What do you get when you mate the front half of a Saab 99 with the back half of a 900? The Saab 90. In 1983, Saab decided to do exactly this to create a…
Posts tagged Cars of the 1980s
Lotus Excel: Hethel’s Best Kept Secret
It seems fair to say that the Lotus Excel is Hethel’s most underrated car. Nobody ever talks much about it, the company never again built anything like it after it was gone, and it dwelled…
1987-89 Mercury Tracer: Hecho En Mexico
Sometimes a car is less significant for what it is than what it represents, and the original Mercury Tracer definitely falls into this category. Although it had a Ford sibling, the Asia-Pacific market Laser, both…
Rover Montego Estate: The End Of The BAe Era
When BMW bought the Rover in early 1994—a moment that has lived in infamy for many parties ever since—its German bosses were surprised to learn that the former Austin Maestro and Montego were still in…
Ford Escort Mark II: Project Brenda
By the summer of 1980, Ford of Europe’s Escort Mark II was starting to feel old, and the automotive world was abuzz with news of its much-anticipated front-drive successor, “Project Erika.” However, while it was…
Lincoln Continental Mark VI: Unlucky Numbers
Technically, it’s not the only four-door “Mark” ever made, but the 1980-83 Lincoln Continental Mark VI sedan is probably the most famously misunderstood variation of this long line. It is, of course, the brainchild of…
TaskRabbit: The Mk1 Volkswagen Golf Van
More obscure than even the early “Swallowtails,” the Mk1 Volkswagen Golf Van might be the rarest of all Mk1s, and one of the most interesting.
Suzuki SC100 Whizzkid: Saving The Best For Last
We saw this Suzuki SC100 Whizzkid almost a decade ago and haven’t seen another one in the States since, but this little car is much more famous in other countries. Built from 1978 to 1982,…
Nissan Figaro: The Retroest Ride
People seeing a Nissan Figaro for the very first time are always charmed by those cute and happy looks. Few cars look so winsome and even fewer are capable of defying the forces of time,…
BMW L6: The Luxury Liner
Everybody knows BMW’s M cars. Those fastest and most electrifying of Bimmers, date back to the M1 in 1978 and the M535i that soon followed, are of course more well-known and varied than ever today….
Matra Rancho: Birth Of The Crossover
Almost nobody realized it at the time, but 1977 was the year “crossovers” were born. They took two very different forms, and it was 20+ years before such vehicles started to become commonplace in the…
1988-92 Toyota Corolla All-Trac Wagon
Most Americans buy their cars off the lot, but in Japan built-to-order is the norm. Customers tailor what they want from a wide array of models and buy them from an equally wide array of…