Monday, July 14, 2008

Now that I will be driving to work most days

I will swap my minivan for a Toyota Corolla. I love the Prius, but the price premium in California is too high--assuming you can even get one.

It does bring to mind my first car that was not a hand-me-down from my parents--a Honda Civic that my wife and I bought in 1985. It had a 76 hp engine mated to a 5-speed manual transmission. It seemed adequately fast to me. It had no gadgets on it--riders rolled up the windows by hand, and I had to install the radio by myself. It got 30 mpg around town, and between 35 and 40 on the highway.

Here's the thing--it was not a "sacrifice:" I loved the car. It was fun to drive, and pretty much flawless--we spent very little on maintaining the car. We kept it for 12 years, and only then replaced it because Wisconsin winters took their toll on its body (and Hondas tended to rust back then). But the engine and drive train still ran beautifully.

So my question is--why is it not easy to buy cars like the middle-80s vintage Civic anymore? It seems like a great solution for reducing emissions and congestion. And no new technology is necessary.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have a Prius and I love it.

Anonymous said...

A commenter on another blog mentioned that they were getting mileage in the mid 40's with an old volkswagon rabbit.

Js15084 said...

Honda Civic it is also a very good car with a capacity of 76 hp engine mated to a 5-speed manual transmission and gives mileage of 35 to 40. It was very fun to drive it.
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Js15084
california dui