Posts from ‘Coupes’
Classic Car Ads: Coupes of 1971
1971 Ford LTD
If you’ve been following auto stuff long enough, you’ve likely come across the descriptor 2-door sedan. Some will argue that all 2-door vehicles with a trunk are coupes, while other folks argue otherwise. According to the editors at website Curbside Classics, this is the real story:
1985 Toyota Corolla GT-S
Note: The following story was excerpted from the October 2021 issue of Collectible Automobile magazine.
Perhaps one of the most unexpected automotive icons of the Eighties is Toyota’s humble Hachi-Roku, Japanese for “8-6.” This nickname refers to Toyota’s AE86 model code for the top 1600 GT APEX performance version of the Japanese-market 1983-1987 Corolla Levin and closely related Sprinter Trueno. (The latter is a pop-culture star for its central role in the Japanese street-racing manga Initial D). Lesser known is the pair’s American-market cousin, the 1985-87 Toyota Corolla GT-S. It’s the AE86 we want to wring out for Cheap Wheels.
1969 Chevrolet Chevelle Malibu Hardtop Coupe
Note: The following story was excerpted from the October 2019 issue of Collectible Automobile magazine
Do you still want my old car? I’m at the beauty shop and it won’t crank. If you can get it home, it’s yours.” With that, Kevin and Kelly Sheehan of Harleton, Texas, became the owners of this 1969 Chevrolet Chevelle Malibu Sport Coupe.
Test Drive: 2022 Toyota GR86
2022 Toyota GR86 Premium in Track bRED (a $425 color option)
2022 Toyota GR86 Premium
Class: Sporty/Performance Car
Miles driven: 406
Fuel used: 17.2 gallons
Photo Feature: 1969 AMC Javelin SST
1969 AMC Javelin SST
Note: The following story was excerpted from the February 2019 issue of Collectible Automobile magazine
After the successful Romney years, American Motors Corporation stumbled in the mid Sixties. One misstep was the Marlin. It began as the well-received Tarpon show car based on the compact American chassis. Had AMC stayed with the original concept, it would have had a sporty compact to compete with the Ford Mustang in 1965. Instead, Marlin was stretched to fit on the midsize Classic chassis and sales were minuscule.
2001 Dodge Stratus R/T
Note: The following story was excerpted from the June 2021 issue of Collectible Automobile magazine.
For nearly 15 years, Dodge’s lone coupe model has been the throwback Challenger. Readers are surely familiar with its classic muscle car styling, rear-drive chassis, and Hemi V-8 with seemingly limitless amounts of horsepower. Therefore, we completely understand if you need a moment to recall Dodge’s last pre-Challenger sports coupe, not to mention what its friskiest variant was called. Give up? It was the 2001-2005 Stratus R/T.
Classic Car Ads: Coupes of 1981
1981 Ford Granada
My dad was a coupe man, though I cannot say he owned coupes on purpose. He was a bargain hunter, and a car’s door count was less important than its price. Nonetheless, my sister, mother and I never complained about having to squeeze into the back seat. For the most part, my dad’s Chevrolet Nova 2-door, and multiple Oldsmobile Cutlass and Pontiac Ventura coupes, offered sufficient rear-seat space, provided you didn’t mind negotiating the path past the folded front seat—and for the most part, we didn’t mind.
Test Drive: 2022 BMW M240i
2022 BMW M240i xDrive in Thundernight Metallic paint (a $550 option)
2022 BMW M240i xDrive
Class: Premium Sporty/Performance Car
Miles driven: 222
Fuel used: 10.4 gallons
First Spin: 2023 Nissan Z
2023 Nissan Z
It’s tough out there for traditional sporty/performance cars these days, especially for the true two-seater or 2+2 sports cars. The things just don’t sell like they used to American shoppers, and as a result, the automakers who are still sticking it out in this segment have had to get creative. Toyota partnered with BMW to revive the Supra for 2020, and renewed its partnership with Subaru to introduce a new-generation version of the Toyota 86 rear-wheel-drive sports car (now dubbed GR 86) for 2022 (Subaru’s variant continues as the BRZ). Mazda partnered with Fiat to share some of the load for the 2016 redesign of the MX-5 Miata; Fiat got its own version in the revived 124 Spider, which only lasted through the 2017-2020 model years before it was dropped.
1942 Oldsmobile 66 Special Club Coupe
Note: The following story was excerpted from the February 2019 issue of Collectible Automobile magazine
The 1942 Oldsmobile brochure proclaimed that the cars were “Better Looking . . . Better Lasting . . . Better Built Than Any Oldsmobile In Forty-Four Years.” Playing off the “B” in “better” and 44 years, all 1942 Olds wore a B-44 badge. This ’42 Series 66 Special, owned by Dave and June Simon of Gardena, California, confirms Olds’s boast of quality and durability. The club coupe has covered 76,000 miles and is mostly original. It has been repainted in its original Metallic Mist Blue, although the engine compartment and trunk retain the factory paint. The tan ripple-weave Bedford-cloth-and-broadcloth interior is original.
