Forums » Grassroots Motorsports » which manufacturer/model year produced the best cars? 1 2

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  June 29, 2010 7:04 p.m. maroon92 SuperDork

  In your opinion, which automotive manufacturer had the best year. State your case with ample evidence!

  My current realization is that Toyota may make really crappy cars these days, but 1987 was a hell of a year for the beast from the far east.

  Starting at the top of the lineup with the GT car 1987 Toyota Supra

  A cush RWD luxury sedan. Last couple years of the third generation Cressida. Granted, it was only a 5MGE, but it was available with a manual transmission!

  The spunky little midships runabout AW11 MR-2.

  The venerable ST162 Celica. (okay, maybe it didn't look quite like this. Forgive me for my embellishments.)

  The "no drifter should be without" Corolla GT-S Though I prefer the one built and campaigned by Taka Aono. (tried to find a pic of his solo car, but couldn't)vf

  Wicked cool hot hatch the FX16.

  Then you look at trucks, and things are just as cool! Three great Z.A.V. candidates in the "toyota pickup"

  The 4Runner

  And the undeniably awesome LandCruiser

  Sorry for all of the images, but, of course, they were all made available via hot-link!

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  June 29, 2010 7:25 p.m. Blitzed306 New Reader

  Well done sir!

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  June 29, 2010 7:37 p.m. Travis_K Dork

  I will agree with that being a good selection, but I would have to say judging from the condition of most of the ones for sale, the engine reliability is somewhat lacking in the first two and the last one.

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  June 29, 2010 7:45 p.m. P71 SuperDork

  I see your 80's Japanese import and raise you with 1970 American Motors!

  First, it was the last year of the 2-seat bespoke AMX. Arguably the best year with dog-leg heads on the V8's, which were also upped to 360ci for the base engine while the 390 remained. New in 70 was a flush grill and functional Ram Air (probably the prettiest hoodscoop of all time).

  

  You could also spec out the "Shadow Mask" option (and coincidentally, the Big Bad colors - Orange, Blue, or Green).

  

  Then there was my all-time favorite AMC design, the 1970 Javelin. The Javelin (along with the AMX) received a much-improved suspension for 70 (goodbye trunions!) and now featured a wicked awesome "Mark Donohue Edition" complete with AMX Ram Air and a Donohue-designed functional spoiler.

  

  The reason for this package, of course, was to homologate in the scoop and spoiler for the Penske/Donohue Trans Am racecar:

  

  AMC further muddied the waters with a 100-made edition of the Trans Am Javelin:

  

  The pony car and sports car weren't the only things feeling the love of AMC's newfound success. The very handsome Rebel got a modern facelift and the new "Machine" edition featured a 340BHP 390.

  

  If flying under the radar wasn't for your Machine, you could order it in Red/White/Blue!

  

  It wasn't all gas guzzlers and muscle cars though at AMC. The people in charge saw the writing on the wall and developed the first US subcompact, the beloved Gremlin!

  

  If the economy wasn't your thing you could also get the Gremmie in V8 "X" form. If you wanted to step up, there was also the all-new Hornet:

  

  There was also the luxurious full-size Ambassador, which was even available as a wagon!

  

  AMC had it right in '70

  

  Michael Pinto - GoKart / 93 Miata STS / 01 P71 Interceptor

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  June 29, 2010 7:46 p.m. maroon92 SuperDork

  Supras are renowned for blowing head gaskets. Apparently they don't like running a bigger oil filter either, because the PO of my car dropped oil pressure with the bigger filter and locked up the engine! They run awfully low oil pressure to begin with! Either way, easily taken care of with a 2JZ, 1UZ, or LS swap!

  I am not sure about the LandCruiser, but I am sure there is a diesel that swaps in easy enough. or an LS1

  XBL GamerTag: bcbrownell Current Cylinder Count: 36

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  June 29, 2010 7:50 p.m. maroon92 SuperDork

  In reply to P71:

  I would completely agree with you if the Gremlin had actually had the rotary that it had been designed for!

  XBL GamerTag: bcbrownell Current Cylinder Count: 36

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  June 29, 2010 7:52 p.m. JeepinMatt HalfDork

  That's a HUGE question to wrap my mind around. I'll go with Chevy for 1969.

  

  "But this is HDTV. It's got better resolution than the real world."

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  June 29, 2010 7:58 p.m. P71 SuperDork

  maroon92 wrote: In reply to P71: I would completely agree with you if the Gremlin had actually had the rotary that it had been designed for!

  It was the Pacer that was supposed to have the rotary, not the Gremlin. And no, it would have sucked, because it was also supposed to be FWD.

  Michael Pinto - GoKart / 93 Miata STS / 01 P71 Interceptor

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  June 29, 2010 8:00 p.m. ReverendDexter Dork

  As soon as I saw the title of this thread, I was thinking 80's Toyota. My thoughts are a little earlier, though, as I prefer the Mk II Supra and 3rd gen Celica (last of the RWDs), but you still have the 4A-GE triplets (AE86, AW11, and FX16), Hi-Lux, Cressida, etc.

  --There is no turd more polished than the Ford Mustang--

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  June 29, 2010 8:03 p.m. mtn SuperDork

  Can't do pictures right now, but whatever the last year for the Mercedes with the 2.3 Cosworth.

  there’s a lot of debate on this subject—about what kind of car handles best. Some say a front-engined car; some say a rear-engined car. I say a rented car.

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  June 29, 2010 8:08 p.m. ignorant SuperDork

  1963 jeep

  

  1st year Wagoneer..

  2nd year gladiator

  cj5

  cj6

  

  FC's

  

  CJ3B

  FJ series

  DJ Surrey Gala (1964 shown),
  

  Now thats a year.... All the Willys goodness + All the new FSJ goodness + CJ5 and CJ3....
  

  1969 chevrolet is for guidos..

  When you have to shoot, shoot, don't talk.

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  June 29, 2010 8:09 p.m. maroon92 SuperDork

  P71 wrote:

  maroon92 wrote: In reply to P71: I would completely agree with you if the Gremlin had actually had the rotary that it had been designed for!

  It was the Pacer that was supposed to have the rotary, not the Gremlin. And no, it would have sucked, because it was also supposed to be FWD.

  You are right of course. Your AMC Fu is obviously better than mine...

  XBL GamerTag: bcbrownell Current Cylinder Count: 36

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  June 29, 2010 8:30 p.m. P71 SuperDork

  Do not doubt my AMC-fu!

  I've always wanted to build a rotary Pacer (turbo and RWD of course) just to set the world straight. Then I realized they were heavy and huge.

  Michael Pinto - GoKart / 93 Miata STS / 01 P71 Interceptor

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  June 29, 2010 8:36 p.m. Toyman01 Dork

  I would have to say Ford for 2009-2010. They are one of the few automakers still in business with their own money. They also are building some pretty cool stuff for 2011.

  You can watch things happen, you can make things happen, or you can wonder what the F happened. I don't want to be on number three. - Capt. Phil

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  June 29, 2010 8:37 p.m. Lugnut HalfDork

  I think 1989 was a slam-dunk year for Porsche.

  The 944 went to 2.7 liters.

  The 928GT debuted, bringing 32v power to 326.

  The 930 got a 5 speed transaxle. This would be the last year for the classic 930.

  The 3.2 Carrera finished its run this year.

  But the 911 had more tricks to show. It came with awd this year, and my favorite 911, the 964, was born.

  Then the regular 951 wasn't enough. Porsche brought the 944 Turbo S specifications to all '89 944 Turbos.

  If you wanted smooth torque from your 944, you could go with the S2 instead of the Turbo. Also available in cabriolet form (of course the turbo was, too, but not in the USA).

  1989 was a good year for Porsche.

  <a href="http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/events/1012/">Chicago area beer night 7/6/2010</a>

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  June 29, 2010 8:38 p.m. John Brown SuperDork

  P71 wrote: Do not doubt my AMC-fu! I've always wanted to build a rotary Pacer (turbo and RWD of course) just to set the world straight. Then I realized they were heavy and huge.

  So make it a 3 rotor ;)

  Internationally known as The Brown Stig

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  June 29, 2010 8:48 p.m. Streetwiseguy Reader

  I'm going to go off in a slightly different direction, and suggest that the best lineup of cars was a combination of 69 and 70 trans am cars. Since I seem unable to link anything, I will just list what I would own, given the storage space and cash.

  A sedan- 69 Camaro, Firebird, Mustang, 70 Barracuda and Javelin.

  Edit: Remove he year restriction. I want a Volvo 544 and a Challenger too.

  B sedan- 510, Alfa, 2002 and, what the heck, all the rest of them.

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  June 29, 2010 8:48 p.m. maroon92 SuperDork

  Lugnut wrote: I think 1989 was a slam-dunk year for Porsche. The 944 went to 2.7 liters. Ack, not done. Work in progress.

  true, the last year of the true 911s (I don't like the 964 gen or any of the later ones)

  the 5.0 V8 928

  as well as the 944S2 with the 3 liter 4 cylinder...

  Not too bad of a year, but I am not a huge Porsche fan....

  XBL GamerTag: bcbrownell Current Cylinder Count: 36

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  June 29, 2010 9:43 p.m. M030 HalfDork

  +1 for Chevy, 1969

  - Brian

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  June 29, 2010 9:46 p.m. M030 HalfDork

  Porsche, 1995

  

  - Brian

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  June 29, 2010 10:02 p.m. jrw1621 SuperDork

  Good stuff. I have learned much here.
  I commend you all for some fine presentations!
  My first answer would be '85 Toyota.

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  June 29, 2010 10:14 p.m. maroon92 SuperDork

  I would have said 85 Toyota, but I truly am slightly biased toward the MkIII Supra... Plus, mine is an 87...

  XBL GamerTag: bcbrownell Current Cylinder Count: 36

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  June 29, 2010 10:14 p.m. Streetwiseguy Reader

  Ford, 2010: worldwide, at least.

  http://www.fordeurope.net/pictures.html?p17_sectionid=534

  http://www.fordeurope.net/pictures.html?p17_sectionid=529

  http://www.fpv.com.au/fpv-range/f6-ute/overview.aspx

  http://www.fpv.com.au/fpv-range/gt-p/overview.aspx

  http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/car/09q3/2010_ford_flex_ecoboost_v6-first_driv...

  http://trucks.about.com/od/2007fordtrucks/ig/2010-Ford-F-150-SVT-Raptor/F-150-SVT-...

  If there isn't anything on that list you're gonna want once it depreciates into your comfort zone, you are too particular.

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  June 29, 2010 10:18 p.m. RossD Dork

  Since I'm an engineer, I'd have to go with the year 1961 and GM. The Corvair (and later a turbo version and its sibling the Corvair Greenbrier Sportswagon Van), you could get a Fuelie Corvette, and Rear transaxle Tempest with an aluminum V8. Pretty neat, innovative stuff if you ask me.

  Planning a Zetec to Type E Locost

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  June 29, 2010 10:48 p.m. ditchdigger HalfDork

  I will say Fiat in 1967. The 850 range offered 1hp per cubic inch at a low price The 850 spider was a stunner

  The 850 coupe might have even been better

  The sedan offered quirky utilitarianism for pennies

  The 124 sedan

  Good gawd the 124 coupe! that thing gives me chills. It is even better looking than this The Fiat Dino. Used to homologate a Ferrari V6 for racing.

  Of course the 500 was still avaliable

  I think the 124 convertible was introduced in 67 was well as a few more that I am forgetting.

  "Sweat is what makes it rock and roll, otherwise it is just folk music with drums"

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