When Plymouth Built The Poverty Trans Am

Comments · 385

• CA

  @Cartier_specialist · 2 months ago (edited)

  I actually drove a Fire Arrow in 79 or 80, and they were no slouch. I really wanted it at the time, but it was too expensive. Fast forward about a decade, and I owned an Arrow pickup. It was really reliable and good on gas but it didn't have air conditioning. Fast Forward to the early 2000s, and I located a 79 Fire Arrow and bought it based entirely on pictures. It ran fine, but it's interesting how nostalgia can cloud your view of how quick a car was, not to mention years of wear and tear. I sold it shortly after acquiring it.

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• RO

  @robertvance1873 · 2 months ago

  So good to see the actual human being and not AI Generated BS, Thank You.

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• MA

  @martyverdoorn8021 · 2 months ago

  My first car was a 1980 Fire Arrow, gold with brown hood. I owned it from 1982 - 1988. Build quality was fine for the era. It had about 18,000 miles when I got it and about 62,000 miles when I sold it. The only problem I remember having was an outside door handle broke. Otherwise it was very reliable. I still miss that plaid upholstery!

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• MI

  @mikebell2750 · 2 months ago

  That 2.6 litre 4 cylinder was the same engine that was available in the Mitsubishi Starion and the Conquest (minus the fuel injection and the turbo). Mitsubishi licensed that engine to Mazda (they made some modifications to it) and it was used in the B Series trucks as a B2600 and B2600i (which I had a 4 wheel drive version of). It was also used in a number of other Mitsubishi vehicles like the Montero as well.

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• GA

  @GaryGreen-w9n · 2 months ago

  I remember the song in the TVads : "Me and My Arrow"; I think it was written by Harry Nilsson.

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• BI

  @billmacdonald2553 · 2 months ago

  My brother had a 1977 Arrow 1.6 liter engine, with a 4 speed manual. First manual I ever drove. No Air Conditioning , AM/FM mono radio, crank windows, and in 1977, still awesome. He drove it for 3 years and moved to a new 1980 Toyota Corolla.. the hatchback, not the lift back. Japanese marketing was sort of screwy then. <br>My dad bought it for the trade value and before he resold it for more, I drove it for a few months, and I loved it. The gas mileage was a phenomenal low 30&apos;s which was incredible then. <br>In 1977 or 1979 they brought out the Plymouth Sapporo, which was another Captive Mitsubishi import (along with the sacrilegious use of Challenger on the Dodge version😯) with more style over substance persona, which may have also cut into the sale of Arrows, Dual &nbsp;shift Colts from &nbsp;the economy front &nbsp;and Sapporo from the styling front. <br>Actually these were all neat cars in the malaise era.

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• HO

  @HOWNDOG66 · 1 month ago

  Honestly, they were a good looking car and had a decent base but at that time their competition like the Mustang II came with a V8 and in 79 the completely new fox body came out. <br>The other issue I remember is that the Dodge imports at the time had a bad reputation for engines that only lasted 40k miles and rust. My dad had a colt GT that cracked between the 2nd n 3rd cylinder with very low mileage.

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• JI

  @jimdoerr7483 · 2 months ago

  These were such wild times in the US automotive wold to be alive and watch this all unfold. &nbsp;This particular niche market was hot at the time, containing the Chevy Monza, Pontiac Sunbird, Ford Mustang II originally on the larger size, then more on the smaller side, later (thinking Ford EXP). &nbsp;There were so many options and niches back then that some modles like this would disappear a year or two after introduction. &nbsp;Chrysler dealerships were especially wild at this time, as they leaned heavily on Mitsubishi to flesh out their model line as they quickly transitioned from their dated, domestic V8 platform cars. &nbsp;I honestly couldn&apos;t help but become a fan of the underdog Chrysler brand at this time. &nbsp;The oil embargo and emissions mandate fiasco caught them especially flat footed after their failed foray into Europe, buying Rootes Group in England. &nbsp;From what I can recall now, the Chrysler rebadged Mitsubishi cars were well made, reliable, efficient and were less funky, &quot;alien,&quot; more cleanly styled than many Japanese branded competiton. &nbsp;That, with the familiar American badge and extensive dealer network access, they were a more compelling purchase prospect for some.

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• BR

  @BrhatLee · 1 month ago

  I had a 77 Arrow 1600 hatchback. Absolutely reliable despite the mounds of rust it would drop every time the door was closed. Canary yellow with the black vinyl interior &amp; 4-sp manual. The engine outlasted the body by a decade.

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• JE

  @JeffreyGoddin · 1 month ago (edited)

  Hey! &nbsp;You did the Fire Arrow like I hoped/asked on the Sunbird video! &nbsp;Nice!

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• IL

  @ILovedThe90s1 · 1 month ago

  I&apos;ve heard of an Arrow, but never knew about the Fire Arrow.

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• SP

  @space_simulation69 · 2 months ago

  I&apos;ve never seen a Plymouth Fire Arrow in the wild.

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