Moving from the luxury that the drop-top BMW offers, to absolute day-to-day basicness. This 1982 Mitsubishi Galant is the 1600cc basic model, and I don’t think there’s much else there than door locks and steerable front wheels.
And this is pretty much how a 30-year-old Japanese car looks like in Finland; it’s not mollycoddled, but welded and bondoed up whenever necessary. It’s a continous fight against rust, and I’m sure this Galant will be fixed up year after year, inspection after inspection.
Accidentally debadged, the Mitsu looks surprisingly anonymous. You could probably pass it off as a Lonsdale.
The front passenger door has been swapped to a green one, but the windshield is at least from 1996 – as denoted by the remains of the tax sticker.
The rear fender is having a tough time, and it’s probably been redone countless times.
Somehow, there’s something I like about these Galants. There’s one some way up north from me, for sale for 700 eur. One retired teacher owner, significantly less rust, valid inspection. Same wheel silver colour, of course, but clean.
Since the Sapporo you see lurking has now been sold (and will be delivered to the next owner in a week), I’m again free to look at another car with a certain amount of seriousness. And a classic Galant might be in the cards – but basically anything is.
[Images: Copyright 2013 Hooniverse/Antti Kautonen]
I like these because Reclining Rear Seats.
Lonsdale!!! Now that's an obscure reference. I remember that my mind was blown when I first read that New Zealand had ITS VERY OWN CAR COMPANY! And not just building one-off supercar wannabes, but real family sedans that I never knew existed. It was like the first time I heard of Holden.
Then I figured out what a Lonsdale really is. Needless to say, I was disappointed.
Locking gas flap… I don't think I've seen those in any car in the US.
The third-gen Civic had one for sure.
You've never seen a Toyota Tacoma?
First-gen anyway; the second-gen Tacos don't have them.
I'm not sure when the 2nd gen started, but my '98 & my folks' 03 have 'em.
But that's not really the point. I'd wager that a bunch of people here can provide numerous examples of cars in the US market with keyed gas flaps, both domestic & foreign.
The second-gen began with the 2005 model year. A complete redesign, and a little bigger than the first-gen Tacos.
They weren't uncommon in the '80s, if I recall from my childhood. Since then, they seem to have gone away.
More interior remote releases now? Or maybe just fewer stripper/base models sold now vs (your childhood) years ago.
Well, I was born in '91, so I remember the mid-to-late-'80s Japanese iron rusting away when I was a kid. Remote releases have been a thing since about then on new designs – I know the '90 Accord had one, until the cable snapped, but I can't think of any earlier examples offhand.
For whatever reason, my '96 Saab opens itself up to any passerby. I should probably have a frank discussion with it at some point.
How about:
– Headlight wipers on Japanese car
– Block heater
– Antenna with that exact look, very popular in Finland
– Wooden ball seat cover
We didn't get these in the USA, but maybe we should have. We got a Galant Sigma several years later, that has similar proportions.
I wonder if it has air shocks in the rear, due to the weight of all that Bondo?