We’re on the final leg of the adventure that has encompassed the 2020 Rocky Mountain Race Week. Haley and I have had a blast out on the road together and once the sun rises in the morning, we’ll head out for the last bit of Interstate travel. We’ll pick up the Angry Grandpa Chrysler from NMCA champ Andy Warren, who has been babysitting the car for us and has been detailing it up to the nines, and we will wind up at home, where our expensive-but-worth-it bed and our cats are patiently waiting for our arrival, ready to welcome us back.

So, for the last selection in the Tour of Temptation, let’s address a car that is no longer in the BangShift Mid-West fleet: the 2012 Chevrolet Cruze. Yeah, we got rid of the car that was knocking down absolutely ridiculous fuel economy numbers. Yes, I got rid of the only manual-transmission car on the property. (No, the Rough Start Fox doesn’t count yet, because it doesn’t have a transmission yet.) Why did I do that? Because the Cruze was like the little girl with the little curl…when things were good, it was really, really good, and when things were bad, they were painful with a capital “F!” We fixed a bunch of things with the car, we paid dearly for them, and afterwards we both harbored a grudge agains the car. So it’s gone.

That doesn’t mean we didn’t appreciate what it did bring to the table. Small, front-drive, manual transmission, and good fuel economy…we can get behind that if it isn’t a pure killjoy to drive. Hell, the manual trans alone makes up for a lot of sins. So, rethinking the economy car idea, I’d look at this 1984 Chrysler Laser next time around. The Laser was simply a Chrysler-badged Dodge Daytona, itself a tricked-up coupe version of the K-car layout that Chrysler was molding into whatever it wanted to back in the day. They looked killer, weren’t bad to drive, and in the right guises (namely the Turbo Z Daytona, the C/S Daytona, the IROC Daytona and anything with “Shelby” slapped on it) would haul major ass. The Laser was more of an adult concept: you got the sharp looks, but you got the mellower powertrain and you got seats wrapped in leather (Mark Cross, if I’m not mistaken). You also got the usual 1980s gadgets like the all-electronic gauge cluster. I was hoping this Laser missed the “YOUR DOOR IS AJAR” Speak-n-Spell voice bot, but it’s present here too. Add in the moon roof and the options list is pretty much present and accounted for.

For $3,800, I see no work needed besides basic initial service stuff and cleanup. And that’s all I’d do. Keep the road manners happy, keep the leather conditioner on those seats, and sip fuel the BangShift way: by rowing the gears on something that has some old-school charm to it.

Facebook Marketplace link: 1984 Chrysler Laser