Moar smol cheep carz!
The late 1970s were a trying time for all US automakers, Fenton Holdings included. When the Winthrop first came out in 1979, it got caught flat footed on the economy front with a V6 engine. Though still quite economical, the next generation of imports were better. Initial sales were lower than expected.
The bulk of the effort that went into the car after 1979 was to do one thing - make it sip gas. Most of the remaining effort went into quality engineering thanks to the horrible experiences that were the 2nd gen FHL S-bodies. The result by 1988 was a car that got 28 US mpg and that they confidently offered a warranty of 5 years or 50,000 miles, whichever came first.
1988 being the last year for the 1st generation Winthrop, it was a somewhat dated design but was not going down without a fight against newer cars on the market. And it had one thing that patriotic buyers would spring for - it was American.
