California Craigslist: The “… just frame damage nothing big” BMW M Coupe

A BMW M Coupe remains very high on my “must own” list. I recently took to Craigslist to get an idea of what they might be going for behind the Orange Curtain. My eyes were instantly drawn to a link with the words “1999 Bmw M Coupe – $10,000″.

That seems like a great deal for a clownshoe in solid shape. The seller states that the car is in fact in great shape, and runs “like brand new.” So why is the owner only asking for $10k when all the “maintains” has been done, including the “breaks”?

The car has a salvage title. “It was just the frame nothing big”

Ugh. Check out the ad for yourself, here.

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Is This The Magic School Bus?

There aren’t that many Craigslist ads that I just laugh out loud at… well this one is an exception. Here’s a 1966 Ford Econoline that is so sketchy, even nerdy Arnold wouldn’t ride in it. … Continue Reading

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Hooniverse Early Korean Car Weekend – The Ford Festiva and Ford Aspire

Continuing on with the Hooniverse Early Korean Car Weekend, let’s discover a very popular Ford model that wasn’t a Ford at all, the Ford Festiva, and the follow-up model, the Ford Aspire. Remember the Hyundai Excel post I did earlier today about the Voluntary Import Restrictions placed on Japanese car companies? Well, Mazda was under the same restrictions, and could not furnish Ford with a fuel efficient sub-compact, and the European Ford Fiesta was way too expensive for the States, so it turned to its new partner Kia to produce a Fiesta replacement. By the way, did you know that Kia changed their logo to appear similar to the Ford Blue Oval? Let’s discover the Festiva, and the follow-up Aspire, by Kia.

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Hooniverse Early Korean Car Weekend – The Hyundai Excel

Welcome to the Sunday Edition of the Hooniverse Early Korean Car Weekend. This weekend is used as a celebration as to how far the Korean Car Companies have come as far as quality, reliability, and even desirability. There was a time in which the cars built in South Korea were vehicles that you settled for rather than ones that you really wanted, and you only have to look at certain events within this country to see why that was. Starting in 1981, there was the Voluntary Import Restriction campaign imposed on all the Japanese brands coming into the United States. This was seen as a way of protecting the Domestic Market Brands, but it actually did the exact opposite. Because of this restriction (which limited Japanese car imports to just 1.68-million for the first year) Japanese manufacturers started setting up plants here in the US for mass market vehicles, dealers who sold Japanese brands started using “Adjusted Market Value” price hikes for these brands, and the cars that were being imported started to be higher content or luxury brands like Honda’s Acura line. But it also opened up the market to a Korean upstart in 1986, Hyundai. With a price starting at around $5,000, and with a better perceived quality image (at least over the Yugo introduced a year earlier) the 1986 Hyundai Excel sold close to 170,000 units. This was the first Korean Car introduced here in the US.

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Hooniverse Early Korean Car Weekend – The Kia Sephia

This is the continuation of the Hooniverse Early Korean Car Weekend, where we explore some of the early Korean Cars made available within the US and Canada, to celebrate how far the Korean Car industry has come as far as quality, reliability, and yes, even desirability. Kia is South Korea’s oldest car company, founded in 1944 as a manufacturer of steel tubing and bicycle parts, then onto manufacturing complete bicycles, motorcycles, trucks, and then cars starting in 1974. In 1986, with a partnership between Ford and Mazda, Kia produced several Mazda derived vehicles for both domestic sales in South Korea, as well as key export countries. These models include the Kia Pride (based on the Mazda 121) and the Avella, which were sold in North America as the Ford Festiva and Ford Aspire. However, the first car to be sold as a Kia here in North America is the Sephia, which started in four dealerships located in the Portland Oregon region in 1994. Let’s explore the first car available in this country with a Kia Nameplate… the Sephia.

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Hooniverse Early Korean Car Weekend – The Hyundai Pony

Hello, and welcome to another Hooniverse Weekend Edition. I know, I am a little late at posting content on these pages, but I say better late than never. This will be the Hooniverse Early Korean Car Weekend, in which we explore some of the early Korean Cars that came to market here in the US (and one particularly early example for Canada) to celebrate how far the Korean Auto Manufacturers have come as far as quality, reliability, and desirability. Come Tuesday, I will be reviewing a brand new car that originates from South Korea, and on Thursday I will be reviewing a car from the same company that received a mid-term refresh, so watch for those. In the meantime, let’s start out with this weekend with a review of the Hyundai Pony, with an example that I found for sale!

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Hooniverse Lost Car Weekend – The 1988-92 Daihatsu Charade

Did you know that Daihatsu sold cars in the US? I’m saving the other model for a posting later, but the Charade 3-door hatchback and the 4-door sedan were sold on theses shores for a total of four years. They were well styled, economical cars that didn’t quite get a foothold in the States. When was the last time you saw one?

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Hooniverse Lost Car Weekend – The 1982-88 Nissan Stanza Wagon, and the 1990 Nissan Axxess

There were a number of small minivan like vehicles offered in North America over the years, most notably by Mitsubishi. The Expo range of vehicles were sold through Chrysler Dealers as the Colt Wagon, Colt Vista, or the Eagle Summit. However, Nissan was active in this portion of the market, and introduced the Nissan Prairie in 1982. These were known as the Nissan Stanza Wagon here in the US, and the Nissan Multi to our friends in Canada. It was both innovative and useful, to the point of invisibility. The Prairie was redesigned for 1990, and wore the Axxess nameplate in North America, and was offered for only one year in the US, and soldiered on to 1995 for Canada. When was the last time you saw either of these?

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Hooniverse Lost Car Weekend – The 1985-89 Dodge Lancer

Continuing on with the Lost Car Weekend, and I realized that Lost Cars were not confined to imports, but a few domestic models as well, like this one. This is the Dodge Lancer, and it was unusual because it was a five door hatchback instead of the usual 4-door sedan. It was one of the cleanest designs to emerge from Chrysler during this time period, but it was still k-car based. Let’s rediscover the Dodge Lance from the 80s.

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Hooniverse Lost Car Weekend – The 1976-79 Buick Opel by Isuzu

Here at Hooniverse we try and entertain you with though provoking content, and that is what this weekend is for, to make you aware of some rather obscure vehicles that were sold in North America that you may have never known about. Our next Lost Car is the 1976 to 1979 Buick Opel by Isuzu. This was an update of the Opel Kadette, and spawned such cars as the Isuzu Gemini in Japan, and the Chevrolet Chevette here on these shores. GM decided that it was getting expensive to import proper Opels from Germany to North America, so it was decided to import the Isuzu Gemini and simply rebadge the car as an Opel for Buick Dealers. Let’s all get reacquainted with the Buick Opel by Isuzu…

… Continue Reading

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