Wikipedia.org defines the term “old school” as a slang word that can refer to anything that is from an earlier era.
Now what then is an old school car?
The term old school car sparks a debate on which car model, make or year it was from. Some say if your car is at least 20 years old, then it is considered old school. Others consider it as a car as old as your grandfather.
OSP’s classification of an old school car must meet both the following characteristics:
- the engine burns fuel through a carburator (or more than one)
- rear-wheel drive (FR) layout
But, hold on to your horses! Of course to every rule there is an exception.
Mitsubishi Colt
The 2nd generation Mitsubishi Colt Mirage (1978-1983) has a front-wheel drive layout engine and a more advanced transmission at that time. Is it oldschool? Definitely!
For this exception, OSP considers the Mirage’s distinct body styling common to most cars of its era, which is boxy (poor aerodynamics?).
Toyota Corolla AE86
From Toyota comes the sixth generation Corolla Sprinter Trueno & Levin (AE86 & AE85), which are last in its family to have a FR layout. Are they old school? Yes and no!
The US-spec version of the AE86, the DX and the SR5, are powered by a SOHC 8-valve Inline-4 Carburated engine (4AC), while the GT-S sports a DOHC 16-valve Inline-4 AFM Multiport Fuel Injection w/T-VIS.
Similarly, old school cars from Japan are also called nostalgic, retro in Europe and classic in the US.
Volkswagen has been Fuel Injecting their cars from the 1976 with a Front Wheel Drive. Some examples of these cars can be seen from the early Scirocco 1 designed by Giorgietto Guigario and the original “Hot Hatch” Vokswagen Golf GTI. Both cars have been acclaimed as significant cars of the era and continues its status significance in Automotive history at large.
That being the case, wouldn’t both cars not qualify under your criteria of “Old School” as must having:
1. Carburation
2. Rear Wheel Drive
John, I would have to agree on your statement. I feel both the 1st gen VW Golf/ GTI and VW Scirocco are definitely old school! I will add, that the 2nd gen of both cars are as well, IMHO
In reading ”old school, defined”, one can assume it is just limited to Japanese cars in the Philippine context.