Leafing through some old issues of Motor Trend, I came across this wonderful three-page ad. All of these production and race cars employed Goodyear Eagles. But which one would you rather have in your driveway? And which would you want to be far away from your property?
The first page mounts an impressive challenge to my choosing abilities. Obviously, there’s a Ferrari and a Corvette, which wield strong appeal to many. But there’s also a Mark VII LSC, arguably the best American luxury car of the 1980s. The gorgeous Allanté would still be saddled with a crummy HT engine, though.
More choices, here. Is a 328 more your style than a Testarossa? And of course, there’s the lovely Lotus Esprit. The Fiero had most of the bugs ironed out by ’88, too, if you wanted something less exotic.
And finally, the third page. There’s some red-blooded American muscle on here, in the form of the Camaro IROC-Z and Mustang GT. If a Mustang isn’t the Fox you seek, there’s a Thunderbird Turbo Coupe or a Cougar XR-7.
Picking just one of these is like picking one’s favorite child. I still have no clue which I’d pick. Can I change my own question, and make it “Pick Five”?
Olds Quad prototype.
Aston Martin
Lincoln Mark VII
Dodge Daytona
Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS
And I would have to have a blue and red car with the number 43 on it.
As always, late to the party.
In no particular order:
1. Dodge Daytona Shelby Z
2. Mercury Cougar XR-7
3. Pontiac Trans Am GTA
4. Pontiac Fiero GT
5. Chevrolet Cavalier Z24
Oddly, I really had to think about the last slot. The first three or four were pretty easy. I mostly chose the Cavalier because I really did like that revision of the original J car. And, maybe I’m getting nostalgic, but I did swim in these things back then, living close to Lordstown. I really dig Allantes, C4 Corvettes and the first W body Grand Prix was tempting also. While I only could have afforded one of these cars back in the day, maybe I’ll get lucky, hit the lotto and then re-live the late 1980’s in an automotive sense…
Better Goodyears than Firestone Steel 500’s.
My Dad, ever the cheapskate, went to a tire dealer in San Rafael, CA who was advertising steel-belted tires at an incredibly low price. They turned out to be Firestone 500s…recalled tires that had been overstamped, FARM TIRE. Undoubtedly they were illegal to be sold for highway use, which probably was why the tire dealer didn’t offer mounting but said something like, “Joe Blow down the street will mount ’em for $3 each.”
Joe Blow was a guy whose house was on the same block. He had a compressor and impact gun, a floor jack, and a tire mounting stand in his garage, and if your tires had less-than-legal tread, the charge was a dollar more, $4. Tires with legal tread were obviously being kicked back to the tire dealer to be sold as used tires.
All I can remember after that is that at least the FARM TIRES tracked straight, unlike the mismatched used tires he’d had before…and that the car never went out if the city, which meant it never exceeded 50mph (and that was a stretch).
As long as all the air bag suspension issues have ben repaired; I’d Love to have the Lincoln next to my Town Car in my driveway.
LOL! I remember this ad! I also remember (as a 13 year old) using red and green markers on it- green circled for yes (13 year old me would drive it) and red slashes if it was just not acceptable to my high standards. Then I started ranking them in order of my desire for them.
This is also about the time that I “decided” that my HS graduation present should be a Mustang GT convertible… that didn’t happen, LOL.
Could not decide on the Aston and the Mark VII, which is odd since I have owned several M7s since, including my baby that is an ’88 Lincoln Mark VII LSC (for 23 years). Awesome to see the Mark getting appreciation and other owners on CC!
IROC. Similar to my ’82 Z28, except, seemingly, like 10X as much horsepower!
I liked the Eagle GT tires that came on my Z28, so much so that I bought another set when the original set wore out. They worked very well on that car. Then, I even bought a set for my Nissan Pulsar NX. Wrong move. The ride was horrible, fuel mileage took a 20% hit, and the tires rarely made 5000 miles before needing rebalancing. All this to get slightly better cornering grip. The car obviously wasn’t designed for performance tires; I’ve never strayed far from original spec tires for a given car from then on.
Both Ferraris, both Berettas, & the Mustang GT.
Someone mentioned they were surprised that the Lincoln was chosen so much. The answer to that is easy: Where are the Germans? With the exception of the Porsche racecars, they’re notably absent and the closest thing to a Mercedes, BMW, Porsche, Audi, or VW is that LSC for decent, everyday, sport-oriented street driving (although the Supra Turbo would be okay for that purpose, too). Someone else said the GTI got Pirelli tires and I would guess the other German cars used them, as well, or maybe Michelins.
I also noticed Jaguar missing, too.
Took driver’s ed in a Baretta
Monte Carlo SS, Grand Prix SE, Grand Am SE, Mustang GT, Calais.
Always wanted a Monte SS. Still do.
From the aspect of performance and tradition I would recommend GM Holden’s HSV on the following link:
http://us8.campaign-archive2.com/?u=a3082cf468b303cbbe2b71eb0&id=f6e4f8d610&e=2731e6b40e