Metro 1.3 Test drive
 

So I went to look at this car here:

https://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/car/225974741.html

It was cheap and well running . But it was too beat. Rusty , Sagging headliner, discolored dashboard, rear doors wouldn't open. Oh well the look continues.

The guy was nice and get this he owned a stickshift dodge caravan.

A Navy mate of my father had a manual Caravan. They were (are?) popular in Europe.

Dunno, we had a four headlight 1986 SWB slushbox one with a 2.6 Mitsubishi motor that was not good (ate heads). Fun memories, including spinning out in one empty in a snowstorm. Drove much better on the way home fully loaded with carparts. Not sure if my father kept the logbook for it or not, it was sold over 12 years ago.

Do not forget we had Turbo vans in the US and Europe got diesels. I have seen a couple European spec Voyagers in the states, here on Holiday or the like.

Keep looking!

As an aside, I have heard of a 96 Honda Odessey with a swapped H22 5-speed...nuts!

I am not in too much of a hurry. I would like to get a car before the winter.

How does that work, the shift linkage is what I am trying to work out remembering what the dashboard layout looks like?

Almost all of the 95-97 Metros you will look at will have the faded dash. Same can almost be said for the sagging headliner. On the rust, it'll be hit and miss. I've been looking at ALOT of Metros over the last few months and most of them that were 95-97 were that way.

There's a Metro on eBay that will probably go for a song. I tried to tell her what the problem is (I'm 95% sure that it is a VERY SIMPLE $25 fix) but I have a feeling she just wants to be rid of the car. :thumbdown: You may want to check it out. Someone will be VERY happy!!

That metro is nice, but i am not going to road island to buy it. Did you notice what section it is listed in.

Car & Truck Parts > Exterior > Mirrors

Sorry about that, I keep having to remember what is acceptable for me, isn't for others. :o For a Metro it probably wouldn't be worth the trip for you since it'll probably only go for a few hundred bucks less than it would be for a car top shape.

200 miles is where I draw the line. There is a MX-3 that I am probally going to look at. I love the look of mx-3s. It like a insight without wheel skirts. (this is not the car, it is just for a comparison).

https://images.consumerguide.com/auto...7081990115.JPG
https://www.edmunds.com/media/reviews...ht.f34.500.jpg

I'm guessing it'd have to be a custom dash or something.

Oh, I remember the MX-3 well. That was one car I REALLY wanted but just didn't get around to getting. Mainly is because they were pretty rare and the other reason was $$$ back then. I had one brand new car and couldn't afford 2, so I stayed with my shiny new American/JDM spec Suzuki Sidekick. It was American specs but had all the JDM perks, I bought it in Guam. (Sorry to stray OT)

The MX-3 is a COOL car. I like, the Insight mimics its styling quite a bit.

[QUOTE=kickflipjr]200 miles is where I draw the line. There is a MX-3 that I am probally going to look at. I love the look of mx-3s. It like a insight without wheel skirts. (this is not the car, it is just for a comparison).

Wazabi Owner -


The mimic is no coincidence, but that's because the MX-3 is mimicking the CRX. The Mazda MX-3 and Toyota Paseo were bigger fatter "CRX Fighters". Originally, I resented them because they impinged on the "CRX market" and probably prompted the CRX demise. If you notice, the MX-3 copied the CRX's "extra" rear mini-window. Grrrrrrrrrr.

Remember the Paseo? :

https://images.consumerguide.com/auto...2111990510.jpg

Now, what I heard but can't verify is that the Mazda MX-3 platform was later used by Ford for the late 1990's Mercury Cougar :

https://img.shopping.com/cctool/PrdIm...f/21650159.JPG

Now, from a pure aesthetic design POV, I consider the Cougar to be absolute perfection (I would love to meet the designer and shake his/her hand). But ...... the MPG was always below my standards, and I've heard terrible things about the maintenance. Oh well, ho hum, :( .

God, that cougar's gorgeous,

CarloSW2

EDIT : Found a Paseo picture on the net that will (hopefully) continue to exist ...

So .. shake his/her hand , then kickem in the nuts.

https://www.maritimefastening.com/man...nuts_bolts.jpg

Every upper-middle-class, somewhat-spoiled, white, teenaged-girl in my area that has one thinks they're hot **** and drives far worse than I do.

Beware!

I knew a guy in school who had a cougar. That thing spent more time on a tow truck than it did under its own power. Then again, if you count the miles that it was dragged I bet it got great FE :D

I knew a guy who had a cougar. He went in to feed it one day and never came out. :p

https://419.bittenus.com/pictures/big%20pussy.jpg

A Cougar is a big cat ,, rather much like this one.

onegammyleg -

I'd probably kick the (mechanical?) engineer in the nuts who couldn't translate the design into a reliable car. But, if the engineer had gotten his/her way, the thing wouldn't have been as pretty as it was. If it had gotten good MPG, I might have gone for it anyway with eyes wide shut. Plastic rattling on the interior? That's what used gum is for!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The classic "beauty is only skin deep" cliche applies here, *sigh*

CarloSW2

Ford Mondeo/Contour platform.

I have actually ridden in one of the mythical 4 cylinder automatic cars, a Ford exec I know was "gvien" one, what a perk.....:confused:

I remember the Paseo well! I had the papers drawn up on one and everything "back in the day". Backed out due to insurance issues with me and also where I'd be purchasing it - American specs in Germany = pay shipping back to US when I had to come back. That would of tagged on an additional $1500 to the price. That was an extra $1500 I didn't want to part with.

I have a few friends with Cougars - each has mixed feelings........

I forgot about the small CRX like window on the MX-3. Actually I never even got around to getting a CRX. Back in 1987 when I was in high school I was so bent on getting one I even bought the new rims first, they were originally on my aunt's CRX but it got totaled - she parked it at the top of a hill without the parking brake :rolleyes: and there was lake at the bottom of the hill. :eek:

onegammyleg- that woman has a HUGE pussy cat

I had a friend with an MX-3, it was an OK little car, but his was not the best example. I think they were sold elsewhere (not in the US) with a SMALL V6 as an option tho?

Yeah they come with a dohc 4. Or optional 6.


Trecel is where its at. Less cool and better mpg then the paseo.

I LOVE Tercels! Had 4 of them, 87-88-89 AND my favorite.......a CHERRY condition '84 4WD wagon, that car was the turning point for wagons and me. It was just such a darn practical car, got great mileage, was CHEAP (I paid $100 for it! :thumbup: ) and had the 4WD for those snowy/slushy days when everyone elses car wouldn't/couldn't make to work I would carpool everyone in because that thing would go absolutely anywhere. Out of the dozens of mucslecars/classic cars and sports cars I've owned that one ranks up there with my favorites. I wish I could find another excellent example but they are few and far between - you just don't see nice ones.

Mx-3 V-6
 

Yes, the V-6 MX-3 was sold in the U.S. -- when I autocrossed it was in the same class as my 1999 Civic Si 1.6L. In stock condition the outside rear wheel would lift off of the ground. I had no chance :( nor experience :o

Ah yes, the Terkle -- bulletproof, efficient, nondescript. That might be a good find...

RH77

My friend is all about the V6 MX3...He's done the KLZE swap.

Spule 4 -

Too bad about the platform. Maybe a Mazda MX-3 platform would have been more reliable. Your "mythical 4 cylinder auto" sentence made me do some wikipedia searching and now I see that the Cougar was part of the "New Edge" design philosophy (exemplified in the Focus, but has since been s**t-canned at Ford).

Oh well, I still love the design. If I were super-rich I would get one, gut as much weight as possible (2900 lbs my a**!!!!!), and turn it into a special "GS" model, if you mean what I know, speak to so :D .

More Cougar stuff :

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury...9.E2.80.931997
https://www.newcougar.org/

CarloSW2