*May or may not have kept name intact coming through Ellis Island

MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE KEPT NAME INTACT COMING THROUGH ELLIS ISLAND

I was biking down 2nd Ave in Sunset Park one recent morning when this beauty stopped me in my tracks:

Depending on who you ask this car has different names. What is absolutely true is that this is a Mitsubishi Starion from 1987-1989 in Mexican Red. However this was also marketed as a Chrysler Conquest during those same years in a classic case of badge engineering. I guess Chrysler chose the name because they took a car from a foreign power and renamed it as a spoil of their conquest? They should've called it the Chrysler ThankstoMitsubishiforthefavor.

Nevertheless these cars are (in my opinion) some of the coolest to come out of that era. The aerodynamic front with almost no grill and those angled hidden headlights make for an aggressive look. Those wide body fender flares are stock as is the well integrated spoiler.

There were plenty of Japanese sporty hatchback tourers from this era like the Nissan 300SX and Toyota Supra. The Starion/Conquest has some awesome '80s styling cues like the folded paper angles, blackout trim where there might have been chrome earlier (for instance around the windows and taillights), and geometric alloy rims.

Compared to how tall and rounded everything else is on the street this thing is like an arrow.

This guy is going for the classic Brooklyn combo of yuge coffee can exhaust mixed with one out of state plate. Pennsylvania? Sure bro I hear it's really nice out there.

This ride took a knock on the taillight corner which might prove kinda pricey as these cars are 30 years old now.

The U.S. versions of this ride got a 2.6 Liter turbocharged 4 cylinder with an overhead cam and fuel injection. This was a decently fun motor for a car so low to the ground with sporty suspension. Perhaps the most fun part is that they were still rear wheel drive.
*Dig that trapezoidal rocker panel below the door formed by the flared fenders.

Inside it is the 1980s all the way! A huge cassette deck with like 25 buttons rests in the dash. Climate control? Massive array of buttons. That seatbelt with TURBO TURBO TURBO written on it is in that position because it's the dreaded power-operated shoulder restraint that trundles back on a track when the door is closed. The fact that it's a 5 speed stick is great fun. 

Well there we have it; a car totally stripped of its emblems so we'll never know if it's been adopted or not. Obviously the spoiler has found a curb or two in its day but that flakey clear coat on the top of the fender is typical of the era.
Since this is the widebody version I figure it's most likely an '87 to '89 but there is a slight chance it's a 1986. If indeed it is it might be one of 3 Conquests as Dodge, Chrysler, and Plymouth all used exactly the same name for their rebadged Mitsubishi! When you achieve that level of anonymity it's hard to defend why you would even have different brands under the same Chrysler roof?
I did drive one of these back when they were just a few years old that belonged to a friends mother. It was fast enough and could out handle anything people my age were driving at the time. It was possibly my first experience driving something that wasn't either a prehistoric foreigner (like a VW Beetle or '70s Datsun/Toyota) or a domestic brick (any Oldsmobile/Ford/Chevy of the era). Ever since I've had a serious appreciation for cars that might not lay a huge strip but can tackle mountain roads. If one of these came my way I'd happily roll with it!

What do you get when you mix a deadly viper with a fox? COBRA!

HISSSSSSSSS! DEADLY COBRA STRIKES!

Yesterday I featured a faded raspberry Mustang GT from the early '80s. Providence Pete snapped these pics recently and sent them along to me. This is the exact model that yesterdays GT replaced!

This is a 1979 Ford Mustang Cobra in White with a fantastically awesome decal on the hood. We know it's a '79 due to this egg crate grill that lasted for only 1 year.

Turbo?!? Yes indeed Ford got into the turbocharging game along with GM at the end of the Malaise Era. In this case it's a 2.3 liter 4 cylinder. The overall horsepower was a low 117 with only 135 lbs of torque. This was not a sprightly car by any stretch, reaching a top speed of only 112mph! However the 5.0 liter 302 V8 available for this year was detuned and lethargic, sipping too much gas through its carb while delivering a pitiful 140 horsepower. Top speed on the V8 was just 120mph (116 with the auto trans). The one thing the Turbo Cobra delivered was better gas mileage.  

These Fox Body Mustangs are looking better by the year though. The crisp, angular styling is pre-'80s appropriate without being too severe. I dig the original rims on this ride too. Every '79 Cobra had the bottom half of the body and bumpers blacked out like this.

The Cobra option package added a cool $1,200 to the base price of the Mustang; no small cost in 1979. That decal on the hood didn't even come with it but was an additional $78. How could you not order it if you were already ordering the Cobra package?

Inside we see the floor mounted 4 speed manual transmission. It looks like this not only has an 8 track player installed, but there's a tape hanging out of it too! The steering wheel is sporty enough but that center cap is not where the horn is located. Like the Fairmont the horn is activated by pressing the turn signal stalk in towards the column. Frustrating in an actual emergency to be slamming on the steering wheel in silent fury!

Who knows why this car is so immaculate? It's not the sort of classic that will give you a big return on your investment if you restore it. There might be a clue in this pic though; even though the original purchaser opted for a rear window wiper there doesn't seem to be a rear defroster on the glass. My guess is that this car comes from somewhere warm and dry like SoCal.

Another 1 year only Cobra detail are the lower headrests on the front seats. Starting in '80 they were much higher, basically framing the shape of your head as opposed to bracing your neck.

These faux louvers behind the rear window were black on all non-Cobra Mustangs.

This interior view shows the TURBOCHARGED emblem on the dash.

I've seen some '79 Cobras that had the COBRA decal on the rear of the door too. I don't know if that's a personal choice after a repaint or if there was variation at the factory.

Well that's that for the coolest/goofiest looking Mustang of all time! The smaller Mustang II had Cobra and King Cobra editions that sported even bigger graphics and lettering but I think this psychedelic image takes the cake. In researching this ride I've seen lots of complaints on the fragility of the engine inner workings and turbo system itself. Since the payout is meager horsepower and merely acceptable gas mileage I don't know what the point would be of restoring one of these unless you were a serious Mustang collector. Still if one came along running well for cheap I would happily grab some orange reflective Oakleys off eBay and crank the Toni Basil while cruising to the arcade!

*Here's a bonus clip of 72 year old Toni Basil rocking some dance moves that are genuinely astonishing. Go Toni! You're almost forgiven for writing a catchy bubble gum hit with a name that sounds exactly like mine (all Rickys my age will agree).

"Ich bin eine Furt! Warum magst du mich nicht?!"

"Ich bin eine Furt! Warum magst du mich nicht?!"

Poor little Sierra. Handbuilt, quick, sporty, and modern all sound like the sorts of traits that make a car popular. That's not the way it went down with this little punk though . . .

This is a 1988-1989 Merkur XR4Ti in Diamond White. To the rest of the world this is a Ford Sierra XR4Ti. The name breakdown is as follows: eXperimental, Racing, 4th generation, Turbocharged, fuel Injected.

These cars were each hand built by the Karmann Coachworks GmbH (kind of German for LLC) in Rheine, Germany. This is the same firm that collaborated with Ghia on the Volkswagen Karmann Ghia. Merkur as a company was founded to try and woo back buyers of American luxury brands that were heading towards BMW and Audi. However with only the above hatchback and a luxury sedan called the Scorpio brought over from Europe there was never much excitement or sales. The plug was pulled on Merkur just 4 years in. 

 The Sierra was popular in Europe and ran from 1982-1993. Several body styles were available in 3, 4, and 5 door configurations. There was even a van! The U.S. only got this 3 door hatch.

I blame this person even more than Debbie Wasserman Schultz for putting a Bernie 2016 sticker under the bad omen of a Merkur emblem. Go back to Maine!

This example is in shockingly good condition. The earlier 1985-1987 XR4Ti had a double wing in the back with the higher one about 5 inches above the lower.

 The U.S. spec cars had a turbocharged 2.3 Liter 4 cylinder in the as opposed to the 2.8 Liter V6 in the European Cosworth version. The Cosworth Sierra was fast, boasting a top speed of 150 mph! There was also a 1.6 Liter engine available in Europe only that boasted 51 miles to the gallon. That's getting into Prius territory.

This one is fitted with the 5 speed manual transmission which means it's probably a lot of fun to drive. Behold the manual Lumbar Support adjustment dial on the side of the seat; 1980s!

Well that's where I'll leave this little oddity. Like many automotive footnotes this ride found itself the butt of jokes. However unlike other punchline rides there's no real tragedy to pin its failure on. It never blew up like the Pinto, wasn't horribly made like the Yugo, or had a spectacular and criminal scandal like the DeLorean. No, this little car is more like the Edsel; introduced to great fanfare and quieted shown the door within a few years. To see one now is like seeing the future, 1980s style.

London Tony offers up a beat-down merde gris croûté from across the pond!

SHITROËN PART DEUX

My own brother lives in a lovely little storybook village in London. It's the sort of place where A-list celebrities can stroll to a cafe without being bothered, where rose gardens abound in the front yards of bucolic little homes, and where gas-lit streets can suddenly turn into brick paths with views of the city below. However London is huge, and somewhere along the way he stumbled upon this fallen child star: 

 

Oof. My best guess is that this is a 1988-ish Citroën CX in Gris. Actually we know this is a CX 25 DTR Turbo 2 from the cartoonishly long nameplate on the back. The brochure for this ride back in 1988 stated THE CITROËN CX. ONE OF THE WORLD'S GREAT CARS. Lofty salesmanship to be sure but it was indeed something else when new. For now just dig how long this thing is!

 

The first thing I said when this brick weighed down my inbox was "how did this thing get an MOT?" The MOT stands for Ministry of Transport and it is the equivalent of an automobile safety and emissions inspection in the States. The test is pretty difficult when compared to most countries in that the condition of the body, including spoilers, wings, and any additional doo-dads all needs to be in good shape. The final pass or fail grade is up to the tester and the test is not cheap.
Look at this funky facade; the grill is creased in a way to have a trapezoidal front. The headlight on the right is nicotine stained and generally unhealthy looking. the last time this crumpled body was washed by anything but rainfall was probably the day before it was bought new. 

 

This rather frumpy shooting break (the British term for a station wagon though in its French homeland this would be known as a break-de-chasse, or hunting-break) was the height of technology when it was first introduced in 1974. It was the modern replacement for the iconic DS from the '50s. The most incredible aspect of this design is the Hydro-Pneumatic suspension that was self-leveling. Supposedly the suspension was so effective that bumps and potholes could be seen but not really felt. Rolls-Royce even licensed the suspension design for their Silver Shadow!

The letters CX refer to aerodynamic design (CX is the French equivalent of Cd for drag coefficient according to my friend Wikipedia). One misconception is that the name CX was chosen because it was originally designed to be powered by a rotary engine. However like almost every company that isn't Mazda they couldn't get it right in time and on budget so a traditional inline 4 cylinder was installed under the hood.

I love how they manage to add cool style cues in the era of sharp angles. That crease below the side view mirror fades towards the rear while another emerges above it for a little origami.

 

A hooptie is a hooptie the world over so here's some tape used as a repair. This is particularly troubling because it looks like it was holding the skirt onto the vehicle but the tape is now mostly missing.

One wiper in the front and one in the back. That 4 slot vent on the rear pillar is probably functional as a part of the ventilation system for the passenger compartment. The turbocharger breathes through some small openings on a slight bulge on the hood.

 

The interior is gnarly! We've got paper jammed everywhere, a spoon at the ready, rags tossed about, and a grody blue pillow for the drivers bum. It is a stick shift which means this would've been fun to cruise in when new. These days who knows how much action you'll find if you mash the pedal to the floor.
This is the sort of car you almost never see in the States. Citroëns are always rare on this side of the pond but when you do encounter one is tends to be a tiny 2CV or the classic DS. There was even a Citroën SM from the early '70s powered by a Maserati engine that seems more common than the CX. Regardless the MOT gave this one a stay of execution so if you happen to be walking around London keep your eyes peeled!   

How about a Wankel for your Monday?

'80S TURBO IMPORT THAT NEEDS SOME LOVE

I was making my way down 5th Ave in Brooklyn when I stumbled upon this well worn little chump:

This is a 1987 Mazda Rx-7 Turbo in Dove White. She's seen better days for sure but this was a pretty groundbreaking car when it was first introduced.

This is the second generation of the Rx-7 which debuted as a much smaller car in 1978. The redesign in 1985 added about 500 lbs to what was originally a tiny sports car with perfect 50/50 weight ratio between the front and back. Regardless of the increase in size this car proved to be a huge hit.

This one's taken a few hits as well but aside from some rumpling she seems to be alright for almost 30 years old.

The Rx-7 replaced the Rx-3 which had been around since '71. Those early cars are so funky and totally Japanese looking in the best way. This car was pretty much designed for North America.

That big hood scoop means that this is the turbocharged version. The use of the letters Rx on a Mazda means that it is powered by a Wankel rotary engine as opposed to traditional cylinders. Here's a nice Jalopnik article about the Wankel written when the last of its kind was built back in 2012. Suffice it to say that the Wankel looks like it shouldn't work at first glance; a triangular metal piece knocks around inside of a lozenge shape revving higher than normal engine and taking up less space. Mazda was far and away their biggest proponent for decades.

Those wheels are as '80s as a pair of Oakleys with orange lenses. I believe they are original to the car but have been painted white at some point in history. When you go back and look at cars from 1987 this is one of the most modern and aerodynamic. Besides the Ford Taurus most rides were super boxy.

From this angle you can see how shamelessly this design apes the Porsche 924 and 944.

Mazda built a small number of Sport models which were ultra lightweight versions of the Turbo. Among other things this rear wiper was deleted from the Sport. If you ever happen to run across a 2nd generation Rx-7 for sale that looks to have never had a rear wiper I would do my best to note the VIN if possible and grab it if it's genuine. Keep in mind they didn't have power steering either. 

For all its dings it really doesn't have any rust to speak of.

This car sports the removable steel sunroof as opposed to the retractable glass version. I feel like I've seen both but this is what you could've gotten with the older Rx-7s from 1978. Maybe the powered glass sunroof was an extra-cost option?

This ride has a funky aftermarket steering wheel and an upgraded gearshift. The fact that this has the 5-speed manual is great for getting the most out of this beast. You could've ordered a non-turbo with an automatic in '87 if you wanted so this is really the drivers edition. I love how monumentally out of place that tall square console is. It's like they fired the designer with just a few touches to go and some manager stepped in to finish the job.

Classic late-'80s paint just giving up entirely if you look at it wrong.

I've liked these cars since they were new and I was buying up Car & Driver every month. The Rx-7 Turbo was in the C&D Top Ten Cars list for both '86 and '87 so they printed a lot about it. Between 1988-1992 this generation Rx-7 could be had as a convertible too. Occasionally they come up for sale and I'm always tempted but having never had a rotary engine I feel like it would involve a learning curve that would require a parking space.

Personal luxury sleeper from the go-go '80s

V6 WITH A NAPOLEON COMPLEX

Way out on some side street in deepest Brooklyn I passed this primer Regal. Then I noticed the black bumper and decided to pull a quick u-turn to satisfy my curiosity. I'm glad I did!

Would you believe that this was the fastest production car in the U.S. back in 1987? Not only that, but it managed the feat with a V6 engine!
What we have here is a 1987 Buick Grand National that started out wearing shiny black paint all over. This was the final year for the Grand National high performance package based on the Regal. All Grand Nationals sported a turbocharged V6 engine that could (and did) blow the doors off of any V8 powered car of the same year. Even the Corvette couldn't keep up on the dragstrip and that car is made of fiberglass! The Buick GN is old tech; big steel body on a full frame, and an engine up front powering the rear wheels.

There's that proud little emblem extolling the virtues of an under-4 liter engine!
Buick had been experimenting with turbos on their cars since the late '70s. In 1979 you could've walked into a Buick dealership and purchased a Century Turbo Coupe or a turbocharged LeSabre. The Century was a good idea but the LeSabre was too big and weighty for that first generation engine. This example from '87 featured an intercooler and other upgrades for a dramatic increase in horsepower and torque.

Finally in 1982 the GN was introduced looking much like the car above. In addition you could order a Buick T-Type which was a non-Grand National turbo Regal in white or gray. However the all shiny black GN stole the show. After a 1 year hiatus it would return from 1984-1987, with the most powerful and popular being the final year. There was a special top-of-the-heap GN in '87 called the GNX (the X stands for Experimental). At about 300hp and 420 foot lbs of torque they are the holy grail of all GN collectors. 
These wheels and the T-tops are hallmarks of a GN, as are the front and rear spoilers and the wing.

I'm not buying that single Georgia plate at ALL but if you want to park with impunity on the streets of Brooklyn 1 out of state plate is all you need. It somehow makes cars invisible to cops.

I tend to think this body style has held up very well in the grand scheme of things. It's boxy for sure but the long hood, short trunk look is a fine farewell to the cars of old. Almost immediately after this was built domestic cars took on the rounded, bulbous shape of the '90s. This still looks like a car from the previous 2 decades.

I figured I'd close this out with something I rarely do; post a photo from the internet. This is what the GN should look like; menacing, powerful, shiny, and BLACK. They never made tons of these and they've been popular since new so there are no real bargains out there. However you can probably find a decent driving example for under $10,000 and it will only go up.