Cars that used to be "common", but are gone now

[fdcg27]

I think we're mainly talking about reasonably priced cars that people bought, used and traded without any particular care or regard. This is the normal lifecycle for most volume models. You see a lot of them up to the fifteen years or so point after which they become thin on the ground. A few may become cult cars, as is the case with the Vanagon somebody mentioned above. That struck a chord because we had one. The Vanagon sold in about half the volume of the Corvette in the US when it was available and cost about as much. For that coin, you got a superb handling SWB van with enormous interior volume that was also quite slow. The Vanagon has since become a cult item as the last rear engined VW and even an average running and driving example will run you a fair amount of coin.

 

[Ducked]

Originally Posted by Lolvoguy

In Regina, Saskatchewan, Lada, Skoda, Renault and Peugeot used to litter the independent Euro repair shops in the 80's. By the mid 90s, most had disappeared from lack of dealer network and support.

In the Yook the Lada's disappeared because when the rouble became a tradeable currency they were bought up by the Russian Mafia and shipped home. That not happen in Canada?

 

[fdcg27]

f

Originally Posted by Ducked

Originally Posted by Lolvoguy

In Regina, Saskatchewan, Lada, Skoda, Renault and Peugeot used to litter the independent Euro repair shops in the 80's. By the mid 90s, most had disappeared from lack of dealer network and support.

In the Yook the Lada's disappeared because when the rouble became a tradeable currency they were bought up by the Russian Mafia and shipped home. That not happen in Canada?

Really? Why would anyone with cash want to buy up Ladas to ship back to Russia when the West has plentiful supplies of desirable used cars that can be picked up pretty cheaply? Ladas or BMWs? What would me and my mafia buds rather drive?

 

[Ducked]

Originally Posted by fdcg27

f

Originally Posted by Ducked

Originally Posted by Lolvoguy

In Regina, Saskatchewan, Lada, Skoda, Renault and Peugeot used to litter the independent Euro repair shops in the 80's. By the mid 90s, most had disappeared from lack of dealer network and support.

In the Yook the Lada's disappeared because when the rouble became a tradeable currency they were bought up by the Russian Mafia and shipped home. That not happen in Canada?

Really? Why would anyone with cash want to buy up Ladas to ship back to Russia when the West has plentiful supplies of desirable used cars that can be picked up pretty cheaply? Ladas or BMWs? What would me and my mafia buds rather drive?

The Mafia were selling them in the former Soviet Union. The customer is sometimes right. Would I rather drive a Lada or a BMW, in the former Soviet Union? I'd rather drive a Lada, because there would be a better chance that it would survive. I don't have Mafia levels of disposable income. In fact that probably applies anywhere, but you can't get Ladas in Taiwan. Lots of broken BMW's though.

 

[fdcg27]

Okay, so why not just go to Japan and scoop up the plentiful supplies of cars nearing their dreaded seventh birthday? The worst Japanese car would have to be better than the best example of this Russified Fiat.

 

[Ducked]

Originally Posted by fdcg27

Okay, so why not just go to Japan and scoop up the plentiful supplies of cars nearing their dreaded seventh birthday? The worst Japanese car would have to be better than the best example of this Russified Fiat.

Well, They do/did that as well. Met a guy when I was first in Taiwan who said he was involved in that trade, and told tales of dangerously overloaded ships leaving for Vladivostok with Toyota's hanging over the side. But I suppose the Russian Mafia, like any Bizniz, supply a demand. Ladas were tough, simple, maintainable, built for the punishing local conditions, and very familiar to local punters and mechanics, with a lot of spares availability, and they were probably priced to sell. When the curtain first came down I thought (though probably not very seriously) of running Lada's to Russia as a bit of a self-financing adventure. Later shared a flat with a Russian who said that if I done it when I first thought of it I might have got away with a trip or two, then something nasty would have happened to me. The Mafia don't like amateur competition. He said a friend went to Vladivostok and bought a Japanese car "independently", hid it in a dung pile near the marshalling yards, bribed a railway worker and put it on a train. Saved a fair bit of money but was terrified the whole time and would never, ever do it again.

 

[Andrew1972]

Tauras as midsize 86-2000's , not the silly and overpriced MSRP we have no for overgrown car currently out.

 

[Justbuggin69]

Originally Posted by robertcope

VW Bugs and other aircooled models used to be very common. Now they're pretty darn rare to see on the streets.

Mine is still chugging along. Hence my name...

 

[ls1mike]

I like this thread. I see a lot of everything here as daily drivers. I see a Pinto and Bobcat everyday. There are 4 Berettas around a white one I see every Sunday. Bunch of old Buicks and a few Corsicas, Old 80's Accords and Civics too. I love not having any rust out here. Lots of old cars still driving around.

 

[Hootbro]

Chevy Cavaliers and Saturn ION's are about non existent around here. Been a steep decline of those the last 5 years. Pretty much anything with those early year EcoTech engines are hard to find running.

 

[My442]

It depends where you live. If you live where they salt the roads, most cars don't last 10 years before rotting out. Everytime I go to the southwest, I am amazed at the older cars still on the road. Rust is the culprit!

 

[mjk]

You guys remember the first few years of the Cavalier Z24? Saw one recently here in MN

 

[DweezilAZ]

Originally Posted by StevieC

Originally Posted by jimbrewer

Someone mentioned the Pontiac 6000 ...

I had a Pontiac 6000 I bought for $200 because the guy was tired of it. Drove it for 5 years and put 100K on it until it rusted out. It got me through college. That Quad 4 engine was noisy but it was durable. If it idled too long the Service Engine Soon light would come on, and then you drive away from the light and it would go out. It was pre OBD-2

That would have been the Iron Duke, not Quad Four.

 

[addyguy]

Lots of cars that have vanished, yes, from rust up here. The one I 'notice' the most are the GM A-bodies - growing up, they were EVERYWHERE. Friends families had them, co-workers had them...you couldn't go down a street without seeing tons of them. GM did really well with those cars.

 

[dja4260]

Ford Contour!

 

[NYEngineer]

I didn't read all eight pages but I used to see Mazda RX-7s everywhere. I saw one the other day and it was like a bigfoot sighting.

 

[Silk]

Saw a Lada today...like cockroaches, pretty difficult to exterminate them completly.

 

[E365]

In Minnesota, I'd say nearly all of them. Not much still driving around that is older than about MY 2000. If they are, they're usually rusted badly.

 

[hank2]

Rangers S10 Blazers K cars VW Rabbits VW Jetta's more than 10 years old. GM J cars Tempo/Topaz, Contour/Mystique Olds Cutlass and Cutlass Ciera Buick Regals Jeep Cherokees seen rarely. I still see a lot of Saturns, all the way back to first year. I recently saw two different Omni/Horizons that were minty!

 

[Dave Sherman]

Actually passed a Pinto going the other direction yesterday, had to do a double take to confirm that's really what I was seeing. Haven't seen a Yugo in a long time.