I was in the industrial design program at Georgia Tech in 1985, and our labs were in the lower level of the old Architecture building. Parking was always at a premium, so we got pretty creative at finding spots to hide our vehicles from the campus police, who wrote parking tickets with wild abandon.
Here’s a photo from one of the rare times I was actually parked in the lot. My blue 1971 Vega should be easy to spot… what other CCs do you see in the photo?
I won’t steal everyone’s fun so I’ll just point out my favorites; the ’75 Trans Am and the very new ’82 – ’84 base Camaro.
I like that blue Prelude in the front row.
That’s what caught my eye. It looks very ‘modern’ compared to the rest! I’m not into Hondas; I would have guessed it to be a 1991-1994 judging by its ‘looks’.
It must have been brand new at the time! My aunt had a red 1984 (she got rid of it last year). Great cars.
Put me down for the Fiesta, one of my all time favorite cars! I owned a 1980 S, miss it terribly.
I hear you, 80 ice blue Decor, and 80 dark blue Ghia … Miss both of them too… Bought the first one in 84 with 69k mi, sold it in 89 with 140k for the same as I paid for it! Only needed a water pump, valve stem seals, and brake pads in that time of ownership…
I’ve lost count of how many car people I’ve met who owned a used Fiesta in college. The full door trim in those Ghias made a big difference on the interior, brought it up to VW Rabbit levels. The Fiesta is the quickest car to 60 in that front row, except for (maybe) the Firebird.
The Fiesta may have been quicker than the Civic on the far left, but the rest of the cars would have been quicker with the possible exceptions of the Ford truck and the 1970 Oldsmobile. They were available with 455s, but even the 350 was a reasonable performer at the time. As for the Cressida, Prelude, and Trans Am? Me thinks your memory is a bit rose tinted.
The Fiesta of this era is one of my favourite all time cars and it’s too bad Ford didn’t really push them that hard but they were purely there to bring the CAFE average up so they could flog bigger, and more profitable, stuff.
I’ve driven lots of these cars and they combine a stiff unit body with modern suspension geometry to make a really nice driving little car. These things, like the early Rabbits, were power nothing and the rack and pinion steering on the first Fiesta I drove was a real revelation. Now come on, they really aren’t all that fast but the lack of insulation, light weight and great manners make the car seem faster than it is. My 2008 Fit was very similar in character, if about a thousand times more refined!
Me thinks you live in Europe. The US-spec Fiesta had the 1600 Kent engine with a crossflow head, standard. Unlike the 1600 in the Capri and Pinto the one in the Fiesta had a 2bbl carb. I remember reading where this application made the stock Fiesta as quick as the top model in UK.
I Googled “0-60” and a link came up. No 1978-80 Fiestas were in the list so I checked Wiki and found the fastest time was 10.1 sec, which is about what I remember on my car.
According to the 0-60 link, Cressida times are 10.1 and 12.0. The 10.1 is probably for a stick but let’s call it an A/T which would put the average A/T at around 11. I guarantee you the car in the front row is an A/T, Toyota built very few M/Ts.
Prelude is 9.6 sec but that would be for a stick. IIRC more than 50% were sold with A/T – therefore car in front row is likely A/T – which would add 2.0 sec or so making it 11.6-ish.
The 10.1 for the Fiesta would be quicker than both cars. Of course the Mk1 Fiesta was available only with M/T.
I’ve never seen a 2nd generation Prelude that was an automatic, although they were offered. We’re talking about 1984. Many non-enthusiasts bought manual transmissions in 4 cylinder cars then. The 3rd generation cars may have had something approaching a 50/50 split, but not the 2nd generation cars.
Second row – second in from right – looks like the rear-end of a mid 70’s Capri. No?
Yes, I think it is.
I think it is an early Capri…
Yes – and it’s wearing the tail-lights shared with the Mk I Escort, so it’s a pre-facelift Mk I Capri. (The post-facelift Mk I scored it own unique tail-lights
And to the left of the Capri a Corolla hatchback/liftback – maybe an SR5?
I spot a 79-82 Mustang coupe in the second row
That belonged to a good friend (we still stay in touch), who had a run-in with a garbage truck. Some junkyard replacement sheet metal and an ABS front bumper (with spoiler) were fitted, and I repainted the car for him in my Mom’s garage (a deep metallic red over dark charcoal). Looked sharp, even though it was still an LX underneath.
I love old parking lot photos! This 1985 shot shows that Detroit was in for future trouble, based on what college students were driving. Probably at least 60% of the cars are Japanese, including most of the cars under 5 years old. Also interesting is that except for the Ford in the front row and a Toyota in the second row, all of the vehicles are CARS!
Far right – first row – looks like a blue Cressida and the back end of a brown Celica hatchback with louvers! Maybe a Celica Supra.
1972 Plymouth Duster on the far right, next to the Capri.
Is that a Renault 18 on the last row, 3rd from left?
Wow good eye! It looks like the two tone silver and black that was always featured in the brochures and ads.
Nah…I think it’s an ’85 Jetta.
I like the pair of silver Corollas, and the blue Cressida!
I’ll second the blue Cressida–this car was a sleeper that gave a hint of what Toyota was truly capable of building. That also looks like an 82-85 Celica or Supra next to it.
Why is it that architecture students never get to study in a work of, you know, ARCHITECTURE!!??
Nice cars, though. Is that a Capri over the trunk of the blue Cressida? I’ll take it, if it’s a stick.
Well, the “new” architecture building was what I would call “a piece of work.” It opened right before I started Tech, and definitely reflected the style being taught in colleges around the late ’70s-early ’80s. Horrid, in other words. The old building had a lot more class…
Ed, IIRC, the architecture building was the only place to study on campus – other than dorms – after the library closed for the night. I spent many nights in that place when prepping for tests with other students.
I spent a lot of all-nighters there myself, of course.
Remember V runs?
(c:
The ’75 Firebird up front is my favorite, the brown four-eyed Fox Mustang, row 2, would be my second choice. A 5.0L swap candidate for sure.
Back row, fourth from right: black Mercedes Benz W123?
Back row, fourth from left: brown Olds Cutlass notchback?
Other than the two Fox Mustangs and of course the pickup, no Fords. Or Chevys. Or Volvos (is this student parking only – where are the professors’ cars??). And although there’s only one pickup and no SUV’s, aside from the Cutlass, the Cressida, and perhaps a few others in the back, no “conventional” 4 dour sedans. How different this picture would have looked in 1965 or 2005.
Actually there is a Toyota pickup in third row as I think was previously mentioned,and as to the lack of Ford or Chevys second from right and there is what looks like Chevy Caprice right next to the Toyota pickup and a GM mid seventies sedan parked on the street behind the yellow Ford Escort and a brown 70’s Camaro also in the back row with what appears to be a gold Buick. But the predominant color I keep noticing is that even in the mid 80’s those damn earth tones were still on the road, and I shudder every time I see the new Chrysler 300 commercial with the brown 300 driving into Detroit.
Also there is a silver BMW 320i in second row.
The faculty row is out of frame to the left. The Director of the ID program bought a humpback Buick right around this time – we thought it was goofy, but he thought it was “the cats.”
I think I see the missing Volvo. It is on the street in the background, above the Ford pickup in the front row and next to a tree trunk.
I was trying to figure out that back row forth from right and was stumped. I think Mike Burns may be right about the Mercedes! I also think he is right about the 78-80 Cutlass coupe in the back, parked on the drive. Those Cutlasses used to be everywhere back then.
Also parked on the drive is a 73-77 GM colonade sedan, can’t tell which brand.
Great photo! I’m very Honda these days, so I’m wanting the 1st gen Civic on the far left as well as the 2nd gen Prelude (which came out in 1983 so it wouldn’t have been more than 2 years old). I also like that newish Camaro.
Can anyone find the Monza/Skyhawk whatchamacallit?
last row far right Monza/Skylark
I’m liking the 74/75 Trans Am and the Petty Blue Vega owned by the esteemed author! Lots of variety there. Today, I picture a lot filled with silver and gray Toyotas and Hondas, maybe the odd Subaru or two filling that lot…..
We had some “odd” cars, too, although none are in this shot. A friend in the class behind ours drove a late ’50s 21-window VW bus (non-synchro gearbox!), and another guy from the same class had a Rover 3500. I did some fiberglass repair for a friend who had a Porsche 914 (aftermarket front end), too.
Surprisingly, no one has yet mentioned the BMW 320i two spaces to the left of the Vega.
Any idea what’s parked directly to the left of the Vega (brown car)? Looks like it could be either a 1981-84 Nissan Maxima or a 1979-82 Toyota Corona.
It’s a Toyota Corolla sedan, c. 1983.
There is in the back row a dar blueish 4door that looks 1960s…
Ed, did your car burn oil? Your taillights look grimey…
Now *that’s* a loaded question! Before I did my first engine swap to a sleeved 2300, I went through a *gallon* of oil every two weeks. After, it was normal for what you would expect out of any 4-banger. In this photo, I had already done the second swap, to a Buick 3.8L – again, normal consumption.
The taillights look ‘grimy’ because I had A) replaced the back-up lenses with brake light lenses, and wired them so they all lit up with braking, and B) had painted the inside of the lenses with thinned black paint to make them look like the blacked-out Trans Am brake lights from around this time.
Oh, I had also painted the back panel black…
Funny how rarely we took photos of parking lots like this. I bet the only reason you take a picture like this is because the lack of zoom lenses at that exact moment. Otherwise you’d zoom in your car! But all those other cars, which seem uninteresting at the time, makes the photo very interesting today. So will a photo of today’s parking lots in a few decades later.
That gives me an idea. What would also be interesting? Parking lot photos from other countries!
I call BS, how can this be a college parking lot and ther not be a single Beetle or VW Bus?
As noted above, a schoolmate did have a late ’50s 21-window bus…
I went to college during this time, and those VWs were largely gone from college parking lots by the mid-1980s, at least in Pennsylvania.
Rabbits and Sciroccos were the VWs of choice, while the original Honda Civic filled the role once occupied by the Beetle.
That’s about what I remember, too. In fact, my Vega was 14 years old at this point, and I only remember one or two others on campus. There were probably many more of the late H Body cars (Monza, etc.), but I didn’t really notice them.
How about the silver wagon on the back row to the left of the Renault 18i? A VW Dasher?
I was thinking the same thing.
I love the 1978-79 Honda Civic and the battered 1970 or 1971 Olds Cutlass sedan, both in the front row.
Based on my college experience, that Honda Prelude in the front row belonged to either the resident “rich kid,” or a student who had a really good part-time job (and not much time for anything else, between school and work).