I’m hearing from some mechanics that the 1.5l turbos are dialled up so high that when they go to do an oil change, they’re regularly finding significant amounts of fuel in the oil.  I’m thinking those engines are going to be very short lived. 

Counterpoint - and not intended to invalidate what you’re saying:

The pickup trucks were nearly identical - early 70s, the cars had some very significant differences in trim and sheet metal from their Ford cousins.

Absolutely - they weren’t bad cars, and they were cheap. A lot of both the Reliant and Aries cars got sold as fleet vehicles for exactly that reason.

No - the Meteor was (I think) somewhat related to the Galaxie, but even that’s hard to confirm.  There’s a picture of one on Wikipedia, and it’s one of a very few I’ve ever found online.  (Ironically, the colour is darn close to the one my parents had ... and I think the specific car actually exists fairly near to me…

Don’t get me wrong, I think the K platform did wonders for saving Chrysler’s bacon.

The VW Cabriolet ... looks fairly well sorted - except lose that wrap - it looks awful on that car. The seller cites prices on BAT ... I think I’ll pass.

Volkswagen Group is rapidly falling into the badge engineering trap. The thing looks - at a glance - like an Audi A6 or A8. Even if the price is hugely lower than its Audi sibling, that’s not creating the most compelling sales story out there.

The Delica motorhome ... wins for just being unique.

This line of reasoning is the same as the “ethical oil” arguments I see regularly.

This thing looks like a late 80s Isuzu design that the designer modified and screwed up all the proportions. Too tall for its length, odd looking greenhouse as a result, and generally undistinguishing shaping - not quite 80s crisp, and not quite 90s soap bar.

Fair enough - I thought the second generation Cavalier got a lot of things “right” in terms of being a small economy car - it just felt like you were driving a 10 year old Toyota.

Okay - first things first: $12K? ND.

Yeah - the wagon was always kind of ignored ... ironically, for a while it was easier to find a wagon that had been sitting unused in some old person’s garage after they died. 

Good lord ... what coach shop had the gall to create that monstrosity?

The wagon version of the Pinto never had that problem.

Datsun 510 Wagon:

Could GM quit hitting its truck designs with the ugly stick? Please? (actually that applies to Ford and Stellantis too - these trucks are all designed to look like they’re perpetually driven by angry people (scowly-faced Jeep add-ons get the same reaction from me).

Given the general direction things are going in some areas, the Mad Max look may soon become mandatory ...

The 1990 Honda Civic. When I first saw it, my reaction was kind of “meh” - it was one of a dozen 2 door HB designs out there, and while it looked okay, the lines seemed a little bland.