I know that cars like these are a dime a dozen in Eugene, but here in the heartland, only a few stragglers survive, like this circa-1988 Reliant coupe. My only other comment is how small it looks next to that Yaris–safety equipment sure has made cars fatter, huh?
These always remind me of my mom’s ’85 Dodge Aries wagon. What a total POS. Wound up getting totaled after she got rear-ended by a van. (She tells me the thing crumpled up like an accordion.) This was the car she replaced her ’74 Mustang II with.
Needless to say, I didn’t inherit my parent’s poor taste in cars, thankfully.
You know, I’d like to ride in one of these again today just to come to better understand just how much small cars have changed. One of my co-workers has a four-door Yaris and it seems mighty small — but you’re right, small is relative, and that Reliant seems not just smaller, but more delicate.
My very first car ever and the worst one too. I bought a used 1984 Plymouth Reliant 2.6L that I got in 1989. Reliant, HA! What an oxymoron! The car spent more time being fixed than on the street. To make a long story short After spending over $4,000 on a $900 used car I junked this piece of crap in less than 2 years of owning it for a cool $50.00 I swore off ALL Chrysler cars after this!
Some expenses from this piece of crap I spent money on,
I still grumble about that damned Mikuni carburetor that cost almost as much as the car itself, two axle shafts, transmission, radiator fan, engine rebuild, new tires, I was very young and stupid not to let go.
I’d buy you a K car- a nice Reliant automobile…
I don’t think that safety equipment is the primary reason cars are fatter today. People just want to get more room for their money. And cars have been (mostly) getting bigger on the inside for a very long time. It’s just the natural evolution…why be cramped when it’s really not necessary?
…S’pose it’s also that PEOPLE have been getting bigger with the years?
Americans have always grown bigger than their parents; but now it’s sideways growth. I suspect it has a bit to do with the decline of the bench seat in acceptance.
I’m not a structural engineer, but I have trouble believing that the current obsession with high beltlines & trunks has anything to do with passive safety. Yet now one has to get a rear-view camera to back up safely.
So I respect those older boxy designs like the original Foxes & Ks, if not their sometimes awful QC.
I was working on a mid 90s villager yesterday, it stuck me on how big the newer minivans have become.
BTW, someone around my neck of the woods is running around in a K coupe, clean looking too.
I think the Villager was small even by the standards at the time – I remember Brock Yate’s book “The Critical Path” (about the development of the third-gen Chrysler minivans) commenting that Chrysler was happy when it came out because it competed in the least-popular part of the minivan market – small, luxury minivans.
piece of junk and not collectible.
Tom, I could probably find you a decent K here for a whole lot less than a million!
I’m with Paul for that sort of money I’d want something far more interesting, reliable, easy to repair, comfortable even I would consider BMW if I could waste that sort of money on a car.
This article led me to think about how car proportions have come full circle in the last 75 years. Taking Height / Width as a percentage.
1938 Chevrolet: 67.8 / 187.3 = 36.2 %
1963 Valiant: 54.8 / 187.7 = 29.2 %
1988 Reliant: 52.5 / 178.6 = 29.6 %
2013 Dodge Dart: 57.7 / 183.9 = 31.4 %
2013 Toyota Yaris: 59.4 / 153.5 = 38.7 %
I’ll take 1963 for looks and 1938 for interior room and 2013 for performance and safety please.
Arrrgh, meant to type height / length.
The Yaris sedan is lower than the hatchback which was listed at 60″ even in 2008 (I suspect the new one’s half-inch lowering is of the suspension while internal body stampings remain unchanged).
“I’ll take 1963 for looks and 1938 for interior room and 2013 for performance and safety please.”
– You sure? I’ll have the ’38’s back seat space with the ’13 front compartment – those old running-board cars could be snug on shoulder room up front and the separate frame often meant surprisingly little legroom due to a high floor – with modern passenger/cargo flexibility (hatchback, split-folding/adjustable rear seat),
And a ’70s Brougham crushed velour interior. In swimming-pool blue.
As others have noted before, cars in general have gotten larger. I’m guessing it’s more due to higher obesity rates (we’re just fatter than we used to be as a nation), a boom economy and change in tastes. As CAFE kicks in with higher standards, a slower economy and different consumer tastes, I’ll bet the next generation of cars become a bit smaller and of course lighter.
I would like to get a late 80’s LeBaron wagon with the wood grain and turbo engine. I never had any bad experiences with them, but didn’t drive one more than 5k miles, either. Like all other automotive experiences, my memories are mostly dictated by my associated travails as a younger man. But those cars, with the louvers on the hood and the fake vinyl wood, were beautiful in the scarlet metallic of the day. What is it about wagons and gearheads? Is it a vestigial memory of the Nomads of my childhood?
I was driving behind a 78 Vette on the highway today. It looked tiny next to just about every other car on the road.
Well, today…a “NICE Reliant” automobile might cost something. Not a million…but…a little more.
A K-car “sport” coupe! What a concept, haha.
My wife’s sister’s family recently bought a clean ’88 Aries coupe that my niece drives to work. In Milwaukee. Why? Because when they were first married they had an ’87 LeBaron sedan and kept it all these years (the last 15 in the garage, undriveable) because my BIL thought he would fix it up and his kids would drive it. Well, now that the kids are of driving age they spent all kinds of time and money trying to fix up that LeBaron, and they did eventually get it on the road, but it was never reliable. But now they’ve gotten so familiar with K-cars that when that beige ’88 coupe showed up at a used car dealer they went and bought it because they knew they could keep it running. It has no visible rust. I think the men of the family decided it won’t be allowed on the road during the winter to keep it that way…..
Nice Barenaked Ladies reference. Happy Canada Day!
If i had a million dollars, i’d buy you a k-car a nice Reliant automobile. LOL love that song!