10 Cars That Sank Detroit

[Ronbo]

That list is BS, a lot of cars on it were quite profitable.

Ford Tempo converted many to Celicas and Camerys (missed this gem).

Never mentioned those Suzuki/GM pieces of junk (another diamond in the rough).

The first Ford Ranger (Isuzu Pup) (but, but, it's Japanese! It's got to be good)

Chrysler's Mitsubishi-built turds like the Talon...

I've owned several Chevy Astro vans - best darn fleet vehicle ever made, replaced by yet another wrong wheel drive, under-powered mini-van that doesn't sell.

Pinto's and Vega's - no where near as bad as the Datsuns and tin-can Toyotas from that era.

Subaru - (can you say frame that bows under the weight of a four-banger)

Seems to me the crappiest cars were usually, brace yourselves, THE CHEAPEST!!!

LTD's were good, T-birds, Caddys (I agree not the Cimmeron), Lincolns, Malibu's, Bonnevilles, Mustangs, 88's, 98's, LaSabers...

My general experiance getting into a Camery or Civic is similar to the above cheap, crappy cars...

[Cobrabill]

[quote=Ronbo;Pinto's and Vega's - no where near as bad as the Datsuns and tin-can Toyotas from that era....[/QUOTE]

That is catagorically false.All of them rusted quick.So that point is a wash.As far as drivelines go and build quality,Datsuns were superior to anything coming from Detroit in the 70's.

[joyridin']

Originally Posted by Cobrabill

That is catagorically false.All of them rusted quick.So that point is a wash.As far as drivelines go and build quality,Datsuns were superior to anything coming from Detroit in the 70's.

Agreed. My Vega launched the engine at 55k. Had a Toyota Celica we used as a field car with over 120k miles. Took the engine and trans from the Celica, put it in the Vega, and after many, many miles, sold the car.

If it didn't rot out, it's probably still on the road today. Had a lot more power than the Vega engine also.

[Ronbo]

Originally Posted by Cobrabill

That is catagorically false.All of them rusted quick.So that point is a wash.As far as drivelines go and build quality,Datsuns were superior to anything coming from Detroit in the 70's.

I wouldn't say so, friend of mine used to drive around with two or three of 'em stuck to the front bumper of his Polara.

Datsuns were so bad they had to change the name to Nisson... Didn't help much though.

[Cobrabill]

Originally Posted by Ronbo

1)I wouldn't say so, friend of mine used to drive around with two or three of 'em stuck to the front bumper of his Polara.

2)Datsuns were so bad they had to change the name to Nisson... Didn't help much though.

1)I would.The Z car won it's class 10 years running-no American car has ever done that.
Datsun also wrote the book on compact pick-ups.

2)It's Nissan.And it was always Nissan-the parent corp.They dropped the "Datsun" marque and promptly lost 500,000 sales(units) in one year.So again,you are wrong.

[Ronbo]

Originally Posted by Cobrabill

1)I would.The Z car won it's class 10 years running-no American car has ever done that.
Datsun also wrote the book on compact pick-ups.

2)It's Nissan.And it was always Nissan-the parent corp.They dropped the "Datsun" marque and promptly lost 500,000 sales(units) in one year.So again,you are wrong.

Why do I get the feeling if there was a Jap Cobra available, you'd buy it...

Yes I'm aware that Nissan was the parent company. As far as the best in class, I guess it was the best crappy Jap car. (although the RX-7 would run circles around the Z)

[Cobrabill]

Originally Posted by Ronbo

Why do I get the feeling if there was a Jap Cobra available, you'd buy it...

Yes I'm aware that Nissan was the parent company. As far as the best in class, I guess it was the best crappy Jap car. (although the RX-7 would run circles around the Z)

Jap Cobra?Nice non-sequitur.
Back to best in class-your ignorance is showing.Take a look at who that beat to win it.

BTW-name an American car that won it's class 10 years running.

RX-8?That Rotary pile of junk?That's laughable.Since the Z was busy winning it's class,that means the RX-8 was busy LOSING it.


Tucson Unified School District still has 1981 Vintage Datsun 720 Pick-ups IN SERVICE today.Who is still using 70's vintage Ford Or GM products today in revenue service?

One more poser for you:If Datsuns were just"crappy Jap stuff",then why did Pete Brock race them and win a sh!t-pot of races in them?

[Ron61]

I always liked the "Z" cars and had several friends who owned them. They seemed to be as well built and ran better than most other cars in their class. They used to have a lot of them that ran at the road course at Thunder Hill and they did very well.

Ron