This, like any other endeavor, has to start somewhere. But first, an introduction. Where better to start than the explanation for the Courier typeface? I'm an analog hound. As I write this, the Alan Parsons cassette title Ammonia Avenue plays in the background. In the corner, an IBM Selectric III sits. Given the influence of these things on my life, selecting this font was the least I could do.
Maybe you're getting the impression that I prefer older things to new. Maybe you're right. But some equivocation is necessary here. I'm no Luddite. As this is to be a blog about things automotive, let us start by establishing that I view a beam style torque wrench to be an effective but inferior implement, but disfavor shift paddles. Does that sort things out? I hope so. At least for now. More on that later. As you'll discover, discussion is always welcome.
So let's dive right in, eh? What's getting me these days is the current knack of automotive reviewers of one stripe or another to denigrate the technology of the past via direct comparison with the present. Hardly seems fair. Regardless of your age, picture your parents having a sit-down with you to compare your accomplishments (and antics) of today in direct contrast with those of some 30 or more years past. Not necessarily a pretty picture. You didn't know what you do now. But let us suppose that you did the best you could at the time.
And let us also suppose that your best was pretty damn good...
And with that, we have thus laid the foundation work for a discussion of what, in my opinion, was the greatest decade. The 1980s.
I'll make no apologies for my biases, but I'll do what I can to buttress my assertions with support from my own arsenal. You may not always agree with me, but I hope that you'll find this a forum of great interest and interaction. This is not to be a "johnny come lately" compendium of cars that every teenager of every generation automatically pinned to his or her wall.
Where would one expect me to start? Ferrari Testarossa? Great car. Probably the best supercar of its time. Great dash, favorable control relationships, beautiful interior, and even halfway decent rearward visibility (that high mounted rear view mirror actually was functional). But no. We can get to that Maranello Flash later. It was hugely relevant in the '80s, but I favor the unsung heroes.
Let's go out there on a string. Test the waters in Rod Serling-like esoterica. The 1984 Dodge Colt Turbo. With 4x2 Twin Stick. Manufactured by Mitsubishi, but imported for Dodge. Twin stick was a four-speed transaxle that used a multiplier to allow eight actual ratios. One stick nearest your right leg for HI and LO, a traditional gearbox to the right of that to select four gears in the H-pattern you're accustomed to. In concert, a way to maximize both off the line thrust and at-cruise economy.
The turbo variant of the Colt was produced only in '84. The honeycomb grille looked great, but it wasn't for looks: the horizontally vaned style affair on lesser models wasn't strong enough to withstand the heat produced by the front mounted turbo. So the mod got the nod. Who can scoff when form follows function?
And the car was capable of 5.78 second 0-50 times. Keep in mind that with the national speed limit being 55 MPH (imposed under Nixon after gas crisis '74), zero to sixty times were unfashionable and construed as law-flouting. Regardless, this little pressurized econobox was capable of delivering a decent shove to the driver's lumbar region when the accelerator met the carpet.
Not even your parents could argue with that.
Watch this space...
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