Edmunds.com | Inside Line | Auto Observer Your Account | Help | Directory
You are here:
![[F]](http://a332.g.akamai.net/f/332/936/12h/www.edmunds.com/media/townhall/webxicons/site.gif){kind=small}
Forums
Automotive News & Views Car Commercials The good, the bad, and the annoying!
3500 messages, Last post on Aug 06, 2009 at 3:28 PM
You are in the Automotive News & Views Forum. Your Hosts are steve_ & claires
Datsun's "black gold" ad - the epitome of manliness
|
|
|
one thing to keep in mind is that in 1984, the EPA rated cars differently. I think they just published their raw, unadjusted test numbers, which were much more optimistic than what most people were really getting. For 1985 they adjusted them down to a more realistic number. That year, it was EPA rated at 25/34 with the 5-speed manual and 25/29 with the automatic, which was a 3-speed with no OD. There was a Diesel 5-speed that was rated at 36/44. My stepdad bought a 1984 Tempo brand new. I remember driving it once. I hated it with a passion. It was slow, and for being a small car it just didn't feel very nimble. At the time my regular car was a 1980 Malibu coupe with a V-6, hardly a musclecar, but it felt like a rocket compared to that Tempo! Actually felt more responsive too, when it came to handling, cornering, and such. As for popularity, the Tempo was a pretty strong seller its first few years out. In 1985 it was one of the top ten selling car nameplates in America. It fell off fast though, especially once the Japanese competition started getting larger. The Corsica/Beretta, which were wildly popular for their first few years, probably stole a lot of Tempo sales, as did Chrysler's increasingly wide array of K-car permutations. It seems like whenever they came out with that restyle, which I think was in 1988, the car was pretty much relegated to rental fleets and bargain-basement buyers. I had a friend from middle school whose Dad actually bought two of the things! He was well-off financially but tended to really cheap out when it came to cars. They lived in what was once the nicest neighborhood around at the time, but in 1983-84 were driving a 1972 Satellite wagon and a 1971 or so Comet coupe. Last time I saw his Dad around 1990 or so, they had "upgraded" to ~1988 Tempos. I hated my stepdad's Tempo with a passion, but it actually did make it to about 160,000 miles on its original driveline, when they traded it for a 1991 Stanza. It had other problems I'm sure, but the driveline was actually pretty solid. Ford had two different 2.3 4-cylinders back then. They had an OHC unit sourced from Brazil that was used in cars like the Pinto, Mustang, and Fairmont, and turbo'ed for cars like the T-bird, but for some reason in the Tempo they just took an old Falcon pushrod 6 and chopped two cylinders off!
|
|
|
Can't really understand the direction tire commercials have taken lately. It use to be about safety, mileage , and performance... actual video of "real life" tires would be shown. Now you have a bunch of scantily clad young women and men dancing cheek to cheek in the rain. I guess the next thing we will see, is some commercial where the Michelin Man is walking down a beach wearing a thong and holding hands with a Hooters girl. Who knows. |
|
|
Replying to: carlisimo (Nov 02, 2006 12:17 am) Shamefully, I will admit I kind of like those primitive LED warning lights though. |
|
|
Replying to: andre1969 (Nov 02, 2006 5:35 am) It really was a non-performing car. I am pretty sure my fintail could easily dust it in almost any performance measure, and get almost the same mileage to boot. But for those dark days of domestics...it wasn't the worst thing I guess. |
|
but I want to say that "HSC" meant "High Swirl Combustion?" or maybe it was "Carburetion"?
|
|
|
Replying to: andre1969 (Nov 02, 2006 9:14 am) |
|
|
Replying to: carlisimo (Nov 02, 2006 12:17 am) That must've appealed to the gold chain set, I guess. -juice |
|
|
that '88 Regal ad brings back some bad flashbacks! And now that danged jingle is going to be stuck in my mind for awhile. Must...get it....out!  Maybe I can get it out by singing something else. "Good morning America, how are you? You may not know me, but you know my name... I'm the car they call Cutlass Ciera... And I know the roads from Oregon to Maine". Wait, that's not helping. 
|
|
|
Replying to: andre1969 (Nov 02, 2006 11:43 am) |
|
You are here:
Forums
Automotive News & Views Car Commercials The good, the bad, and the annoying!
New? Join Now!
Forum Tools
Search Forums
Browse by Vehicle
Browse by Board
Browse by Topic
Today's Chats
