Being Friday, we wanted to help you escape from doing work as long as possible. This question should allow your mind to wander a little bit. We want to know what specific pony car you would send to the glue factory. Perhaps the infamous four cylinder Camaro Berlinetta that was rated for far less than 100hp. Maybe the Mustang Grande makes your stomach turn. Weak suck 1974 Challenger got your down? Kill it off!
Put your thinking cap on and pick a single year and model you want to kill off from the dockets of history and tell us why you want to do that. Styling? Crap ass engines? Sick of seeing them (that’s the argument the Mustang guys will lodge against the ’69 Camaro), tired of getting your ass kicked by them (I’m looking at you Camaro owners in the 1980s who got walked by 5.0L Mustangs), or just sad they even exist (Hey, my ’81 Camaro has a 267ci V8 that makes 115hp!).
Simple question, but it does make you think a little!
What specific pony car should be sent to the glue factory?
I vote for the 1980’s V-6 mustang LX. Especially the 1982, 83 and 84.
With that pathetic “barely adequate for the 4 cylinder” suspension it handled like sock full of diarrhoea. It actually had too much power for it’s ability and the unsuspecting diver could easily get into big trouble on wet or frosty roads.
Budget Rent A Car used to stock these in their fleets. I remember when I worked as a lot boy at the local Budget, we used to have to write off at least one every month or so.
Horrible cars.
Wasn’t that the stait 6 that had handling by fear?
Oh I’m sure the straight 6 was a handful as as well. That was an earlier 70’s car wasn’t it?
no you could get an inline in a FOX too. It handled worse than a V8 because it had more wieght infront of the front wheels.
1982-85 Chevrolet Camaro/Pontiac Firebird with the I-4 cylinder. 90hp but down rated to 88hp in 1985. Okay for an S10, but a 3400lb Camaro? Really?
Kind of a side story, had a friend who had one of those, 4cyl, 4 speed manual. Pulled it out and put a small block and a saginaw in it, made a great driver, front disks, decent handling, etc. Weighed 3050 lbs with iron heads and aluminum intake, couldn’t believe it was lighter than my 68 sbc camaro..
They shoulda taken a break from pony cars completely from 76-93. Even the t/a of the late 70s with 220 hp 400ci was a joke.
It’s one thing Chrysler did right. 73-74 e bodies, while down on power, still had the same styling, and really, the cars were better in the later years for safety and small refinements. Thus I would say they are exempt from being thought of as total crap.
Once upon a time, I made several passes up and down the Bonneville Salt Flats access road in a rental V6 Mustang (dead of winter, the salt was underwater). It ran flawlessly on the speed limiter at ~ 115 m.p.h. litterally for miles and made the return trip to Salt Lake City without incident.
I’m actually not in favor of killing any Ponies (even the bad ones are cautionary tales to future engineers and designers), but if waterboarded to pick some, I’d say:
1. Iron Duke four-cylinder Gen III Camaros and Firebirds (possibly the slowest sporty cars that were not built by British Leyland)
2. Japanese badge-engineered Dodge Challenger (although they’re already pretty much extinct from what I’ve seen)
3. V8-less 1974 Mustang II (the only year Mustang hasn’t been available with a V8)
4. 255 cid 1980-81 Mustang Cobra (Ford’s worst V8 of modern times)
5. 301 cid Gen II Pontiac Trans Am (including the Turbo Trans Am — the worst OHV American V8 ever)
6. Any Firebird without a real Pontiac engine (except the V6 Turbo Trans Am — Boring Chevy mills killed the mystique)
7. Anything that came with the absolutely hideous, antediluvian LeSs V8
8. Any “Cobra II” with a 2.3 Liter non-turbo four (Jim Wangers’ folly and the poster child for a tape-stripe poser “supercar”)
9. Any F-body that came with a 305 or smaller SBC (the GM mistake that put Ford back in the game in the Fox-body era)
10. Ford Probe (which was almost the “Mustang III” and has wrong-wheel drive)
11. ’69 Camaros (just because . . . .)
LOL, great list Speedy!
You obviously know how to drive better than the average Budget customer we rented cars to… 😉
I think the problem with them was that they under-steered by design, until you gave it a little gas, and then they quickly went into over-steer. If you know how to handle that and are expecting it, well that’s actually rather fun. But the average driver, well they react a bit late.
Wouldn’t really consider #2 a pony car, though I wasn’t around back then to see if they were being marketed as such.
Red ’69 Camaros. Hate those.
1970 Mustang Grabber
Any Mustang II. this got deleted the first time I left it, must not have been very popular..
Any and ALL Mustangs! First go the Mustang Twos, then the Fox bodys, after that who cares!