<![CDATA[Jalopnik: 1990]]> http://cache.jalopnik.com/assets/base/img/thumbs140x140/jalopnik.com.png <![CDATA[Jalopnik: 1990]]> http://jalopnik.com/tag/1990 http://jalopnik.com/tag/1990 <![CDATA[This Is What a Mazda Miata With Dual V8s Looks Like]]> If you came across a Mazda Miata en route to the crusher, what would you do with it? While any variety of answers immediately come to mind—track day beater, stripped street car, V8 swap—we bet you didn't think about stretching it and adding two Chevy 350ci V8s. More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5884363&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Keep "them" guessing with the 1990 Ford Taurus SHO]]> "They" say by a certain age you fall into a certain pattern of statistics that include ownership of a typical four door sedan, like say a Ford Taurus. Ford had a surefire way to prove "them" wrong—the 1990 Ford Taurus SHO. More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5868980&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[What is your favorite performance car of the 1990s?]]> By 1990 the malaise era was long over and you were able to walk into a car dealership and purchase a variety of different vehicles with legitimate performance potential. Although many cars of the 1990s have since been overshadowed by the more potent vehicles offered in the 2000s, the decade had it's share of great cars. What is your favorite performance car of the 1990s? More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5856699&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[1990 Nissan 300ZX owners have awesome dreams]]> The only place you'll have any luck outrunning street bikes, race cars and planes in a 1990 Nissan 300ZX is in a dream, but what a dream it is. More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5848008&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[1990 Pontiac Trans Sport was the "space vehicle of the 90s"]]> Despite outward appearances, the "space vehicle of the 90s" wasn't something from another planet or an oversized household cleaning appliance, it was just a really hideous minivan. More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5847867&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Adventures In Free Beaters: Oh Lord, Stuck In The Lodi Volvo Again]]> I've got plenty of tales of the wretched heaps I've owned over the years, but I lack sufficient photographic evidence of my Free Beater Era. Now, however, I've unearthed this old shot of the legendary Free '68 Volvo 144. More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5617452&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[1990: The Great Pinto Extinction Proceeds]]> Back when I was more serious about photography (i.e., when I thought it was cool to huff Dektol fumes in a darkened closet), I would reload disposable 35mm cameras with Tri-X 400 black-and-white film and shoot images like this. More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5617441&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Getting To Know The 1990 Geos]]> What did The General need most of all in the late 1980s? You got it, another marque! All those Suzukis and Toyotas being built in California and Ontario needed friendly Detroit-style badging, not to mention those Japan-built Isuzus. More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5612867&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Escape Your Sardine Can... For a Chrysler-Badged Renault: 1990 Dodge Monaco!]]> The saga of end-times AMC took an interesting plot twist when Chrysler decided to rebadge the Eagle Premier (itself loosely based on the Renault 25) as a Dodge Monaco. Hey, didn't the Blues Brothers drive a Monaco? More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5550646&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Josh Saviano: The '90 Olds Dustbuster Is Cool. No, Really!]]> Did any kid back in the reign of Bush I actually believe the Oldsmobile Silhouette was cool? For that matter, would any parent buy a minivan the kid liked? Minivans are all about punishing kids! More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5538800&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Who Stuck This Engine In The Perfect Family Car?]]> Listen for the note of disapproval when the voiceover gets to the part about the 1990 Taurus SHO's crazy Yamaha engine. More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5503680&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[How About A Straight-Eight-Powered Ford Tempo? T-Drive!]]> You know what's wrong with most engines? The transmission is forced to take the power from the end of the crankshaft. But, hey, what if you were to take the power out of the middle of the crank? Transverse-mounted I8! More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5444277&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Sawzall Chop-Top Volvo 244 Doesn't Survive Winter, Meets Highly Predictable Fate]]> We all know how the normal trajectory goes with a homemade convertible: First, a car already teetering on the brink of the junkyard meets a couple of dudes with a case of beer and a Sawzall… More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5444245&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[The 1990 Honda CRX: Great For Endless Drives Past Cows!]]> Just a few years earlier, Honda pitched its CRX as a fire-breathing hot rod, but by 1990 the marketers had decided to go cute. Thus, the sporty CRX is presented as the ideal car for long drives in Meth Country. More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5419484&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Music For Swingin' Transmission Swappers!]]> After hearing the Datsun 710 Theme Song yesterday, I remembered that my old industro-noise band, Murilee Arraiac, recorded a song entitled "Chrysler New Yorker." More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5404938&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[1990 Buick Reatta]]> With a 1990 Chrysler TC By Maserati yesterday, the only possible DOTS choice for today must be The General's TC killer: Reatta! More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5317798&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[1990 Chrysler TC By Maserati]]> Welcome to Down On The Street, where we admire old vehicles found parked on the streets of the Island That Rust Forgot: Alameda, California. We've seen an Alameda Ferrari, and now we've got a Maserati! More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5317444&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[If You Can Stand It This Hot: The 1990 Pontiac Grand Am]]> How could The General bring himself to axe Pontiac, with a history like this? We'll admit the N-body Grand Am wasn't Pontiac's finest hour, but it was orders of magnitude better than the execrable Phoenix! More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5237282&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Insufficiently Festive Festiva Doomed To Crusher By Québécois Quality-Control Team]]> When you're inspecting cars fresh off the line, what do you look for? Well, if you're working at the Van Nuys plant building third-gen Camaros… well, no need to go there, eh? More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5178040&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[2009 Barrett-Jackson Auction Scottsdale: Eight Highest-Priced Cars Through Day Three]]> The big Barrett-Jackson car auction in Scottsdale's going on right now and we're already into the fourth day of hot gavel action. Here's the eight top cars that have found new owners through day three. More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5132831&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[1990 Dodge Caravan LE]]> Welcome to Down On The Street, where we admire old vehicles found parked on the streets of the Island That Rust Forgot: Alameda, California. Since it's Maximum Minivan Day, I knew I had to prowl the streets of Alameda and find a first-generation Chrysler minivan for this series. Easy, right? It turned out to be the hardest DOTS search I've ever done, because I've tuned out minivans from my personal Cool Vehicle Detectors the way treasure hunters adjust their metal detectors to tune out bottlecaps; I just don't see them. Not that I'm anti-minivan, mind you- if every SUV owner whose lifestyle would be better served by a minivan… well, no need to go there, eh? Anyway, I figured I needed to find a Mopar minivan with some character, and that means we're looking at an example of the very last year of the first-gen Dodge Caravan today.
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]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5082776&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Prenez De L'Avance Avec Chrysler: 1990 Dodge Shadow]]> Imagine a world where Detroit cars dominate, yet French is the language! Yes, Quebec in 1990 was such a place, and Chrysler knew those wacky Habitants wouldn't be able to resist the allure of the Dodge Shadow… provided, of course, that local girl Céline Dion- or a lookalike- performed a very strange baby-seat-summoning dance ritual in their ads. More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5043751&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Like Diane Lane, The 1990 Hino Ranger Truck Was Big In Japan]]> Paul Newman really did race Nissans and had a longstanding relationship with the company. But how about Diane Lane, star of Ladies And Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains? In a real test of the whole concept of suspension-of-disbelief, we see Ms. Lane driving a Mondrian-style Hino Ranger delivery truck through a Japanese neighborhood populated by refugees from the suburbs of Des Moines. Was there a rush on Hinos after this ad came out? More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5038702&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[The 1990 Peugeot 205 Has Got The Look... The Look Of Love!]]> What's the ticket to success when marketing the aging Peugeot 205? Why, take an 8-year-old pop song and make a special edition of your car named after the song, that's what! Such was the idea behind the '90 205 Look, and this Italian-market ad was no doubt instrumental in moving literally dozens of them off the showroom floors. More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5038700&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Eat Dust, Schmaltz With The 1990 Subaru Legacy]]> Here's a pair of Japanese-market ads for the same car, the first-gen Subaru Legacy. First we have an ad packed with screaming engines and spraying champagne, with Subaru doing some heavy boasting about three Legacies driving a collective 100,000 kilometers in 19 days at the FIA track in Arizona and competing in the '90 WRC. But what about car buyers who shudder in horror at the idea of driving fast? For them, we have an ad featuring a tear-drenched singer sobbing out a Rod Stewart song, as a Legacy cruises placidly past what appear to be settling ponds at a uranium mine. More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=399925&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Business In The Front, Party In The Back: 1990 Geo Tracker]]> Were the Eighties really over in 1990? Judging from this ad for the badge-engineered Suzuki Sidekick, they were still going stronger than Central American "freedom fighters" (to be fair, the ad probably aired in 1989). The message here seems to be: leave your Tracker on the beach (provided you don't have a rollover crash on the way to the beach) while you go scuba diving, and all manner of sketchy individuals will dangle their dead fish in your new ride. We're still admiring the excellent Turbo Lifeguard Mullet More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=395387&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Toyota Trembles In Fear When Contemplating The 1990 Isuzu Pickup]]> You could get a '90 Isuzu pickup for a few hundred bucks less than its Toyota competitor, and the Isuzu beat the Toyota in a couple of areas... but we're pretty sure that Toyota execs just had to take a glance at the Warlord Truck Approval Rating™ in order to restore their confidence. When's the last time you saw a warlord army driving Isuzus? More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=393187&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Like Tina, It Sure Ain't Built For Speed: 1990 Plymouth Acclaim]]> While the ol' Chrysler K platform (or, in this case, its AA cousin) was getting a bit long of tooth by 1990, Chrysler was still able to slather plenty of Virtually Velour™, Simu-Leather™, and Petroleo-Wood™ all over the interior, then pay Tina Turner to reference some Willie Dixon:
Some folks built like this, some folks built like that
More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=377104&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[PCH, Superpower Showdown: V12 Jagchero or Electric Renault?]]> We took a break from the PCH Superpowers and watched the Rotary Honda 600 pound on the Rotary Starlet in yesterday's all-Japanese Choose Your Eternity poll. However, Britain's defeat of Italy last week can mean only one thing: Britain must now take on PCH SuperGigaPower France in an attempt to claim the rusty, oil-leaking PCH Intergalactic Superchampion crown! More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=377151&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[The Prince Of Darkness Claims Another Victim]]> Now, we can't say for certain that electrical-system woes sent this 1990 Jaguar XJ-S down the road that ends at the cold steel jaws of The Crusher, because a 99% likelihood is still not certainty. However, when you see an 18-year-old V-12 Jag sitting in the wrecking yard with a straight body and good interior... well, the diabolical laughter of Joe Lucas can be heard somewhere in the distance. It's too bad that photographs really can't do justice to the incredible bulk of that engine (which can be purchased, complete, for $100 next time the yard has a Half Price Day sale, in case you engine swappers like a challenge). More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=373810&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Poor Impulse Control: Isuzu Piazza!]]> After seeing all the Impulse love in yesterday's Project Car Hell, we felt it only fair to share this inspiring Japan-market ad for the '90 Impulse, aka Piazza. Sure, the '90 was front-wheel-drive, but it still had Handling By Lotus and Guitar By Wanker. More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=304019&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Justy + One-Legged Driver: Beats Excel! Beats Tercel!]]> Back in 1990, when you lined up for a drag race against the likes of the Toyota Tercel and Hyundai Excel, you needed something serious. Like f'rexample, a Subaru Justy, equipped with continuously variable tranny action! And if that hot tranny action ain't enough for you, sport, the orange-suited thugs from the Subie Mafia will tie you up and stuff you in the behind the wheel with but one leg and one arm free to operate the vehicle (and hang on, because the Justy did 30-to-50 in a stony 4.20 seconds). Look out, glacially-slow low-end subcompacts- the Justy wins the tortoise race! – Murilee Martin More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=273062&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Gadzooks! The Blue Max Mercury Topaz]]> The Mercury Topaz wasn't so a forgotten Mercury as a disappeared Mercury. As the badge-engineered sibling of the highly forgettable Ford Tempo, the Topaz started out life with three strikes against it. But wait! back in '90 you could get this here Blue Max Topaz, with power windows and free polycast wheels! Now, be honest- have any of you ever seen a real live Blue Max Topaz? – Murilee Martin More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=260800&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Subaru Flat-12 Formula One Engine for Sale on eBay]]> F1 fans of a certain age remember Subaru's foray into Formula One racing in the early 1990s as a time of hope, followed by disbelief and, ultimately, utter disgust. Ah, memories. Unfortunately, its competition engine, a 3.5-liter flat 12 designed by Motori-Moderni, was underpowered — cranking out 600hp in a field comprising a Honda V10 (McLaren) that produced 690hp. To make matters worse, that year 39 drivers were competing for just 26 slots. As a new team with no points from the previous season, the Subaru-Colani team was forced to qualify on Friday for the chance to really qualify in the Saturday session. Needless to say to those who remember, Subaru failed to pre-qualify in eight out of 17 races. Now, one of those B12 engines is for sale on eBay — the perfect conversation starter (or ender) for any F1 fan at $30,000. Hell, you could even stick it in your '65 Coupe DeVille and watch the poseurs scatter like crows. [Thanks to Trent for the tip.] More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=123914&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Panamera Predecessor: Evidence of Porsche's "Secret" 989 Found]]> AutoWeek has unearthed photos of a four-door Porsche prototype of the early 1990s that may be the spiritual predecessor to the company's upcoming Panamera. The Porsche 989 one-off was a rear-engined (as opposed to the front-engined Panamera) prototype based on the 911, though with several styling and suspension improvements that would show up in later 911s. Although Porsche officials claim the company never released photos of the prototype — and said the car had been destroyed in 1991 after production plans were shelved — the 989 had already been photographed by a German magazine. Moreover, the car likely still exists in some Porsche facility, under deeper cover than an KGB agent sweeping up at Wal-Mart. More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=122197&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Question Markdown: Matt Lesko's 1990 Acura Legend for Sale]]> If you re up late at night and bypass the informercials for the latest Girls Gone Wild DVD, you ve no doubt run into Matt Lesko. He s that lunatic that screams about the government grants available to pay for your Pop Tarts while wearing a suit adorned with question marks. Well, if you re in the Washington DC area, you can buy his car. More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=121990&view=rss&microfeed=true