Tag Archives: Compacts

Buy/Drive/Burn: Economical American Compacts From 1982

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Our recent Rare Rides coverage of the Chevrolet Citation made one thing very clear: We need more Citation content. Today’s 1982 Buy/Drive/Burn lineup was suggested by commenter eng_alvarado90, who would like to see all of you struggle. Citation, Aries, Escort, all in their most utilitarian formats. Let’s go.

Chevrolet Citation

The Citation is in its third model year for 1982, and sales have already fallen far from their initial peak of 800,000. The bloom is off this rose, but GM is still on track for six-digit sales this year. Sticking firmly to economy and utility, today’s Citation is a five-door hatchback equipped with the 2.5-liter Iron Duke inline-four and paired to a four-speed manual. Throttle-body injection is new this year and means 90 horses are underfoot. There’s also a new horizontal slats grille.

Dodge Aries K

The Dodge Aries is still new and is in its second model year for 1982. Chrysler started out strong last year with over 300,000 sales, and will likely reach that number again in ’82. Today’s Aries is the four-door wagon, as Chrysler does not offer a hatchback K-car at this level. Underhood is the base 2.2-liter Chrysler inline-four, which uses a two-barrel carb. Eighty-four horses are at the driver’s command, shifted through a four-speed manual. New this year: rear windows roll down on sedans and wagons, replacing the fixed glass.

Ford Escort

Ford’s Escort is also in its second model year for 1982. The American market Escort was supposed to be very similar to the European one for parts sharing purposes. However the respective design teams each headed their own direction, and the two cars share only an engine and transmission. Today’s five-door Escort hatchback is new for ’82, along with a new grille and presence of the familiar Ford Blue Oval. The base 1.6-liter CVH engine gets a high output version this year, which increases power by about 10 horses, to 80. Power is delivered to the front via a four-speed Ford MTX manual.

Economy and cheap driving are available to you, and they’ll probably hold up for at least three years before falling apart. Which gets the Buy?

[Images: GM, Chrysler, Ford]

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Buy/Drive/Burn: Basic American Compacts From 2008

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We continue our 1990s-then-2000s series today, following up the last post that featured compact American two-doors from 1998. By the late 2000s, the Escort, Neon, and Cavalier were all dead. In their place were the Focus, Caliber, and Cobalt, and not all of those had a two-door variant. That means we focus on four-doors today. Let’s go.

Dodge Caliber

The Caliber is in its second model year this year, as the crossover replacement for the Neon. Front-wheel drive with optional all-wheel drive, the Caliber rides on the Chrysler-Mitsubishi PM platform with things like the Mitsubishi Outlander. The only body style is this four-door with hatch. There are four trims this year, SE, SXT, R/T, and SRT-4. Today’s base SE uses a 1.8-liter inline-four good for 148 horsepower. It’s front-wheel drive, and has a five-speed manual transmission provided by Magna. Yours for $14,965.

Chevrolet Cobalt

The Cobalt is in its fourth model year after it replaced the ancient Cavalier for 2005. Cobalt uses the Delta platform which also sees use in the Saturn Ion and Chevrolet HHR. Unlike the Caliber, all examples are front-wheel drive. With two- or four-doors, there’s always a traditional trunk on the Cobalt. Four different trim levels are available at dealers this year: LS, LT, Sport, and SS, the latter with turbocharging. Base LS models are powered by a 2.2-liter inline-four that wrestles up 148 horses. The five-speed manual here is a Getrag box carried over from the Cavalier. Cobalt asks $14,410.

Ford Focus

The Focus is in its second generation for 2008, and is a car specific to North America. The first generation global Focus was part of Ford’s world car plan, but that idea was dropped. In 2008 customers choose from a two- or four-door Focus with trunk, as the hatchback option is no more. All Focii are front-drive, and all use the same 2.0-liter Duratec inline-four. Customers choose from four trims: S, SE, SES, and SEL. The cheapest S has the same 140 horses as the other models, and uses a five-speed manual. The Focus is in your drive for $14,395.

Three four-doors of Ace of Base persuasion, all wearing fantastic late 2000s styling. Which one’s worth the Buy?

[Images: GM, Ford, Dodge]

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