Drawing a blank . . . need just a little help.

I've been poking around, looking for a small old car to use as a DD/Winter Beater; the Mustang is just insane in the snow and having the front end re-done recently to repair last Winter's damage has taught me a lesson.

I'm looking for something from the late-seventies/mid-eighties. Maybe something like an Escort, or Corolla, but I know that there were tons of these sub-compacts offered by everyone back then and just can't remember the names of them. Just NOW remembered the Chevette, so that's another name to search for, but I need help with the others. Ooopppsss . . . Toyota Starlet ! Remembered another.

I know that a whole lot of these have already gone to scrap by now, but there might be something out there for me if I can just name it and search around on Craigslist for it. If anyone remembers any other little cars, would you please post the names for me? Give me the first steps for my search.

Just how pathetic is this post, huh?

Thanks,

TC

If you're anywhere where they dump tons of salt on the road, I'd look for something newer.

Other than that, the timeframe would cover 1st Rabbits & Jettas, Civics, Honda Z600 , Colts, Fiat 128s & Yugos. Well, that's what comes to mind within 30s.

One thing that they all have in mind is that they partake in the sport of competitive rusting.

Colt ! Another one that I knew of but forgot. Thanks !

I'm in New England, Massachusetts to be specific, which makes it a double hit. Loads of sand and salt from November through April and a mid-eighties cut off for emissions testing/visual. Gotta be old to get it on the road.

Kei type of car? I think Plymouth had the Reliant and I think the early/mid-80's had a Nova that was classified as a sub-compact.

seriously put my vote in for a Yugo though. A very basic, good, car.

If you go a little later (90's) you can get into the Geo Metro / Suzuki Swifts that were very pretty decent as well (did you know they made Swifts in Hungary so the population could have a replacement for the Trabants?).

The cars you listed all pretty much were gone from the rust belt 25 years ago or more.

Uh, if you have trouble driving a mustang in snow, a Starlet isn't gonna be your choice, lol. RWD, short wheelbase, light rear end....

Just go get an early 90s civic or corolla. There are plenty around, they'll run forever, you can find them cheap, and they have things that are useful in snow, like FWD and ABS. Plus you can actually find tires that fit their wheels (not a lot of selection these days for the 13 and 14" wheels that came on 70s and 80s econoboxes). Plus you can probably find one up there that hasn't completely gone back to earth as most of the 70s/80s econoboxes almost certainly have.

If you can find any, there were several k-car based cars like the shadow that would make good winter cars.

The others that come mind are Hyundai excels (mitsu drivetrain ) that shared parts with dodge colts.

90s Escort.

Whats wrong with the Mustang? It is my go to vehicle for snow storms. It does have air bags in the rear springs to keep the tail up with the 2 to 3 hundred extra pounds of weight in the trunk. I also run studded snows and the V6 has a lighter engine and the manual is lighter than most Mustangs out there.

I love passing 4 wheel drive trucks slipping in the plowed lane while I am in the un-plowed lane. I see why you are looking for older cars. Front wheel drive are no longer the good snow vehicles the engine/trans-axle don't weight enough for traction and adding weight is not easy.

How about an old Subaru or AMC Eagle?

Winter beater, buy the newest FWD iron block thing you can get cheap and like well enough, then buy a set of snow tires and wheels for it.

You dont want to fiddle with some old POS emissions carb or obd0 EFI in 0* weather.

Look no further than the 2014 classifieds!

This plus snow tires = winter beater win, without having to worry much about rust, smog testing and obsolete parts.

89 or so honda civic...get a manual sedan, the thing was like a fun little gocart and with the 4 doors I didn't look like a ricer loser fart can idiot

GM had Cavaliers, Sunbirds, and even Cadillac Cimmarons built on the same chassis back then... move up a little bit in size and you get into Citations and Celebrities and other such fun stuff that.. everyone was building small to mid size fwd cars back then, but it's easy to forget about them since 99.99% of them fell apart or died of natural causes 20 years ago..

Thanks all ! !

Nice selection of names from the past. Brief look at the local Craigslist and such has turned up an Escort wagon, Rabbit, Karmann Ghia, and a lot of projects that aren't beyond my skill level.

Time to sell a VW transaxle and some 356 door trim and look seriously at what's in the Car Account at the back.

TC

TeamEvil wrote: Colt ! Another one that I knew of but forgot. Thanks ! I'm in New England, Massachusetts to be specific, which makes it a double hit. Loads of sand and salt from November through April and a mid-eighties cut off for emissions testing/visual. Gotta be old to get it on the road.

Hey Tom,

96 is the emissions cut off, so have at it. Plenty more to choose from now. I would get a mid 90's Escort or Protege myself.

Here's your new car, Tom:

http://boston.craigslist.org/gbs/cto/4587694005.html

Your welcome.

My Mother has a standard Prism/Corolla and it is great in the snow.

+1 on the Cavalier/Sunfire.

Have you seen how many organ donors there are in the wreckers for these cars? Cheap-parts-o-plenty!

Too new for me. I can fix most anything from the mid-eighties down, hate to have to spend money on a computer or ignition, or injection on a Prism ready to crap out on everything else. I'm looking for a car that has already crapped out and is all set to be brought back to life.

Our local yards like to scrap for 'em weight. They go pretty quickly as the yards(s) crush right on the premises and truck the flats away daily. No much of anything in the way of decent hard parts available.

I think that I have a line on a Ghia coupe for a price that I can afford. Needs a ton of work, but I have everything necessary right down cellar, I'll know soon enough. Would have MUCH rather have found a mid-eighties Escort near by, but the Ghia will work. Need to get something by next month in order to have the time to re-build and sort it out for the Fall/Winter.

I know all of the tricks for getting good heat out of the air cooled VW engine, so no problem there. Disconnect the front brakes and run snow tires on the rear and it'll perform like a tractor regardless of the weather.

Fuego!

In reply to TeamEvil:

I've been driving beater EFI cars since I've been driving, never has EFI made me walk. Feel free to be a masochist if you want though.

Hey Tom, see this thread:

http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/200x-classifieds/nice-rwd-626-on-ebay/89184/page1/

It would be a shame to subject it to one of our winters, but it checks your old car box.

" . . . never has EFI made me walk."

Until is does; which is probably during my second week of ownership.

When I start the Mustang, I have no idea why it started. No clue. Something in the coil packs and TPS and injection and OBD2 says, "Start !" and it does.

I really don't want to be sitting in an Old Mazda cranking the engine and have it not start and not know why. Looking for simple, understandable, run forever, carburated technology that I can hit with a stick to fix it.

I know that there have been MANY folks who've had good relationships with later cars, I'm not one of those. I know to stay within my comfort zone, I think that I may have found something. Waiting to find out.

Oh, thanks for the tip Chris, but a grand for a non-runner and another grand to ship runs it up past my budget. Neat looking ride though !