like an early 80's Ford Fairmont that was turned into a Ranchero-style car/pickup hybrid. After looking around the car a bit, it turns out that it was a Ford Durango and it had about 26,000 miles showing on the odometer.After searching for what feels like forever on the 'net, I found that it seems that they were only made in 1981. You could order one from Ford dealers. They'd send out a Fairmont and have some company convert it into a car/pickup hybrid. I searched everywhere for photos, but I guess the thing is so rare that there aren't many pictures of it. I did find one picture from some Latvian website that I posted below. It seems that the website offers some info about it, but I don't read Latvian so I'm SOL.edit: I just found a little more info. Some website lists the content of back-issue Motor Trend magazines and it looks like they did a feature on this car in the June 1981 issue. A company called National Coach may have built the Ford Durango.

fjf511 · Post by **fjf511** » Wed Feb 09, 2005 2:28 pm

Sweet Jeep nothing better than wood in the sides. I bet thats a beast in the snow

ColonelPanic · Post by **ColonelPanic** » Wed Feb 09, 2005 4:31 pm

WOAH! Great find, Stang - I never knew such a thing existed... I know that isn't something I've ever saw around here... Even though it's a Fairmont of sorts, that guy who owns that thing has something special in his posession. And 26,000 miles!I've always wanted a half car/half truck thing like a modern version of the El Camino. But sadly, the only option we have is that Subaru. Hey, GM, import this Holden: http://www.holden.com.au/www-h...15002 Anyway, when I was out and about, I saw one of these tonight (see attachment!) Isuzu Vehicross - those aren't from the too distant past, but are kinda rare... And fugly too!

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MJN2 · Post by **MJN2** » Wed Feb 09, 2005 9:12 pm

Ford of Australia makes a hot rod 1/2 pickup 1/2 car as well.389hp

damronjr · Post by **damronjr** » Wed Feb 09, 2005 10:16 pm

Quote, originally posted by MJN2 Â»Ford of Australia makes a hot rod 1/2 pickup 1/2 car as well.389hp Almost all of Australias cars kick-@$$! I wish I lived there just for their cars (and the women are pretty hot and bothered if you know what I mean!! )!

greenfire · Post by **greenfire** » Thu Feb 10, 2005 12:22 am

Quote, originally posted by ColonelPanic Â»Woah, nice lookin' Jeep there, greenfire! I think there wasn't a John Hughes movie in the 1980's that didn't have one of those in there. Is that a Grand Wagoneer? A guy I knew back in college bought one of those, used to be a highway department truck... Almost school bus yellow! Yes it is a Grand Wagoneer. Thanks for the compliments guys.

SGT · Post by **SGT** » Thu Feb 10, 2005 3:21 am

How about the early '80s GM X-bodies. Those were classics. I'll never forget at that time my parents each had a Mercedes Benz, dad had a '72 350SL Convertable and my Mom had a '75 450SEL big sedan. Come 1979 and the introduction of the X-bodies from GM, and my mom HAD to have a new Buick Skylark similar to the one in the picture. She insisted that she had a to have a smaller front wheel drive car. So my dad sold the convertable (before I was old enough to drive it! ) and kept the SEL and got my mom the Skylark. I will still never figure that one out

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Stang2Vibe · Post by **Stang2Vibe** » Thu Feb 10, 2005 4:09 am

Quote, originally posted by ColonelPanic Â»WOAH! Great find, Stang - I never knew such a thing existed... I know that isn't something I've ever saw around here... Even though it's a Fairmont of sorts, that guy who owns that thing has something special in his posession. And 26,000 miles!Yes, these things seem to be very rare. I never knew they existed or even heard of it until I saw this one. I remember where it is, too. According to an unofficial report I found on a Ford truck enthusiast website, only 211 were ever made and sold.Quote, originally posted by ColonelPanic Â»I've always wanted a half car/half truck thing like a modern version of the El Camino. But sadly, the only option we have is that Subaru.We almost had one in the early 1990's from Chevy. I remember in 1993 (I believe that was the correct year) Chevy built a few El Camino-type conversions of the Lumina. They were supposed to be produced on a very limited basis but they were cancelled before production for whatever reason and only the few prototypes were actually made. I think Motor Trend did an article on them and had pics.

vibe-04 · Post by **vibe-04** » Thu Feb 10, 2005 4:26 am

I'm not sure where this thread is going but my fav old car/truck is the Bronco II. I ported the 2.9 and added a CAI, performance wires, coil, and all sorts of mods -fun and games. It was owned by an Airforce Col. who had it flown to Germany on a C-130 for his tour. I still own it but my Vibe is the daily driver.

ToolGuy · Post by **ToolGuy** » Thu Feb 10, 2005 4:34 am

Yep Bronco II replaced with the Explorer...

ColonelPanic · Post by **ColonelPanic** » Thu Feb 10, 2005 5:07 am

I remember seeing that Lumina El Camino thing too! But for the life of me, I wasn't able to find any pics of it last night. Believe it was in Motor Trend - and it was red.... Very cool car.

Stang2Vibe · Post by **Stang2Vibe** » Tue Feb 22, 2005 3:27 am

Yep, it was red! I think it had a gray cloth interior also. They could have called it the "El Lumino" .

danewman0424 · Post by **danewman0424** » Tue Feb 22, 2005 5:26 am

I think the frame under the front of the car was shaped like a "K"; so they called it the K car.

4X4CHICHI · Post by **4X4CHICHI** » Tue Feb 22, 2005 10:53 am

Here's my "not seen everyday"

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