Whither Cimarron?

I mean, were they actually bad cars?

I had a 1985 Cavalier Type 10 when it was new.

Same car.

These things really suck.

Hard.

Oh yeah they're objectively mundane cars. But hell, a Cimarron just won Worst of Show at Concours D'Lemons. They're worth saving. 

Sure, it's easy to look back now and say they suck, but in their time, they were on a par with many of their contemporaries.  Has anyone driven a 1985 Plymouth Reliant LE?  I have, and while I haven't driven a Cimarron/Cavalier, I would bet that they could hold their own against the lowly K-car.

This should probably be in the confession thread but I picked up a badly rotted Cimmeron years ago and stripped it of all the badges, lights, and header panel in hopes of finding a decent Cavalier convertible.  Sadly those bits were lost in a storage unit fire before such a Cavalier could be found. 

1988RedT2 said:

Sure, it's easy to look back now and say they suck, but in their time, they were on a par with many of their contemporaries.  Has anyone driven a 1985 Plymouth Reliant LE?  I have, and while I haven't driven a Cimarron/Cavalier, I would bet that they could hold their own against the lowly K-car.

The Cavalier may have been on par with contemporaries - but the Cimmaron was not trying to be a contemporary of the Reliant. That's why the fake Cadillac is held in such low esteem, it was such a weak attempt at almost literally trying to put lipstick on a pig. Remember that it wasn't that long before that Cadillac's slogan was "The Standard Of The World" and they meant it. The slogan was not "Really it's just a cheap Chevy with a gold badge".

1988RedT2 said:

Sure, it's easy to look back now and say they suck, but in their time, they were on a par with many of their contemporaries.  Has anyone driven a 1985 Plymouth Reliant LE?  I have, and while I haven't driven a Cimarron/Cavalier, I would bet that they could hold their own against the lowly K-car.

No, those cars were garbage. 

I think I'd rather have a Reliant.  Turbo Dodge and all that.  They're both penalty boxes but there's something about less gingerbread, more straightforward styling of the Reliant that makes the Cimarron look even less sincere. 

This thread is worthless without pics

I'm disappointed I came here expecting a thoughtful discussion of this https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JF91ul0ZR64 ( Poco - Rose of Cimarron)

In reply to Rons :

I have that LP.

I have seen photographic evidence that suggests a manual transmission Cimmaron exists in the wild. That's basically my unicorm I want to hunt to extinction now.

As long as we're talking about 80s garbage pretending to be fancier than it is, I want a Ford EXP or Mercury LN7. A lowly Ford Escort, but with "sleek" 2-seater styling.

Jordan Rimpela said:

You know the usual players: the Pontiac Aztek;

I would say, given the current state of the automotive / light vehicle industry,  that GM had the last sardonic laugh on that one.
 

In reply to JamesMcD :

If I dig deep enough I may have it as well.

Those who dont learn from history are doomed to repeat it. 

The car was a horrible symptom of the times. A pig with lipstick.  Should we save a few as interesting examples of poor decision making, sure.   The rest should all rot. Horrible cars. 

At least Cadillac was trying to offer something with a manual trans...

When the V6 came along in '85 (standard for 87-88) it made the car much better. Too bad those were auto only.

Yes , the first couple of years were dreadful and the whole idea was bad, but the later car wasn't awful in my opinion.

With some sober second thought this has given me a definition for the malaise era. The auto companies put so much engineering and marketing effort into differentiating the same product everything became a half baked finished product.

The Cimmaron is OK - but give me a Cutlass Calais International, Celebrity Eurosport VR, or Beretta Indy any day of the week!