Settling an argument: The Original Sport Compact Car

[Jetboy.]

I've been friends with an individual for closing in on six years, now. We're both avid car enthusiasts, both have interesting niche classic vehicles we're restoring, have similar interests, blah blah. There are often discussions between the two of us over all sorts of parameters in the car world, and often it leads to a point/ counterpoint discussion. He typically takes the stance of knowing things from experience and memory, and I go off memory of stuff I've read and like to back it with hard data. He's a MOPAR Guy first and foremost, and I lean mostly towards GM but appreciate quite a good chunk of different manufacturers.

One of these discussions started off like this: What was the car that led to the American Sport Compact craze?

He felt it was the Dodge Omni GLH/ GLHS. The first one was NOT turbocharged and was offered in 1984; the first turbo car debuted in 1985.

I countered the first VW GTi hit the market in 1983, and is likely the grandfather of the craze. I also offered the Chevrolet Cosworth Vega in 1975 could also count, but it hardly sparked anyone's interest.



So, this question could be attacked two different ways: Either What was the first (American Market) sport compact? --or-- What car sparked the American Sport Compact Craze?

 

[Slash]

Since you arent afraid to bring RWD into this, and I hate to be the guy that nominates a Ford, but the Ford Maverick/Mercury Comet was classed as a sports compact when it first came out in and as early late 1969.

It featured an FR layout, different from the FWD layout you'd typically think of when talking compact sports, but not too surprisingly for the time. It had 3 different standard Inline 6 cylinders as base engines that hardly call performance engines (I think their best horsepower output was somewhere in the vicinity of 115-120 horsepower) but I guess could take on a lot of cars all the way through the 1980s as far as power output.

The higher end Grabber model (later called Maverick Stallion) got the 5.0L 302 V8 that pumped out 220 horsepower and 300 lb-ft of torque in 1970, those this would later drop to around 130/260 due to emissions regulations and other circumstances. It was also equipped with several automatic and manual transmissions as well as some options like A/C, power brakes and steering etc. Apparently, it sold so well that Ford nearly dropped the Mustang due to dwindling sales on that cars end, but as we all know was redesigned to the Musang II.

Considering its classed as a compact car and is rather small and extremely light, weighing in at under 2,500 lbs (I6 car), and the fact it was used for a long period of time, I'd say it kicked it off pretty hard as Chevrolet fired back with the Vega and the later Monza and its sister cars. While I consider it to be a pony/muscle car as do many, its technical parameters label it as a compact vehicle, and given the timeline and list of cars that followed suit that led to developments like FWD compacts well into the 1980s and even into the 1990s, I'd say its easily the grandfather of the American end of things. Lets see what your friend thinks of that

^Grabber variant, the V8 car.

^^Standard 2 door 6 cylinder car.


There was the option 4 door models as well.

 

[White & Nerdy]

Wasn't there a Ford Falcon Sprint and Mercury Comet Caliente before that? And also the Chevy II SS, Oldsmobile F-85 Jetfire (or whatever the small one with the 215ci turbo V8 was called), Pontiac Tempest LeMans, etc. in 1962-1963. Even before that, wasn't the 1949 Oldsmobile 88 Rocket sort of the equivalent at the time?

 

[Slash]

The Falcon was considered a compact, so I guess that would work, considering how the Maverick was based off that platform similar to the Mustang.

 

[Jay.]

Many of the cars mentioned in this thread had already been around in some form for several years, though through the generations they were revised in looks, size and performance. One car that started as an original sports compact was the Nissan/Datsun Cherry/Pulsar (E10/F10) running from 1970 (E10) and 1974 (F10). Still considered one of the original small sports classics. Shame we don't have any in GT6.

 

[xXKingJoshXx]

1959/60 Chevrolet Corvair, anyone?

 

[niky]

If we're talking the original Sport Compact... and we mean... really compact, as in sub-2,000 lbs with a small motor but good performance, then there are scads... the Escort, the Morris Mini Cooper, the Datsun 510... or if we're talking relatively "small" engined sports cars, then there's the 240Z or even the 911s of the early 70s.

But if we're talking about the "craze"... meaning to say... the boom in hot-rodding and aftermarket parts for economy cars in the late 80's and early 90's, then you need look no further than the Honda Civic. Love it, hate it, revile it, worship it... there was no car that sparked more interest in cars among that generation, or that spawned more aftermarket development than the Civic.

 

[Famine]

Dodge Omni GLH/ GLHS.

4,145mm - pretty compact.

VW GTi

3,705mm - really very compact.

Chevrolet Cosworth Vega

4,481mm - not very compact.

Ford Maverick/Mercury Comet

4,700mm - is this a joke? That's only two inches shorter than an E39 BMW 5 series.

Ford Falcon Sprint

4,613mm - well at least it's shorter than the Comet.

Mercury Comet Caliente

4,940mm... Longer than an E39 5 series Touring.

Chevy II SS

4,811mm...

Oldsmobile F-85 Jetfire

4,880mm...

Pontiac Tempest LeMans

4,808mm...

1949 Oldsmobile 88 Rocket sort of the equivalent at the time?

5,130mm... The Golf is only 10% longer than this car's wheelbase.

The task is to find the first Sport Compact, not to name as many older cars as you can with hopped up versions. And the European candidates are generally thought to be the Talbot Lotus Sunbeam (1981 & 3,829mm), the VW Golf GTi Mk1 (1975 & 3,705mm), the Vauxhall Chevette HS (1978 & 3,942mm) and the Renault 5 Alpine/Gordini (1976 & 3,521mm). The winner is generally thought to be a car that's been in Gran Turismo for 8 years - the Autobianchi A112 Abarth (1971 & 3,230mm - shorter than the 1949 Oldsmobile 88 Rocket's wheelbase).

 

[TheCracker]

Being considered a 'compact' and actually being a compact are different. The Falcon was almost a meter longer than the Mk1 Golf, and still more than a foot longer than the current Mk7 Golf.

The first (American Market) sport compact may well be the Ford Maverick. But the car that sparked the American Sport Compact Craze is a different question and is likely to have been a European car such as the Golf GTi, but probably from even earlier that that, something like the BMW Neue Klasse.

*edit* Tree'd!

 

[xXKingJoshXx]

Perhaps the 1st gen Toyota Celica is a better nomination than the Corvair.

('76 US model shown)

 

[Adamgp]

1959/60 Chevrolet Corvair, anyone?

Unsafe at any speed. I bet those were a lot of fun to drive.

 

[Cano]

There were sport-model Corvairs. The Monza, or Spyder or something. One of them was turbocharged. And then there's the Yenko Stinger,w hich won SCCA tittles, so it does have sporting credentials.

 

[Leonidae@MFT]

Americans.. you Forget your only proper sports compact from the old ages, AMC Gremlin...

 

[Tyger]

Yeah I was gonna say the Gremlin, fair bit of power on tap in what I would genuinely call a compact car. Omni is another later candidate (though Wiki describes its Euro twin the Chrysler Horizon as "subcompact" interestingly), along with the Rabbit.

Actually surely the Beetle qualifies too?

EDIT: Not a sports car, and the Karmann Ghia no longer fools anyone

 

[Downhill Dino]

Americans.. you Forget your only proper sports compact from the old ages, AMC Gremlin...

We don't like to talk about that.

 

[Leonidae@MFT]

It's a proper hatchback, with a V8 as an option. What is there not to like?

 

[xXKingJoshXx]

Yeah I was gonna say the Gremlin, fair bit of power on tap in what I would genuinely call a compact car.

"Fair bit of power," right.

Omni is another later candidate (though Wiki describes its Euro twin the Chrysler Horizon as "subcompact" interestingly), along with the Rabbit.

My grandma had a Hemi orange manual VW powered Horizon TC3 when they first came out. It was apparently a pretty cool car when it was new.

I believe it looked something like this.

 

[Slash]

It's a proper hatchback, with a V8 as an option. What is there not to like?

2 of them in fact.


@Famine


Given how large vehicles are these days a maverick looks like a toy next to them.

 

[Famine]

It's two inches shorter than a BMW 5 series E39 saloon, like I said. It's about the same shorter than a current VW Passat. It's longer - longer - by half a frelling foot than a Mazda CX-5.

That's not a "compact" car by any metric.

 

[Slash]

Apparently there are different levels of compact then. Its classed as a compact by Ford and the DOT, and sometimes labeled a sport compact, and therefore it is one. Wether or not you agree with it is irrelevant.


If I really wanted to be that guy, I'd say a Mustang II since that's smaller than a Maverick.

 

[niky]

US Federal classification goes by interior volume alone. Which means a Bentley Continental GT is a subcompact on their books. Never mind that it has a six liter motor and weighs over two tons. More sane minds (Europe) go by footprint. And by footprint, the Maverick would never be classed as compact. Even the biggest "C-segment" or compact cars nowadays (considered by the Federal government as "midsized") are shorter than the Maverick. Porkers like the Focus are around the same weight.

Ergo... if a Focus is a "midsized" car, and it weighs the same as a Maverick and is three or four inches shorter... then the Maverick is...?

While it might have been "compact" compared to regular US cars of that time (and at that time, anything under 200 inches was compact... which means that a brand new Camry or Accord qualifies as a compact car in that regard...) it was never seen as such anywhere else in the world.

-

We had a Chevy Monza when we moved out here. Compact by US standards, when we brought it out, it was bigger, heavier and more powerful than most other cars on the road here. As such, it got hit with higher taxes than anything else.

 

[Badasp5.0]

US market car size is not the total size of the car but the size of the passenger compartment. My Cobra is considered a subcompact by the US DOT and EPA.

 

[Slash]

then the Maverick is...?

...Still classed as a compact car per 1969 1/2.


As is most Mustangs.

 

[niky]

By the Federal Government, of the time, and nobody else (except maybe Canada).

Like I've said... Federal size classification, at any time, is absolutely insane. Here's a list of some notable "compacts", as per the EPA website:
http://www.fueleconomy.gov/

Acura TSX
BMW 6-series Gran Coupe (if they remove the rear seats, it isn't classed as a compact)
Bentley Continental GT
Chevrolet Camaro
Mercedes Benz CLS
Rolls Royce Phantom Coupe (2.4 tons, well over 200 inches)
Volvo S60

And here are some midsizers:

Chevrolet Cruze
Chevrolet Sonic
Hyundai Elantra... Coupe
Nissan Sentra
Nissan Leaf

-

While, technically, the US government considers the Maverick a "compact" car, their classification system isn't really all that reliable.

-

And the question is about "sport compacts"... which, as a term, is more recent than the Maverick. There is no formal definition of "sport compact", but it came into use in popular culture in the 90's in California, amongst Japanese car enthusiasts. While it more nebulously covered any performance or semi-performance car of foreign origin, it typically refers to cheap cars considered compact by the market.

In other words, the first "Sport Compact" is either a Civic, a Civic or a Civic.

 

[BKGlover]

Last I checked Slashfan, this was 2014 and the US Govt. still hated the automobile in all forms.

By that same note though, most of those were compact compared to the full-size Lincoln Continental, Dodge Charger, Chevy Chevelle, etc. There's that American double standard again.

@Jetboy. I'd agree with both of you because I think the questions were answered by both of you. The Golf(Rabbit in some places) was a massive hit, and the Omni was about the only thing the US made that wasn't a flop, at least to my mind but lets remember that's a short trip.

And the question is about "sport compacts"... which, as a term, is more recent than the Maverick.

Probably true, but people like to label stuff retro-actively all the time.

 

[Joey D]

The first one in the American market that comes to mind is the '75 VW GTI. Although I think the Celica GT came to the states in '74. I know the Datsun 510 was sold back in the late 60's, but I don't know if they had any "sports" models.

 

[YSSMAN]

What was the first (American Market) sport compact?

It depends on classification and all that jazz. We could go back to something like the Plymouth Cricket or the Mercury Capri if we really, truly wanted to... But, neither caught on. I can think of a bunch of horrible "compacts" in the '70s, the Monza more than most.

But truly compact? First on the market? What about the Chevrolet Citation X-11?

What car sparked the American Sport Compact Craze?

As much as the GTI was important in the UK, and to some extent in the US, I really don't feel like things took off until this guy showed up:

 

[Jetboy.]

The task is to find the first Sport Compact, not to name as many older cars as you can with hopped up versions. And the European candidates are generally thought to be the Talbot Lotus Sunbeam (1981 & 3,829mm), the VW Golf GTi Mk1 (1975 & 3,705mm), the Vauxhall Chevette HS (1978 & 3,942mm) and the Renault 5 Alpine/Gordini (1976 & 3,521mm). The winner is generally thought to be a car that's been in Gran Turismo for 8 years - the Autobianchi A112 Abarth (1971 & 3,230mm - shorter than the 1949 Oldsmobile 88 Rocket's wheelbase).

EDIT: I was going to comment you missed my point about American Market only, but I believe I'm the one that missed your point about the origin of the Sport Compact in general. It was definitely a distinct European thing before it hit our shores.

You also reminded me of a forgotten vehicle: The Sunbeam Tiger. Roughly the size of the Mazda MX-5 and powered by a Ford 260 c.i. V8. However, that car blurs a line, as it could be argued to be both a Sports Car AND a Muscle Car (full-size engine in a mid-size or smaller chassis).

niky happened to remind me that yes, the Mini Cooper also existed, but did the U.S. market ever get the Cooper S? And not going to argue that the absolute craze was likely due to the onset of the Civic Si.

YSSMAN: Honorable mention of the Citation X-11. Definitely a forgotten semi-compact vehicle with some hopped up factory goodies, but I think it's technically too big (by vehicle footprint) to count.


Definitely some interesting discussion.

 

[Leonidae@MFT]

I still say that this guy is the original US sport compact..

2600lbs/1200kg, around 4 meters long, powered by everything from VAG I4 to 401ci V8.

 

[Tyger]

"Fair bit of power," right.

150hp for a relatively small car isn't bad, though admittedly it's quite a heavy car and it did need a fairly chunky V8 to make that. It's surprisingly nippy in Forza 4, but perhaps that isn't the best evidence