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What would you drive in 1985?

Bereft of live baseball games to watch, I've turned to the good ship YouTube to watch classic games. While watching the 1985 American League Championship Series last night, several of the broadcast's commercials made its way into the original VHS recording, including those for cars. "Only 8.8% financing on a 1985 Ford Tempo!" What a deal! That got me thinking: what would I drive in 1985?  It sure wouldn't be a Tempo. Or an IROC-Z, for that matter, despite what my Photoshopped 1980s self would indicate in the picture above. I posed this question to my fellow Autobloggists. Only one could actually drive back then, I was only 2 and a few editors weren't even close to being born. Here are our choices, which were simply made with the edict of "Come on, man, be realistic."  West Coast Editor James Riswick: OK, I started this, I'll go first. I like coupes today, so I'm pretty sure I'd drive one back then. I definitely don't see myself driving some badge-engineered GM thing from 1985, and although a Honda Prelude has a certain appeal, I must admit that something European would likely be in order. A BMW maybe? No, I'm too much a contrarian for that. The answer is therefore a 1985 Saab 900 Turbo 3-Door, which is not only a coupe but a hatchback, too. If I could scrounge up enough Reagan-era bucks for the ultra-cool SPG model, that would be rad. The 900 Turbo pictured, which was for auction on Bring a Trailer a few years ago, came with plum-colored Bokhara Red, and you're damn sure I would've had me one of those. Nevermind 1985, I'd probably drive this thing today.   Associate Editor Byron Hurd: I'm going to go with the 1985.5 Ford Mustang SVO, AKA the turbocharged Fox Body that everybody remembers but nobody drives. The mid-year update to the SVO bumped the power up from 175 ponies (yeah, yeah) to 205, making it almost as powerful (on paper, anyway) as the V8-powered GT models offered in the same time frame. I chose this particular car because it's a bit of a time capsule and, simultaneously, a reminder that all things are cyclical. Here we are, 35 years later, and 2.3-liter turbocharged Mustangs are a thing again. Who would have guessed?

Toyota Sienna Swagger Wagon rides again with Busta Rhymes

Let's face it: there are few things less "gangsta" than a minivan (which goes a long way towards explaining why crossovers have been gradually taking their place as the family-hauler of choice across America, but we digress). The point here is not lost on Toyota, which has embraced the uncool image of the minivan with the Swagger Wagon campaign.
We first saw the suburban-goes-urban campaign pop up with the introduction of the new Sienna back in 2010. And now that the Sienna's been updated for 2015, the campaign is back again, featuring none other than Trevor Tahiem Smith, Jr. himself... better known to most as Busta Rhymes. The decidedly white-bread video spot that follows may make you cringe, but you've got to admit that it's well done, even if it doesn't have the charm and freshness of the original.

Post-earthquake, Toyota prepares to reopen some plants in Japan

Toyota will restart vehicle production at most of its closed factories in Japan next week, but the factories that build the Mirai and many Lexus models will remain closed through at least April 28 and possibly longer. The earthquakes around the city of Kumamoto on the island of Kyushu forced the automaker to stop most of its assembly throughout the country due to a lack of parts supply. Toyota will reopen the plants in phases from April 25 to 28. However, the Motomachi factory with its LFA works, which makes the Mirai, and the Miyata factory will remain closed. These sites also build the Lexus NX, RX, ES, GS, and CT, according to Toyota. The automaker didn't say when production would begin again or how this would affect vehicle supply. "In the update, we received this morning from TMC, they said that at this stage it is too soon to tell what the impact on production will be, so we can't say yet whether there might be vehicle shortages in the US," spokesperson Aaron Fowles told Autoblog. While the quakes were focused on Kyushu, they damaged Aisin Seiki factories, which supplied parts to Toyota plants across the country. The automaker worked with its partner to import the necessary components from China and Mexico, and Aisin started moving molds from the damaged plants to operational ones in Japan, which gets production under way sooner. Automotive News Europe estimates the week of lost production cuts total assembly by 90,000 vehicles. It could cost Toyota the equivalent of $458.2 million to $641.5 million. The company could make up some of the losses through overtime. Toyota says these plans are subject to change because on ongoing tremors in the region, which could cause more damage. Reuters reported there was a magnitude 5.5 aftershock in the Kumamoto area on April 19. So far, the quakes have killed at least 47 people and around 100,000 people have moved to evacuation centers. Toyota to Restart Production on Vehicle Assembly Lines in Japan from April 25 Apr. 20, 2016 Toyota City, Japan, April 20, 2016-Between April 25 and 28, Toyota will restart production on most of its vehicle assembly lines in Japan. On April 17, Toyota announced that, due to parts shortages resulting from the severe earthquakes that struck Japan's island of Kyushu last week, production would be suspended on almost all of its vehicle assembly lines in stages between April 18 and 23.