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THE. To notch if Aff£ordable, enjoyable driving Last December, I was driving home from cinner when a young man decided to ignore his red light and cross my path. Fortunately, Nurse Chevrolet was able to repair the rather substantial damnage, but for a whiie it looked like I was going ta need a new car, and so I went ShWelno doubt about it, "sticker shock"' should be designated a true medical emergency. When you're a fan of big, fully-loaded cars like I arn, the price taeacn b. pretty intimidating. Cars always have been major purchases. Like ail new inventions, they were relatively expensive when they were firet introduced, even by today's standards. At the turn of the century, it was not unustua for cars ta, carry price tags of $2,000 ta $4,000 for little more than an engin., four wheels and a seat. The high cost, plus their unreliability, made themn littie more then toys for the very wealthy. Cars started coming down in price as poduction techniques iniproved. Mh first Ford, sold in 1903, was $850. When mass production came in, Henry Ford sleshed his prices ta stirnuflate sales, and by 1917 the cheapest model wa only $360. To keep things in perspective, though, ord was paying moMt of bis workers $5 per day, roughly twice what other autaworkers wer e making. The. Ford was also a very cheap, basic car, and buyers who wented more had to pay for it. The luxurious Oldsmobile of that vear cost $1,095. By 1929, prices were up and a Ford coot $435, compard ta Chevrolet at $525 ad Pymouth at $675. ITMe wl-Mad luxury Franklin, an air-coole car that was flyer Charles Iàndbemrgh' personal favourite, was $2,210. Even that was a bargain compared to, the Duesenberg, enerelly considered the finest American car ever built. In 1920, they sold for $8,300; taday, Most of those remaining are v lued at more than $1 million each. Another luxury cari Cadilac, also commanded serious coin right fromn the beginrung. Introduced in 1903, the firet Cadiilac was a one-clinder modéal that sold for $750.1B 1915, with a V8 engin. and electric starter, the car cost just more than $1,500. In 1977, the Coupe deVille becamne the lest Cadiilac ta list under $10000. As the years went on,"prices went up. By 1937, a Pontiac waýgon was $992; a 1941 Packard, $,892 (with air conditioning as a $1080 option). A 1948 Mercury sedan coet $1,645, while a 1949 Olds 88 was $2,420. lIn 1940, the iàncoîn Continental wes introduced with a price tag of $2,840; by 1949, it was up to, $4,622. mhat year the average autoworker made $58 per week. Ini 1953, the. fret Corvette cost $3,523, while 1955 saw the Pontiac convertible priced at $2,691. mhat year, a RoIl Royce was only $14,000, quit. a bargain when you consider that 1994 modela start at $212,000. Just like today, though, al prices quoted are 'base," betbre SEE PAGE 21 By Glen Konorowski Maehig erjoyable driving with inexpensive cars in nome- times hard. Fortunately for al of us, Volkswagen has, mi the com- pan/'s cwn words, «don. it again» with the Golf. For anyone looking for an easy-to-own affordable car these days VW is one car that shouldn't b. overlooked. The. price of many Asian importa han gone up, while prices on many of the European. importa have gone 9 lightly or actuallyfa1len. Tlis has made many European cars, such as the VW Golf, a real deal. The Golf cornes ini two- and four-door variations except for the GTI model which only cornes ini a two-door. Tii. model lin. consista of the CL, GL and GTI. Trim levels basically make up the differences in the lino. New for this year will be the return of the convertible. VW han decided to caîl it the Golf Cabrio. Unlike the rest of the Golf line that is made i Mexico, this car will b. made in Germany. lIn the engin., lineup for 1994, there are no big changes. The CL model will aVli only b available with the 1.8-itre gas engin. with 90 horsepower. In the GL line, you can choose from either a two-litre gas engin., with 115 horsepower or my favourite, the 1.9-litre Turbo-dis- sel. The GTI cornes with the two-litre engin. only. Passing on the power to ail the wheels is a standard five-speed manual transmission. In the car I drove the shifter. was a littie stiff anâ took a littie getting used to. But once accustomed to it, I found it to b. easy to handie. A friend who owna an earlier model Golf poited out that the shift genera lybcmes easier as the car breâla in. lhosff who have no need ta shift can opt for a four-speed autornatic. Ihis unit, I found, suited the car quit. well giving the car acceptable acceleration. Inside Golf is a simple, func- tional dash with ail controls within easy reach of the driver. Heating and cooling controls extend from the. centre dash area. These controls are easy-to- understand rotary-dial types. Seating is made up of two firm but comfortable front bucket seats and a folding rear seat on both the two- and four-door modela. Tii. hatch area will hold 345 cubic litreti of cargo. With the: seat folded down, the cargo spaoe goe uptoa. whoppingl1,145 up, the Golfs trnk is more then enough ta handie your everyday needs.n The~ GL model I t..ted was equipped with four-wheel disk brakes. This made for excep- tional stopping power. Tiie GTI version is also equipped with diskealal the wayarnd The. suspension on all Golfs is a combiniation cf MacPherson struts u~ front and a twist beam with cospringa and anti-sway bar in the rear. Tii. GTI version geta a stiffer suspension, due to slightly botter handling at higher -spd. After spending some time with Vhe car, ireallygot ta 11k. it. Suality is to-notr, with fit and Pinish seoenjto non.. If your. lookiniK for a new car, don'V overlook what VW has to offer. 1 think you may b. plea- santly surprised. 160,000 Kilomnetre Extended Power Train Warranty, No Charge: Limited Time On/y on Jettas and Golfs (INCLUDES DIESEL IMODELS) Hurry in! Offer available on a imited number of cars. 10 years'or 160,000km., whichever cornes first. OWASCO VOLKSWAGEN INC. Expereo the Owaso Feeling.f Hl Proven Io sereou BEST since Î972. WHITE An"IlCARE" and CAaward winner. R ens rica , leasing, body shop, ait makes. Rentis i CaadaUSAand Europe, overseas délivery. O 142 Dundas St. East, Whitby 0 N S686-6410t» OWSO>TOP DOLLAR FOR EAS« RV- VOUR TRADE! or 1 1 1 .'-n.... il -. * t .. (E lIN UTES ;T FROM VNTOWN PON~tTC \,.-c by Jil Mclntosh Cars always costly VOLKSWAGEN GOLF CL/GL J ) 1 1