"I found one of your cars in the parking lot" my wife said to me when she met me at the Avon Relay invitational last Saturday morning. "I think you'll love it. Go check it out. Bring back coffee".
Truth is I didn't love it. I didn't even like it. Which only confused my wife more than ever. Poor thing. For years now she has valiantly tried to understand my taste in cars.
Y'see, 1985 was the first year for GM's new, "full size" front wheel drivers. I wasn't a fan then and I'm certainly not a fan now. Now, had this been an '84 like the beauty above, well, it would've been a completely different story. In fact, I might've been inclined to leave a love letter or two on it asking the owner to contact me if they wanted to sell it.
With coffee in tow I uploaded to my wife my dismissal of the '85. "Phooey," I scoffed. "That's an '85..'85 not so good. '84, now, that's good". My wife was incredulous as she sipped her coffee. "You're an idiot. And you put a pink packet in my coffee. I like the blue packets".
What's really interesting is that the '85, despite it's very odd proportions and awkward profile, is a vastly superior automobile to the '84. Where the '84 floats and bobs, the '84 is taut, firm. Dare I say "sporty". Well, compared to the '84, it certainly is. The fuel injected 3.8 liter V-6 provides much better acceleration than than the carbureted 5.0 liter V-8 in the '84. That I could fix by swapping out the engine for a modern power plant. I can't do much about the styling of the '85. Yuck.
As I went back to get another cup of coffee for my wife with the correct sweetener, I took another gander at the '85.
Still not so good.
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