Eco... ...classics?

[freebeard]

But consider. You're a retiree and don't drive much. But when you do drive, you want to make as little impact as you can manage. So you buy an Insight. You use it for your errands and runabouts and whatnot. You put a few K miles on it over the course of 10-12 years or so. You get older. You decide its time to sell it. By which time the car has attained cult status and become an icon. I guess that makes you a money wasting fool?

Purchased at $50 less than NADA mid-book at $5550, current mid-book is $8600. Too fragile to be a weekly driver, and not as economical as the Dasher; but it makes everyone up and down the street smile, so there's that.

The Insight is a poor-man's VW XL1, with the motor at the wrong end.

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by jcp123

the factory supercharged CR-Zs may be a thing, though.

The WHAT? They did that?

EDIT: learned something new today!

https://www.roadandtrack.com/new-car...rcharged-cr-z/

[Hersbird]

Originally Posted by wdb

I don't understand the need to disparage. The car is worth what it's worth. I'm very impressed with the fact that its significance is clearly recognized by those who seek to preserve automotive history. I see no need to run down the folks who would pay that much, or the people who kept the car in that kind of condition to begin with.

But consider. You're a retiree and don't drive much. But when you do drive, you want to make as little impact as you can manage. So you buy an Insight. You use it for your errands and runabouts and whatnot. You put a few K miles on it over the course of 10-12 years or so. You get older. You decide its time to sell it. By which time the car has attained cult status and become an icon. I guess that makes you a money wasting fool?

I don't mean to disparage or run down anything, I like the Insight just fine, I'm just saying selling a car for what it cost new when it really hasn't been used is not a big deal. I also have a feeling a few of these have been tucked away in collections already from the start for the museum collections. Personally I would like to see a museum car to be one that had a life history of it's own, not just a random example of a pivot point in transportation history. So a Model T is cool, but a model T owned by say a president is really cool.

[jcp123]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

The WHAT? They did that?

EDIT: learned something new today!

https://www.roadandtrack.com/new-car...rcharged-cr-z/

Yup I've heard various other sport-minded commentators praise the supercharged CR-Z. That's why I feel like it might creep into enthusiast price bubbles in a way pretty much no other eco-car will.

[Stubby79]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

The WHAT? They did that?

EDIT: learned something new today!

https://www.roadandtrack.com/new-car...rcharged-cr-z/

I really liked the look of the CRZ when I first spotted one. And that it was a hybrid? OMG! I wanted one...

Then I looked up it's fuel economy...which flushed away all interest. Whats the point of a hybrid that doesn't even get 40mpg?

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

Last time I saw a CRX of that vintage was in late 2005 and it was at a junkyard

[wdb]

Originally Posted by cRiPpLe_rOoStEr

Last time I saw a CRX of that vintage was in late 2005 and it was at a junkyard

5 of them on Autotrader at the moment.

[MetroMPG]

Any unmolested HF's?

[freebeard]

Casting about for a candidate for a retro-EV conversion, I find the Stephen Blake-era Avanti:

On October 1, 1982, real-estate developer Stephen H. Blake bought the rights to the Avanti II...

Modifications were introduced to the car, which had remained unchanged since the production of the Avanti II model began in the mid-1960s. A new convertible body style along with an all-new and lighter backbone chassis that was designed by Herb Adams, a former Pontiac engineer, using a torque tube with a 1985 Chevrolet Corvette aluminum rear end and independent suspension. Rectangular headlight openings and plastic body-colored bumpers were introduced. The "II" was dropped from the car's name and all subsequent cars were called the "Avanti".[citation needed]

Blake's company declared bankruptcy and he resigned in February 1986.[

The original Avanti had a heavy ladder frame. I can't find a picture of the original backbone frame, here's a similar custom frame for a 2-passenger Avanti GT.


Avanti GT Tribute - Page 2

Fiberglas body and Tesla drivetrain, with Raymond Lowey styling.