Forgotten speed

I had an '88 for years and put a lot of miles on it...great car but too heavy without the turbo.

Handling was awesome and it was fairly reliable.

Fuel economy was frightening for a college student!!!!

LS

 

Love the Grand Nationals- I remember when they were new and several were lined up at the buick dealer (1987 model year, the last year)- we went to the dealer so my grandfather could replace his '82 4-door regal...I actually convinced him the turbo motor was the "better motor", and he told the salesman he would take one....BUT with 4 doors like his '82. When the salesman said they only came in 2 door, he turned to look at a Century- I was a fast thinker and quickly redirected him towards the Park Avenue. Sticker on the Park Ave was $21K, we got it closer to $16,800 less about $3,000 trade in for his 82 regal. I have no idea what I ate for breakfast, but I can remember specific details about a car purchase over 25 years ago...I guess as a teen the whole experience was very exciting for me.

That Park Avenue was a great car- quick for a sedan with the 3800 sequential port injection motor...years later I used the car when my grandfather stopped driving- I could get the car to do a 4 wheel drift with 4 other people in the car...the stupid things we did when we were young At the time (and for a sedan), the delta 88/98 buick park ave/lesabre and Pontiac Bonneville had what felt like a lot of speed to us young drivers using parent's or grandparent's cars (the old GM trick of push the gas pedal 10% down and get 90% of the torque...then when you go the other 90% of the gas pedal travel you'll think something broke when nothing happens except more noise, but the first 10% is good for (a) getting through the intersection and (b) impressive on a short test drive when shopping the car). An impressive family sedan for acceleration was the 740 turbo Volvo. A couple of years later and even more impressive family sedan was the 278hp Q45- butt ugly car, ugly interior and terrible advertisement campaign, but the first ride a friend took me out in I was floored...6.7 0-60 was faster than many sports cars in 1989.

Anyway, one car that I really have started loving the look of is the early 1990s alfa romeo spiders- the last of the original spider, but with the integrated bumpers that return the car to a basic pinninfarina shape- they are relatively cheap, so I'm wondering if they have reliability/build issues or if it doesn't drive as sporty as it looks so people would rather have a Miata or something. My guess is the sales volumes of the alfa's were much higher in the 1970's-1980's (even though I like the 1992-ish design, they were terribly outdated by then and I don't think that many were sold). Given the general age of the cars people seemed to have driven on here as first cars and such, any people that had an old alfa spider? Or fiat spider back in the day?

My brother had a '78 Fiat spider as his first car- it had some rust, and four different brand tires on it when we bought it. One tire was a Pirelli- he would keep that one wheel really clean to show it off He spent what to us was a lot of money getting it tuned up, but 0had to sell it after a year to get something more practicle that he could drive to college in. After spending the money for a big tune up, the car ran really well, but needed a paint job...

 

2.0 liter 914

Just pump up the tires a bit and still a blast to drive!

 

I always thought the C5 Audi Allroad 2.7T was under-rated. Of course, it wasn't exactly known for reliability, but they can make SERIOUS power with a couple of mods. It was even offered with a six speed manual here in the US, though the take rate was unfortunately far too low.

Also, the Mazdaspeed6. A little unrefined compared to competitors, but otherwise it was an awesome car. Almost as quick as an Audi S4 at the time.

 

That was spelled SYCLONE.

 

Anyone spooled up a Saab SPG? Fun turbo. Way under-appreciated

 

Turbo trans Am not THAT one the 89 pretty rare and very quick for its day 0-60 in 4.6

 

Subaru SVX
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

no kidding.