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Weekend Edition: 1995-2001 Fiat Bravo HGT
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Pop quiz: how many hot hatches you remember, that came with an inline-5 engine? Before the second generation Ford Focus ST and the Volvo C30 T5, there was the Fiat Bravo HGT, with the 20-valve, 155-horsepower five. The HGT never caught the top laurels in 1990s comparison tests, but it was uniquely true to its…
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Weekend Edition: 1995 Renault Laguna Evado Concept
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In late 1993, Renault unveiled the Laguna as the replacement for the 21, which was sold in the States as the AMC/Eagle/Renault Medallion for a short period. Come the 1990s, Renault moved away from the number-based model portfolio, replacing the 5 with the Clio, the 19 with the Megane and the 25 with the Safrane.…
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Weekend Edition: Volkswagen Golf Colour Concept
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Hot on the heels of last weekend’s Polo Harlekin article, here’s another example of dressing a fairly everyday car in a jazzier colour – or several – in an attempt of making it just a little bit cooler, to enable it to stand out on the street. Volkswagen offered a “Colour Concept” trim level of…
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Weekend Edition: Nissan Pulsar N10/N11/N12
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Nissan’s Pulsar line has awakened recently after years of slumber. In 2015, you’ve been able to walk into a Nissan dealership in Europe and get yourself a swanky new Pulsar, which continues the path laid down by the Sunny and the Almera in earlier decades, both originally available as Pulsars in Japan. Of course, in…
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Weekend Edition: 1983-1987 Toyota Corolla ZX EFI Liftback
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The mid-1980s Toyota Corolla remains my favorite Corolla of all, as it combined the airy-glasshoused five-door version seen here, the rear wheel drive AE86 variants that were to become cult cars later on, the three-door hot hatch FX, and the previous-generation wagon that was dressed with a more modern look to survive until 1987. Later…
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Weekend Edition: 1985-1988 Opel Corsa GT
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This weekend, I’ll be focusing on quirky versions of once-everyday cars, ones that were represented in promotional material in glorious, eye-catching yellow. It’s obviously worked well for a long time: take an otherwise boring, appliance-like car, add some interesting trim, spray it in exciting yellow and the brochure practically writes itself. The first one to…
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Weekend Edition: On the Polo Harlekin
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That recent stroll around the junkyard near Hamburg, Germany, left a lasting impression. The Volkswagen Polo Harlekin appealed to me perhaps stronger than before: seeing a partially disassembled one teetering above a regular blue one drove the point home that it would make actual, yet ludicrous sense to buy Harlekins now, as there still are…
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Weekend Edition: The Lure of the 800 Euro Car
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I’ve decided I won’t be buying another beater this fall. It’s an easy decision to make, since I still have four cars under my ownership: the Miata, the 205, the Sierra and the Polo. The Volkswagen is going to be reassembled by someone else, as it’s painfully apparent I won’t be fixing the engine together…
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Weekend Edition: Hooniverse Goes for a German Junkyard Run
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Just a few days ago, I was in Hamburg, Germany. We had a few hours to kill in the area, so naturally it was suggested that we go see a sizeable junkyard just a couple minutes’ drive from my friend’s place. “It’s one of the biggest yards in Northern Germany. And there are a lot…
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Weekend Edition: Twofer Hoon Meeting Pleasures
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As it seems fellow Hoon Anti has been out and about cruising all over the European countryside with a bunch of buds (at least that is what that Book about my Face tells this olelongrooffan), this olelongrooffan thought a few sights of what this olelongrooffan has seen around the Ozark Mountains this past few weeks…
