Customer Reviews

American Car Spotter's Guide, 1981-1990

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Lets face it...the 80s was the WORST decade for cars. ESPECIALLY American cars. They were forgettable, boring, and, of course, JUNK. Most enthusiasts do not want to remember most of them. However, many sold well and all were vital to American commerce.These are the cars many of us recognize and remember from our younger years.Even if they are not industry classics, they played a pivotal role in people lives and still deserve a book on them.
There are 3 points here that prevent this from being 5 stars. One is the organization. Very similar cars are sometimes lumped together and can be hard to locate.Others aren't together. The Dodge Omni and Plymouth Horizon get their own section, however, the Chevrolet Chevette and Pontiac 1000 are divided, one being under the Chevrolet section and the other in Pontiac.Number 2 is, a lot of important details are missing.During the first 2 years it was sold in the USA, the Pontiac Parisienne had smaller taillamps.It did not have larger, wraparound lights until 1985, according to Wikipedia.The author apparently was unable to locate pictures that could help differentiate between a 1984 and 1985 model and the fact was never mentioned on the pages.Many trim changes like this were not documented in the book and I feel it would have both been neccesarry to include and probable to locate photos. If nothing else, a written blurb on the page would suffice.Number 3, there isnt even a lot of room to chronicle important information and the pages get too confusing because there is too much crammed in. The Chevrolet pages have Monte carlos, Caprices,Cavaliers etc all together.The previous book, The spotters guide from 1920-80, sorted each model out into their own section, making it easier to follow and leaving more room for neccesarry information.
Those criticisms aside,this book is probably the most comprehensive of all the books on 80's American cars, as others would generally focus on the more collectible ones.K-cars,Ford Escorts, Buick Centurys, all the cars that dont get any love are featured here.
There is an improvement from the earlier books, and a big one:The inclusion of foreign-built cars with American names. The 1920-1980 book did not feature the Mitsubishi-built Dodge Colt, Plymouth Arrow, etc. and they were instead in the "Import" spotters guide. The Colt, Dodge Challenger/Plymouth sapporo, Korean-built Ford festiva and Pontiac Lemans, and Asian-made-but-sold-for-GM Geo lineup are all represented here.I guess Mr.Burness felt that since these cars were sold at Big-3 dealers under American names they should be included, and I cannot disagree.As long as the cars were officially sold with a Dodge,Ford or General Motors name, I think it is appropriate to allow them space on these pages.
Dont buy this book with plans of being overwhelmed by exotic and classic cars. Instead, just read it and remember the cars your family or neighbors were driving in the 80's and early-90s while noticing how the industry was attempting-and not always successfully-to respond to changing tastes and needs in an era of increased practicality.As a historical view of the industry in that decade and,more importantly, an unbiased overview of the cars, you likely wont find a better volume ever.