Topic: Final Drive: 1986 Hyundai Pony

[dirtyjeffer]

you can still buy these cars new...they are now called the Mitsubishi Mirage.

[dkaz]

I got a 50 HP Chevy Sprint to max out its 140 km/h speedometer.

[Brendan McAleer]

Anyone want to crowd source a Lada?

Comrades! If there ever was a car that demanded collective ownership - this is it!

[Arthur Dent]

Great Dash gauges:

Speedo to 180
No tach
A big clock so you can tell how late you'll arrive

The only way a stock Pony would hit 180 would be after it drives or falls off the ramp of a C-130 Hercules doing one of those  low altitude just-off-the-ground-cargo-drops. 



Skoda, Lada, Dacia, Chevettes, Omni, Pony, Yugo...the '80's   

Wait...wait....wait....there were Dacias officially imported into Canada??

Yup! Rare. Most stayed out East. Quebec naturally. There used to be one on a farm near Calgary a few years ago.

[Fobroader]

Great Dash gauges:

Speedo to 180
No tach
A big clock so you can tell how late you'll arrive

The only way a stock Pony would hit 180 would be after it drives or falls off the ramp of a C-130 Hercules doing one of those  low altitude just-off-the-ground-cargo-drops. 



Skoda, Lada, Dacia, Chevettes, Omni, Pony, Yugo...the '80's   

Wait...wait....wait....there were Dacias officially imported into Canada??

Yup! Rare. Most stayed out East. Quebec naturally. There used to be one on a farm near Calgary a few years ago.

Saw one in Calgary years ago and thought it was some hardcore Romanian trying to relive his youth.

[CAS]

Brings back memories.  My driving school had a fleet of ponies and I learned in one of them.  Boy, did they make me do a lot of parallel parking. I have to hand it to Hyundai for making one solid steering wheel unit - the amount of shear force I exerted to turn that parked car would have broken any other unit today.

[PJ]

Yep.   And here is the ugly but likeable little spud. 

http://bringatrailer.com/2013/07/26/1986-dacia-1410-gtl/

[Arthur Dent]

From what I've heard the Dacia was by far the worst of the Eastern block cars.

[Fobroader]

From what I've heard the Dacia was by far the worst of the Eastern block cars.

There were Warburgs, Trabants and various forms of Iron Curtain crap......the Dacia was just a conglomerate of old Renault parts. So yeah, it wasn't pretty, but they were solid, easy to work on and most importantly you could get parts for them.

[Arthur Dent]

From what I've heard the Dacia was by far the worst of the Eastern block cars.

There were Warburgs, Trabants and various forms of Iron Curtain crap......the Dacia was just a conglomerate of old Renault parts. So yeah, it wasn't pretty, but they were solid, easy to work on and most importantly you could get parts for them.

I meant of the ones sold here.

[dirtyjeffer]

i remember some of those old cars (Dacia)...along with a handful of Alphas and old Saabs, they didn't last long here...Saab made a comeback when GM brought them into the Saturn mix, and i did see more of them in the late 90s and early 2000s...haven't seen an Alpha in a long time...i remember seeing a few Milanos and Spyders in the late 80s though.

[Fobroader]

From what I've heard the Dacia was by far the worst of the Eastern block cars.

There were Warburgs, Trabants and various forms of Iron Curtain crap......the Dacia was just a conglomerate of old Renault parts. So yeah, it wasn't pretty, but they were solid, easy to work on and most importantly you could get parts for them.

I meant of the ones sold here.

In that respect, a wholehearted hell yeah 

[tpl]

I had a '78 SAAB. worked well and was reliable. Had a '81 SAAB as well worked better but not as reliable...the days before 4 year warranties.

[mmret]

This was the second car my parents owned after arriving on these shores.

The first was a Civic, I'm told. I have no recollection of that Civic...apparently it was bought for $200 and then sort of fixed and sold for $300 to what my mom described as a "weird looking guy."

The Pony hung around for a few years and we did move the entire family and most of our possessions in it...several hundred km!

So yes fond memories despite its objective terribleness.

[mwqa]

"the tiny A-pillars mean visibility is excellent"

Yes, yes, the days when you could actually see out a car!!   

[WRX_Pilot]

Only 5 left in Korea?  That's somehow a bit sad...  I very much enjoy looking at 80s interiors!  Thanks for the pics.  Ahh, a simpler time.

[PJ]

From what I've heard the Dacia was by far the worst of the Eastern block cars.

Perhaps I'm just remembering these cars through the rose tinted glasses of my college years in the 80's but I liked the commie cars.  They were slow and crude but were easy to work on and had unlimited character.  Parents should never buy their kids brand new sensible cars when they go to college.  They will end up as boring as their cars and will be unprepared for for the reality of life. 

IMHO

[ArticSteve]

Bought a brand new 86 4 door Pony so the wife could learn standard shift.  So she banged around the downtown of Toronto for six months with a new born.     Nearing the winter, I ended up giving it to a Catholic Priest that had been tortured in El Salvador and was a landed Canadian political refugee.  Essentially I became an Agnostic taking out GOD insurance.   So far the policy has held.

[mmret]

^ your very own Pascal's Wager, in a way.

[phazotron]

Great Dash gauges:

Speedo to 180
No tach
A big clock so you can tell how late you'll arrive

The only way a stock Pony would hit 180 would be after it drives or falls off the ramp of a C-130 Hercules doing one of those  low altitude just-off-the-ground-cargo-drops. 



Skoda, Lada, Dacia, Chevettes, Omni, Pony, Yugo...the '80's   

Wait...wait....wait....there were Dacias officially imported into Canada??

Yup! Rare. Most stayed out East. Quebec naturally. There used to be one on a farm near Calgary a few years ago.

Saw one in Calgary years ago and thought it was some hardcore Romanian trying to relive his youth.

As I recall, there a was a garage on Gladstone here in Ottawa that sold Dacia's as their side business.