RE: PH Blog: What happened to the affordable coupe?

[s m]

nickwilcock said:

s m said:

nickwilcock said:

My 40 or so years of car ownership has been:

Opel Manta GTE stage II (ser.3)

?
Tell us more....

Surely. D125ONM was a Series3 Opel Manta GTE in Monaco Blue which the first owner had taken to Peter Maiden Components to have a stage 2 cam and modified exhaust fitted, plus various other tweaks. I later had the twin headlamp and 'executive' spoiler mod. done and had the Peter Maiden Components suspension mod. with Bilstein shocks fitted, as well as a slightly smaller (and quieter) exhaust.

Really rather nice - but it idled at around 1200 rpm and the cam didn't match the gear ratios for daily driving. But get it above 4000 rpm in 5th on an autobahn and it flew! It used rather a lot of petrol and a fair drop of Mobil 1, but it was 100% reliable.

Sounds similar to what I had.

The standard gear ratios were quite long in the Getrag box - it was really a 4-speeder with an Economy Top Gear rather than a proper 5-speeder like the Irmscher gearkit. Did you have the 2.3 HS Chevette Bilstein shocks - that was their usual upgrade? Much bigger body than the standard ones

[rallycross]

ikarl said:

My MR2's (4 of them in total) were all coupes, they were all tin-tops (i.e. no t-bar and no sunroof)

I did caveat my use of the VX220 as a coupe so a bit unfair pointing that out (and cutting the quote to suit your comment!)

You may have got 2 seated sports car mixed up with affordable coupe (usually with 4 seats)

[Gorbyrev]

Really enjoying this thread.
Found myself looking at one of these the other day. With a manual gearbox too!

[Captain Muppet]

Gaz. said:

Captain Muppet said:

wemorgan said:

The choice of affordable 2 seater cars is as much the same today as it was in the 80's and 90's IMHO.

Captain Muppet said:

From memory: 90's japanese coupes sold in the UK...

Honda CRX
Honda Integra
Honda Civic Coupe
Honda Prelude
Honda Accord Coupe
Mazda MX3
Mazda MX6
Mazda RX7
Mazda 626 coupe
Nissan 100NX
Nissan 200SX
Nissan 300ZX
Nissan Skyline
Suzuki X90 (shudder)
Subaru SVX
Isuzu Piazza
Mitsubishi GTO
Mitsubishi FTO
Toyota MR2
Toyota Paseo
Toyota Celica
Toyota Supra

I liked the 90s.

Skip to today and from Japan we have the 370Z, the Toyobaru BR86 and the Honda CRZ Hybrid.

Seems like less choice to me, but then I'm not good with numbers.

The RX7, GTO, 300ZX & Supra were high thirties/early forties in 1993. Even in 1998 a second hand Supra was sill £27k for a five year old import or from £35k for a UK car. I don't think the SVX was that cheap either.

You've got me there. I've totally failed to adhere to the internationally agreed value of "affordable".

Although I'm pretty sure they were all cheaper than thier European competitors.

[kambites]

rallycross said:

ikarl said:

My MR2's (4 of them in total) were all coupes, they were all tin-tops (i.e. no t-bar and no sunroof)

I did caveat my use of the VX220 as a coupe so a bit unfair pointing that out (and cutting the quote to suit your comment!)

You may have got 2 seated sports car mixed up with affordable coupe (usually with 4 seats)

Are you really saying that you don't consider the tip-top MR2 to be a coupe? There really are more definitions of "coupe" than I'd thought.

[beasto]

Ah me, the 406 Coupe, just about the last handsome Peugeot ever made.

Had one for a brief period a while ago, and have to say it was really quite a pleasant place to be.

[Guvernator]

Captain Muppet said:

Although I'm pretty sure they were all cheaper than their European competitors.

They were, and usually a lot faster too, which is why I've had a few

[rallycross]

The sales success of the Hyundai Coupe shows there is a decent sized market for the affordable coupe, why is no one else aiming for this segment?

[dukebox9reg]

Real shame they don't bring the American market Kia Coupe over here. Think it's a really nice car. Similar idea to Jap 90's coupes. The Korean's are on catch up. American Honda Civic coupe is quite nice as well.

Edited by dukebox9reg on Thursday 10th January 11:13

[kambites]

rallycross said:

The sales success of the Hyundai Coupe shows there is a decent sized market for the affordable coupe, why is no one else aiming for this segment?

Well there's the GT86, but I think mostly the market is flooded by pseudo-coupes like the Brera and Scirocco.

[Twincam16]

kambites said:

rallycross said:

The sales success of the Hyundai Coupe shows there is a decent sized market for the affordable coupe, why is no one else aiming for this segment?

Well there's the GT86, but I think mostly the market is flooded by pseudo-coupes like the Brera and Scirocco.

Neither of those are 'pseudo-coupes', they are based on 'cut-down' saloons (159 and Golf) and are therefore the very definition of coupes.

[Guvernator]

Twincam16 said:

kambites said:

rallycross said:

The sales success of the Hyundai Coupe shows there is a decent sized market for the affordable coupe, why is no one else aiming for this segment?

Well there's the GT86, but I think mostly the market is flooded by pseudo-coupes like the Brera and Scirocco.

Neither of those are 'pseudo-coupes', they are based on 'cut-down' saloons (159 and Golf) and are therefore the very definition of coupes.

I don't really care what the "official" definition of coupe is tbh, neither the Brera or Scirocco deserve the coupe title IMO, they are just slightly squashed hatchbacks and no amount of marketing BS will convince me otherwise I'm afraid.

[ikarl]

rallycross said:

ikarl said:

My MR2's (4 of them in total) were all coupes, they were all tin-tops (i.e. no t-bar and no sunroof)

I did caveat my use of the VX220 as a coupe so a bit unfair pointing that out (and cutting the quote to suit your comment!)

You may have got 2 seated sports car mixed up with affordable coupe (usually with 4 seats)

I think if you check the definition of the word 'coupe' I am correct in adding the MR2

[jamieduff1981]

The Scirocco still looks like a Golf. The half an ordinary Golf (the benchmark against which "ordinary" and "boring" are measured), the Golf Plus for people with Marge Simpson hair dos and the Scirocco, which they could have just as easily called the Golf Minus.

There's also that ugly little Volvo thing.

Coupes are supposed to be good looking (long, low, sweeping, sleek). None of the current 3 door hatchbacks are good looking, unless it's in the automotive equivalent of "birthing hips".

[JDMDrifter]

Used A5's are getting cheap and supposed to be a nice motor , I'd have one

[Agoogy]

jamieduff1981 said:

The Scirocco still looks like a Golf. There's also that ugly little Volvo thing.

None of the current 3 door hatchbacks are good looking, unless it's in the automotive equivalent of "birthing hips".

In your opinion...
My opinion?
Book yourself an eye test.

[kambites]

Guvernator said:

Twincam16 said:

kambites said:

rallycross said:

The sales success of the Hyundai Coupe shows there is a decent sized market for the affordable coupe, why is no one else aiming for this segment?

Well there's the GT86, but I think mostly the market is flooded by pseudo-coupes like the Brera and Scirocco.

Neither of those are 'pseudo-coupes', they are based on 'cut-down' saloons (159 and Golf) and are therefore the very definition of coupes.

I don't really care what the "official" definition of coupe is tbh, neither the Brera or Scirocco deserve the coupe title IMO, they are just slightly squashed hatchbacks and no amount of marketing BS will convince me otherwise I'm afraid.

Agreed. I see no real reason to consider the Scirocco or Brera to be a different body-style to the Golf. They're just hatchbacks. Same with the 3-series, it's not a coupe, it's a two-door saloon.

I guess it's all just semantics anyway; it doesn't really matter what you call a car.

[Agoogy]

semantics aside, what differentiates say a 406 coupe or Calibra from a 3 series 'coupe' then??

[kambites]

Agoogy said:

semantics aside, what differentiates say a 406 coupe or Calibra from a 3 series 'coupe' then??

To be perfectly honest, I'm not sure beyond the fact that the 406 and Calibra look like coupes and the 3-series looks like a saloon. I never claimed the distinction in my mind was rational or well defined.

[Agoogy]

So..then... in answer to the thread title.... they're still around if what you see suits your personal definition of a coupe....but in hindsight they never were that affordable...
And these days the line between coupe, hatchback and saloon are more blurred than ever...