We move on to 1981, and the first issue of the year.
Kicking off the new year with a Scirocco:
Following the Civic ads though the posts, you can see the cars’ growth as the years go by.
That Mitsu-Dodge again.
If not by passion, Mazda will convince you with sense.
Now for some tasty classifieds:
R&T used to do these jokes on the issues’ last page. I’ve included this on because it’s so CC:
See you next post. Oh, don’t forget about specific articles from this issue, coming your way during the week.
R&T PS section was always the best, too bad they dropped it a couple of years ago……
They got rid of PS? Another reason I’m glad I let my subscription lapse years ago.
Mine too, but I still flip through new ones when I get a haircut….
Whoa, there’s a proto-Fast-&-Furious ’77 Honda Civic in the classifieds.
And the Toyota Starlet is sort of a proto-Prius; it was brought in with the express purpose of being the highest-fuel-economy car Toyota could offer and was never offered in an ultra-stripped model like the Corolla and Tercel so it was never the cheapest in the line.
Granted, being two-door only (in North America) meant no taxi work, and being an old-school RWD lightweight makes it desirable today so that’s all different. Still, it has to have served as proof of concept that some people would pay an MSRP premium for higher MPG,
The Starlet was still the cheapest hatchback Toyota offered. The only cheaper Toyotas were the base Tercel 2 and 4 door sedans, which were very spartan. Back then, hatchbacks were generally considered to have greater value.
But all in all, it was a bit odd for Toyota to offer the Starlet here at all, given that it was more primitive than the FWD Tercel.
On the PS page: I forgot that there were dumber things than gluing fake Venti-Ports on a Kia. But then this “mash-up” IS Ford’s own “better idea”!
The Scirocco looks great in that last year of the original style. I don’t remember the color keyed grill emblem.
Datsun and Mazda seem to aim for different markets with their 280ZX and RX7 adds. The RX7 well photographed in front an expensive house and the 280ZX ready to blast off on a cocaine run. I always liked those 80s silver data filled Mazda ads.
The Scirroco didn’t have “color-keyed” grille emblems, the VW badge was red on all U.S. cars no matter the color.
GTIs also had red badge emblems.
GTI had blacked out VW emblems but red GTI ones.
How did that Subaru ad actually get approved? The attention-grabbing headline is unclear “Looks great on the road. Even better down the road.” So it looks better when it’s further away? 🙂 Lots of space is wasted on a picture of an empty road. The only picture of the car is a small inset. It’s as if my interpretation of the headline is correct. The rest of the text is almost as small as the fine print at the bottom of the page.
The expression “Better down the road” means later in time, not literally further away in space. Which of course ties in to the tag line: Subarus – Inexpensive and built to stay that way”
Maybe Canadians don’t use that expression? Or you’re just too literal? 🙂
I knew what it really meant. I was trying to be funny. I couldn’t help but make that association when the ad featured an empty road disappearing into the distance.
Thinking literally isn’t a Canadian trait, it’s an engineering trait. 😉
We do use that expression north of the 49th parallel, as in “Down the road you’re gonna regret that decision!” LOL I would rather have seen more of the car rather than a pic of a road in that Sube ad.
The basic idea behind advertising is to get your attention first, then hopefully you will read the rest of the ad. The fact that the ad is mostly nonsense or meaningless does not matter as long as it is not completely false. In this case (if you read the ad) they back up their claim.
The ad looked so boring and the text so small that I actually didn’t read it.
Most of these ads are like ones we saw before. The classifieds are the most interesting.
The Honda ad is interesting YMMV it sure did I had a 84 5 door hatch 1300 5 speed it regularly returned 45mpg around town ok imperial gallons but still excellent economy for a petrol engine.
“That Mitsu-Dodge again” notwithstanding, I always did like those Challengers and their platform-mate Sapporos.
I would take the Scirocco in a flash!!!
Not the quickest, not the fastest; but one hell of a fun ride.
Why is it that the 1st generation of a sports car is the most fun (RX7, Celica, 240Z, Camaro, Mustang, etc). The second generation is bloated, and the 3rd generation is an abomination.
Whenever I want to get an old Harley owner fired up I just need to mention the AMF years.
Actually that ad came out in about the last six months of AMF ownership.
As to getting a Harley owner wound up over the AMF years: If you’ve got one like that, he’s a RUBbie wannabe. The guys that actually rode those things back then, or even later owners who have had shovelheads, may have lots of things to bitch about AMF’s tenure, but they’ll readily admit that without it Harley Davidson probably wouldn’t have survived past 1970.
There are mature Harley owners, and there are wannabe bikers.
“and the 280ZX ready to blast off on a cocaine run” Yes, driven by somebody with shirt unbuttoned, thick gold chains around his neck, chest hair parted down the middle, wearing bellbottoms.
Exactly what I imagined a ZX owner to be as well, but also including women like the divorcee who had the apartment above mine. I think some folks buy cars to send social messages; sports cars say flamboyance & “No Kids.”
Today I think of the Toyota Solara convertible as the Divorcee Car, even though I know a religious married lady, with kids, who owns one.
Like this guy?
The Granada picture reminded me of a kid in high school who had a Mercedes style “250LM” badge on his Mercury Monarch.
The values of the classic cars in the classifieds look to be broadly similar to what their relative values are today, with a few notable exceptions, eg the Mercedes SSK replica…