Excellent thread. My mom swapped out our 1976 Toyota Corolla with this "bad boy": A LADA. My friends used to take small illegal trips down the street and back. Even made a small bump in it. She never noticed.
Unless someone with a trabant steps in. My host family in Germany had one. One of these days I'll scan, or simply take a picture of that picture I have of the trabie with me leaning against it. Oh yeah, acid washed Jean jacket and all.
My awesome colt (sincerely, it was an awesome lil 4x4 wagon) said "Dodge Plymouth Colt, engine by Mitsubishi", and something about Datsun too. Either way I got a lot of miles out of it and it was very comfortable and roomy. I only was stuck once after sledding down our road and the snow plow came through and ended our luging fun. I was then instructed by WWW after I became high centered on the plow line blocking our driveway that my Colt wagon is not a "Monster Truck!"
I tried zooming in, and the quality just goes away. Too pixelated to be able to tell from the license plate.
Dad bought this new in Spring 1978,it was last model of the ''big ones'' before they downsized for the '79 model. Same Midnight Blue metallic paint, 4door sedan,with a grey vinyl top,grey cloth interior.With power everything inside,a 460 with Holley 4bbl under da hood & dual exhaust.All the trappings of a Lincoln Continental Town Car for about 25% less money,just a couple inches shorter. I should have some old 35mm or polaroid pics around here someplace,this is one off internet. Really ran better after Dad dropped the tailpipe & drilled out that burned up catalytic convertor several years later Big fine from the EPA or car dealer if you actually ''removed'' it & ran either a straight pipe or replaced it with a normal muffler on that side however.But anyone looking underneath couldn't tell the difference since the convertor,while non-functional,remained intact... Though some may thought it was 'uncool',I thought this was badazz then & still do today.Kids at high school the next Fall gave me respect when I drove that big beast occasionally. It had loads of power/torque,was like floating on a waterbed in extreme comfort yet still got 18-19 MPG on the highway. And the trunk,was big /deep enough to actually hold a bathtub.Yes we actually hauled one in it once,I forget who for or to what destination though....
My parents never owned cool cars when I was around, though my mother bought a '47 Ford convertible new. My dad had a '29 Pierce Arrow that I vaguely recall seeing once at my grandmother's. Growing up we had a '55 Chevy pickup, a '54 Ford Ranch Wagon my dad bought new (before he was married) and later my grandfather's '55 Buick Special. When the tranny in the Buick went they replaced it with a new '66 Chevy Biscane 4 door with a 230 six and three speed. One ugly and uninspiring car. It was replaced with a '70 Mercury Montego with 351 4V, that car would roll (but got 10 mpg).
This looked just like my first car. I bought it off a lot in Hickory, North Carolina for $600. in 1972. Wish I still had it!
