It lasted just four frenzied years, but the Group B rally era was one of the wildest (and today best remembered) episodes in motorsports history. The Group B arms race of increasingly wild four-wheel drive…
1967-72 Chevrolet & GMC Pickups: The Action Line
“We think it’s about time trucks stopped looking so trucky,” read one of Chevy’s ads for its all-new 1967 pickups. In sharp contrast to most of today’s pickups, 1950s and 1960s trucks went out of…
Ford Cortina MkV: A Family Favorite’s Final Call
Just a few months later, it would be swept aside by the radically aerodynamic, lozenge-shaped Sierra, but in early 1982 the Ford Cortina MkV was still a market-dominating machine in the U.K. Indeed, even after…
Dacia 1300: The Original Romanian Renault
Something different today! Like many Eastern Bloc cars, the Dacia 1300 had an unnaturally long life. Changing economic and political circumstances, and some clever updating and modifying, meant that what began as a licensed 1969…
Subaru Turbo RX: Before They Were Stars
It’s 25+ years since the world got to know the Subaru WRX thanks to the exploits of Carlos Sainz and the late, great Colin McRae, to say nothing of Gran Turismo and Sega Rally Championship….
1937 Hispano-Suiza K6 Break de Chasse: Supreme Spanish-Swiss
Behold, Wagon Wednesday’s ultimate warrior: a 1937 Hispano-Suiza K6, complete with an original, one-of-one woody wagon body by Franay. Technically, it’s not a “wagon” but a “Break De Chasse,” which is French for “Shooting Brake,”…
Jeep CJ-8 Scrambler: The Original Wrangler Pickup
The Jeep CJ-8 is most famous for being the first “Wrangler pickup,” even though there are two significant flaws in that designation. First, the CJ-8 was built long before the Wrangler name debuted (in 1987),…
Honda Civic Wagon Mk1: Van Or Wagovan
Is it a wagon, or a minivan, or a hatch? All three, maybe? One of Honda’s most important but least heralded 1980s moments came when the Mk3 Civic arrived in the fall of 1983. This…
Mercury Lynx: The Stray Cat
Oil prices cratered in the mid-1980s, but the effects of two successive gas crises freaked Americans out enough for them to line up for Ford’s first American Escort all through the decade. That anxiety helped…
Studebaker Scotsman: The Skinflint Special
In the pantheon of base models, the Studebaker Scotsman is truly the patron saint. In the era of chromed-up Detroit dreamboats, the Scotsman had painted cardboard door inserts and even a proper heater cost extra….
Dodge SpaceVan: Anything But Space Age
Yup, it’s a Mopar! But definitely not one most American Dodge Charger, Plymouth GTX, or even Ram 1500 fans would recognize. This is a 1982 Dodge SpaceVan, a relic of Chrysler Corporation’s 1960s overseas ambitions…
Honda Accord Mk2: Marysville Made
The second-generation Honda Accord never gets as much attention as the first, and while it isn’t as significant a car on a global scale, it was the next step in Honda’s climb up the sales…