I still own my 86' Oldsmobile Firenza Cruiser with a 4 speed go stick. Love the thing, "leaks all the fluids" (sarcasm), but always been reliable. Now going on 262,000 miles.
You say "leaking all da fluids" like it's a Badge of Honor!! Lol!!!!😄One of my high school friends had a Firenza 4 door. It had its share of issues but she said it was better than taking the bus.
@@landonbenford8369 I was more so exaggerating. It's leaked pretty much everything over the years, but I fixed any that showed up. It's been a great little car that I trust more than my modern hunk of dodge ram. Can't wait to get rid of that truck and get an old idi ive been eyeing.
If I could have any of all the cars I've owned back, I'd want my 1984 Thunderbird.... and my 1986 Cavalier wagon. I loved that thing. 2.0L EFI, 3 speed auto, ac, gauges, crank windows, tilt wheel, do it yourself locks. But the rear seat folded down, the hatch opened wide. I used to carry just everything from computers to gardening supplies. It was metallic brown over tan cloth. I miss it.
I GO for the Chevrolet, neighbor had a Datsun 210 wagon, 81, that by 85 was falling apart, that what they traded in for. Closest we had to a wagon, Jeep Cherokee, 1976, got 6 mpg. That got so fast.
Back in 1998 I got in an accident with my 97 Talon Tsi AWD. A friend's mother gave me a car to commute with as my car was going to be laid up for months. It was a 1984 Chevy Celebrity wagon, red on red. It had been given to her by her neighbor. It was a far cry from my Talon, but it got me there. It did just work as far as an appliance car goes. Wagon body was convenient. I remember shoving a Christmas tree in there. Anyway, I ended up giving the car to a woman who was in need of transportation. Paying it forward as it was paid to me.
As a ‘Brit’ (Welshman 🏴) I always remember the station wagons here being driven by the moms (mothers) in movies. We call station wagons’Estates’ here, and in the 1980s my mother drove a Ford Sierra 2.5 Estate. At the same time my grandfather drove Volvo Estates, and he only drove them amongst his other car collection from as early as I can remember, all because of grandchildren I guess. Even LandRovers in the family were used purely for utilitarian reasons. The estates were all rounders, pre people carrier shit. Anyway, get well soon bro 🏴 🇺🇸
I look forward to reading your comment every week, helps me get a better understanding of the other markets! I’m feeling a whole lot better, thank you:)
@@joycebrackbill-henderly8311 He had one that he bought brand new in 1991/92, I think it was a 740 GL/GLE and apart from a few services and minor maintenance things, it was a-ok, no issues and still driven up to 2020.
My in-laws' neighbor had a dark blue wood trim one in mint condition until one sunny Sunday afternoon around 2013. A drunk driver came along and slammed into that parked Eagle. Crushed the cargo area like an accordian. Insurance totalled it out. I think the owner's Still Mad!! I would be!!!🤨
@@landonbenford8369 That’s sad to hear. I wonder how many Eagles are still on the road. If you maintain that AMC 4.2L 258 Inline 6 it will run forever. I have one in my CJ7. Almost 40 years old and still running.
My first car was an Aries K. I bought it for $300, drove it 3 years, and sold it for $500. It had no power to speak of, but it was pretty reliable and got good gas mileage. I never realized at the time having a full bench up front was out of the ordinary.
the way back!!!!!!! that 2.8/2.6 motor was pretty dang good IMHO. Today I drive a 2015 Ford focus and it it a great little car as long as you get the dealer to fix the tranny....Great video my brother, your on to somethin!
My friends family had a little compact 80's station wagon - i want to say it was a chevy. There was a bench seat in the rear hatch that pointed backwards. We used to sit back there and flip everybody the bird. Probably not a very safe seating configuration though....
My parents had a 1984 Cavalier wagon, my parents had that for 10 years. We drove that all the way from Northern Ohio to Orlando, Florida in 1986 with stop overs in Tennessee. In 1990 we bought a 1990 Plymouth Voyager and my Dad drove the Cavalier until the 2nd engine failed in 94. It was almost my first car but, the wagon had it's day.
My family bought a 1984 Buick Skyhawk Limited wagon. We bought it brand new, and owned it for about 7 or eight years. It was brown inside and outside. It was a good car. It was a Limited, but it still had manual windows and no cassette player. It did have power locks, wire wheels, a power antenna, AC, and cruise control. It was an automatic.
I still own and daily a modern station. Buck imported an opel and badged it as their own. It's the rare 2018 buick regal tourx awd station wagon. Grew up riding in station wagons, glad I found a modern one for myself.
I had a gold, stick-shift Plymouth Reliant K and it was excellent in the snow. It had a short wheelbase, and was relatively high off the ground compared to most cars.
The only ones I remember spending much time in as a child was my aunt's 85 country squire (Ltd Crown Victoria station wagon) and I think a late 70s to early 80s Dodge Colt. I don't recall being in anything else. The country squire lasted forever reaching 318k miles before she sold it to a kid who used it in a couple demolition derbies. It would fit 10 people with the rear side seats. I never enjoyed riding in it as it made me car sick plus it was in rough shape and not particularly clean. I remembered liking the Dodge Colt.
I will note we were more a minivan family. I remember asking my dad once about getting a station wagon when I was a toddler when all we had were sedans and I think he said he didn't like them (I think as the saying goes that each generation doesn't want the cars their parents drove)
I love woodgrain station wagons. Rear wheel drive ONLY. I have owned 6 of them. I currently have two, a 1977 Caprice Classic Estate and a 1972 Pinto Squire. Both are a medium brown with vinyl woodgrain. I don't think they made any compact rear wheel drive station wagons in the '80s except the Pinto in 1980.
Ford Taurus. My parents had a 1986 Ford Taurus station wagon. Seems like we had it but just until 1990 when my sister friend rolled it on the gravel road to our farm. Lol. No one was hurt.
Feel well soon , happy days are here again , loved tha wagons , I’m 57 an my family owned several one was a 1977 ltd country squire edition an man big choked out 390 unda the hood an loved fuel an us ram forever an we had it 15 yrs an sold it for 1200 bucks , we then bought a Toyota 2 door compact to travel cheaper but kept the wood groan look in it , man those were the days ❤ an moss them
My comment disappeared! Great vid Hawk! Grew up in the back of a 85 Sentra wagon. It was reliable and saw it many years after my folks sold it in town with its new owner.
Best was the 74 amc hornet wagon hands down except for rust my dad never had issues with it loved riding in it. Followed by the Toyota Corolla wagon followed by Ford escort wagon. I settled on a Subaru Outback really only wagon left.
You do sound under the weather, but trust me when I say I appreciate the effort you put into producing another fantastic video. Hope you get better soon! I thought the Ford Taurus wagon would be in this video too. I could swear they made one. If not, please disregard, LoL. Keep up the great work Hawk!
There was a Ford Taurus wagon and its cousin Mercury Sable wagon manufactured from 1986-2003. I Love the Taurus but the wagon was kinda fuggly from/in the back. My friends' maw had a white 1987 one. Its successor, The Ford Freestyle/Taurus X, was WAYYYYY better looking! Two of my neighbors have one. And besides, The Taurus is a midsize.😎
What's up Stinger! You're absolutely right. They came out in 1986 and I personally love those wagons, but they just missed the cutoff and it didn't seem that fair to compare early '80s styled/engineered wagons to the newer late '80s models if that makes sense. Thank you for watching as always:)
Reliant for the win. Small outside, huge inside. The Escort's 1.9 shouldve gotten a nod due to the 1985.5 was a typical mid year thing for Ford. Having owned all three I go with the Reliant. The Cavalier was problematic, as was the Escort (timing belts). Both 1.8/2.0 and 1.6/1.9s. The 2.2 was a good engine as was the 2.6 Silent shaft. The K wagon was simply huge inside. Best packaging and almost unstoppable in snow. Friends parents had an 82 Reliant wagon with a 4 speed manual. fun vehicle. I own a 79 Buick Electra Estate and a 1984 Amc Eagle wagon now.
I had a 1982 Plymouth Reliant long ago it was not a wagon it was a two door coupe in midnight blue with a very reliable 2.6 four banger had it in 1995 with a column shift automatic and bench seat. The car was midnight blue and had it a few years. It had its quirks but overall loved the car got me around was pretty roomy and had a bench seat in light blue cloth. Wish I had it still or another one like it.
Amazing to think that back then, the meaning of "luxury" was less about unique features and creature comforts, and more about styling that would be considered tacky by today's standards.
CHRIST GHD!!! 1st of All, You Instantly took me back to my granddaddy's 7th generation (1969-78) Ford LTD Country Squire wagon with the rear facing 3rd row for the kiddies just inside the tailgate. I don't remember if there were seatbelts for that 3rd row or not, but I don't remember wearing one on those Indiana Toll Road/Ohio TurnPike trips between Chicago & Cleveland. NO air conditioning! In the summer, me & the family dog Mitzie'd sit in the 2nd row while "daddy" changed the oil while our neighbor across the alley would do the same. Back in the 70's, lots of men would d.i.y. basic maintenance in the alley; at least in Chicago. I even recall them letting the old antifreeze (& probably other fluids) run off into the sewer. We/they didn't know any better.😁 I drove my 1991 (3rd gen.) Escort into the ground but it was a tough s.o.b. That generation wagons are not hard to find and the decent ones can be had for well under $2,000. Anywho, I'll never forget that scene in "Three O' Clock High" (1987) when Casey Siemaszko came thisclose to causing a chain-reaction crash at an intersection and escaped without a scratch in a Dodge Aries station wagon all while Tangerine Dream (a hit band that did several soundtracks) played in the background. And being a Star Trek fan, I gotta go with the Plymouth Reliant. Those K cars when they were new felt cheap quality-wise but not now. Not with all the aftermarket places that can do Anything to a car. Khan Starship-jacked the U.S.S. Reliant in Star Trek II. If they make a hundred more Trek films, Star Trek II will STILL and ALWAYS WILL be The BEST!!!!! 😎😎😎😎😎Great background music Again, GHD. I think this is your 2nd Best vid so far!! And so long as you don't have pneumonia, you'll be alright!
I appreciate your support, Landon. You have been such a great member to this community and I'm glad I was able to take you back to your childhood. Do you like Star Trek more than Star Wars?!😂
@@GreenHawkDrive Trekkie For Life, Baby!! I like Star Wars but George Lucas got on my bad side when he thought he was gonna march Right into Chicago and Tell US where He was gonna build His museum just beacuse his wife is from Chicago. WELL, Those of us who Love our LakeFront (where I grew up) had SomeThing to say about THATTT!!!!! Anywho, a LOTTA Reliants AND Voyagers were bought & sold because of and thanks to the Star Trek Franchise!!!😎😎
One of my many Aunts had a 1983 Plymouth Reliant Special Edition Station Wagon and I got to drive it a few times, seemed pretty impressive (but not my style at the time). Given MY choice it would have been the 1983 Chrysler Cordoba that was in the showroom when she bought the station wagon!!!
Dude I love your videos so much please keep them coming, a quick FYI try checking out the Australian motoring history from the 50s to 2000 a lot of great info there. Including the 245ci and 265ci HEMIs
Great video GreenHawk! Personally I love wagons but the minivan was so much more of a better option. Then the SUV came along and really took over. So sorry to hear that you have been under the weather. Feel better and get well soon!
GREAT !WONDERFFUL VIDEO!!! I GREW UP IN A 1960S FORD FALCOON WAGON AND A 1970S FORD WAGOON SQUIRE ,,. MY SON MAX 8 YR.S OLD LOVES WAGONS WHEN WE GO TO CAR SHOWS OR SEEING THEM GOING DOWN THE STREET AT!! TIMES.. YOUR SO RIGHT THE GAS PRICES KILLED THE BIG BABES OF THE CARS.. THEN MY PARENTS YES WENT TO THE ESCORTS ,, NOT GOOD TO PLAN.. EVERY THING YOU SAID IS SO TRUE.. I ONLY DRIVE OLD CARS ,,1978 BUICK REGAL,, AND MY SON CRYED AND BEGGED WHEN HE SAW A 1958 DODGE CUSTOM ROYALE , SWEEP WING FOR SALE AT A CAR SHOW SO WE HAD TO BUY IT ,, ITS A GASER BUT WE ENJOY IT... HE CARES AND WASHES IT, KIDS NEED THIS FUN TOO.. HOPE YOUR FEELING BETTER !!! NEVER SAY SORRY ,
Thanks Hawk another great video upload I actually had a 1990 two-door Ford Escort throttle body injected it was a good car manual transmission it was 2nd cars I learned to drive a manual transmission on first being a 2nd gen geo metro I'm still here for you always!!!💯👍
Mom had an '83 Cavalier, drove it for more than a decade. When she sold it it had almost 350,000 miles on it, with nothing but routine maintenance. Never had any major issues with either the engine or the transmission.
The Cavalier with the 2.8L V6 was definitely the most peppy of the bunch while the Escort was terribly slow and seemed to share ergonomics right out of the 70s rather than the 80s. The Reliant/ Aries/ Town and Country were by most metrics more advanced being clean sheet from the tires up. The 2.2L and eventual 2.5L with TBI in my opinion were more reliable than either the crap Ford 1.9 or the GM motors. I wish you had included the Chrysler Town and Country wagon with woody sides and the option of the turbocharged 2.2L good for 146 h.p. which made it a screamer in relative terms! The ergonomics of the Chrysler products were also much more modern than the Ford or GM.
Been dailying an 88 RT4WD Civic Wagon for nearly a decade in the northern hemisphere and while these have died and went well over a couple decades ago, ive had plenty of trust with trailing in dry and snow off road, camped and started in -50c with no hesitations. I enjoy its double wishbone suspension, its comfy and has no issue with being agile and doing exactly how you intend. I really wish some things were different nowadays 😕
I think what's the MOST amazing thing about looking back at old cars... isn't the look, or the style or features... no... it's the amazing fact that most if not all these old cars have V6's and V8's that put out less horsepower and torque than most of today's 4-cylinder engines!
My winner is the Chrysler K wagons. They were larger than the GM J wagons and the Escort wagons. My opinion is that they had better styling. The 2.2 Chrysler built I4 was a hell of a reliable little engine if you took care of it, which most people did not. The Mitsubishi engines were okay but i think the 2.2 had an edge in reliability. The interiors felt bigger than they actually were at it was easier for full size wagon buyers to go to the slightly larger K than the GM or Ford offerings. Then of course, Chrysler also had the minivans that were also based on the K platform and those basically killed by full size wagon segment by themselves. Chrysler knew how to build a solid, simple people mover back in the 80s. Great video as always!
Can't wait for your AMC 4WD Eagle Wagon review to show how far ahead of it's time it was. Just look at how many of today's "Shooting Brakes"...I'm sorry SUVs have gone that way.
You missed the best wagon of the 1980s, that being the AMC Concord/Eagle. The design was tested, reliable, bulletproof, and really smart and versatile. Had two of them, both excellent, and capable.
We had the xbody phoenix that was comfortable, roomy and economical but it was one of the first years built and it couldn't keep a clutch, or parking brake on hills aside from that it was fairly reliable but after a bad New England winter we crossed over to Subaru 4wd GL wagons. Subaru would rust easily and leak oil like Jaguar but we're great in snow and ran well and 2 /3 of them went 150 to 213k miles until rust failed them out of state inspections. In winter at College they were irreplaceable for moving in and out of the dorms and driving through blizzards and deep snow. few friend had the buick skylark wagon which was good, reliable and more powerful than the Subaru but the Suby felt better built as a whole and second to a SUV only in snow.
The Cavalier and the Escort were great for a single person with "stuff". A new family would go for the K- cars or the Celebrity. I like the Cavalier but only with the FI 2 liter engine.
Hello new subscriber, love your videos. Since you seem receptive to comments I just thought id mention At 6:19 you mention the Plymouth Volaire. The correct pronunciaton is Voll-are-ray... cuz of that french accent thing over the e
I would have loved to have seen a Cavalier z24 wagon as our first family car that I can remember was a '92-93 z24. I guess for me I'd take the J2000 wagon from Pontiac.
There was a whole storyline on the 70s/80s dramedy Eight is Enough about how the Bradfords eventually got rid of their two gas guzzler cars and then replaced them with a smaller wagon and sedan! Toyota also used to offer the Corona Wagon - as opposed to Corolla!
1:34 & 5:51....................COLT VISTA, BABY!!!!! We used to have a 1985 Dodge Colt Vista similar to this one when I was growing up, & I would give ANYTHING to have another one!!!!! Ours was Glacier Blue Metallic, 2WD, & an automatic with the Custom Package. It also had a manually-tuned AM-FM stereo radio with no cassette deck. NOT a star on the track by ANY means, but..........let's just say that Glacier Blue Metallic was definitely the appropriate color for ours, as it DEFINITELY had glacier-like acceleration!!!!!
I remember my moms car was a delta 88 wagon. I think it was a 77 or 78. We would drop the rear seats and layout in the cargo area and sleep on long trips.
Had a cavalier. It was a great running car . The Chrysler car I had had a comfy couch feel. I drove A Escort was fine vehicle. My vote is cavalier wagon had the get up and go
Interesting, the Australian J body wagon (Holden Camira) had the rear bumper attached to the tailgate so there was no loading lip. (I read an article that said they copied the Citroen GS)
@@landonbenford8369I can't imagine even being able to spin the tires in snow. Bought it for $50 from a cousin that needed to get rid of it. Fond memories though. Left it in gated parking at work (the gov't) for the warm seasons. I'd be driving a summer car. In August boss said move it. I said, want it? Yes, his wife needs a car. He offered $200. I cleverly negotiated it to $5. He wouldn't take the $5. It needed a new gas line any way, and I had to get rid of it. So I put it in a gov't shop and replaced it with gov't parts on gov't time. Now the most reliable but gutless 81 Aries wagon was a perfect beater, just over a decade old. Gave it to his wife. She wouldn't take $5 for taking it either. I got a bunch of baked goods from them for years. There's more, but probably the most mundane car on the planet had such an interesting story.
@@m1t2a1 Lol! There was a commercial back in the 90's; I don't recall what it was promoting; but it showed office employees running out of work on a Friday and one of them burned rubber in a Minivan to get out of the lot.
My parents had a ‘85 Buick Skyhawk wagon for my first 6 years. It was replaced with a ‘94 Caravan after the third kid. Personally I would have gone for the Colt wagon.
As a Ford and GM salesman of over 25 years I can say that the best wagon of the 80s was probably a Corolla. LoL Or the Cressida if you wanted to be stylish. Jokes aside.... For the US, I'd go with the downsized LTD.