Geo Metros now popular??!

[ChevroletRevived]

Originally Posted by t-rex

Remember the Smart wasn't built for fuel economy, it was built to take up the least amount of road space. It's designed for congestion and parking, not to combat prices at the pump.

Exactly! Everyone thinks they are for fuel economy. It definitely not like it gets an extremely good MPG rating. For that size, it should get much better....

[F14CRAZY]

Did the 3 cylinders have a carb?

[AndrewGS]

Everyone laughs at the Metro, but it was the best at what it did, get as much out of a gallon of gas as possible. It also wasn't a bad car either, with room for real adults in the front and some cargo and/or kids in the back seat. Yes, it didn't have any horsepower, but they weighed 1,700lbs. and didn't need any more power. It's also one of the cheapest cars to own in the world as it's very simple and parts are cheap. Everyone forgets that this car has "superior" Japanese engineering and design while calling the old stripper Civics cool cars.

No, it's not gonna get you laid, unless you're hitting on a vegan hippie PETA member, but it is the basic form of personal transportation and it makes you feel good when you drive it. It can actually be a fun car in the same way that the original Civics were fun cars.

[hotrod1949]

Originally Posted by F14CRAZY

Did the 3 cylinders have a carb?

The XFi was injected, and was a copmpletely different 3cyl from the regular Metro.

[Ttple]

Even before the gas crunch the people with Geo's seemed to love them.

[PA Dweller]

With such high gas prices GM should consider bring back these cars. No, not the Geo brand itself but sell Geo like cars under the Chevy and Saturn brand. However, make sure it has an A/C and airbags. Simple, cheap, and fuel efficient. Wouldn't sell to someone like me but I know plenty of people would want such a vehicle.

[F14CRAZY]

Small, efficient cars didn't matter that much back then, but I think GM made a mistake by killing Geo...they were able to sell arguably cheap vehicles without hurting another brand's image.

[BrickTamland]

Of the cars in that article, the only one I would want is a Festiva....Jay Leno's Festive SHOGUN. I wonder if that gets the same mileage?

[PA Dweller]

Originally Posted by F14CRAZY

Small, efficient cars didn't matter that much back then, but I think GM made a mistake by killing Geo...they were able to sell arguably cheap vehicles without hurting another brand's image.

I don't think think selling a few Geo like vehicles through Chevy would damage the brand, its an everyman car brand anyway.

[Wolfman01]

Originally Posted by Koasterking

I've always thought the Metro to be a cute car. And only 49 hp? You'll need to give it 2 miles to get to highway speed.

Have you ever driven one? I have. They had plenty of power, and kept up with traffic just fine. The Daihatsu Hijet that I currently own, has a 660cc engine under the bed, and makes 45 hp. It keeps up with traffic just fine as well. Gearing however, limits top speed.

[CrunkedRL]

I wouldn't have believe this normally but I just went on Ebay and saw that out of the 15 Metros that were listed 3 of which had bids on them north of $4K and few others had bids of $3k or more. Just a sign of the times...

[Ming]

Originally Posted by Ttple

Even before the gas crunch the people with Geo's seemed to love them.

I had a Chevy Metro, 4 doors, automatic, one of the last model years (not as frugal as the stick shift hatchback 2-door with 5 speeds) -- it was fine for me and I'm a tad over 6 feet. I absolutely loved it when gas was 89 cents a gallon here in Houston in 1999 or so. I remember filling up for 8 bucks or so and driving all week in traffic.

Biggest problem was I used to live near a freeway and used to commute close to downtown about 30 miles away, and the Metro's engine would run at 4000RPM straight when you drove over 60MPH.

Now that I live in the country and take back roads to a workplace on the outskirts of Houston, I could use a car like the Metro with no problem.

Not sure it's something we can blame GM / Chevy for - getting rid of it - Suzuki stopped selling the Swift as well in the US. And Suzuki has yet to offer a car with really good fuel economy here, despite having cars like the WagonR, Splash, and new Swift selling in places like the UK and other countries worldwide. The U.S.'s increasing obsession with heavy safety features and litigation probably has something to do with it.

[Butz]

If GM is paying any attention NOW is the time to bring smaller cars to N. America!
Bob Lutz saying there is no market for small cars! You are wrong Lutz!
Chevy needs the Beat NOW!

[Ming]

Originally Posted by Butz

If GM is paying any attention NOW is the time to bring smaller cars to N. America!

We might not have long to wait if this holds true (although what I take away from this article is that they don't want to import it from Europe, but they could build it in Mexico):

GM confirms next Corsa will be built in the U.S.




Due to rising demand for fuel efficient cars in the U.S., carmakers are keen to increase their respective small car lineups in the world’s biggest market. Few are as desperate for the tiny runabouts as the Detroit 3 but things are starting to change. GM is leading the charge with plans to bring the European Corsa to North America for its Saturn range but the strong euro means the car could become too expensive to import.

One solution is for GM to start building the car in the U.S. and latest reports claim that’s exactly what it will do for the next-generation Corsa. “We want the car as a Saturn in the U.S. and we certainly don’t want to import it from Europe,” GM product czar Bob Lutz told Automotive News Europe.

[AndrewGS]

Originally Posted by CrunkedRL

I wouldn't have believe this normally but I just went on Ebay and saw that out of the 15 Metros that were listed 3 of which had bids on them north of $4K and few others had bids of $3k or more. Just a sign of the times...

Yep, here are three that I'm watching:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...246688651&rd=1

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...221976921&rd=1

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...240319162&rd=1