Would you own this car?
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Joined: Feb 2003
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From: Seattle
Vehicle: 00 Tiburon
Would you own this car?
You want rare? This is rare! 1990 Geo Prizm GSi in Colorado wrecking yard
IT'S THE GM-BADGED FACTORY-HOT-ROD COROLLA, STRAIGHT OUTTA NUMMI!
In all of my junkyard travels in the last couple of decades, there are some rare-but-not-so-valuable cars that I'm always looking for. The Mazda 323 GTX is one — I found one in the middle 2000s— and any Cadillac with the V8-6-4 is another (they were once common but were just about all gone by the end of the 1980s). But the mythical Geo Prizm GSi… well, I'd given up all hope that I'd ever spot one. Then, a couple weeks ago in a Denver-area self-service yard, look at what I found!
The Prizm was GM's version of the Corolla (actually, the Corolla-derived Toyota Sprinter), built in the NUMMI plant in Northern California (where Tesla now builds cars) and badged as a Geo. Prizms sold quite well, and you still see them on the roads today. What you don't see very often, though, is the hopped-up GSi version, which was a pretty quick car for its time.
Under the hood, the Prizm GSi boasts the same 130-horse 4A-GE that came in the '90 Corolla GT-S. The GSi also got a high-zoot suspension, four-wheel disc brakes, aluminum wheels, and some very subtle badges. While its Corolla GT-S cousin was a sporty-looking coupe, the Prizm GSi was a nearly invisible sleeper.
IT'S THE GM-BADGED FACTORY-HOT-ROD COROLLA, STRAIGHT OUTTA NUMMI!
In all of my junkyard travels in the last couple of decades, there are some rare-but-not-so-valuable cars that I'm always looking for. The Mazda 323 GTX is one — I found one in the middle 2000s— and any Cadillac with the V8-6-4 is another (they were once common but were just about all gone by the end of the 1980s). But the mythical Geo Prizm GSi… well, I'd given up all hope that I'd ever spot one. Then, a couple weeks ago in a Denver-area self-service yard, look at what I found!
The Prizm was GM's version of the Corolla (actually, the Corolla-derived Toyota Sprinter), built in the NUMMI plant in Northern California (where Tesla now builds cars) and badged as a Geo. Prizms sold quite well, and you still see them on the roads today. What you don't see very often, though, is the hopped-up GSi version, which was a pretty quick car for its time.
Under the hood, the Prizm GSi boasts the same 130-horse 4A-GE that came in the '90 Corolla GT-S. The GSi also got a high-zoot suspension, four-wheel disc brakes, aluminum wheels, and some very subtle badges. While its Corolla GT-S cousin was a sporty-looking coupe, the Prizm GSi was a nearly invisible sleeper.
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