Lightest Production Car Built Since 1982?

I'm trying to rent a car trailer and the rental outlet wants to know what kind of car I'll be towing. Seems straightforward, no?

My truck is a little Dodge Dakota with a fierce 360 in it, and I'll be towing an MGB-GT with no drivetrain.

I tried telling them the truth, but the problem is that their computer doesn't list cars as old as the MGB (1982+ only) and my truck's official tow rating is lower than what I can actually (safely) pull with it.

So, the guy there told me to come up with a very light production car that was officially imported to the US since 1982, so he can enter it as the car I'm going to be towing...

I've used a GEO Metro before.

The guy asked me "are you really towing a GEO?", to which I responded "Yeah... who would drive one?"

^ I believe a 1991 Geo Metro would be close. There should be an option for the HF-esque variant that comes in at ~1400lbs IIRC.

The Metro's predecessor, the Chevy Sprint may be lighter.
Quick search shows Sprint at 1350 to 1600 lbs

How much did Yugos weigh? Can't be much.

Twin_Cam wrote: How much did Yugos weigh? Can't be much.

About 1800lbs.

Yeah 86 Chevy sprint should be around 1600lbs. How about an atom?

Toyota Starlet or Tercel EZ

89 Subaru Justy

Starlet comes in around 1650 for that year...Justy was a bit more.

*EDIT....Ford Fiesta comes in at 1609...depending on what you read.

As ussual, the answer is Miata. The weight IS close to an MGB, and even the brain dead such as reside at U-haul know what a Miata is.

If you are renting an actual car trailer, the statement that it is a compact car should have been good enough. You are renting a CAR trailer for heavens sake!

I rented a 12 foot utlity trailer to get my 318ti shell home.. it JUST fit

NOHOME wrote: As ussual, the answer is Miata. The weight IS close to an MGB, and even the brain dead such as reside at U-haul know what a Miata is. If you are renting an actual car trailer, the statement that it is a compact car should have been good enough. You are renting a CAR trailer for heavens sake!

they won't rent it to you unless the computer says that the truck you are using to pull it is up to the task..

stupid lawyers making everything way too complicated..

novaderrik wrote: they won't rent it to you unless the computer says that the truck you are using to pull it is up to the task.. stupid lawyers making everything way too complicated..

Must have changed since the last time we rented a U-Haul trailer. They didn't care what was going on it, as long as they got the trailer back within 24 hours.

The second time was awesome. 500mi each way, to the middle of Wisconsin on the coldest weekend of the year. Found that the car would not start and the brakes were locked up, so we hooked it to the trailer and dragged it around their parking lot until the brakes freed up, then pulled it on with a 6' long come-along and a ratchet strap... and my gloves were safely on my friend's computer desk and NOT on my hands. Took something like two hours to get the thing on the trailer.

And we dropped the trailer off with a half hour to spare, saving $60 Truck, incidentally, was a 4.7l Durango, a vehicle that tows okay unless you want to go uphill, or downhill for that matter.

Epilogue: Have put about 50k on that car since then, drove it 80mi today... eBay rules sometimes.

Don't go super small or at least have several makes to enter into their computer. U-Haul shot me down on hauling a Midget... track width wasn't wide enough to safely fit on their open center trailer.

I tried to rent a trailer to bring a TR4 home and had the same issue, so I said its a miata then and they wouldn't rent it to me.

Annoying.

I used a U-haul utility trailer to get my Mini home from where it was stranded in Beckley, WV with zero oil pressure to where I lived in VA. It was a bit too much to hope for to buy a questionable old british car and try to drive it home 600 miles. I did make it a little over halfway before trouble set in.

I'd say a classic Beetle - those are often in the system.

I got refused a trailer at U Haul after i called the branch and checked first then drove 2 hours to pick up the trailer and car, only to get refused by the mouth breather at the counter.

They suck and I will never use their services again.

I listed a 1972 Datsun 240Z once. The mg midget is an issue.

mw wrote: Yeah 86 Chevy sprint should be around 1600lbs. How about an atom?

Hmmm, that must be why it didn't hurt much when I 'parked' it in a ditch at a fairly high rate of speed... I miss that car (learned to drive stick on one in high school).

In reply to novaderrik:

I completely agree.

At least the guy at this place is cool enough to say, "tell me something my computer will like and I'll look the other way"

Chevy Sprint. Using the open passenger door as a lever I can flip one over. I'm a fairly stout guy but nothing super-human

Apparently the won't rent a trailer to you at all if you say the tow vehicle is a Ford Explorer. A knee jerk, lawyer backed decision based on the whole Firestone blowing tires from a few years ago. Which really wasn't an Explorer problem, but a tire issue. No matter though, they hear Explorer, and they won't rent to you. Even when I tried to explain my '02 Explorer is the next generation, and shares nothing with the perceived problematic previous generation other than the name. It is a completely different truck. No go. They won't rent to you if you are towing with a Ford Explorer, any year.

But on topic, 85 Honda CRX is about 1700 lbs

M030 wrote: In reply to novaderrik: I completely agree. At least the guy at this place is cool enough to say, "tell me something my computer will like and I'll look the other way"

That's fine until something goes pearshaped, then they could chase you down for material change is risk and you find yourself uninsured.

Or not.