Even Subaru was not above jumping on the subcompact bandwagon in the late 1980s, producing a small car to help Americans and others save on fuel costs. Of course, being Subaru, they figured out ways to do things differently. That’s how they ended up with not only a three-cylinder engine, but also the smallest all-wheel-drive car on the market. Of course, the all-wheel-drive detracted from this car’s main objective, saving on fuel. Needless to say, Subaru was not too successful in this endeavor – perhaps it would have gone better if they’d fitted a turbo to the all-wheel-drive car and called it the Justy WRX. Either way, these cars are surprisingly capable in rough terrain, and would have lasted longer were they not low-cost throwaway cars. You can find our survivor 1988 Subaru Justy for sale for $1800 in Alta Loma, CA.
Posts Tagged ‘japanese’
Cyborg – 1989 Mitsubishi Mirage Turbo
November 8, 2013The history of the North American car market is littered with all kinds of efforts from abroad to understand what these people with their big highways, big macs and big gulps would want to drive. That makes for some interesting variety on the used car market, even if it’s now difficult to find any trace of those efforts. The Mitsubishi Mirage was consistently an also-ran on the American market, but Mitsubishi did have interesting variants of each generation. The first 3 generations of Mirage sold here all came with a turbo option, most notably the twin-stick GT-S of the first generation. However, the later car is quite interesting for having a tunable, 160hp 4G61T engine, and the possibility to upgrade by dropping in a 4G63 from an Eclipse! Find our rare survivor, a 1989 Mitsubishi Mirage Turbo (known as the Cyborg in other markets) for sale in Mendocino County, CA for $2995.
Woof – Isuzu I-Mark Diesel Coupe and Sedan
November 8, 2013Nothing to see here, folks. The only real reason to feature these cars is their rarity, and because some tree-hugging greenie (among whom this writer counts himself!) who doesn’t want to shell out for a Prius or VW TDI will convert it to biodiesel. Anyhow, based on the same platform as the Chevrolet Chevette, Isuzu brought these lovely cars to the North American market. And in a bid to remain competitive against the contemporary VW diesel in a gas crisis climate, they fitted it with a diesel engine as well. Clothed in a fairly handsome coupe body, this 1981 Isuzu I-Mark Diesel Coupe is for sale in Hesperia, CA for $2000.


