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Truth in posting: I confirmed that the Caddy’s nose was actually slightly further ahead of the Festiva’s.
14 Comments on “Curbside Classic Outtake: The Long And The Short Of It Edition...”
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I had an ’83 Caddy Fleetwood during the time “baby on board” signs were popular. I had a similar sign made that said “Yugo in trunk”.
My wife had a Festiva back when we were dating. It had a manual transmission, 12″ wheels, got over 40 mpg, and gave her no trouble at all until the day it met the back end of another car when she was working nightshift and going to school in the day.
My neighbor down the street had one of those Festivas to drive and put many many miles on it from new before giving it to her son during the $4 a gallon gasoline and all he had was a Dakota pickup. She went out and bought a Mini Cooper S, talk about a hot rod grandma!
A friend of mine had one of these things, in blue, but otherwise like the photo above. I think she drove that stupid thing to like 250K miles, and traded it for an Escort wagon. Which promptly self destructed in less than two years. One of the more memorable problems was the day the harmonic balancer flew off. Stuff broke on that Escort that never ever breaks on any cars, even Yugos. The upshot of all this? The Korean Ford must have made an impact on her, she bought a Hyundai Elantra Sport once she got the Escort in saleable condition, and hasn’t looked back.
I love the juxtaposition of those two. The festiva may be homely, but it’s loaded with character. Very Eugene.
@Educatordan,
a neighbor, a grandmother in late ’70s, has a Miata. And quite the spirit to go with it.
On a whim, a Chrysler enthusiast friend and his wife drove their Festiva to New England and back, and came back with Mopar fenders and other parts strapped all over the outside of it. He said it was a good trip.
my roomate in college had a festiva like that. it was even the same color. it was not a terrible car and it got good gas mileage and was reasonably roomy considering how small it was.
though the gas gauge didnt work and we once got stranded on the freeway when it ran dry. but for the money (especially used) it was a great car. and it was easy to park outside ucla (where small parking spots are more plentiful)
The Festiva survived in Europe until about 2001 as the Kia Pride. The original UK models in 1994 even had whitewall tyres, which we hadn’t seen since about 1957!
They were regarded as tinny but very reliable, some of these 90s survivors are still going, but generally rust gets them in the end.
And before that (1988-1991), Europeans got the 3-door hatch as a Mazda 121.
I had a Festiva with manual tranny for 5 years and 110 000 km (about 70 thousand miles). Took it on a 8-thousand-km trip from Winnipeg, Manitoba to Vancouver Island (and back) – three people in the car and our camping gear. In 1995 I used it to move from Winnipeg to Toronto – all my stuff fit in it. My mom had a Festiva (also manual tranny) for 13 years – and it still looked good (though it drove like a wheelbarrow). On the highway the fuel consumption was 5l/100km. It was a good basic car for a person on the budget. Reliable, too, except for the front wheel bearings.
And that isn’t even the real big Caddy.
My two current cars are a 1994 Buick Roadmaster and a 1984 Honda Civic hatchback. I get about that same view in my driveway every morning!
You see alot of these old ones in Nicaragua as Kia Prides.
Lots of these still in L.A. and also still seeing Aspires.
Funny picture.