Hooniverse Weekend Edition – Get Ready for Hooniverse “Do You Miss It” Weekend
Last weekend, I did a Panther Edition Weekend honoring the demise of the Ford Crown Vicoria and its siblings, and while many of you enjoyed the postings, there were a few who were openly vocal about what a waste of time it was waxing poetically about the Panthers.
Well, this weekend will be a little different, and instead of one recently discontinued platform, I will be featuring other recently discontinued vehicles, as well as vehicles that are on death row, but are still being produced. So, be prepared to answer this question: Do You Miss the Kia Rondo, Mitsubishi Eclipse, Pontiac G5, Hyundai Entourage, Dodge Caliber SRT-4, or anything else I can come up with?
Related posts:
- Hooniverse Weekend Edition – Get Ready for Classic Toyota Weekend
- Hooniverse Weekend Edition – Get Ready for Hooniverse Van-Tastic Weekend
- Hooniverse Weekend Edition: Get Ready for Maximum Corvair Day Tomorrow with a Question of the Weekend Today!
- Hooniverse Weekend Edition: Get Ready for Maximum Showdown Weekend
- Hooniverse Weekend Edition: Get Ready for Maximum Convertible Weekend
Just in case I'm busy this weekend:
No, only the DSM era, no, no, no.
As a Canadian, not only has the Kia Rondo not gone anywhere, it's actually mysteriously popular!
Weird ass Canadian exclusives would also make a pretty great weekend, by the way.
The
Chevy CaptivaSaturn Vue is unfortunately alive here too. And it's the frozen in time Opel Antara, not the Holden Captiva updated model.I thought that was a weird zombie-fied fleet only model. I've definitely never seen one at a GM dealer, or on the streets.
His here is Brazil though, I think.
Well ain't I just easily confused.
Yes, here is Brazil, or there to you guys. Now I'm confused.
Yeah, your here is Brazil, my here is Pennsylvania and his here is Canuckistan.
A very international group, if I may say so myself.
Motion seconded.
The Pontiac Tempest (1987-1991) that parks near my local sandwich shop needs a little love.
Asüna Sunrunner FTW!
Obvious: I miss the Pontiac G8 GXP
Obvious: I miss the Sky Redline
Obvious: I miss the Lightning
Not so obvious: I miss the Prelude
Pontiac Solstice Coupe? That really had potential had it been given the standard 5 year upgrade lifespan.
I hope the G8 shows back up as an Caprice. Lutz is back so there is hope.
…and given a non-explosive differential.
Early S2000s have the same problem; hell, the only modern "affordable" roadster that doesn't is the Miata, and it only makes like half the horsepower of the other options on the market.
Z3's never had that problem. Sure, the sub-frame will begin ripping from the frame at higher mileage, but the differential is fine!
that's avoidable with a $55 set of strut mount reinforcements before it happens. The E36 chassis gets a bad rap that is almost 100% due to stupid owners.
I miss the Prelude too, but I'd rather it stay dead than be resurrected as a fatter, slower, CR-Z (as seems likely under Honda's current gormless regime).
Sometimes, silently, I call new, 2 door Accords Preludes. Does that make me bad?
Yarrhh, from time to time I call them Moby, as they are the size of whales and only strange, effeminate men drive them.
Do not miss the Lightning for Ford has blessed us with the Raptor. Roush and Saleen can both give us Lightning like vehicles.
Indeed. PowerTryp speaks truth.
But their frames are made of hardened putty!
I'm convinced the Civic Si has rendered the Prelude somewhat redundant.
Well, only with the blandified 2012 model did the Civic Si finally match or beat the 1993 Prelude VTEC's 0-60, braking, skidpad, or slalom times, according to Motor Trend which has its old numbers up online– so I tend to disagree. I think a dedicated sport coupe platform can beat a souped-up economy car, and I guess soon enough we'll see if the new Toyota/Subaru coupe bears out this notion.
Fair enough. Still, how much more power could the Prelude take without switching to RWD (somewhat unlikely for Honda, S2000 not withstanding), or turn it from a lithe, nimble performer to something a little too brutal, too overpowered? Would it be enough to distance itself from the Civic, which has the benefit of most development costs being funded by hundreds of thousands of commuterpods?
Oh yeah, I agree that the cheap hot hatch/sedans have made the FWD sport coupe redundant. A new prelude would have to be RWD or AWD to be worth bothering with. The only problem is that to be a market success, it would have to be the size and price of an Si, yet clearly outperform it, which is hardly in Honda's interest. So maybe I just talked myself into agreeing with your original statement.
I SEE NO OLDSMOBILES! INFADEL!
Alero akbar!!
YEEEEEEEESSSSSSS!
ALEROS FO EVA!
Also…. CAPITALS!!
I tried to find some "Alero Porno" in google image search but this is the only thing that came up.
<img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_lCEJO0TnzwY/RwABBOn46GI/AAAAAAAAABU/8CPWnyGR8Lg/s320/cumbiachilombiana.jpg">
There's a small part of me that seriously wants to find an Alero coupe with the Ecotec and 5-speed. I also adore the Shortstar powered Intrigues.
I thought that was only an Aurora powertrain– always learn something new around here. Question of the moment– how many totally V6's did GM have in production concurrently?
As of 2003, they had the 3800, the 60-Degree V6 (3.1/3.4/3.5/3.9), the Shortstar, and the 54-Degree V6 (from the Catera, first-gen CTS, Saturn L-Series, and Saab 9-5).
Don't forget the trucks' 229/4.3/LU3.
the 54 was in the early VUEs as well I believe.
You're right, and they replaced it with Honda's 3.5L V6.
I know this from working at a Saturn dealership… for some reason people were mad that it took over half a year to get a water pump for their VUE because Saab stopped making the part and the people who purchased the tooling hadn't started production yet.
6 degrees of separation.
/that's all I got…
Yes, that version was [puts on sunglasses]… intriguing.
(YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!)
Well, the sample list is a "no, no and no", but I'm sure some better exampes will be noted.
(hint: NSX)
I nominate Mercury.
<img src="http://snailsontheblock.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/500x_mercury_tombstone.jpg?w=500&h=333"width="500"/>
I forgot to put flowers on the Mercury grave this year. I feel terribad.
It's not too late, and that would be a sweet gesture.
So it would be cars we don't really miss.
I don't miss any of those. I do see a Rondo or two about once a week.
How about the GM "Dustbuster" minivans? You know the Lumina APV, Pontiac Transsport and my personal fav, the Oldsmobile Shilouette
I had a '91 Olds Shilouette which I bought as my first car from my parents! I LOVED the thing!
The Cadillac of minivans!
I want to ride in / drive one to bring back some childhood nostalgia. I don't miss it per se, just everything else about being a kid.
Someone needs to buy one, craft an enormous fiberglass handle for the roof, add tow hooks to the rear bumper to look like charging prongs, and LeMons the Hell out of it.
Either that, or get a white one, add a red stripe along the beltline, and "NCC-1701 / 7 Galileo" lettering on the side…
I'd rather every second car on the road was a Rondo instead of another effing crossover.
I saw an Amphicar driving up the Interstate ramp the other day…
Sounds like a reasonable Interstate-traveling car to me. Probably because this happens annually about 12 miles north of my home in Fargo.
<img src="http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/12/2011/04/oceantest2.jpg" width="500"/>
That's what happens when your state is completely flat.
Pontiac, please. and some AMC for Mike the Dog?
"I will be featuring other recently discontinued vehicles, as well as vehicles that are on death row, but are still being produced."
i didn't follow the instructions. sorry.
Is the Dodge Neon too long ago?
<img src="http://static.cargurus.com/images/site/2008/01/20/20/54/2002_dodge_neon_4_dr_r_t_sedan-pic-51493.jpeg" width="500">
If it's not, the Magnum isn't either
<img src="http://www.automotive-insight.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/dodge-magnum-5.jpg" width=500>
(I wonder how they got a Pontiac hood to fit).
I don't miss any of those but there are several that survive in name alone. In other words, they are still made but their best years are seemingly behind them. Subaru Legacy comes to mind, as does the Mini, if you consider the New Mini an extension of the original. A stretch, I know.
I don't mind the new Mini so much as the spinoffs. The Countryman looks like that scene at the end of Live and Let Die with that shark exploding bullet and the weird balloon special effects.
Dodge Stratus? My current daily driver is growing on me. It handles great [compared to my other boats] the underpowered 4 returns great mpgs and is slow enough to avoid speeding in.
One time I brought my Dakota in for service on a Saturday, and got a '04-ish Stratus loaner for the day after the service manager decided I'd been
drooling on the Viperwearing out the Caravan's stow-n-go seatsmoping around the showroom enough already. I honestly liked the car and thought it to be at least good enough for the "I have to buy a commuter car tomorrow, what makes/models am I looking for" list.Right, and rocking out the beater vibe with black steelies ™, makes it at least a little scarier to other cars. The early-rust-scratched-up-crappy-paint-faded-headlights stage means I don't care too much when I bump things / other cars / people. I like to think of it as the newage bluesmobile.
The Eclipse has gone downhill since the AWD 2nd generation coupe
so no I dont miss any of those
I DO miss station wagons that are actual station wagons (not the CTS wagon)
The Dodge Magnum was a looker until the stupid redesign made it bland
Still if I had the dough a Volvo V70 or a SAAB 9-3 Sportcombi would be nice
Seconded on the V70.
Manual Volvos are dead, long live manual Volvos.
It probably helps that I've never driven it, but I like the Caliber SRT-4. Sure, it's unrefined and overpowered. In great Cheap Performance Mopar tradition, of course.
I just saw a mitsubishi eclipse this morning and though, wow, nice lines. Then I read up on the car and realized it weighs between 3,200 and 3,472 pounds. What the hell is it made out of? A car of that size shouldn't weigh THAT much. Our Mazda5 weighs 3,400 pounds and it's a van.
<img> <a href="http://;http://fp.images.autos.msn.com/merismus/gallery/c450006a.jpg” target=”_blank”>;http://fp.images.autos.msn.com/merismus/gallery/c450006a.jpg
I miss my Ford Freestar. I know it's not very hoon of me and I made up for it with a six shift Mazda 5. Honestly I miss it though. It did anything you could ever ask of a vehicle. It never left me on the side of the road. It carried more stuff then even my family of five could throw at it. It was just the perfect utility vehicle. Well it could have used a stick and maybe a diesel but otherwise it was as good as I could have expected.
So hate me for missing a minivan but as a father of three it was a damned good Dad van. Now with Ford and GM out of the minivan game you are left with various 35-40k vans which make no sense. The Kia Sedona is the only under $30k box minivan on the market. Even Mazda got rid of the MPV.
Still as much as I like my Mazda5 there are times I miss the beast. If Ford had recalled them for the tranmission issues I'd still have it today. But they didn't, and I don't.