You know what’s a great way to spend the tail end of a Friday afternoon when most of your work-brain has already checked out and is sobbing in the break room of your mind, but you still have to sit in front of a computer, looking productive? Playing Parking Lot Challenge on The Autopian, of course, with all your fellow Autopians! It’s the best, so let’s get to it.
You know how to play, right? It’s easy: we have a picture of a parking lot, and from that lot you must choose one (1) car, and that car will be the only car you ever own, forever. High stakes stuff, motherjumpers. So choose wisely, and tell us in the comments, along with your justification and reasoning, because you will have to defend your choices.
This time we’re going to do three (III) parking lots, two from a Sainsbury’s location in the United Kingdom, because they have a fantastic photo archive of “car parks” (that’s crazy Brit for “parking lot”; in America, a “car park” is where you take your car to frolic off-leash with other cars) from Sainsbury’s stores of the years.
The third one will be a picture of a parking lot from the Los Angeles International Airport, just to mix it up a bit.
Okay, ready for the first one? Let’s do it – Here’s Number 1:
Some good stuff there! A Mini, some Fiats, Opels, holy crap, an NSU Prinz! What’s it gonna be from all these little fuel-sipping wonders?
Okay, Number 2:
How about this one? From the early ’90s, and we have a good mix of Volkswagens and Fords and Rovers and other stuff. Lots of options!
Okay last one, Number 3:
Okay, now let’s head to America, specifically, sun-baked LAX:
Some good stuff there, too! And, likely rust-free! Look at that Eclipse up there, and…is that a mud-spattered Volvo? What’s the story there?
Pick, explain, talk, argue, and so on. Let’s have some fun here.
To be a little oblique but why not, for number 0 (the you must choose banner pic) is that an ’80s white Ford Sierra I spy? I want that one.
Those C-pillars are pretty distinctive.
I see that YJ/TJ in LAX. That one’s mine.
I will take that white Rover 820 from the 1991 picture, thank you very much.
My family car growing up was the 825TD and I don’t care what people say about reliability, it was awesome.
Yes, the trunk lid was misaligned from factory (and could not be fixed), the dashboard warped within a couple of years, and there were rattles all over the place. But it served us well for over 10 years, and it felt classy as heck while doing so. I must have hand washed it a few hundred times and could recite the manual by heart. It was a truly special car.
1: the blue car in front
2: the yellow car on the left
3: the green Jeep
Re Sainsbury’s ’91, is that a VW Fox prominently in front?
And I really hope that in distance up against the fence at LAX, that’s a Sebring convertible and someone chooses it…
Polo, I think, considering it’s Britain.
Ah, thank you!
It didn’t have the ungainly but still oddly interesting proportions of that era’s Jetta coupe and it was too short to be a Quantum.
That one confused me too. I like it, though.
The black one in between the Santa Fe and Rav4? I think that might be a 02-05 Thunderbird.
1977 – I’ll take the blue Mercedes wagon top right.
1991 – I’ll take the pastel yellow chevy (nova?) Top right behind the pole
Modern – give me the Avalanche top left by the stop sign. That was my 1st new car back in ’06 so I have a soft spot for it.
Yep, blue Mercedes wagon for me.
LAX lot: the silver hatchback WRX behind the topless Wrangler. Second choice: that Wrangler.
Silver hatch looks like a Lexus CT200h which is pretty much a glorified Prius.
Orange bug or Red mk1 Golf, red mk1 Golf, blue Golf,
Golf for the win
I am with you justin, red mk1, white MK2 and then because I am just as stupid as I was in 2012 the a4 avant. Praying it is the 1.8tqm like I had but somehow not as determined to bankrupt me. Close friend has a b6 over 300k so maybe I get lucky.
Well, you’re consistent at least, haha. Hard to go wrong with a practical Golf.
Tell me, what 2 door tan VW is that in the second pic? I think it’s a VW by the badge, door handles and general styling, but I could certainly be wrong.
Maybe a Fox? Grandparents had one.
We had the same thought.
If it’s a Fox or Polo, to my eyes, it’s the second-best-styled VW of that era, after the Sirocco.
The one front and centre? It’s a VW Polo saloon, which, depending on its age was either badged Derby, Polo Classic or just Polo.
77: I’d go for the orangish Opel on the far left.
91: Nothing’s really jumping out at me, so I guess that white Honda.
LAX: That Wrangler with the really obnoxious green paint.
I like the YJ above it.
That would be my pick.
Sigh…..looks like I’m walking…..
1977: The red MK1 Golf far left. This was a hard choice between that and the Mini but I feel like the Golf would be a much more livable car with the bit of extra room it offers
1991: My first thought was the yellow car up front because I thought it was some old Toyota but then I realized it’s actually a Rover P6. I’m feeling risky today so give me that P6 and it’s unnecessarily weird front suspension
LAX: That first gen Pathfinder up front. It looks nice but not too nice to where I’d feel bad taking it off road and getting it dirty.
Sounds good but would prefer the ’91 Renault 21
You nailed my afternoon pre-5:00 mood, so I’ll play. There are some intriguing cars in the ’77 photo. The ’91 photo put me to sleep. Which leads me to the LAX photo. Not sure if that blue Jeep is a TJ or older, but if I’m driving it for the rest of my life, I’ll stick with the Jeep.
The Mitsubishi Eclipse at LAX, cuz I wanna live life dangerously.
You mean dangerously like you have zero turning radius?
1977: The red fastback on the far right right, next to the red Golf. Why? Why not? Looks sporty-ish.
1991: Is that mustard colored car near the entrance to the store an older Ford Cortina? If so, sure I’ll take it. How many chances to you get to own a mustard colored car?
Modern LAX: The red Mustang Convertible. Being a Mustang, I would actually be able to keep it running for the rest of my life without bankrupting myself.
Overall, the Mustang will provide the best combo of usefulness and fun to drive. It’s a ragtop, so you can haul anything with it.
You beat me to it on the Mustang and why. Excellent call.
And I’m putting my money where my bits and bytes are…I’m doing this exact challenge IRL, except my Mustang is older than the one here.
I think its a Lancia Gamma https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQP5c61Wpdo
Yep. Beautiful car. Unreliable as fuck, tho…
Close, but it’s a Lancia Beta Berlina: http://www.simoncars.co.uk/lancia/betab.html
They have all pretty much rusted away, unfortunately…
Truthfully I didn’t see anything whatsoever that rang my bell. I suppose the Mitsubishi GT3000 in the bottom row of LAX. There are plenty of dead ones for spare parts. It does have some sporting intentions that can be improved on after market.
1977? White Mini in the foreground.
1991? Red Mini smack in the center under the orange sign.
I kind of love Minis and have since I was little, I finally got one I could afford and bought myself an r53, wish I could have found a classic one for a reasonable prce though.
LAX? Red dually dodge ram on the front row. I used to have that truck in white with a 6 speed and the last of the 5.9 6bt Cummins engines. Loved it but when the economy tanked it killed my cabinet shop right along with it so The Brain(cartoon reference) had to leave Pinky behind.
That’s easy. I’d take the BH Subaru Legacy Outback. I already have a 2003 BH Legacy wagon as my forever car, like it, and know it well (also have a ’96 Legacy wagon that I’ve owned since 2000 as my beater). I’d want to de-Outback it though, getting rid of the two-tone paint and cladding, making it a Legacy. I like the handling of my non-Outback Legacy, but I’d investigate leaving the ride height of the Outback and making it a rally wagon. Let’s assume it has the 5-speed manual.
The EJ251, once you replace the head gaskets with the proper Subaru MLS ones will run forever with appropriate care, and an engine reseal to take care of the leaks. There’s an Outback of vintage with over a million kms (and one of the head gaskets original) that spent most of its life towing camper trailers around. I’d probably have to stock up on OEM parts because Subaru will stop making some parts at some point soon. Unlike most enthusiasts, I am happy with a “slow” car because I’m never going to a track, and like driving conservatively and smoothly in the real world (such slowing when approaching a red light rather than speeding up to a red light and braking hard). I like going through back road corners fast though.
I grew up and have always owned at least one station wagon (Volvos 145S, 265GL in family as a kid, Subaru Loyale and Legacys), so that’s my comfort zone daily driver. The Legacy wagon is surprisingly sporty and fun to drive on back roads. My 2003 Legacy is the sportiest car I’ve driven, even before I refreshed the suspension and put a set of sticky tires on it. That’s not saying much because I haven’t driven all that many cars, but it’s better handling than the ’87 Integra my family had and was my daily driver in the ’90s.
Adding: That generation Legacy/Outback was a substantial upgrade in quality of materials than the previous generation, and cost cutting was evident/quality decreased noticeably in the following generations. The interior of my 2003, which I bought with 150,000 miles in 2019 looks close to new. The pre-2005 cars are also easier to work on and have less electronic gremlins to deal with and is easier and less expensive to DIY and repair than the 2005+ Outbacks and Legacys.
Taking a closer look at the third photo, I see several more Outbacks and Legacy wagons of BH, BP, and BR generations. The blue BH Legacy is probably either a 2003 Special Edition or 2004 35th Anniversary. So switching my choice to the blue BH Legacy, which is the same as my forever car already, just in a different color.
A bonus is that the LAX cars are probably rust-free, like my BH Legacy (which I bought sight-unseen off craigslist).
First: the Mini or the Prinz.
Second: if that’s a Celica far left in the front row, I’m in it
Third: meh, I ( sadly ) lost interest in late-model cars a decade or so back. I’d probably go for the muddy Volvo cause, tho I’m serious about washing salt off, I never wash mud off my car: I had to work to do that decorating, and I’ll enjoy it as long as possible.
I like this! You should get pics from areas with more obscure cars so we can all yearn to have something odd-to-us. South America has some great oddball ( to me in the US ) cars
I think its a Lancia Gamma https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQP5c61Wpdo
Gimme the green Fiat 128 in 1977, the white Mk2 Golf parked close to the store in 1991, and the black Nissan Pathfinder, far left, at LAX. All are cars I have history with, and know I like. If I can only have one of the three, I’ll take the Fiat, and make it work. Somehow.
Also noted a cream mk_II Golf closer to the doors
I’d take one of the Minis in the first photo because they’re fabulous little things to drive, the E12 5-Series in the second photo because it’s quite good, and the 996 in the third photo because come on.
Your eyes must be better than mi. Where is the 996?
That one took me a bit. See the blue two-door Jeep with the tan cloth top, front of row, first full row on the right? Follow that row up, past a little jump, and there’s just a bit of rear of a black 996 hanging out past a dark sedan.
Great choices. But I’d take the red mini in the 1991 photo – it looks like it’s one of the upgraded 1980s ones. Maybe the Sierra if it was one of the quicker ones (unlikely…)
Can’t find an E12 5-series in the second picture… If you are referring to the green 3rd Gen. Opel Ascona/Vauxhall Cavalier, which has a somewhat similar rear, you definitely don’t want to drive that forever!!
Silver Mitsubishi convertible for sure at LAX. With what appears to be a front end black bra to emphasize just how classy it is. Some people can afford to drive a classic Merc convertible into their golden years at the country club. Others can re live summers hustling to make payments and dreaming reading an old aftermarket catalog for ways to snaz up their ride. I will get that ride has a kickass woofer in the trunk to blast Too Live Crew and Naughty by Nature while ridin through the burbs
Third pic, I think there’s a VW golf in the lot with a roof rack. If I had to stick with it for life, that’s the clear choice for me.
Or a late model duallie Ram Battle Wagon (or whatever full sized pickups are now called) just for masochistic fun..
I’m shopping the LAX lot, since it is modern and the correct continent for me. The boring but practical choice would be the GMT900 Suburban. It can haul people, tow cargo, it will be likely to be reliable, and if it needs to hold up forever, parts will be available as long as there are Ice engines.
Easy. Any ’90s Accord.
What a revelation the 1990s Accord must’ve been to 1977 Britain.
It was 1977 in some parts of the UK until 1993 when the Ford Mondeo was launched.