was the 90s and early 2000s the heyday of the fwd coupe?

Was just thinking about this the other day.. the type of car you rarely see anymore, the small, usually hatchbacked, front wheel drive coupe.

During the mid to late 90s through the mid 2000s, almost every manufacturer had one.. Acura Integra/RX,Chevy Caviler/Cobalt, Chrysler Neon, Honda Civic, Hyundai Tiburon, Toyota Celica, VW GTI..

Except for a few strays, they are all gone today. The Tiburon was replaced by the RWD Gen Coupe, the Civic Grew two more doors, and the GTI... well, it's still a VW

Current FWD coupe collection.

• Scion TC
• Hyundai Veloster (okay fine it has 3 doors)
• VW GTI
• Kia Forte Koup
• MINI Cooper
• FIAT 500

Pretty slim pickings.

t25torx wrote: Current FWD coupe collection. * Scion TC * Hyundai Veloster (okay fine it has 3 doors) * VW GTI * Kia Forte Koup * MINI Cooper * FIAT 500 Pretty slim pickings.

A couple of those are 2800lb, 200+hp turbo cars. I'm not sure I'd call that "slim pickin's"

Long Live.

You can still get a Civic in a 2 door coupe right?

The Civic and Accord coupes are still around.

If you remove the hatchback and look for a true 2-door coupe (no BMW, coupes don't have 4 doors) with FWD a trunk the list gets REALLY small.

Accord

Civic

Kia Forte Koup

ELR

And maybe a leftover Altima left on a dealer lot.

I think that's it on new car lots.

t25torx wrote: Current FWD coupe collection. * Scion TC * Hyundai Veloster (okay fine it has 3 doors) * VW GTI * Kia Forte Koup * MINI Cooper * FIAT 500 Pretty slim pickings.

You forgot, off the top of my head:

Hyundai Elantra
Nissan Altima (NLA, but close)
Honda Accord
Honda Civic
Honda CR-Z
Cadillac ELR

Not sure about any VW, Volvo, Smart (are they still around), or Fiat/Alfa offerings.

Just for fun, I picked a random year--1998. I'm sure I've missed some, but there are a LOT:

Acura Integra and CL
Buick Riviera and Skylark
Caddy Eldorado
Chebby Cavalier and Monte Carlo
Chrysler Sebring
Dodge Avenger and Neon
Ferd ZX2
Honda Accord, Civic, and Prelude
Hyundai Tiburon
Mitsu 3000GT, Mirage, Eclipse
Nissan 200SX Plymouth Neon
Pontiac Grand Am, Sunfire
Olds Alero/Achieva
Yoda Camry and Celica
Volvo C70

That really is incredible.

I'd say the 70s were the heyday, but that is just my twisted point of view:

I know there are forte and elantra coupes, but honestly I've never seen one in real life.

I've seen an Elantra coupe in real life once. Jaw dropping. Then I saw it was priced above a civic.

Is the Yaris still available in 2 door?

slefain wrote: I'd say the 70s were the heyday, but that is just my twisted point of view:

what part of "Small" did you miss in my description?

I saw an ad for a 96 Saturn SC1 on a Facebook cars for sale group yesterday.. the girl said it was "too manly" for her and she was asking $600 for it..

She must be related to someone on this board..

It's funny how much cars 'modernized' over such a short period of time just beforehand, but during the '90s things seemed to stand still once they had the formula 'dialled in', with pretty good cars remaining pretty good. I had a 1980 Celica GT and a 1990 Celica GT-S, both top range for their time. WORLDS of difference between the two. But compare the 1990 to a 2000 GT-S and you'd be hard pressed to tell which is older.

I've had a few cars that fit this thread actually. I do like '90s coupes.

1990:

1995: ^^ not really on the same level as the others, this was much more of an econobox ... but it sure was fun

1998:

Also 1998: ^^ When I bought this one a year ago, a friend of mine got all shocked and couldn't believe I'd buy something so old. It's the most modern car I've ever had.

I think cars were the perfect blend of old and new in the 90's: they figured out how to make them somewhat powerful, but also smooth and efficient.. the interiors were simple looking, but had technology hidden in them.. you weren't cramped in by 47 airbags, and window pillars were still thin so you could see the outside world. Traction control and ABS were options, and a simple to operate am/fm/cd (or even cassette) deck was the whole entertainment center..

I've often thought about how nice it would be if the winning formulae of the 90s were still in use today. I love my 2014 Chebby, but I think I love it in comparison to what that same money would have gotten me on other new car lots. Sure there are still great small-body-big-fun options out there...veloster has always intrigued me, Genesis/Frisbee twins seem like a riot, there's is always the answer...but price tags start getting troublesome. It seemed like you had to try hard to pay too much for small-bodied fun in the 90s. Now, you have to mortgage a limb at times to get a set of keys (wild generalizations, I know, but you get my point).

I really miss my 99 Infiniti G20 (I know, not a coupe, but it damn well should have been). I also miss SWMBO's 98 z24 Cavalier. Safety may be better now, but at the cost of the driving experience to some degree.

Long live the used car is lot!

novaderrik wrote: and a simple to operate am/fm/cd (or even cassette) deck was the whole entertainment center..

Knobs! Ones you could operate by feel so you did not have to take your eyes off the road to read mutiple menus to adjust the bass or treble, fade or ballance or even the station.

Touch screens with single knob control should be baned from use while the car is in motion like smartphones are in most states, there is no difference from changing a song on Pandora on my phone and changing the station on the single knob radio in my CRV, yet one gets me a major ticket.

End mini rant... now that that's out of my system maybe I can make it through the work day without another one.

To get back on topic, I miss coupes all my cars until my current one have had two doors not four. I was very upset with Chrysler in the 2000s that the neon was not available with only two doors. It prevented me from upgrading my 98 ACR to a SRT 4 ACR. When speaking with the dealer I asked why no coupes, their answer was they don't sell, my response was of course not if you don't make them. That is why, other than the appliance I live in the past.

Steve

None of my '90s cars have had knobs, nor even most of the '80s stuff. That was more of a '70s thing, and those stereos sucked.

The Peugeot has a head unit with no face controls - you HAVE to use the remote. I'm used to it now; I can reach down, get the remote from its cubby hole in the console and change the volume, track, or disc without taking my eyes off the road.

It is aftermarket though. 10-disc CD changer in the boot & the face flips down to reveal a minidisc player. Of course it's Japanese. The car also has factory fully automatic climate control and seat/mirror position memory.

I still rate the stereo in the '90 Celica up there as the best factory stereo I've had in anything. None of the Porsches or other 'upmarket' brands I've had could touch it. 10 speaker surround with door subs, properly amped with channel cross-overs. I miss that thing. It didn't have knobs either.

90s had some great coupes

This thread reminded me, I was recently going through some old C&D magazines that I have and this one issue really stood out. March 1987. What a cool combination of cars.

The final ranking was:
Integra LS
GTI 16V
Sunbird Turbo GT (2.0L turbo)
Mirage Turbo
Corolla FX16
Cavalier Z24 (2.8L V6)
Renault GTA
Shadow ES (2.2L Turbo)
Isuzu I-Mark turbo
Escort GT

I am not pointing out this article because it was the pinnacle of the Hot Hatch Era but it certainly was the rise of that era.
The VW original GTI was launched in the US as an '83 model. The formula was bigger engine and better handling for the econo car offering. Just 4 years later, this is what the other manufacturers were answering that call with.

Why is everyone screwing with the definition of coupe?

The Buick Cascada I'd coming out soon, but I've only seen a convertible.

The GTI wasn't a coupe.

It was a hot hatch, and there's still plenty of FWD hot hatches around. Fiesta ST, Focus ST, GTI, 500 Abarth, Cooper S, Mazdaspeed3, etc.