Friday, December 22, 1995 — North Shore News — 23

WHO TO CALL:
Auto Editor
Andrew McCredie

985-2131 (147)

NEWS photo Paul McGrath

THE 1996 Plymouth Breeze replaces the Acclaim. The front-wheel-drive Breeze, which starts at $18,320, offers a surprisingly roomy five-passenger interior, 132
horsepower 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine, standard five-speed manual transmission, dual airbags and air-conditioning.

Winds of change for Plymouth

Plymouth Breeze a roomy four-door family sedan

IN CANADA, there’s a very,
very long list of four-door,
family sedans for buyers to
choose from.

Top sellers like the Ford Taurus,
Chrysler inizepid, and Honda
Accord dominate the mid-sized
market, while the Chevrolet
Cavalier, Pontiac Sunfire and
Chrysler Neon take the lion’s share

of the compact market.

All told, there are about 40
brands to choose from. Naturally,
competition is fierce,
and most manufactur-
ers need to update
their vehicles at least
every three or four
years to stay compet-
itive.

In 1994, Chrysler
needed to do just that
— badly. Their pleas-
ant (though boring)
compact cars, the
Dodge Spirit and
Plymouth Acclaim,
were just not up to
the standards of contemporary
compact cars. What emerged was
an all-new front-wheel-drive family
sedan called the Cirrus whose main
claim to fame has been an unusual-
ly roomy interior, surprisingly
sporty handling, and depending on

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who you talk to, attractive styling.
The Cirrus was followed in
1995 with the Dodge Stratus and

66 Like the Cirrus and Stratus, the
Breeze offers surprisingly flat, stable
handling, quick steering, and excellent
outward visibility to the front and

sides.

Plymouth Breeze, basically Cirrus
clones with minor variations in
styling, a lower level of standard

. 1996 Toyota ‘Tas:
Tercel

1996 Toyota

equipment, different engine
options, and a different pricing
structure.

While the well-
equipped Cirrus offers
only a V6 engine, the
Stratus offers two dif-
ferent four-cylinder
powerplants and a six-
cylinder engine, while
the Breeze offers two
four-cylinder power-
plants, but no V6.

This week’s test car,
the Plymouth Breeze,
tetains all the packag-
ing and handling
attributes of the Cirrus
with slightly different front-end
styling, and a lower base price of
$18,320. For that, you get a stan-

Corolla

2 Door SD MopeEL

DX 4 Door SEDAN

521,487

DOWNTOWN TOYOTA

(Still the Best since 1 970)

*11,987

1996 Toyota

dard 132 horsepower 2.0-litre
SOHC, 16 valve, four-cylinder
engine (borrowed from the Neon),
five-speed manual transmission,
power steering, AM/FM cassette
radio, air-conditioning, tilt steering
wheel, intermittent wipers, cruise
control, and fold-down rear seat.
With optional four-speed automatic
transmission, the base price goes
up to $19,555.

However, for some unexplain-
able reason, you can have the
optional 150 horsepower, 2.4-liter
DOHC, 16 valve four-cylinder
engine with a four-speed automatic
transmission for only a few dollars
more — $19,815.

This is a great engine with more

See Catch page 28

— NOW!!

Financing
Available . 4
From gq

4 Door SD SEDAN

*13,687

1290 BURRARD

682-8881, £S