Volvo had some great ads in the '80s and early '90s.

Good calls, both. The Miata and CRX are both light on their feet and distinctly lacking in lard. Making them the anti-Krispy Kremes of automobiledom.

I know. I DD'd a 1990 245 for ages (with an autotragic, no less) and it was damned slow, but still fun to hoon. But ever since picking up an '88 745Ti, with a stick, well...it's no contest. Still, I've always had a soft spot for 240s. I really, really need to find a nice, rust-free 245 Turbo with a stick.

Next you're going to tell me that the Stig doesn't do all of his (her? its?) own driving...

Obvious answer is obvious. Any RWD turbo Volvo wagon with a stick. Tough as nails, lots of room, amenable to more boost...

This is definitely the correct answer for 1984.

That's closer to a '77 than an '87 (also it's the 4-cylinder, not the V6).

I know what you mean.

In 1972, with emissions regs starting to strangle the coolness right out of American iron, it had to be the 3.0 CSL.

I hear ya. This fall, it'll be two years since I bought the Simca and rolled it into my garage. Granted, it's taken some time to gather up the parts I'll need to rebuild the engine (and replace the clutch while I've got the engine out), but mostly it's a challenge to find the time to work on it. It is exponentially…

That's based on the four cars in my household that actually get driven. I'm not counting the two project cars ('59 Volvo Duett and '60 Simca Aronde) in the garage. I have no idea how many miles are on the Duett and the Simca only has 32,000 miles, so it would bring my average down. That being said, the Simca hasn't…

Nah, just a semi-stingy guy who would rather repair and maintain an old car than make payments on a new one. Also, I own mostly Volvos. That, by itself, might explain everything.

I'll let you know when I figure it out... (rough mental calculation of collective mileage on cars in driveway= 805,000).

While this was one of the most fun QOTDs in recent memory, you guys blew it on #1 with the afterthought inclusion of the GNX, which clearly falls outside any reasonable definition of the malaise era, including your own.

The Pinto Cruising Wagon (but not the Cruising Van, because a factory custom van kind of misses the point).

Shit, we thought so alike on this question that it looks like I plagiarized your answer!

The revival of the AMX name certainly captures the "Spirit" of the malaise era...

Read again, I said no GNX. The GNX and the GN are not the same thing...

Damn you, Nibbles!

You know, I always picture them with the wheels that are on this car. And in red, with some kind of crazy spider decal on the hood. Probably because I had a model of this car when I was a kid and that's pretty much what it looked like. Although a lot of the street Monzas are tacky as hell, it's not in a bad way. …