Counterpoint: They were inexpensive to buy, comfortable for cruising down the highway, and cost pennies to keep in proper working order.

Chrysler was making rusty shit buckets long before the K. My dad had a 1973 Plymouth Valiant. Pretty sure it was made from compressed rust.

The Tesla Model S.

Say what you will about manual door locks, but there’s certainly no need to air gap them.

The 90s era Pontiac Grand Am. Those damn things are like cockroaches and I still see them constantly.

Not gonna lie, our 2007 Ford Focus just wont die.

Six V-twins or get out.

Yours was based on the Mazda Protege... It’d be hard to not prefer it, even if only for the purposes of powertain reliability... The Mazda 1.8l DOHC might have been one of the sweetest engines of the era, if you had a GT

That’s what I always think of when I see Italian super cars come with fancy monogrammed tool kits.

This car brings back memories; my mom gave me her 86 Escort 4-door hatch (which was worth basically a bit more than scrap) at a time when my current car was falling apart. If I’d known what a piece of garbage it was, I probably would’ve passed on it. This car had the 1.9l gas motor, and even it was gutless. change…

Back before we met, wife had a mid 80s Escort when they were new, and has occasionally spoken of it. I’m pretty sure that if I came home with one at any price, I’d be sleeping in it for the next few nights, at best.  

The current nostalgia wave for ‘80s shitboxes is baffling to me. I started driving in the ‘90s, which means all the cars I and my friends drove were from the ‘80s. Just a massive pile of failure and unreliability all around. And the cars were garbage too. 

If I told my wife I paid $590 for an escort, I’d probably have to get a divorce.

I remember these new, I was 17 and HECK NO! Theses were bad new. I could foot race by EX’s 84 escort wagon automatic and nearly beat it.

I had an 82 Mercury LN7, Escort Platform but different motor etc. Car was junk even by the standards of the 80s. Made it to 80K before I found out what a timing belt replacement and interferance motor was. After a replacement head it ran a lot better

If the car is actually in as good a shape as the pic appears, it belongs in the “Museum Of Miserable Shit”, because it looks incredibly well-preserved.

A friend of mine owned one of these, albeit with the gas motor and automatic, so a less than ideal powertrain. When he bought his replacement car, I had to drive it through a valley. I floored it to get up a hill, it made much noise but by the time I reached the top it was going 20km/h less than at the bottom.

They definitely worked fine. But they’re very difficult to make meet emissions requirements.

Thank you for sharing this interesting information. My dad and I used to work on Type 4s, specifically the wagons. I think he got bored with the automatic and moved a manual from a two door type 412 to his personal 412. The kids at school would make fun of that car but I loved listening to the shifting of the gears.…

Get in your time machine and go back to 2018-2019, when VW offered 6 year/72,000 mile warranties on all new cars.