I went to school in one of these: (In the Mid 90's)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mmbrown/4128770806/in/photostream/It was a real POS at the time, although an 11 year old car doesn't seem so bad to me these days. This thing rusted like nobody's business, had no guts and looked like a piece of crap.
However, it had a very nice and smooth transmission, and other than stopping for 20 minutes in the rain every time it rained, it was reliable. Even when the rad fell out once 300 kms North of home, as long as we were on the highway doing 100 it was fine.
My second HS car was:
http://static.cargurus.com/images/site/2...7005448371.jpega 1986 Nissan 200sx. For some reason I still like this car, I have no idea why. It was great because the interior was just right, manual, RWD. The hatch was cool because I could back into a drive in, and have an amazing view while lying back onto the reclined seats.
It was horrific in anything remotely wet or snowy, the back end would kick out without any warning at all.
It was definately fun to drive, but had 0 guts. A guy in a Geo Tracker smoked me at the lights one day and I never went back to a Japanese car again. Or maybe it was the Bonneville that had 6 people in it that crushed my spirits...
One thing I remember clearly was that this car always turned over the first time, every time. No matter how cold, how old, as soon as the key hit the ignition, it fired right up. I was toying with getting another one one day as a beater, but I couldn't stomach the poor power of it.
