Barry’s List of cars we don’t too much anymore
This has nothing to do with cruising or cruises, but I thought it was an interesting thought to share and I hope you find this interesting. I think my first new car was a 1984 Ford Escort. My father bought the car for me to go to college in Minneapolis. The car was black and a five-speed manual transmission. I had a lot of fun with that car, and because it was front-wheel-drive, I could do some interesting tricks on a snowy road. I did a fun maneuver as I pulled out of our driveway. We had a steep driveway and when it was somewhat icy or snowy, I would pull out of the garage at the appropriate acceleration and at just the right moment I would pull hard on the E-Break and spin the steering wheel so I would slide the car completely around until I was now facing forward towards the end of the driveway and into the circle and on my way.
1984 Ford Escort
Another vehicle we don’t see too much anymore is the Mazda RX7, which had a very unique Rotary Engine. A friend of mine was given one of these cars when he graduated from high school and I was invited to drive from Minnesota to where he was going to college in southern California, in his Mazda RX7. I thought the car was so cool, particularly the dash, and the sound of the motor was fascinating. He let me drive the car for a couple hours, but I don’t think liked how I drive so I didn’t get to drive it again. It was also a five-speed manual transmission.
1984 Mazda RX7
1984 Mazda RX7
1982 Mazda RX7 Rotary motor piece.
When I was a young guy in High school, my hobby was to test drive cars…usually cars I couldn’t afford. The next car may not have been terribly pricey, but it made a big splash when it first came out because it was among the first cars to have body panels made of plastic. The 1984 Pontiac Fiero also had a rear-mounted engine just like the exotic sports cars, but unfortunately the Fiero didn’t have much get-up and go. It certainly had a sporty feel with rear wheel drive, but most of them had a tiny four cylinder motor so there was no spunk. The novelty of a plastic car was interesting and the HWY Miles per gallon was about 27 so people felt like they were saving money on fuel.
1984 Pontiac Fiero
1984 Potiac Fiero
One of my favorite cars, and the car that got me hooked on and interested in cars was the 1977 Pontiac Trans-Am from the movie Smokey and the Bandit with Burt Reynolds, however; the car I want to show here is the 1982 Pontiac Trans-Am which has a very cool body-style. The television show Knight Rider used this body-style with subtle modifications to make it look like a supercar. This was one of my favorite cars to test drive, the 1982 Pontiac Trans-Am. The Chevy Camaro was similar, but I didn’t care for the Camaro design and interior and I preferred the Trans-Am.
1984 Pontiac Trans-Am
Here is the 1982 Pontiac Trans-Am with the Knight Rider fittings
Here is the typical 1982 Pontiac Trans-Am
The next and final car in my study of cars we don’t see too much of anymore, is the 1984 Delorean. I have to admit this was the very first car I ever test drove from a dealership, and it didn’t go too well. I never drove a stick manual transmission, but I thought I could do it, and I jerked the car quite a bit trying to shift the thing. The car salesman was starting to sweat a little.
1984 Delorean
1984 Delorean
Of course it was the movie Back To The Future that made this car super famous, as a time machine. It was probably tough for Doc to get his Delorean up to 88 miles per hour with the stock Volvo engine in it.
Hope you enjoyed this article. Be sure to subscribe to our website. I know this article is not about cruises, but I thought it would be fun to write.
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