Well, it took an extra day due to a freak snowstorm in Ohio, but we made it. I’m writing this from the living room of my new house. I’m sitting on sofa cushions on the floor, but I’m here, and I’ve got two sporty coupes from Chrysler to show you, both named after animals or animal parts.
Brian showed you two big German sedans from the Pacific Northwest yesterday. (And thank you for filling in, sir!) He said he liked them both, and I kind of agree. I didn’t appreciate cars like these when I was younger, but now in my fifties, I can see the appeal of a big, fast, comfortable sedan that can just inhale the miles in front of it effortlessly. By a wide margin, however, you all picked the older and simpler BMW over the more modern Mercedes.
If I had to choose, I think I’d lean the same way. Those mid-1990s BMW designs are just so timeless, and I’m pretty sure this one is from after the cylinder liner problem was solved, so it should be reliable. I’d be happy to drive the big red Benz, but I’d rather own the green BMW.
Brian found his choices in the Pacific Northwest, which as regular readers know, has long been one of my favorite hunting grounds for cars. I lived in Portland for sixteen years, and I enjoyed the car-spotting every single day of that time. It’s not really known as a “car town,” but maybe it should be. Oddball vehicles are just part of the scenery, and the classifieds never disappoint. Take these two, for instance. When was the last time you saw one where you live?
1965 Plymouth Barracuda – $6,800
Engine/drivetrain: 318 cubic inch OHV V8, three-speed automatic, RWD
Location: Portland, OR
Odometer reading: 230,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives but “shifts weird”
The celebrated Ford Mustang was introduced on April 17, 1964, and is considered the first car of its kind, the so-called “pony car.” Pedantic Chrysler fans, however, will point out every chance they get that the Plymouth Barracuda, which was to the Valiant what the Mustang was to the Ford Falcon, hit showrooms sixteen days earlier, on April 1st. Regardless of which came first, there’s no question which one is a cooler sight these days. You still see early Mustangs all the time, but seeing a first-generation Barracuda is a rare treat.
Like the Mustang, the Barracuda was available with either six or eight cylinders. This one has a V8, but it’s not the 273 cubic inch “Commando” V8 it would have originally come with. This is a later 318 V8, bored 0.040 inches over, with high-performance heads, intake, and carb. It’s backed by an A-727 Torqueflite automatic transmission. The engine runs well, and the car is drivable, but the seller says the transmission “shifts weird.” From what I remember, on Torqueflite transmissions, most “weirdness” can be traced back to improper adjustment of the throttle valve cable, so fixing it should just be a matter of proper setup.
Inside, it looks just like a Valiant, which is no surprise. Not many Valiants have bucket seats and a floor-mounted shifter, though, and of course, the pushbutton transmission controls were gone by ’65. The interior of this one needs some help. The driver’s seat is trashed, the passenger’s seat is “disassembled,” and the dash top has two giant cracks in it. In other words, don’t take this car on a first date until you’ve done some work.
The Barracuda’s most distinctive design feature is that huge rear window, which thankfully is intact on this one. I don’t even want to think about what replacing that would cost – if you could even get a replacement. The paint is black primer from a spray can, and it does have a little rust here and there, but damn if this thing doesn’t have presence.
1992 Eagle Talon TSi AWD – $6,850
Engine/drivetrain: Turbocharged 2.0-liter DOHC inline 4, five-speed manual, AWD
Location: Portland, OR
Odometer reading: 65,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well, but check engine light is on
A couple of decades later, on the other side of the bleakest era of automotive design and performance in history, Chrysler teamed up with its Japanese partner Mitsubishi to create a sporty coupe sold by both companies. Mitsubishi’s version was the Eclipse, and Chrysler gave a version to two of its divisions: former performance heavyweight turned peddler of old-person cars, Plymouth, and newly minted catchall division Eagle. Eagle’s version was called the Talon, and the top of the range was this turbocharged, all-wheel-drive TSi model.
Cheap, fast cars often lead brutal lives, and this Talon seems to be no exception. It has covered a scant 65,000 miles in its thirty-four years, owing partially to the fact that it spent fifteen of those years sitting around with a blown head gasket. It runs fine now, after a bunch of work including a resurfaced head, a new head gasket, and all the trimmings. The seller says it runs nice and cool, and makes good oil pressure. Something is still amiss, or possibly just left unplugged, however, because its check-engine light is on. This car predates modern OBDII diagnostic codes, so you’ll have to figure out the reason for the light some other way – via a different scanner, or sometimes by performing some ritual with the ignition key and counting how many times the check-engine light blinks. (Was that three blinks, or four? Crap, better do it again.)
Because of its long slumber and subsequent low mileage, it’s in a lot better shape inside than many Eclipses and Talons. Unfortunately, since it’s a first-generation car, you’ll have to put up with motorized shoulder harnesses, but you also get an ergonomic interior with a really nice driving position and a great gearshift. I’ve driven a few of these things over the years, and really enjoyed them – apart from the idiotic seat belts.
It needs paint – apparently, its Rip Van Winkle years were spent outdoors. The clearcoat is shot. But it looks straight and rust-free, and some faded paint won’t make it any less fun to drive, just less fun to show off. But there are so few first-generation Eagle Talons left these days that you’ll probably be a hit at Cars & Coffee even with the bad paint.
I don’t imagine there’s a lot of crossover in the fandoms of these two cars, but you can put me solidly in both camps. Either one would be a lot of fun to own, just in different ways. So I’ll leave the choice up to you: Do you want your fun from a crude, rumbly V8 throwback, or from a sleek, turbocharged, all-wheel-drive rocket?
It’s an easy choice for me. Dad had a Barracuda, and it’s my first automotive memory. I’ll take it, and repaint it red, like his.
I had a 93 Eagle Talon (ES I think) as my first car with a manual in 1997, and put 140k miles on that thing (some on the second engine that got swapped the week after I paid it off).
I absolutely loved that car, manual windows and locks, sunroof, lightweight, fairly peppy with the manual transmission. I wish I had kept it for when I started rallycross. I sold it super cheap to a friend and warned him it burned oil, keep up on it. He didn’t, and it blew up.
AWD turbo would be even more fun.
You have the correct take.
I have been looking for one of these for a good long time now.
$6800 is a lot for essentially a ‘65 Valiant. But… A 318 would throw that car around like it weighed about as much as a bagel with lox. The shifting on those old torqueflites is often resolved with a band adjustment (consult your Chilton’s for ‘64 to ‘71, which of course you still have).
Ha. I have the Motor’s Manuals! The 1976 copy I have covers this car
Those first gen Barracudas are so oddly proportioned, something about them just never clicked for me. Manual AWD DSM is no question the winner today. Might get some quirky electronics, but they’re not too tough to work on, and plenty of documentation and parts avaialble online.
In this case, I’m going with the devil I know.
The pistol-grip shifter may be hooked up to a transmission where the shift feel isn’t all that great, and you’ll probably be looking at doing clutch jobs on this every 25k miles, and you should most definitely invest in the convenience of a turbo timer to keep the engine running for a short while after you shut off the ignition.
But at the time this was the closest we could get to a Lancer Evolution or a WRX in the US. Just make sure to invest in tires for the winter.
I’ll sooner taste-test a power line than willingly subject myself to another old non-lockup automatic transmission car.
I’ll let the Eagle sink it’s Talons into me.
A manual swap would be pretty easy.
Buying the car that’s already manual is even easier.
I’ll take the Talon and be reminded of how far Mitsubishi has fallen since the 90s.
Oh. That is sad. They used to seem to be pretty cool options, compared to H and T.
I currently have a Honda, and I had an ’86 Accord. They are both solid, but the Mitsubishis looked so cool. And had some interesting engineering for the day. But my last time in one, a Galant rental, was so boring.
I know the Subies usually beat the Lancers of the day in comparos, but the latter almost always looked better and sounded better. Anyway, went for the Talon today.
Assuming the check engine light isnt catastrophic and it just something annoying, the Talon is probably a steal. Finding one of these in my area that hasnt’ been rotted out or, more likely, been modded and abused to withing an inch of it’s life is virtually impossible now. One with low mileage is quite rare now. It I had the money available I might consider taking a road trip right now to pick this one up. I loved these when they were new and would still want one for an all season weekend toy.
Every time I have gotten in a 60’s automobile I have been astounded by how bad they really are. They look good on the outside, but they drive terribly. Add to that the crappy brakes, unburnt gas smell, underwhelming power, and double-digit-if-you’re-lucky fuel economy, and I just don’t understand the allure. I could almost see putting some of the more beautiful designs in a museum, but as drivers, count me out.
“It sure is slow and thirsty, but at least it handles bad!” Yeah, I don’t see the appeal either.
Couldn’t the same be said for what I think I see as a W126 in your thumbnail?
A few points:
-The w126 was, and still is, renowned for it’s stellar handling
-Mine is (was) a diesel, I averaged 29.7mpg on my last 750mile road trip
-I sold it Sunday, as I am done with land barge life
Again, the same could be said about any number of cars. My point is, it’s all relative. I think we’d all think it was dumb if I was not getting get the appeal of a W126 just because my Sienna gets even better fuel economy while being a more comfortable cruiser for a 750 mile road trip. There are always going to be specific categories and superlatives that some other car does better, but it’s the whole package you gotta look at and it’s the package that makes the experience.
There’s scores more people resto-modding 60s/70s muscle cars than there are doing it to German luxury sedans.
That’s cause the reality is that they suck to live with as-is on a daily basis.
Compared to say, a w126. Which is very easy to live with. Hell, they all have factory cruise control and air conditioning.
What’s the unfair comparison here, is that my w126 was like, 80k in 80s money. That Barracuda was like 4k in 60s money.
Never heard of anyone resto modding vintage 911s…
Wait, what was your point?
Fewer people are modding German luxury sedans because they are more complicated and parts are more expensive. That’s why E30s get modified, but not many W126s are, despite the E30 being better handling and just as good to live with on a daily basis.
The implication that people modify 60/70s muscle cars because they are garbage, is false, or at the very least, very short sighted and not the whole story. Plenty of people restore them to be as close to as original as possible. How many people are doing that with German luxury sedans?
I’ll answer your question with another question. Which out of those two groups is putting more miles on an original, unmodified version of their car?
Cause the w126 has a worldwide purist community of “original or bust”. A not insignificant portion of those have a w126 as their sole family car.
One is objectively more livable in every way. Both of those reasons stemming from when they were built and how much they cost.
dropping half a mil on a resto-modded Porsche 911 is a better investment than dropping a quarter mil on a resto-modded muscle car.
The auction prices reflect that. Cause your 911 example exists in a completely different market entirely.
I can barely see the goal posts you’ve moved them so far.
Ah, so it’s fine if you pick up the posts and go for a little jog, but I’m not allowed the same. Noted.
Is it that they suck to live with? Or that they are also way more ubiquitous, relatively easy to modify, and can be done fairly cheaply, by a huge number of people? They might also just attract people who like to modify things at a higher rate than others? Tons of people are out there modifying more modern stuff that is similarly easy to live with out of the box like E30s, Civics, E36s, E46s, Nissan Zs, Miatas, GR86s, Supras, any year 911, Wranglers, Land Cruisers etc; does that mean those all suck to live with on a daily basis?
That’s right, check out the entire aftermarket industry of complete aftermarket rolling chassis for all the cars you listed.
Oh wait, that’s largely only happening under vintage American iron?
Uh, there isn’t really a scene that is full on replacing chassis to make the car more livable day to day. They are usually replacing the chassis because they are turning it into a pro-street car and dropping some crazy motor in that is 4x, 5x, 6x+ the stock power levels, want to go super low with air ride, or just going all out for drag racing. This is a pretty small market overall though.
Most resto-mods aren’t getting chassis replacements, they are probably getting stuff like a control arm kit, maybe a new K member and power steering rack, and some coil overs, which surprise surprise, is done all the time on tons of other cars.
The prevalence of the market is largely on just how many vehicles the big three sold back relative to everyone else. It took Porsche 53 years to make their millionth 911, Ford made their millionth Mustang in early 1966, not even 2 years after it was released, and it’s a single model. There are about almost 2M first second gen C10s built over 6 years. I bet there isn’t a single S Class chassis that sold a million over their life cycle. Of course an industry is gonna spring up where a sizeable market exists.
And yeah, Singer, Guntherwerks, Tuthill, Renn Tech, Alfaholics, Moto Technique, etc totally don’t exist….
Regardless, lots of cars that suck to live with are extremely appealing. I don’t agree at all with that high liveability equates something appealing and I don’t think most enthusiasts would either. Which is probably why most modifications don’t specifically target livability.
Those are boutique builders.
Let’s look at the brands Roadster Shop will just sell you a chassis for… https://roadstershop.com/vehicles/cars/
Aw shucks, all domestic brands.
I didn’t know Rolls, Aston, Toyota, Land Rover etc were domestic…
https://roadstershop.com/gallery/custom-chassis/
https://roadstershop.com/vehicles/offroad/
I just don’t even understand the argument that because a chassis market exists, the cars aren’t liveable or appealing, so keep on moving those goal posts I guess without ever providing substance. ¯\(ツ)/¯
you’re determined to be correct in this, no matter how much data or how many comparisons I pull.
Enjoy your beliefs.
Diesel costs roughly 40% more than regular around my parts. So pricewise, your ~30mpg would be equivalent to ~19 mpg using regular gas… which ain’t far off the poor fuel economy complaints listed here.
In what world is 19mpg “barely” double digits? And diesel is only about a 10% price difference where I live.
The 273 that originally came in the Barracuda got mid teens around down and high-teens-to-touching-twenties on the highway. The 318 probably dropped it a bit, but probably not enough that it changes the gross exaggeration that they “barely got double digits” so I took it as the exaggeration it was.
That’s how 19mpg ain’t far from reality.
I’d love to see a 60s era V8 with a 3-speed like this one (aka no overdrive) achieve those numbers you speak. Hell, even the 6. As I imagine your “highway speed” would be 55mph, not the 70ish that most people drive today, and a speed at which I can achieve nearly 30mpg in my w126.
I’ve put 10k miles over 3 years on my ’65 Suburban with a slightly newer 350 shoved in it, I’m averaging 15.84 mpg. The bulk of that is city driving.
A little A-body gonna beat that. Google (and the forums) seems to support the claim as well.
Slightly newer, you say? This is pretty much my exact argument. Upgrading the old stuff because the old stuff was actually pretty shit.
2 years makes all the difference apparently.
The diesel to regular gas delta is about 20% around where I live (PNW) and back when I had my ’01 Jetta TDI 5M out here, there were times when diesel was less than gas. It would get around 50 MPG on the freeway trips down to visit family in CA.
Those times are gone. The Jetta really needed a 6th gear when I moved to Texas. I sold it and got a ’17 Accord V6 that gets close to 40 MPG on the freeway and has effortless power when required. And it’s a bigger, heavier car than the Jetta was. An engine like that in an A4 Jetta would have been even more hilarious than it is in an Accord.
I loved the Jetta. I put 165K on it. Back in the PNW I enjoy the Honda more, now. It gets crap fuel economy around town. Like-19-20 MPG. But now I have an 80+ MPG scooter for most of those kinds of trips.
I had a Golf Sportwagen TDI. At the beginning of my ownership, diesel and regular were close; sometimes one was cheaper sometimes the other was. Then real quickly diesel got more expensive and stayed that way. When I got rid of it, diesel was roughly the same as premium.
I did really enjoy that car. I’d commonly get in the low 60s (per the computer, which was really high 50s if you calculated it) on long highway stretches if you used diesel additive.
I put like 65k on it in 2.5 years and then VW bought it back for like 85% of what I paid for it. Can’t really complain about the money, but I didn’t really want to sell it, and I didn’t want to have it fixed either.
Two injection pumps. One they paid for and put a rebuilt one in at 60K and then when that one went out and stranded me at the airport at 101K, they said, you’re out of warranty and we’ll give you $500 towards a new VW. No thanks is the politest way I can say that conversation went. It’s why I will never buy another VWAG product ever again and now drive a Honda these days.
That’s a big part of the appeal.
That’s just like your opinion man.
I prefer to say they simply encourage planning ahead.
Covers up the BO smell you get from not having AC on a hot day.
This is highly vehicle dependent. Or can I use a Geo Metro as the bastion of power to represent all ’90s vehicles?
Just to remind you of the good ol’ days when gas cost a nickel…
But in all honesty, most people aren’t DD’ing them, which kinda rules out about 90% of your complaints. For a weekend drive, some of those complaints are really part of the allure. If you just wanted quiet boring-ness, nothing outside of a Lexus would be recommended.
Having owned a Geo Metro, I wouldn’t characterize it as good, but at least it got decent fuel economy. But, you’re right, power is and was vehicle dependent. And I failed to acknowledge the weekend aspect of these cars, which for some people makes them worthwhile.
Plus, there is the tinkering aspect. I’ve got a ’65 Suburban, and enjoy tinkering with it because I don’t need to count on using it to get to work, and it’s far more simple than my daily driver.
Little things like modifying control arm shafts to get more caster angle in the front suspension is a do-able modification due to the simple design of the modification. It drastically improves the quality of the drive too.
Parts are relatively cheap and readily available (this is vehicle dependent). There’s a huge online community for support as well (well, mostly for pick-ups, but the Suburban is like 90% C10 anyways).
Heck, my daily driver (’18 Outback) is:
I really don’t get the allure of why I own and daily and Outback. It seems way more obvious as to why I own my Suburban as a toy.
I had a poorly chosen (by me) ’74 BMW Bavaria and that thing was beautiful and also always smelled of raw gas. To the point I wouldn’t park it inside the garage near the water heater. It also blew a head gasket and a prop shaft. The day I sold it off was one of the happiest vehicle transaction days I have ever had.
I was sad to see my ’71 Peugeot 504 get towed off after it got folded up to its rear axle by a rampaging Plymouth station wagon.
I was sad to see my ’01 Jetta TDI driven off by the guy I sold it to so he could pass it on to his idiot brother. That was in TX. It was a great car for the PNW. And it really was not the ideal car for there, but the A/C was awesome. But it got confiscated and scrapped within a year, because the idiot brother was one of those sovereign state crazies. That car deserved better.
The “Allure” is in the fact, that there is very little mystery on how to take stuff off and put it back together. The big spaces around everything make it tons easier to work and no clips break,or you tube videos required for finding a hidden tab or fastener to remove stuff.
Oh and all the attention it drives from Gen X’ers who haven’t see one in ages.
I think of it as sort of like camping.
Everything about camping is objectively worse than just staying in a hotel
But it’s about experiencing a simpler way of living/driving… you wouldn’t want to do it daily. But it’s nice once in a while.
And for many, there is a nostalgia aspect to it as well.
But I agree… objectively old cars suck compared to modern cars.
I have memories of how cars used to be in the 1970s and 1980s.
And I would never want to daily an old car.
I have owned several and they are garbage. I am too young for boomer nostalgia. The 60s cars I owned in the 1980-90 were awful. Boomer mostalgia is about the only thing going for them. My 78 rabbit was superior in every way to my 1969 Galaxie 500 both I had in the late 1980s.
I had a college roommate in ’76 who had a Rabbit (were they Golfs back then in the States?) and that thing felt so modern compared to my ’68 Datsun 510 and my parents’ ’65 Olds 88. Man, that was a long time ago!
They were still rabbits then. I loved my car it was tough as nails. I could go from 0-77 in just 3rd gear if I dumped the clutch.
I had to buy a 65-66 Mustang convertible for a job assignment. Long story. And it was frightening to drive on the freeway after the purchase. No shoulder belts. No yielding steering wheel and drum brakes at all four corners. My DD car then was an 86 Accord that felt so much safer.
Cars of that era hold no appeal for me. Older cars that look cool hold a little, but I am not going to spend tens or hundreds of thousands on any of them. Maybe an air-cooled 911, (because they sound so cool) but I don’t have the space to shelter them nor the interest or mechanical skills to maintain them.
It’s better that they go to people who can or want to.
I used to think that about 1930s automobiles.
Yeah, catalitic converters are great, but 1960s cars are ridiculously easy to fix, and probably will be easyier to fix long after modern cars are unrepairable. Model As will probably be useable until cars are outlawed.
I have had a couple 2000s cars become unusable when the can bus and the engine controle computer stopped talking to eack other because aparently whereever the list of serial numbers for all the parts was kept became corrupted and Volvo wasnt interested in selling a replacement part.
Talon all the way.
There was one near me that was on someones lawn for ~10 years. Streetview is a sad timeline of it slowly rotting away. https://maps.app.goo.gl/9oizqHjWmpmqDs588
A local facebook group celebrated/mourned its eventual removal.
Oh god, that got SO BAD.
Also, hello fellow Ontarian!
I have to disagree about one thing. Definitely show up to the first date with that Barracuda in its current condition. If she doesn’t like it, she’s not the right one for you.
I am truly surprised a Fuggler of a car is getting as good of a response as it is. The Talon is the right choice here. The Valiant is never the right choice.
Definitely a both day. But took the cuda, easier to work on. Owned 2 of these talons, fun car, but a maintenance nightmare, and I suspect parts are getting harder to find.
More absurd pricing. Seven thousand dollars and you get to take your pick between a potential transmission problem or a potential engine problem. Such a deal!
Big carbureted old engines that seem to send half the fuel unburned out the tailpipe don’t hold any interest for me. I’ll go with the maybe-troublesome Talon. Kid of the 90s, after all. And if it keeps running properly it will be much more fun to drive.
I don’t quite understand the reflexive foaming about the mousetrack seatbelts. I grew up in a car with these. Quirky. Suboptimal, even. But I didn’t think it was that big of a deal.
The asking is excessive on both. Sort out the shifting issue and reupholster the seats first. And a Talon that sat for 15 years outside; low mileage isn’t always a good thing. They are rare, but c’mon! If these were $7,000 cars the owners wouldn’t be selling them.
Yes, turbo + stick + liftback + AWD is a rare combo but only worth so many dollars and headaches. If the Talon is a hot mess but I really wanted that type of car, I’d try spending a bit more for a better kept and 20-year newer Focus or Fiesta ST. Doesn’t check all the Talon boxes but they check enough.
I can’t recall where I saw this exact Talon for sale on the web. But it was a good while ago, maybe 3 months or more.
At an asking price that high, and the history of the car there are questions.
Is this actually a damn good car?
Or another case of the owner knows what he’s got?
But the big question is, is this guy willing to negotiate?
Because to me this is a great start if you really want one of these, and have the want and resources to make it nice once again.
I regret that it’s so far away from me.
At my age it’s tough to do the cross country thing on a whim.
At 3 months it’s time to lower the price or do a better sales pitch. Pics of the radio and sun visor don’t open wallets. Let’s see underneath, or at least the engine; that’s were all the owner’s money got dropped. And I’m tired of the wet look. The paint’s faded, we’re going to find out eventually. Stop with the garden hose right before a photo shoot.
It could be a great buy, but my inclination is to wait a while for another to pop up.
This was a tough one, because I like both of these cars. For me the 64 valiant has my favorite grill of the A-body cars. That said just a month ago I started to ponder the idea of getting a 1G Talon awd, and look what popped up. For today, the Talon wins, but if something else had gone against the barracuda I would have voted stylish v8 for sure.
While it doesn’t have the popups of the original DSM coupes, it does have the fantastic original dashboard. One of my all time favorites, it looks like it belongs in something Ripley would pilot of the surface of some moon colony.
AWD Stick hatchback!!! ALL IN.
I really wanted to vote ‘cuda because it’s a V8 and I like those a lot. Almost any other 90s era Japanese coupe would not have won out over. But the DSM platform is remarkable, and many of my friends in college had them. I almost bought one but decided I couldn’t risk the financial ruin they could cause on a college budget. On an adult with a sales engineers salary however, it’s tempting!
I voted Barracuda. I love a car with a giant wraparound rear window. Boattail Riviera, C2 Corvette, you get the idea.
I know it has been discussed here before, but I don’t share the hate for motorized seat belts. It may be just a difference of experience though. My only real exposure to them was in my parents’ ‘91 Maxima, where they continued to work for the 10ish years they had that car.
I see them somewhat similar to pop up headlights, they add a little drama to an otherwise mundane task. Is probably some nostalgia talking, but 8 year old me thought they made getting into the car more like getting into a sci fi ship of some sort.
Regardless, I picked the barracuda, because I have a hard time getting past v8 sounds.
I had a ’93 Geo Metro with the motorized seatbelts. It was the least offensive thing about that car.
Same re the seatbelts, possibly b/c I lived with something even worse – GM’s door-mounted seatbelts. The idea was to leave them buckled and just slide in and out. Worked horribly with any sort of bolstered seats and made the doors very thick and heavy.
Agree on the belts. I think the hate is just a Pavlovian response at this point, trained into car enthusiasts by repeated reference to them.
I am old enough to have been choked by them on many occasions in my youth. They truly sucked without the need for exaggeration.
I grew up in a car with these and somehow managed to not have problems.
Glad I’m not the only one.
the red button on the retracting piece on the window releases the seat belt, it’s a bit annoying to have that move around near your head I suppose, but who really cares that you have to do the the seatbelt plug in thing if you decide to wear it.
I never owned a car with them bit I always assumed the hate was from tracks getting gunked up or broken, which causes you to fail inspection and a pain to repair.
I owned several and the problem was for me getting tangled up and or caught up because they moved slower than I did when opening the door and getting in or out of the car.
User error, then. Did you also jump out before the driver managed to put it in park? 🙂
I have a soft spot for first gen DSMs. My “one that got away” is still what was to be my first car – a nice white Plymouth Laser Turbo. My dad gave the guy a check for half to hold it while we made an appointment to have it inspected by our mechanic, and he sold it from under us before we could get it in.
I ended up driving a hand-me-down Taurus for two years instead, and will never get over it.
I almost bought a teal one as a congrats you’re divorced! prize, but the strut tower rust was more than I was capable of dealing with. Voted for it here, but I’d have to give it a going over before I said yes.
I’m sure mine had some rust as well. It was 9 years old and lived its life in Michigan, with all the salt that comes with that. 16 year old me didn’t care lol.
Need some of that turbocharged DSM love.
Definitely wish this was a day where there was a choice for both. Both have potential for not a whole lot of money and time, at least to me. Could be wrong.
My sister had a Talon. Specs called for a timing belt change at 60k miles. Called the mechanic, had an appointment in 5 days. Had the timing belt in the back seat. At 60,100 miles the timing belt broke and trashed the engine. I am choosing the Barracuda.
My buddy had a 2013 F-150 for his lawn scaping business,bought it new.The day he paid it off the engine threw a rod through the block.
Ouch. Once borrowed my dad’s 1989 Subaru GL, which he had bought new, for a while and I was a little concerned about the timing belt since the Subaru had 58k miles but I figured it’d be ok for a bit since the timing belt interval was 60k miles. However, as soon as it turned over 59k miles, on the highway (!!), the timing belt broke. Fortunately, though, the Subaru’s engine was non-interference so all was good after a few hundred bucks at the dealership (it was new enough that some of the car’s systems were still under warranty though the timing belt wasn’t covered; I was going to argue it indeed was but my dad just paid the bill as he didn’t want to deal with the hassle as he’d just retired and was enjoying taking it easy. Thanks, Dad.)
Ever since then I’ve always made sure to replace timing belts a few thousand miles early.
I like the layer Cuda’s much better and really like the first gen Eclipses and Talons but here for the price much rather have the Barracuda it would be much simpler to work on and probably cheaper to get cleaned up and looking nicer.