Nobody really got the Chrysler Le Baron ragtop, although a few nibbled at its wood edges. Today we get an inside look at the workings of….
CC Clue
– Posted on February 27, 2013
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Curbside Classics Archives
Nobody really got the Chrysler Le Baron ragtop, although a few nibbled at its wood edges. Today we get an inside look at the workings of….
It’s a GM10 coupe of some variety.
It would have to be an early one because that’s from the one-way key, two-keys-per-car era.
My guess is a Beretta, maybe a 1987 or 1988?
EDIT: And would you believe that GM went with two keys well into the 1990s? Amazing. I’m sticking with the Beretta, only now I have no idea what year.
Also think its a Beretta, possibly Lumina or Cutlass coupe (Dont think the Regals were available in bright red)
And yeah, my Beretta still has the 2 keys and it’s a 1994
1988 CHEVY BERETTA BRIGHT RED
Subaru Moonbeam.
I see where you’re going. You mean the 1990 Subaru XT Cascadia sport wagon.
In the late-70s and early-80s Subaru gained an enviable foothold in the U.S. market with quirky but popular niche vehicles. But in the mid-80s Subaru executives succumbed to “Toyota Envy” and attempted to compete more directly against the first-tier importers by launching a handful of cars such as the Justy and the XT sporty coupe.
Whatever you might say about the XT, you’ve got to give Subaru credit for giving it a bunch of unique features. Nevertheless, the coupe sold poorly. After a few years Subaru almost pulled the plug. But instead its U.S. arm convinced the home office to offer a sport wagon variant.
The Cascadia almost failed to reach production. Subaru’s ambivalence was understandable. The Chevy Nomad may have become iconic, but not even GM had ever made any money on a wagon based upon a sporty coupe. What pushed Subaru executives over the edge was desperation — a wagon might squeeze at least a few years more life out of the moribund XT.
Even Subaru was surprised by the success of the Cascadia. For a while it displaced Volvo as THE counterculture car for older, more affluent folks.
Today the most sought-after version of the Cascadia is the limited-production Rainier model. It includes a tent that pops up over a clamshell roof section. The idea was developed by Toyota in the 1970s but had never been put into production.
The Cascadia vastly overshadowed sales of the coupe. Even so, when the XT was replaced by the SVX in 1992, Subaru only offered it as a three-door hatchback. Sales were dismal but this time no sport wagon was forthcoming. Subaru executives were insistent on breaking free of the brand’s “moonbeam” image.
Jeez Dr. L., you just summarized every bad idea that carmakers have come up with in the last 30 years.
Except one, of course: The All-New Nissan Murano Cross-Cabriolet Segment Buster Edition!!!
2012 VOLVO S80
Looks like a fiberglass boot to a convertible. Can’t figure out what kind yet.
And the metal fixture at the top of the pic is where a hardtop would clamp on??
Looks like that whole part of the car is ‘glass – maybe the whole car?
1992 Pontiac Grand Prix Coupe.
Datsun 310GX
1993 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme coupe.
Chevy Lumina Euro 🙂