Good morning, and happy Friday! This week, something unprecedented occurred, or at least I don’t remember it happening before: All four winning cars were the ones I would have chosen. We are in total agreement! I’m so shocked that I can’t even think of a dumb scenario for today. I’m just going to let you pick your favorite of the four.
Yesterday wasn’t a super-close vote, but it wasn’t a blowout either. The good ol’ Ford Aerostar still has its fans, and quite a few of you said you preferred how it drives to the GM vans. I can’t really comment; the only Aerostar I’ve ever driven any distance had a four-cylinder and a five-speed manual, and about 200,000 miles on it. It drove like an old Ranger stuck inside an empty cookie tin.
The Silhouette just seems like a nicer place to spend time. And yeah, maintenance on it would suck, but I’ve had a transverse V8 Cadillac. This can’t be that much worse. Can it?
All right. I gotta be quick tonight, so we’ll just keep this simple. Here’s a quick recap of the week’s winners:
1987 Honda Civic CRX – $5,000
This cute little first-gen CRX drew a lot of positive comments; I guess it’s no surprise that this car has since sold. Yes, $5,000 is a lot for an old used economy car, but then again, when was the last time you saw one this clean?
It’s still hard for me to wrap my head around the idea that cars that were new when I was in junior high and cheap beaters when I was in college are now being insured and registered as classics. I don’t feel that old. Though it does make me wonder what will become of cars like this CRX when us Gen Xers have all had hip replacements and can no longer get in and out of them.
1984 Pontiac 6000 LE – $3,000
This super-clean Pontiac has sold as well. And I’m not surprised by this one, either. Plenty of you are not shy about expressing your dislike for ’80s GM cars, but nostalgia is a powerful force. GM sold millions of A-body sedans, and a lot of folks who are buying classic cars now grew up in the back seat of one. Hopefully it gives someone $3,000 worth of warm fuzzies.
And if nothing else, you can’t say it isn’t a comfy ride. Modern cars have a lot more stuff in them, but they could learn a thing or two about seat comfort from the cars of thirty or forty years ago. And personally, I’d give up the toys and gadgets to just have a nice place to sit.
1970 Oldsmobile Toronado – $2,850
I bet this old Toronado was a really cool car when it was new. It’s hard to imagine sometimes, seeing these old rusty heaps, that for someone, many years ago, this was a brand-new car. Imagine finishing up the paperwork and having the salesman (always a man, back in those days) hand you the keys. You fire up that big 455 and hear it settle into a throbbing idle, switch on the AM radio and hear “Ride Captain Ride” come out of the speakers, turn it up, and point that long nose towards the nearest freeway entrance.
But of coruse, that was a long, long time ago. This Oldsmobile has seen a lot since then, and the years have not been kind. But apparently, that 455 still purrs. That has to be worth something.
1994 Oldsmobile Silhouette – $2,800
I sometimes wonder how product placement, like this van’s appearance in Get Shorty, works. Did the producers have to pay GM to use it? Or did GM pay them for advertising? I can’t imagine GM would have had a problem with it; the film is nothing but complimentary to the van, and at the end (spoiler alert!) when the film crew breaks for lunch, we see that almost every character now drives an Oldsmobile Silhouette.
I did read that there’s a goof in the movie regarding the van’s power sliding door: When Chili and Karen pull up to Martin Weir’s house, the van is facing the wrong way to show off the power door, but it magically turns around in the next scene so the door is facing them. Whoops.
So there you have them: the week’s winners, as chosen by you – and me, as it turns out. I didn’t mean for there to be three GM vehicles from defunct brands in here, but that’s how it worked out. Anyway, choose your favorite, and if you’re here in the US, enjoy your three-day weekend! I’ll see you all back here on Tuesday.
(Image credits: Craigslist sellers)
I drove CRXs from ’93 until ’02. While the first generation Si looked better (the spoiler makes the rear look less chopped off), now I would happily take just about any that wasn’t rusted to dust.
The van and the Pontiac are non-starters for me. The CRX is the easy choice, with nothing apparently required to drive the thing off into the distant future, but the Toronado is just too cool not to pick. Yeah, there’s a fair bit of work required to make it decent, but in the end it would be worth it.
Funny how hard it was to choose between 1600cc and 7500cc.
But I picked the Toronado. I think those are cool.
Voted CRX because I’ve always liked them.
HOWEVER…….I could easily justify buying any pair of the other three for nearly the same money as the CRX and still been happy. The Toro and the van have the best chance of being long-term classics where the 6000 might be only because there won’t be any left at some point.
I had my daily driver die about 6 months ago and I needed a replacement car that weekend. My budget was $3000. I ended up with a BMW e36 but I would have bought that Pontiac 6000 instead for sure.
It’s a good competition between the Pontiac, Olds van, and Honda (Toronado is cool, just too much of a project), but for me it comes down to how it would actually fit in my life. The wife would never let me transport the kids regularly in anything as old as these, so the Silhouette doesn’t make sense, and if it comes down to the Pontiac and Honda, the CRX is just more fun as an occasional weekend driver.
I just knew that the CRX would be the runaway winner, but, honestly, no. Granted, it can’t stop/won’t stop, but, at the same time, much the same for that Pontiac from a simpler time. And, again, my unnatural love for the 2.8 V6. I can’t give you a reason, it’s insanity personified. But go enjoy your little econobox that won’t fit your groceries…I’m sticking my tongue out and folding my arms right now, you just can’t see it.
You can totally fit a full week of groceries in the hatch on a CRX, or even a small third passenger on a 10 hour road trip if they’re bendy and cooperative. We did dumb things 20 years ago.
HAHAHAHAHA, it’s true! Four people in the back and bottoming out in an 86 Mercury Cougar…
Of course, a box of 24 packages of Ramen Noodles didn’t take up that much room.
I was able to fit six 8′ studs in one, with the hatch closed. It was amazing how much space there was.
My dumb things were more like 40 years ago, but best friend driving his Triumph Spitfire, me in the passenger seat with a girl on my lap and another admittedly tiny girl behind the seats would certainly qualify as idiocy.
The CRX is downright roomy by comparison and I’d love to have a 2nd gen Si.
Screen Name checks out…
We once crammed 5 people into a Fiero, so there’s that…
I knew the CRX would easily walk away with the win in this group, and realistically, it is the one I’d actually choose.
But I voted for the Toro. I have a soft spot for the old 60’s-70’s PLCs. Plus, no replacement for displacement (and cylinders). How can you go wrong with 455 functioning cubic inches of old school V8 bliss?!?
I really wanted to like the Toronado, but I just couldn’t vote for this Toro. This one is just going to require too much work and money to make it a decent driver. Plus, it’s not even my favorite year. I can see why the CRX is winning, but it’s the Olds Silhouette for me.

is this even a serious question? that Toronado may have a rough interior, but it can be a looker if done up right.
It’s the only real classic car here. But also the neediest. If you have a 5 digit budget it’s totally worth it, though
Toronadoooooooooooooooooooo
The Toronado is the only one really worth anything. and certainly the only one worth fixing up. CRX is a crap box from new, but like Jeeps and Harley’s, and Miata’s I guess. There is still a contingent of you that claim to like them.
Tell me you’ve never driven a CRX without telling me you’ve never driven a CRX
I actually have. back when they were just a few years old a friend had a 5 speed. it was cramped, and pretty dog slow. the lack of a fold up back seat made it pretty much useless to me. But it is what it is.
If you’re calling it slow, you missed the point. They’re fun to drive hard on twisty roads, even if you aren’t going fast.
CRX all the way. Eliminated the Toro and then Pontiac and as crazy nice condition as that Silhouette is in, I had to go Honda. I’m gonna pop my Cult “Electric” tape in the deck and go cruising…
I disagree with all your opinions except your cassette collection.
If the Toro’s interior wasn’t so shot, I could consider it but I’m just not up for that level of project. I probably wouldn’t daily the CRX but it’s a nice time capsule. Gonna crank some “Lil Devil”
I’m a gen 1 Toro fan and I passed on this one too.
CRX is the only choice here.
The CRX is by orders of magnitude the best choice of the bunch, but I’m feeling stupid today, and chose the Toronado.
Gotta go with the C Rex, king of the autosaurs.
The CRX is indeed the best car of this lot. It will win, and probably should.
And while nostalgia is a powerful drug, so is age … and when I saw the 6000’s interior pic, it looked like the most comfortable place to sit. Sometimes, that’s all you want.
Also, there’s the arrowhead on the grille. So the Pontiac wins. Great week, Tucker!
The CRX is clearly the best car here and worth paying a little extra to get. It’s a nice time capsule to when automakers cared about making their cheap cars fun. If you just need cheap transportation then get the dust buster. It’s the only one with both an airbag and enough mass to give you a chance of surviving a crash. It also looks super comfortable with those nice leather seats.
CRX is the only answer.
Still miss my old 91 CRX DX that I bought new. Such a fantastic car.
The CRX is just too fun to ignore.
This.
Smaller is better – I want the CRX
But it’s already sold – so the Toro it is.
Interesting. All front drivers. I’m gonna go with the Toronado. I wouldn’t touch the body except to put some Shine Juice on it and maybe a big bull bar up front. Get the interior up to snuff, but keep the outside Mad Max and cruise the wasteland…
Super tough between the non-Toronado entries. But let’s get real, I’m taking the super clean and rare dustbuster van.
That CRX was reasonably priced for what was though. Clean CRXs haven’t existed around here for 25+ years.
Well it’s this order for me.
Pontiac
Honda
Olds van
You may keep the Toronado, seriously…
Want the Honda, but as an old who needs both hips replaced. Not an option, yet.
CRX. Of course.
I suppose one could make a case for the Dustbuster on practical grounds — it would hold a lot more bodies, for sure — but I’ll still opt for a bit of fun.
Matt just HAD to mention that the CRX makes him feel “old.” Well, bro, the little beast wasn’t even a gleam in Soichiro’s eye when I bought my first Honda….
“Mark,” not “Matt”….
Tomato, Tomatto? /s