The Fit is a lot more spacious in general, it feels like easily half again the amount of usable space a Fiesta has, in the same footprint.

12th is the biggest problem spot on these ‘boxes, once they get some miles on them the 12th gear detent is either balky as all hell or barely there. And it’s completely unpredictable which way it’ll be. You either get stuck in 12th and can’t get through it even with quantum-double-clutching or have to guess where it…

“Meghan McCain’s face...is not...a Cadillac Seville,”

It would be fun to have a Triumph Acclaim, but I want it left-hand-drive. Was it sold on the Continent or am I looking at sourcing just the badges from the UK, and a gen 2 Honda Civic sedan separately?

I wonder if GM ever considered a version of this for the US market. 1975 was the last year for all the big cruiser B-body convertibles except the Caddy that got one more year, 1976 was the first for the Chevette which was part of the  same T-Car family as the Kadett...

I still think of 100 years ago as being horse-and-buggy days. That’s a car. It’s not even a “horseless carriage”, it’s a fully-realized car. There doesn’t even seem to be any brass on it.

They never even took possession of the 2nd Defender, the dealer damaged it irreparably with the wiring splice they had to make over the course of installing the official approved Land Rover accessory winch. 

“...literally why not just go to neighborhoods with a bag of taillights and give them out.”

FCA needs to lay off the lawyers and get the engineers to work on a smaller, simpler, cheaper mini-Wrangler if they think this is a market worth going after.

My last rental was a Fiesta, half a size smaller inside for the same footprint than the Honda Fit I ended up buying but otherwise similarly more-than-OK to drive. I was specifically after a manual while I can still get one so the Fiesta’s DCT issues didn’t bother me - and it wasn’t bad short-term in a rental that was…

I keep forgetting about those, the only post-2003 cars I’ve owned have all been hatchbacks.

It’s a shame the Dauphines sold new in the US would’ve lacked this feature due to mandatory sealed beams. Too bad the turn signals - which would’ve incorporated parking lights on US cars as we’re mostly familiar with - weren’t mounted on the hood where a similar setup could’ve been devised.

It reminds me of pre-computer-animation Family Guy when all the cars were generic except Brian’s Prius. It was a running joke that worked on two levels - not just how he fit the stereotype of hybrid early-adopters but that the only car that was a recognizable make and model was owned and driven by the talking dog.

A single universal standard would be great but...

I got the sense that there was a period where BMW would not allow Mini to build a 4/5-door car and this, on top of the half-doored Clubman is the final product of that era before they relented with the first Countryman.

And imagine that further souped-up to being a Lancia Delta Integrale whose Nonna had gone through Ellis Island.

In my mind’s eye the Gr. A homologation version would have much less Shelby identification - one small decal nestled between the capital O and the dot of the i on the Omni hatch badge - and be available only in ice blue metallic or maroon metallic with matching interiors like 90% of the base models seemed to be.

(Posted to the wrong thread, please delete)

I agree, it belongs in the pictures. It could even have a role as the kid protagonist’s parents’ car provided said kid bikes or rides the school bus everywhere and gets his own car (something RWD and at least mechanically related to something with a following. Or at least easy to fix like a non-AC manual Chevette)…

It sort of reminds me of those old 15-passenger vans you were  going on about, a couple weeks ago, in that they just tacked more vehicle onto the end. Only difference is that this is (a little more than) half-height.