QOTD: Can You Build an Ideal Crapwagon Garage? (Part I: The Hatchbacks)

Corey Lewis
by Corey Lewis
qotd can you build an ideal crapwagon garage part i the hatchbacks

Today is the start of a series of related Question of the Day posts. Each Wednesday QOTD for the next few weeks will be dedicated to selecting vehicles for a different section of an ideal Special Crapwagon Garage you’ll be compiling.

Up for Part I in the series are hatchback and liftback vehicles. Start your brains.

The reason we’re focusing on building a crapwagon garage is simple: It’s what we always end up talking about in the comments. An article on a new truck gets us chatting old trucks. And a new Golf has us chatting about the quality item which was the MkIV Golf. Right now I hear you asking, “But Corey, what makes for a crapwagon? What does that mean?”

Glad you asked; there are rules.

  1. A crapwagon must be a vehicle which is relatively easy to find and purchase using an internet.
  2. All vehicles in the crapwagon garage must have been sold as new, in the North American market.
  3. Said vehicles must be obtainable to the casual crapwagon collector (CCC). This means in clean, running condition each one asks $7,000 or less on a normal day.
  4. Your suggestions must fit into the vehicle category of the week. If you don’t like the category, that’s tough. We’ll get to a category you like eventually.
  5. There are five rules to this garage game, and that’s the maximum number of vehicles you may submit for each section. Cinco.

This week we start with hatchback and liftback vehicles. Whether they be hot or lukewarm (like mine would be) they need to have a hatchback or liftback on their rear end, and must not be an SUV or wagon. I’ve got a couple in mind for my personal garage which would be well within our $7,000 budget (three others are undecided).

Sterling 827 SLi

The Sterling 827 liftback version, in high-zoot SLi trim makes my Crapwagon Garage. I’ve always liked the looks, and how it’s sort of an Acura Legend and sort of ruined, plus wood trim.

Mazda 626 5-door

Mazda’s 626 5-door always worked for me as well, particularly in fancy GT trim with these polished alloys. I was always fond of the smooth, continuous window line and general aero shape. And the utility here surpasses a normal sedan easily.

Give us your Special Crapwagon Garage hatchback and liftback selections!

[Images: General Motors, Sterling, Mazda]

Comments
Join the conversation
2 of 119 comments
  • Aron9000 Aron9000 on May 23, 2018

    Man $7000 is a tough price point for the cars I like in this catergory, as the few nice ones left are really going to push that budget. They all tend to be owned by the hat backwards/cheetos/weed/mt dew crowd that have $2 to their name and beat the piss out of them. 1. 1992-1996 C4 Corvette. These had the 300hp LT1 V8 and much nicer interior vs the 80's ones. 2. 1998-2002 Camaro Z28/Firebird Formula- has the LS1 V8 stock, still fast by today's standards, burnout city time. These tend to be either really nice or really trashed by the meth/juggalo crowd. 3. 2001-2006ish Acura RSX, preferably Type S with the bigger engine. Base model is fun too if you avoid the automatic 4. 1993-1998 Acura Integra GS-R- I was going to say 1992-1996 Prelude, but you stipulated hatchback. 5. 2003-2013ish Mazda 3 hatch, 5 speed of course. Great handling, probably the easiest one on the list to find a nice one.

  • Richthofen Richthofen on Jun 22, 2018

    '07 Mazda 6 V6 Sport hatchback '85 Dodge Daytona Turbo Z '88 Mitsubishi Starion TSi '87 Honda Accord LXi And just to be absolutely, utterly, weird: '84 Volkswagen Quantum Coupe (which was actually a hatchback). Then update it with the Syncro 4WD/I5 setup from a later Quantum sedan or wagon. And for good measure give it the '85-up facelifted front clip. This could probably all be done for under $7K but finding a 3-door Quantum in the first place would be an absolutely monumental task as they seem to have sold about 12 of them total.

  • SCE to AUX I charge at home 99% of the time, on a Level 2 charger I installed myself in 2012 for my Leaf. My house is 1967, 150-Amp service, gas dryer and furnace; everything else is electric with no problems. I switched from gas HW to electric HW last year, when my 18-year-old tank finally failed.I charge at a for-pay station maybe a couple times a year.I don't travel more than an hour each way in my Ioniq 1 EV, so I don't deal much with public chargers. Despite a big electric rate increase this year, my car remains ridiculously cheap to operate.
  • ToolGuy 38:25 to 45:40 -- Let's all wait around for the stupid ugly helicopter. 😉The wheels and tires are cool, as in a) carbon fiber is a structural element not decoration and b) they have some sidewall.Also like the automatic fuel adjustment (gasoline vs. ethanol).(Anyone know why it's more powerful on E85? Huh? Huh?)
  • Ja-GTI So, seems like you have to own a house before you can own a BEV.
  • Kwik_Shift Good thing for fossil fuels to keep the EVs going.
  • Carlson Fan Meh, never cared for this car because I was never a big fan of the Gen 1 Camaro. The Gen 1 Firebird looked better inside and out and you could get it with the 400.The Gen 2 for my eyes was peak Camaro as far as styling w/those sexy split bumpers! They should have modeled the 6th Gen after that.
Next