We just love hatchbacks.
1978 front-wheel drive Plymouth Horizon started at $3,706 and came with standard features like front bucket seats, AM radio, whitewall radial tires, rack and pinion steering and front disc brakes. But best of all, it got 27 mpg city and 41 mpg hwy.
1978 Plymouth Horizon
1977 Plymouth Arrow GT’s 1.6 liter engine got 26 mpg city and 39 mpg hwy. The MSRP was $4,017 and had features like a piston operated hatchback, fold-down rear seat, power front disc brakes, tinted glass and a locking fuel door. Exclusive to the GT were extras like styled road wheels, woodgrain instrument panel, and quarter windows that flipped open. The vehicle pictured here had the wheel trim rings and AM/FM radio options, for $171.
An available and quieter 2 liter silent shaft engine cut vibration and noise. Chrysler-Plymouth dealers could enhance your Arrow even further with special suspension package and performance engine parts as intake manifold, headers and special pistons.
1977 Plymouth Arrow GT
1977 Plymouth Arrow GT
The 1980 Peugeot 104s luxury 5-door sports hatchback was powered by a 1360 cc aluminum alloy engine with twin choke carburetor. It’s top speed was around the 100 mph mark and reached 0-60 in just over 10 seconds. It had four wheel independent suspension with front and rear anti-roll bars which made the ride comfortable but swift. The dual circuit power assisted brakes with front discs gave it the assurance of positive, safe braking.
From the outside, the 104S distinguished itself from the crowd with its crisp aerodynamic lines, wide aluminum alloy wheels and racing color paint finish with contrasting sports body stripes and matt black trim.
The inside “sporty” feeling continued with black cloth upholstery trimmed with red or blue stripes and the reclining front seats were fitted with matching head restraints. Electric front windows and tinted glass were all standard, as was the quartz digital clock, radio console and modern touch button controls. All that in a package that gave you 24.5 cu. ft of space with the rear seats folded down.
1980 Peugeot 104s
1986 Merkur XR4Ti from Germany, with an overhead cam turbocharged engine developed 175 horsepower, taking it from 0-60 in 7.8 seconds. The XR4Ti’s independent suspension strikes a perfect balance between aggressive cornering and Grand Touring comfort.
1986 Merkur XR4Ti
A heavily re-designed Volkswagen Scirocco “Mark II” variant went on sale in 1982, although it remained on the A1 platform. One unique feature of the Mark II was the location of the rear spoiler midway up the glass on the rear hatch. A mid-cycle update occurred in 1984, which included minor changes over the 1982 model: removal of the outlined “SCIROCCO” script from the rear hatch (below the spoiler), a redesigned air conditioning compressor, and a different brake master cylinder with in-line proportioning valves and a brake light switch mounted to the pedal instead of on the master cylinder. Full story on Cartype.
1985 Volkswagen Scirocco "White Cat". 1.8-liter gasoline engine with 66 kW/90 bhp, 4+E gearbox, alpine white. (source: Volkswagen)
There is a new era for the Volkswagen Scirocco with the arrival of the third generation of the sports car with four turbo engines at market introduction. Scirocco generations I and II wrote history as the most successful Volkswagen coupé of all time with about 800,000 units sold. Full story on Cartype.
2009 Volkswagen Scirocco.
2009 Volkswagen Scirocco.
1977 Lancia HPE took you from standing to 60 mph in 10 seconds flat and carry on to a top speed of 112 mph. All courtesy of a lusty twin-cam engine that responds to a five-speed close ratio gearbox. With its rear seats down, it revealed its 42 cubic feet.
1977 Lancia HPE
1987 Lancia Delta accelerated from 0-60 in 7.9 seconds and reached 126 mph. It had alloy wheels, electric front windows, sliding steel sunroof and could be had for under £6,500.
1987 Lancia Delta
1984 Isuzu Impulse attributes included power windows, power mirrors, power steering, 4-wheel disc brakes, cruise control, tilt steering wheel with memory, tinted glass, AM/FM stereo radio, I-Tec computer controlled fuel injection and alloy wheels. Of course, for comfort, there’s the air conditioning, reclining bucket seats in the front and reclining bucket shaped seats in the back. all on deep pile carpeting. It even had a remote controlled hatch release and fuel filler lid. There was a total of 55 standard features, but also had the option of an automatic transmission.
But wait, you want something special? There was also the 1984 Isuzu Impulse Special Edition that was limited to 3000 units and came in Charcoal Metallic, gold striping, bronze tinted glass, gold turbine wheels, special interior and sound system.
1984 Isuzu Impulse
1984 Isuzu Impulse Special
The 1989 Isuzu I-Mark RS retailed for $9359. It came with a twin cam 16-valve fuel-injected engine that delivered 125 horsepower and redlined at 7800 rpm. It took the RS from 0-60 in 8.1 seconds.
1989 Isuzu I-Mark RS
1975 Ford Pinto sold for $2769. It got 34 mpg on the highway and came with all-vinyl bucket seats. The 3-door Runabout’s rear door flips up and the rear seat flips down to give you a five-foot-long carpeted load floor. Optional features included Exterior Decor Group, Deluxe Bumper GRoup and WSW tires.
1975 Ford Pinto
1975 Ford Pinto
1975 Ford Pinto
The 1980 Ford Fiesta Sport was advertised as the little front wheel drive car that came from Germany and was voted the most significant import of the year in 1978 by readers of Car & Driver magazine. Rolling of Michelin steel belted radials, it reached 26 mpg in the city and 38 on the highway. The Fiesta was assemble by Ford in Germany.
1980 Ford Fiesta Sport.
The 1978 Ford Fiesta-S Euro Spec. Complete with orange striped seats.
1978 Ford Fiesta-S Euro Spec
in 1981, Ford introduced the Escort as “The New World Car”. It had an EPA of 30 MPG city and 40 MPG on the highway. It had the new-design compound valve hemispherical head (CVH) engine and came with front-wheel drive, four-wheel fully independent suspension, rack-and-pinion steering, stabilizer bar, new all season steel-belted radials and other road-control features.
1981 Ford Escort
The 1977 Datsun B210 hatchback achieved 50 mpg. It’s value included features like a 5-speed, steel belted radials, sporty stripes, fully reclining bucket seats, carpeting, tinted glass, electric rear window defogger and power-assist front disc brakes. All included in the B-210 “Plus”.
1977 Datsun B210
1977 Datsun B210