To round things out, the Corolla-based Nova was offered only in the Midwest in MY1985 (despite being built in CA). National distribution of all three lines, plus 5-door hatchbacks of the Nova and Sprint (the latter on a stretched wheelbase) came for '86.
My wife had an 88 Sprint when we got married. It was very hard to merge onto highway traffic with that thing. That said, it was reliable and fuel efficient. On the downside, by the time it hit 100K miles, the 3 cylinder was pretty much worn out. With today's synthetic oils, a car like this may last a bit longer.
Both of these cars were also sold in Australia under GM's now defunct Australian GM brand, Holden. The Chevrolet Spint was sold as the Holden Barina and Suzuki Swift in Australia, while the Chevrolet Spectrum was sold as the Holden Gemini, but only as a sedan, the 3dr hatch wasn't offered. The Holden Gemini was also built in Australia, while the Holden Barina was imported.
I had a 1985 Spectrum just like the one they featured here. Same colors, too. I brought it slightly used from a neighbor when it was 2 years old. I loved the car for commuting. It had a nice ride and pretty good power. It was also very comfortable. The folding rear seat back made it very practical, too. Nice thing was my wife didn't know how to drive a stick so she kept her hands off it LOL. The only problem I had was the timing chain broke while I was driving the car. So the repair was very expensive. Probably my fault for not changing it when the owner's manual said to . I had the car fixed and ended up selling the car when it reached 200,000 miles.
My cousin had a Spectrum when they first came out, a 4-door. Very nice looking, quiet and comfortable. It was so long ago, but I remember being impressed by it.
My favorite car. My 87 Sprint Turbo. Fast. Efficient. Easy to Park. Reliable. Don’t crash. It was reasonably comfortable in back. Parts were getting scarce so I sold it in 2012 with over 190k.
My sister dated a guy in high school whose family had nothing but horrible cars, and an ancient Spectrum sedan was one of them. I rode in it once and was mildly terrified. Again, it was ancient and dubiously maintained, but that was my Spectrum s’perience.
The Sprint became the Geo Metro in 89 it was a far more drivable vehicle but still pretty slow and squirrelly. Luckily we also got the Suzuki Swift GTi (slightly decontented from the JDM version) that year which drove far better. Shame they've all rusted away :(
Chevrolet might have called this car the Sprint, but they should have called it the Marathon, Meander, Saunter, or Stroll, since that is EXACTLY what it was like getting a car with a 48-horsepower 1.0-liter 3-cylinder engine up to speed!!!!!!
It's hilarious looking back at how embarrassingly terrible GM was mismanaged around this time since that they could have swallowed up Toyota if the big wigs and bean counters had any foresight.
Why would Americans reduce themselves to driving this when they had the cheapest fuel in the world and a sea of local made lounge rooms on wheels made for their roads.
To round things out, the Corolla-based Nova was offered only in the Midwest in MY1985 (despite being built in CA). National distribution of all three lines, plus 5-door hatchbacks of the Nova and Sprint (the latter on a stretched wheelbase) came for '86.
My wife had an 88 Sprint when we got married. It was very hard to merge onto highway traffic with that thing. That said, it was reliable and fuel efficient. On the downside, by the time it hit 100K miles, the 3 cylinder was pretty much worn out. With today's synthetic oils, a car like this may last a bit longer.
I don't know how many times they've been rebuilt but I've seen three cylinder Geo metros with 260,000 miles on them lol
Both of these cars were also sold in Australia under GM's now defunct Australian GM brand, Holden. The Chevrolet Spint was sold as the Holden Barina and Suzuki Swift in Australia, while the Chevrolet Spectrum was sold as the Holden Gemini, but only as a sedan, the 3dr hatch wasn't offered. The Holden Gemini was also built in Australia, while the Holden Barina was imported.
Suzuki built the car. It was originally a Suzuki to start with. Everybody else rebadged it
I had a 1985 Spectrum just like the one they featured here. Same colors, too. I brought it slightly used from a neighbor when it was 2 years old. I loved the car for commuting. It had a nice ride and pretty good power. It was also very comfortable. The folding rear seat back made it very practical, too. Nice thing was my wife didn't know how to drive a stick so she kept her hands off it LOL.
The only problem I had was the timing chain broke while I was driving the car. So the repair was very expensive. Probably my fault for not changing it when the owner's manual said to . I had the car fixed and ended up selling the car when it reached 200,000 miles.
My cousin had a Spectrum when they first came out, a 4-door. Very nice looking, quiet and comfortable. It was so long ago, but I remember being impressed by it.
There was an '87 manual Spectrum on my street in Queens in 2020
Those Sprints were neat little cars, but definitely not a highway car! Isuzu made some good cars... It's too bad they never caught on here in the US.
I remember driving one on the interstate it was terrifying
My favorite car. My 87 Sprint Turbo. Fast. Efficient. Easy to Park. Reliable. Don’t crash. It was reasonably comfortable in back. Parts were getting scarce so I sold it in 2012 with over 190k.
My sister dated a guy in high school whose family had nothing but horrible cars, and an ancient Spectrum sedan was one of them. I rode in it once and was mildly terrified. Again, it was ancient and dubiously maintained, but that was my Spectrum s’perience.
I knew a guy who had a Spectrum. He called it the Rectum. Changed the lettering and everything.
The Sprint became the Geo Metro in 89 it was a far more drivable vehicle but still pretty slow and squirrelly. Luckily we also got the Suzuki Swift GTi (slightly decontented from the JDM version) that year which drove far better. Shame they've all rusted away :(
And they were indeed built in Canada starting in '89.
Not in the better parts without salt.
OMG I own one of these things I loved. I drove all Tru college never quit on me
I had an 85 Spectrum, was'nt horrible
Did the spectrum have courtesy lights inside ?
Is that what I'm seeing???
It seems like I remember that the Spectrum was based on the same platform as the Chevette? I drove one once I wasn't really impressed.
Chevrolet might have called this car the Sprint, but they should have called it the Marathon, Meander, Saunter, or Stroll, since that is EXACTLY what it was like getting a car with a 48-horsepower 1.0-liter 3-cylinder engine up to speed!!!!!!
It's hilarious looking back at how embarrassingly terrible GM was mismanaged around this time since that they could have swallowed up Toyota if the big wigs and bean counters had any foresight.
The dashboard plastics on the sprint look extremely fragile. These early Sprint rusted through after 3-4 years of use.
I wonder why he did not mention the Cavalier.
Small car king in america....not anymore.they make 1 car...corvette.
A Mirage or Tercel was the same price and way more reliable
They were more $. Not necessarily more reliable. The Sprint so had was sold with 189k in 2012. It had an exhaust, motor mounts, water pump, tune ups.
Why would Americans reduce themselves to driving this when they had the cheapest fuel in the world and a sea of local made lounge rooms on wheels made for their roads.
Because some people didn't need or want a living room on wheels.
@@ericwhitehead6451 more compact wad available without going Asian sub compact.