The styling of the '77-'79 B/C bodies is so much better than the '80-'90 cars, to my eye. The more formal, upright rooflines, raised deck lids, sloped hoods and other aero compromises were a step backwards in my opinion. The coupes, particularly Chevy and Buick, bore the worst of it, they went from stylish to stodgy overnight. Always hated the rear skirts on the '80+ C bodies, too.

I'm kind of surprised they never came out with an unneccesary GMC clone. GMC even got its own version of the El Camino, why not this?

I'm not a fan of these, but I'd take an Avalanche over the now ubiquitous crew cabs. Oh, how I can't stand crew cabs.

I hate all of these, but especially the Envoy XUV, in large part because I absolutely despise the TrailBlazer EXT/Envoy XL its based on. One of the most ungainly, half-baked pointless vehicles that's ever existed. Almost as long as a Suburban and with a larger turning radius, just so they could squeeze in a worthless third seat. Inexplicably, there's a lot of them here in Ohio; I cringe every time I get stuck behind one with their razed roofline.

The XUV wasn't a bad idea, but at the same time it was really gimmicky. An Avalanche would have been a better choice.

Can somebody help me here? I was once positive that the 900 5 door was sold in the U.S. but I've seen nothing but 3 doors sedans for over a decade and have never found anything definitive online. Did they sell them here, or are the cars I'm remembering the older 99?

I'm a big fan of these. Unfortunately, my mom bought the dowdier Deluxe sedan, instead. In Maytag white, no less.

Great cars. Laughably rust prone, as most Japanese cars of the era were, and totally inferior to the Camry that superseded it, but it beat the heck out of a Fairmont or Volare. My dad had a couple of company X cars while mom drove this, and the stunning differences in build quality and reliability quickly and permanently killed any prospect of my parents buying another Detroit product.

I'm still scratching my head as to why these last Coronas didn't do well in the U.S. and are now mostly forgotten. The Accord certainly sucked all the air out of the room after '76, and I suppose the Corona got lost in the mix with the Corolla and Celica. The Camry would have happened no matter what, though; Between the Accord and the idea (although certainly not the execution) of the forthcoming Citation quickly scared every manufacturer into front wheel drive.

By the way, I thought the first generation Camry hatch was a dog.

I'll take the Electra. The T-Types were some of GM's best cars in this era and Buicks hadn't quite yet become an exclusive old coot-mobile. The front drive Electra, LeSabre coupe and even the Century looked pretty sharp in blackout trim.

Customers thought different, though, as I can't remember the last time I saw a T-Type Buick H-body, or even an "Electra Limited;" The vast majority of these were chromed-out Park Avenues from '85 on.

On another note, Brougham trim did the Caprice Classic no favors. The Brougham LS was even worse. Both were a response to customers put off by the Buick/Olds switch to FWD; Caprice sales, along with the big Fords and Chrysler Fifth Avenue, saw a big increase in the late '80s as a result. The T-Type and the Ninety Eight Touring Sedan seemed like the way forward to me in the late '80s, but paying customers said otherwise. Go figure.

I went to a slightly affluent (Catholic) high school. A few people had new cars; one guy had one the first WRXs in town (circa 2002). There were a handful of older BMWs, Audis, Saabs and Volvos in various states of decay. One of my best friends had an E30 that I drove a couple of times; it was an absolute piece of crap. But the prize goes to the kid a year behind me that daily drove a '68 Nova SS 350.

Most of us drove old Camcords, Civics, Corollas, Nissans and an assortment of front-drive Detroit trash. Maybe a Jeep or a Ranger if you were lucky. Me? I had a decade-old hand-me-down beige Accord; Like every other aspect of my high school life, I was decidedly average and anonymous.

If I was jealous of anyone, it was the people who drove crapboxes. There were a couple of Super Beetles and a Maverick in the lot at one point. A Grand Wagoneer. A poo brown Cressida with the 5M-GE from the Supra. A beat-to-hell '70s F-150 with the 460. Now those were cars with character.

I'll second this. Brown can look good on anything. On new cars, it's mostly restricted to the luxury makes, and thats too bad.

Of course, I've yet to put my money where my mouth is. A silver car, two black cars (never again!) and I just bought a gray car. I'm exciting like that.

Look, I was a geek about wagons long before I realized that the internet was full of people that were obsessed with wagons. But I just can't make myself care about this car. Maybe it's because the internet won't collectively shut up about it and now I'm bored, or perhaps because it doesn't have wood paneling or bench seats. I don't know.

Same goes for anything else in the V8/diesel manual sport wagon category.

Was carpeting standard on the Bel Air? Maybe the heater or the side mirror? That's about all I can think of. This thing doesn't even have a glove box.

My grandparents drove a similar Biscayne wagon until 1973-ish. 230 ci 6, Powerglide and rubber mats. My grandfather used to give my dad a hard time because the beater '65 Impala sport coupe he bought as his first car was still nicer than the family car.