Forgotten Cool Cars of the 90s

[jfslater98]

Originally Posted by Juanjo_NY

the sudden onslaught of foreign competitors like the Toyota MR2 and the Fiat X1/9 quickly doomed the Fiero.

That's some competition. Hmmm do I prefer my commuting slug to self-immolate or just rot away?

Look out, GM!!!!

[JeffS77]

NECROPOST !!



Isuzu Impulse...a better driving and looking Geo Storm ... wish I could find one

[Dukeryder]

Originally Posted by JeffS77

NECROPOST !!



Isuzu Impulse...a better driving and looking Geo Storm ... wish I could find one

Definitely a cool and forgotten one! I had no idea it shared stuff with the Geo storm.

In the mid 90s when I was in High School a dude had a Storm, actually bought it over a CRX, at the time the marginal performance difference wasn't big enough to justify the Honda premium, but I still see tons CRXs and haven't seen and Impulse or Storm in YEARS. I think the Storm was ridiculously cheap like buy it for $129/mo back in the 90s, of course Isuzu didn't get quite the same marketing as the Geo.

[Sancho Panza]

Originally Posted by (none)

Yes! had a 1994, chipped, full 3" exhaust, eibachs/bilsteins, 928 front brakes, etc. Loved that thing, last of the real Audis






Can't forget about the 1990 and 1991 Audi cqs... mine was black, this one has a 3b turbo motor dropped init.

I lovred min but couldn't afford to keep fixing it, what a ride a true german missle, was great in the snow

[NikonsAndVStroms]

Ugly but cool

Having that car in HS was a lot of fun, it was about as fast as 3rd gen F-bodies/Fox Mustangs which were the other cars kids had. It could out handle any of them and was rated one of the best handling cars in 1992. T-tops . And with the intake/exhaust it got 40 MPG....back when gas was under a buck a gallon. When we wanted to go on a road trip we'd just look under a couch or 2 and the change was usually enough.

Plus with the back seats folded we could get 2 snowboards in no problem.....and with them up fit 5 people back there

[(none)]

Originally Posted by Sancho Panza

I lovred min but couldn't afford to keep fixing it, what a ride a true german missle, was great in the snow

totally. still miss that thing.

[KF7GTH]

Mom still, as far as I know, has a pearl white 91 Audi Quattro coupe- 5 speed sitting in the yard at her house. Electrical problems I think- hasn't been driven in 5-6 years. I told her not to buy the stupid thing used back in about '98 unless she was prepared to spend $$$ on upkeep and parts. She didn't listen tho'

[99Bandit]

I was lucky enough to work at a couple of dealerships and detail shops in the early 90's fresh out of HS. I got to drive damn near every "new" car on the market. My favorite at the time was the 91 ZR1Corvette. That car was crazy fast in the hands of a stupid 19 year old kid.

In 1994, I was 21 and desperate for a new Z28 Camaro. I got lucky and found a 93 with only 5K miles on it. All black, auto, hard top with the Bose sound system. Picked it up for 19K which was crazy for a kid my age at the time.

I took that car to the drag strip just about every weekend. Bone stock it ran 14.50ish. By the time I had to let her go after having kids, it was running 12.90's @ 109MPH.

That is the only vehicle that I still regret getting rid of.

[Nophix]

Originally Posted by JeffS77

NECROPOST !!



Isuzu Impulse...a better driving and looking Geo Storm ... wish I could find one

That one was good, as long as it was the turbo. But, the original was far better in the handling department, thanks to Lotus.

[spezjag]

Originally Posted by spezjag

As a follow-up to my earlier post, thanks for the replies. I decided to pull the trigger and buy the '92 Mustang 5.0 LX. Here she is:







The only mods to it are the taller hood and a Hurst shifter for the 5-speed transmission. It is a remarkably unmolested example. I have some mods that I will do, the same as I did to my '91 (strut brace, subframe connectors, probably better brakes, etc.), and I will replace the Cobra badges with the stock 5.0 badges, but otherwise it will be as stock as possible.

More to follow, I am sure!

Okay, so I'm back. I bought the car above, and after way too much communication, I managed to get the paperwork from PA to FL to get it titled and registered. I went up and got it in February, and in March took it down to a regional high-performance shop to get it looked at. My instructions were that we needed to confirm that the car was basically sound - I was willing to cut my losses if the car was fundamentally screwed up.

They gave the car a thorough going over, and declared the car basically sound, but in need of some work. First, the previous owner (hereinafter PO) cut a lot of corners to make the car look pretty. The interior in particular needs to have a thorough going-over, including replacing the headliner and all the seals; the door panels look like cheap Chinese knock-offs, and will likely need to be replaced as well. The radio/CD player is junk and needs to go as well. No biggie, and I accounted for that.

As far as the rest of the car, some problems were found, including a leaking fuel tank seal, corroded brake and fuel lines, and minor unseen body issues. However, the car was unmolested, and basically sound. Here are some photos.

Here's the car up on the lift. The drive shaft, rear axle, and fuel tank have been removed.



Here you can see some of the surface rust hidden by the axle and fuel tank:



We will take care of that with careful prep work and application of POR-15.

Here's another view of the rear underside:



Here's a close-up of the rear underbody, showing the exhaust removed, and a little better detail on the corrosion issue:



This shot shows the first item installed, a Stiffler's brace and subframe connector kit - very comprehensive (the ladders that connect the subframe connectors to the outside frame braces have not been installed yet)



Here's a closer shot of the outside braces, and how the sub-frame connectors are the new jacking points:



The frame braces not only considerably stiffen the otherwise flimsy uni-body, the they also provide much sturdier jacking points (as shown).

Once the underside is treated with the complete POR-15 process, the updated rear suspension will be installed, the drive-train removed, and the new front suspension installed.

More to follow!

[FPGT72]

Originally Posted by spezjag

Here's a closer shot of the outside braces, and how the sub-frame connectors are the new jacking points:



The frame braces not only considerably stiffen the otherwise flimsy uni-body, the they also provide much sturdier jacking points (as shown).

Once the underside is treated with the complete POR-15 process, the updated rear suspension will be installed, the drive-train removed, and the new front suspension installed.

More to follow!

I hope you enjoy your car....but ahh....that I guess I would say is a sub frame connector done on the cheap....not sure I would leave that....in fact I am real sure that it would go.

[spezjag]

Originally Posted by FPGT72

I hope you enjoy your car....but ahh....that I guess I would say is a sub frame connector done on the cheap....not sure I would leave that....in fact I am real sure that it would go.

What you see in the picture is not the sub-frame connector, but a brace that runs along the outside edge of the under-body. The sub-frame connectors run closer in along teh transmission tunnel. Later, a ladder brace will connect the sub-frame connector to the outer brace.

Here is a link to the Stiffler's webpage that shows the entire "FIT" System:

http://buystifflers.com/1979-1993MustangFITSystem.aspx

They have some other cool stuff for bracing the Fox body Mustangs.

[RedRocket]

They'll definitely help a ton, but they sure do hang low and eat up ground clearance don't ya think?

[broncobowsher]

Originally Posted by RedRocket

They'll definitely help a ton, but they sure do hang low and eat up ground clearance don't ya think?

Doesn't look to hang lower then other stuff in the undercarrage. Even if it bottoms out it will slide without hanging up. I like the non-traditional thinking. Besides those fox bodies are known for popping the floor boards off the rockers. That is different then jamming the torque boxes forward (need subframe connectors).

If you drive it hard, watch for body cracks in the roof in the hatch/sail panel area.

[troidus]

Since you're modifying it so extensively, why did you want an unmolested one to start with? (And those welds leave something to be desired. I'd want continuous seam welding above, below, and on the ends to keep moisture and grime from accumulating in the gaps and causing rust where it can't be seen or repaired.)