Car Stuff: A Cluster of Geos

From the mid-1980s until the early '00s, General Motors and Toyota had a joint venture building cars together in a plant in California. The Toyotas were Corollas, while the Chevrolets were first called Novas, later given the brand Geo and the model name Prizm, and still later changed back to Chevrolet but still called the Prizm.

Sometimes the cars used the same sheet metal; other times they looked slightly different. It's unlikely I'd be writing anything about a mid-'90s Geo if I hadn't noticed three of them around the corner from me during the winter, all on the same block.

These cars are all from the 1993-97 generation; the corresponding Toyota Corolla had somewhat straighter lines and was also available as a station wagon. That was the last Corolla wagon available in the US; I have no idea if Toyota still offers one, but I would guess not.

Oddly, there was a nicer-trim version of the Prizm available that came with leather seats, but I have no idea if any of these cars are that model.

As you can see, all of these cars are commuting road warriors that have seen their share of hard use. One day they were all parked on the street fairly close to each other, and I couldn't resist taking a group shot.

A couple of months later I spotted another Prizm in the Stop & Shop parking lot. I'm pretty sure it isn't one of the neighboring cars because this one had one wheel cover on its right side. (These cars don't seem to hold onto their wheel covers very well.)