(first posted 5/10/2017) Many of you, our loyal readers (and writers), are older than I am. Most of you grew up in North America. Your formative automotive experiences are more likely to have involved lusting after 1960s GTOs and Mustangs, and having a Nova or a Chevelle as your first ride. I was born in 1990. Some people would have you believe nothing interesting was built after 1990 (or 1969). And yet, there were quite a few cars that ignited my interest in American cars and kept it burning.
While I’ve briefly lived in the U.S. and will eventually live there again, I’ve spent most of my life thousands of miles away in Australia. My formative years occurred during a time of tremendous upheaval and unrest for the Detroit Big 3, a time when many American cars were roundly mocked for being underdone. It seems an odd time to gain an appreciation and a passion for American cars but, well, here we are.
You would never see a car with a shape like that of the Oldsmobile Aurora (#1) come from an Australian factory, or a German one. This 17-foot-long torpedo is far and away one of the most adventurously-styled American cars of the past three decades. To a young boy who knew little about the American auto industry, there was something rather incongruous about such a futuristic, exciting car wearing a dowdy nameplate like Oldsmobile.
When I was older, I learned about the Aurora’s Oldsmobile-exclusive, Northstar-derived V8. When I was older still, I learned about that engine’s so-so reputation for reliability. But nothing has dimmed my feelings for the Aurora, a car I believe is the second most beautiful Oldsmobile ever made (after the ’66 Toronado).
The Aurora looked very different to its predecessor, the Ninety-Eight (#2). Despite this, I liked the ’91 Ninety-Eight and I remember from a young age becoming very fond of the Oldsmobile marque, later being saddened when GM axed it. Chevrolets always seemed plain to me, Pontiacs garish and Buicks so, well, geriatric. And though many people prefer the look of the ’91 Park Avenue, which shared the Ninety-Eight’s platform, the Oldsmobile looked so much more exotic to me with its upright lines yet rounded corners. Not knowing the history of the brand and its glory days back in the 1970s, Oldsmobile was an enigma. What was it? Why were some of their cars so old-fashioned and some so radical? Evidently, I was just as confused as the market.
It was that confusion that sealed Oldsmobile’s fate. I recall being quite an angry tween when I read Oldsmobile was being shuttered, so soon after it launched the second-generation Aurora (#3). Sure, it didn’t look as exciting as its predecessor but it was handsome inside and out – a look that has aged well – and it was available with the new 3.5 “Shortstar” V6. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough.
Ford considered replacing the Aussie Falcon with the Taurus in the early 1990s. Am I glad Ford decided against it? You bet, and my later purchase of an ‘04 Falcon – a far, far superior car to the ’04 Taurus – is proof of that. And yet, Ford did end up bringing the radical ’96 Taurus (#4) here as a niche, fully-loaded offering. It was this ovoid Taurus that was the object of my automotive affection throughout my childhood and teenage years.
To this day, I still find these to be a ballsy and daring design. It helped, too, that the Taurus wasn’t actually a bad car. Aussie buyers stayed away in droves, of course, as it was priced smack-bang against the local Fairmont Ghia. However, once it became clear the Falcon was here to stay for another decade, automotive journalists were relatively complimentary of the American mid-sizer even if was less powerful and roomy than the Falcon. As it was one of just a handful of American cars sold here in the 1990s – a small assortment of mostly Mopar vehicles – the Taurus was one of the first American cars I was exposed to. And I wanted one, badly.
Ford wasn’t the only automaker putting out large, futuristic-looking sedans, as Chrysler had launched their LH cars in 1993. Their radical, cab-forward stance was a dramatic change from their predecessors’ boxy conservatism and the second-generation LH cars were even more futuristic. If you had told 7-year old me that Chrysler was the same company selling Dodge Dynasties just a few years before, I would have been incredulous. The mid-late 1990s were the height of Chrysler cool from the Neon to the Viper, Prowler and Ram. The most impressive of the second-generation LH cars was the Chrysler 300M (#5).
With shorter overhangs front and rear, the 300M was designed to be sold in European markets but sadly no RHD ones. These were more than just a pretty face. With the most powerful V6 in the segment – putting out the same power as the Aurora’s V8 – plus Chrysler’s AutoStick, these were pretty exciting for a big, FWD sedan and they swept the awards circuit. To a kid, these were just more proof Chrysler was an exciting company, at least for the time being.
Growing up in a land of four-door sedans, the concept of a personal luxury coupe seemed to me like another extravagant American excess. Aussie automakers had produced only one, the 1973-76 Ford Landau. No American personal luxury coupe of the 1990s seemed more extravagant to me than the Lincoln Mark VIII (#6). Here was a two-door coupe longer than even the longest of Aussie sedans, with a 4.6 V8 engine, air suspension, a sumptuous and futuristic cabin and rounded, sculpted styling. I knew then and I know now that these are a classic and something I’d like to own someday.
The MN-12 Ford Thunderbird and Mercury Cougar (#7) that spawned the Mark VIII were almost as impressive. It was commendable that Ford sought to make a home-grown RWD rival of sorts to German luxury coupes – complete with all-independent suspension and an optional supercharged V6 – and yet sell it for roughly the same price as more plebeian FWD rivals.
One of my earliest video game memories and my first exposure to Cadillacs involved racing through San Francisco in a Cadillac Eldorado ETC in Midtown Madness 2. The 1992 Cadillac Eldorado and Seville (#8) were, to my eyes, beautiful luxury cars both inside and out. The Seville, in particular, looked more modern than its German rivals and more athletic than its Japanese ones. The FWD layout was a handicap in the luxury sector but these cars – particularly in STS and ETC trim – comported themselves quite well dynamically and were propelled rapidly by the new Northstar V8.
Seeing a car in a video game is hardly comparable to seeing one in person, as I was able to with the next-generation of Seville (#9). RHD Japanese-market Seville STSs wound up in Australia and when I was older I contemplated buying one, even if parts were going to be expensive. The first V8-powered car I ever drove was an ’03 STS that I took for a test drive. Although my drive was brief, I was impressed by the smoothness, power and refinement. The interior quality wasn’t great and these were surprisingly cramped for such large cars, but I was still tempted.
What we consider a full-size in Australia generally equates to a mid-size in the US. So, traditional full-size American cars like the Chevrolet Caprice and Impala SS (#10) seemed inordinately large. In the 1990s, you couldn’t watch a single American TV show without seeing a Caprice taxi or police car but that still didn’t prepare me for how large they actually appear in person, particularly the wagon. And the ’77 B-bodies were downsized large cars? Then again, we are talking about a country where, up until recently, most police cars, taxis and delivery vans had a V8 under the hood. Thanks to TV, the Caprice became a familiar sight and I daydreamt of pursuing criminals in a Caprice in the old bright blue NYPD livery.
If I had been born 10 years earlier, I might not have had as much interest in American cars. I would probably have read about K-Cars and GM’s cookie-cutter boxcars of the 1980s and been thoroughly unenthused. But instead, I was born in 1990 and some of the first American cars I saw pictures of were the first-generation GM W-Bodies (#11). As a child, I loved collecting “normal” Matchbox cars and reading reviews on regular family sedans—no Ferraris or race cars for me. So, I pored over photos of these humble mid-sizers and liked what I saw and the variety offered.
GM had actually bothered to differentiate each of the four W-Body lines, both visually and, to some extent, mechanically. Again, it was the Oldsmobile I was drawn to, particularly the gorgeous – yes, I said gorgeous – pre-facelift Cutlass Supreme coupe. Consider as well that the concept of GM having so many brands was so radical to a young Australia. Here, GM and Ford had one brand each. And over there was GM of North America, fielding four separate mid-size cars that all looked different from each other. There’s also something bizarrely appealing about the Lumina Z34, with its sporty aspirations and body kit and yet old-school interior design and recognizable Chevy design cues.
No, it wasn’t big-block V8s and pony cars that opened my eyes to the world of American cars. Instead, it was an assortment of mostly front-wheel-drive sedans. Over time, I’ve come to learn a lot more about these vehicles and yet they are still cars I’d happily have in my garage today—even a W-Body, properly specified of course.
So, to those of you from a different generation, was I a crazy kid for liking these? And for those of you my age, what American cars got you interested in the Big 3?
Related Reading:
CC Capsule: 1996-97 Ford Thunderbird LX – Counterpoint
Curbside Classic: 1991 Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight – A Sad End To The Oldest Oldsmobile
Curbside Classic: 1998-04 Cadillac Seville – The FWD Sport Sedan’s Last Stand
Curbside Classic: 1992-97 Cadillac Seville – A Forgotten Contender
Hey I was born in 1966 and can agree with your choices. Except the Ninety-Eight. My dad had one and I thought it was an ugly car. I can appreciate it a little more now though. I had a 2002 Aurora til Dec ’16 and wish I woulda kept it as a second vehicle, especially for what they allowed me as a trade in. Shoulda kept it. Loved it. The rest? Yeah, some pretty high points from that era. Some folks shun the various eras, but I could always find a car to like, no matter what. And CC helps me to see even more to like about the various eras.
I thought the 98’s were cool because of being so old school in some ways. Unlike lower rank Oldsmobiles they had a thicker C pillar and must have been the last car in existence with the half covered rear wheel openings. Those plus the overall cleanness and linearity and tension of the design recalled early 60’s classics like the ’61 Lincoln. Plus being a 98 they would have the whole menu of extras and the must lux interior not to mention huge back seat room. The dashboard is nice too.
When they were a few years old I was looking for a used car and thought they might be cheap because of being so out of step and unfashionable but unfortunately they weren’t giving them away.
“But nothing has dimmed my feelings for the Aurora, a car I believe is the second most beautiful Oldsmobile ever made (after the ’66 Toronado).”
My father – a lifelong Oldsmobile Man – felt the same. We first saw the Aurora when it was on display at NAIAS. Oldsmobile was giving away posters and I snagged one.
The only posters on my college dorm room wall was one of Bob Guccione’s models and a poster of an Oldsmobile Aurora.
I had a 2002 Maxima and a 2001 Aurora. My first car was a 1998 Maxima, but the ’02 had the 255 hp VQ35 and HID headlamps. And my mom drove (and still drives) a 2001 Aurora 4.0. People thought I was weird. This was in 2004-2005.
A dear friend of the family works at a body shop and, for years, drove an Aurora. For some time, he also had a bit of a problem with alcohol, and this led to him smashing the Aurora several times.
He loved that car enough to repair it, including straightening the frame, at least three different times. Quite a testament, I say.
LOL “one of Bob Guccione’s models”… Umm yeah I think I had a collection of his photo books…
I wondered if this crowd was hip enough…
And here I am in America where my current company car is a 2014 Chevy SS. When I got the car to replace my company Dodge Caravan, I thought someone had made a mistake. The car seemed far to nice for a salesman’s fleet vehicle. Still does even after 120k miles. I think Holden mastered building a better RWD American style sedan than anything else we can buy over here today. I had this car for over a year before I even realized it was a rebadged Holden. I’ll sure miss it when I retire. Been trouble free and quite a comfortable cruiser even when I need to cover 800 miles in a day.
What line of business are you in that you have a Chevy SS as your company car? Quite impressive–is your fleet manager a gearhead?
That’s what I thought! Sign me up for that company, whatever they do.
We’re a contract manufacturer. I sell manufacturing capacity. Our buyer told he could get me a better car if I’d accept a used one. This showed up with 94 miles on it. I don’t consider that used, but I guess GM did. I had one other similar situation about 16 years ago when I got a 2000 Bonneville SSEi with the supercharged engine. I think it was a leftover as I got it at the end of 2001. That one had about 200 miles on it when I got it. All my other company cars were Dodges. Usually nicely equipped rather than stripped. I was told once the reason for this was resale value. However given the mileage these run up, I can’t imagine they have much value when they are pulled from the fleet.
I agree. I would guess the remaining list would include GM B-Body derivatives, Chrysler LH cars and maybe Buick Park Avenue/Riviera. It’s indeed a mystery why some very excellent cars didn’t sell well and some mediocre did. Even a plain Buick Century/LeSabre had more bright spots than Toyota Camry/Avalon, especially when the design skill was considered.
RWD/FWD thing is, it doesn’t have to start with a RWD architecture to build a great luxury car, when there were so many great FWD luxury cars already made in the past. It’s slightly harder for the design to catch up though, but by the mid ’90s, all of big three had great luxury designs with FWD layouts already.
For me the FWD thing’s biggest negative in a luxury car comes from the flat or even convex wheels. This really broke a lot of otherwise passable/if not beautiful designs of cars. Front overhang is the other factor, but I think that’s a bit over criticized on an aesthetic level, as if “dash to axle ratio” is a meaningful stat. But Aesthetics are a big part of luxury, and looking clearly compromised in that area by underpinnings is a dealbreaker.
I think in a car that weighs over ~3500lbs though, FWD’s advantages evaporate. Road hugging weight is relevant when it comes to winter traction in a RWD vehicle, and that much weight generally means it’s a largish car and the space efficiency won’t be all that beneficial.
By the mid ’90s, when FWD luxury cars were inevitable, some FWD designs retained almost all the good qualities of the older RWD models, and the front overhang, dash to axle ratio became indistinguishable between many models to the eyes ( like ’93-’96 Lincoln Mark VIII and ’88-’94 Lincoln Continental, ’97-’98 Lincoln Mark VIII and ’98-’02 Lincoln Continental, Buick Roadmaster and Buick Park Avenue ) Of course it was easier to make a luxury car from a RWD platform, especially if the platform had a humble beginning ( Chrysler Fifth Avenue )
Cadillac at the time though, I think their cars didn’t look consistent. Some FWD DeVille looked very nice with graceful proportion, but some looked very odd. Colors played a factor, still I don’t know why the same model can look different sometimes. That’s what I think seeing half a dozen ’97-’99 DeVille every day.
The picture above looks rather nice and the one below looks out of proportion ( it could be from the ground angle. However those DeVille still has the same effect when I see them moving on the street ) And the same thing happens on SeVille, Eldorado and Fleetwood to different degrees.
Inevitable? Outside of US automakers Acura was/is the only Luxury automaker with a lineup of FWD models, Lexus with the exception of the ES is RWD dominant, Infiniti had many rear drivers, and BMW and Mercedes were all rear drive. Cadillac has been reversing the FWD proliferation to undo the damage to the brand in the 80s and 90s, while Lincoln’s 100% FWD car line has struggled.
I totally agree about the overhang, I brought it up because I figured someone would bring it up as another FWD styling compromise, which is trueish, but not actually unique to the layout so much as it was unique to the era – short dash to axle ratios maximize space efficiency, and pretty much every domestically produced rear driver designed between the late 70s and mid 00s had it (G-body, F-body, Foxbody, MN12)
What about Audi?
What about Volvo?
Audi and Volvo, at least in the US market, were not luxury brands, but mid-price, like Oldsmobile was. Audi has successfully moved upmarket (the Lexus of VW), but I still dont consider Volvo in the same class.
I always enjoy getting your perspective on cars, and am especially impressed how much you know about American cars. I’m embarrassed to admit I don’t know half as much about Australian cars…
Of the 1990s American on your list, I would agree that the Aurora and 1st generation Seville were interesting, and ditto for the Mark VIII/TBird/Cougar. The rest? Well, “chacun à son goût.”
Here are my picks for 1990s American vehicles I thought were interesting and/or well done (not necessarily anything I would have bought, but could at least still appreciate):
GM
’92 Buick Park Avenue was a very good looking car. I also thought the Oldsmobile Intrigue was nice enough as sort of a neo-Delta 88.
Chrysler
First generation LH cars, especially the Dodge Intrepid and Chrysler New Yorker/LHS–really breakthrough designs, inside and out. Loved the Jeep Grand Cherokee when that was introduced for 1994. Also liked the look of the “Cloud” cars (Cirrus/Stratus) and the ’96 Minivan redesign. Thought the first Durango was cool too. And definitely the 1994 Ram Truck with the “big rig” style.
FoMoCo
’94 Mustang with the retro/modern styling. Thought the 1990 Town Car was very handsome. Came to appreciate the Explorer.
Sadly for the domestic brands, in the 1990s I was far more intrigued by the imports, SUVs excepted…
It’s interesting how ’90 Town Car was vastly different, even apart of the engine. The styling had a heavier emphasis on the traditional preference, and that single model year really stands out in some situations.
I saw one for sale in the same color with same wheels as in the picture, in Dearborn. Even few hundred feet away, it looked different.
Good choices, I own #7 😉
What I find myself appreciating more now about American cars during the 1990s is that they bounced back from the dearth of styling during most of the 80s(I like many, don’t get me wrong) with some once again truly distinctive designs properly representing their badge – GM in particular really seemed to get the message about the criticisms of their many Sheer Look lookalike mobiles of the 80s – but also represented the last time there was a truly “American look” to the cars. The Mark VIII, Cougar, Ninety Eight, Park Avenue used design aesthetics you’d never see on a global stage, and the rest with a more international flare, like the Thunderbird or Seville, you’d rarely see in their sizes. By the Millennium cars homoginized, not really having any trait tying the brand to their country of origin or even the brand itself besides grille emblems(which is why I think the sizes of both grilles and emblems have grown to clownish proportions today).
I think many truly American looks immigrates to SUVs soon after.
And I feel the ’91 Park Avenue design carried over by ’92 LeSabre resurfaced on the current Buick LaCrosse, and the size remained almost identical to the then LeSabre.
The only cars I found interesting we’re the Lincoln Mark VIII, Thunderbird SC and Lumina Eurosport Z34 coupe, but even those are meh.
I can’t believe the oval V8 “autocraptic” SHO made the list…that to most SHO enthusiasts is like the ugly duckling of the whole lineage…but if you like it, nothing wrong with that. 😉
The 91-95 Taurus SHO would’ve made my list… 5 speed manual, handsome styling and Yamaha engine, what’s not to like?
These two would be on my 90’s all time favorite list:
The GMC Syclone and Typhoon
You certainly have a taste for what Darrell Waltrip called “football cars”. (Someone should point out to him that footballs are spherical)
For some reason, I had never noticed, or thought about, the fact that the Aurora replaced the Ninety-Eight. I knew the Aurora was a change of gear for Oldsmobile, but that one really crunched.
The Aurora didn’t replace the Ninety Eight; Olds kept selling the Ninety Eight through the 1996 model year.
When I saw the title and subject, I was about to say that you’re admiration of American cars from this era was probably largely due to the fact that they weren’t common sights to you and that you only were able to envision them from afar.
But reading on, many of these cars, at least up until the Caprice, were cars I had strong interest in as a kid (I was born in 1993). I guess as I’ve become older, I’ve come to realize the greater amount of flaws/deficiencies of American cars and come to have a less positive opinion of them as a whole.
But I also totally relate to what you say about being fascinated will all of GM’s brands and versions of the same car. As a kid I actually thought it was cool how automakers, particularly Chrysler, sold the same car across multiple brands, distinguished predominately by unique grilles only. Don’t ask me why.
I think a lot of these cars would have been more desirable to me had it not been for the deficiencies beneath the skin, and/or the sheer ubiquity. Personally the older I get the harder time I have calling any car truly ugly, as I tend to like cars considered polarizing. It’s more when a weird design like the ovoid Taurus becomes an everyday sight that they grate on my aesthetic senses.
GM put out some of the more interesting car designs in the industry in the early half of the 90s IMO. In that short 5 or so year span they completely revamped their lineups(minus the cockroach A-Bodies) with designs copying no one that didn’t look the same as each other brand to brand. They all are unfortunately let down by the fact that under the skin they are the same old cars with the same old drivelines as what they had in the 80s, with even worse material quality.
You were smarter than I was. As a young kid I somehow believed that every model was uniquely designed & built independently; no way that a Buick would share parts with a Pontiac or a Mercury would be based on a Ford, right? I think it was the Nova/Seville similarity that first made me say “Wait a minute….” A rude awakening, but I’d still take one of those first-generation Sevilles in a heartbeat, though.
I’m 10 years older than you, so these were the cars of my teenage years. And I definitely agree with some of your choices–I fell instantly in love with the Mark VIII (and had the pleasure of owning one from 2004 to 2006, a teenage dream validated), and did and still do love the ’92-’97 Seville. The Aurora, MN12 T-bird/Cougar, and 300M were also among my favorite American cars in that era.
Some of my other personal favorites of the time were the 2nd-generation Ford Probe, the 2nd-generation Taurus SHO, ’93-’96 Impala SS, the 1st-generation Dodge Intrepid (at the time it seemed like as much of a shock to the mid-size sedan as the original Taurus was in ’86), and the Buick Roadmaster wagon. Yeah, that last one is an outlier, but I can sometimes be accused of being an old man, LOL.
Great write up! I think you pretty well nailed it for a list of the most well-executed and appreciated American car designs of the 90’s. I would only take issue with a few of your choices.
Ovoid Taurus- I think people generally consider that car to be a real dud, ruining the great esteem well earned by the original Taurus. You can’t deny it has distinctive styling, but my impression is that it didn’t work for most people. Personally, I never cared for it.
91 Olds 98- I’ve never noticed this being listed by anyone as a favorite design or heard much love for it anywhere. For me, it didn’t do much. I’m not usually a fan of fender skirts. I liked the 91 Park Avenue a lot and thought the 92 88 was pretty nice looking.
W-cars- Usually these are mentioned as a bomb for GM, as they took so long to release, cost so much to develop and didn’t sell all that well. I kind of agree with you though, styling-wise they are underrated. I’ve always thought the Cutlass coupe and Regal, especially, were good designs
Everybody has their personal favorites. Of course lots of people would consider 90’s Corvettes, Firebirds, Camaros, Mustangs, etc to be handsome and lust worthy if they grew up in that time. 87-93 Mustangs and 93-02 Firebirds were my favorites. Trucks were becoming more popular. Dodge pioneered the aggressively styled truck marketed for personal transportation for 94 and followed up with the 97 Dakota and 98 Durango. I still think all those are good looking.
I agree with all your choices except for the Cadillacs.
I feel the ’90’s was last decade where some American nameplates had any design pizazz. Everything now-a-days is generic appliance like stuff. No passion. American brands seem to be fading into obscurity, at least here on the west coast of Canada.
I’d agree with the original Olds Aurora, the Lincoln Mark VIII and the T-Bird Super Coupe. And I’d add the Buick Park Avenue.
I agree about the Park. Had a friend in high school with a silver/burgundy 1992 Ultra. Supercharger, vane-spoke wheels with silver center caps, Concert Sound, and whatever silly trademark name Buick used for the suspension emblazoned on the passenger side dashboard panel of plasti-wood. Also, auto-closing trunk. I thought it was just plain cool. She hated it.
Rented a bunch of them back in the day. 80 miles an hour all day long on the open road and 31 miles per gallon. Great cars.
This to me is one of the few US-made cars cutting it for style in the 90s. They sold a few here in Austria and they had a reasonably good reputation. I would not mind having one for that long, unhurried (80-90 MPH) drive from Vienna to Essex, UK (where I have a few friends).
The rest? Hmmm… Not for me, as I was never that enthusiastic about the marine life-inspired design. And the one car which was not so styled (the STS) was afflicted by the Northstar…
Adding they also seem to retain some value on the used car market, you won’t find good ones under €4000 ($4350) – even for cars with more then 150,000 miles on the clock.
William, I’m always amazed at your insight and knowledge for one so young – a year younger than my son. An article like this reminds me how much older I am – the cars that shaped my interest in American cars were ’58 and ’59 Chevrolets – and at least I got to see them on the street!
The Aurora – I have mixed feelings about the design. Rather than being straight, the window sill line should have been curved slightly – the angle of your first photo makes it look as though the window line droops to the front and rear. An artefact of the fender bulges, I know, but Harley Earl or Bill Mitchell wouldn’t have let that sneak through. And the rear just looks – odd somehow. And that molding strip on the centre of the doors – no. there’s too much tension between the curved forms front and rear and the almost rectilinear door treatment. But overall refreshingly clean for an American GM design.
The Taurus – I really have to dig through my back issue of Wheels to find the one where they compared the Taurus to the Falcon, and scan it and post it on the Cohort – probably not worth a full-blown feature on here.
Those cab-forward Chryslers were amazing looking cars. And the Mark VIII – I’ll never understand why Ford never put a sedan on that platform.
Looking forward to the next installment!
Nice article, William! Loved reading it!
As for me, my favorite 1990’s era car was one I actually owned: a 1993 Chrysler LHS sedan, in white with beige leather interior. We had that car for three years until it came off lease and we had to switch to an SUV. We took many long road trips in that car with two large friends (both over 190 cm and 115 kg.) comfortably sitting in the back seat. I loved the retro look of the roofline – it looked like an elegant Jaguar.
(Note – this is not my car, but a pic found online).
Good addition! I always thought both generations of LHS were luxury cars from some alternate timeline. Chrysler was so daring back then.
It’s always interesting to see what an outsider looking in has to say about our American cars, especially ones that have become less and less revered as time goes on. But, then again, I understand why people my age like the Japanese imports of the 90s, just something different.
Having owned (still own) the Cadillac Eldorado, after the less than positive impressions I’ve formed of it, I can tell you right now, I would never own another Northstar Cadillac. That includes the Seville, the Deville, and the DTS and the like. I will concede that the Eldorado and Seville are beautiful cars to this day, but that body is writing checks its driving dynamics and engine can’t cash. If I were to go for a 90s Cadillac, it would definitely be limited to a 94-96 Fleetwood
Speaking of, I always had interest in the B-Body cars. I would like to own one someday. Maybe a Roadmaster sedan or a Caprice Classic. I would also like an Impala SS, but those are starting to become collector’s items now.
I also want a really nice 1995-97 Lincoln Town Car, but those are going to be tough to find. Finding one with less than 100k on the odometer that’s well taken care of, not a stretch limo conversion, and doesn’t have a vinyl roof is going to be tough. Not to mention, I do not wish to deal with air suspension once again.
I really did like American cars in the 90s, even though I recognize the faults that they have, there were some genuinely good looking designs that came out. Most American cars after 2000 don’t interest me in the slightest. If I had to buy anything from the 00-09 range, it would be either a Chrysler 300C or a Second gen Navigator/Third gen Navigator L.
Of all the good 90’s cars, a Town Car with reasonably low mileage should be one of the easiest due to their popularity with retired folks who don’t drive much and keep their underused cars in the garage. A set of conventional rear springs can be found at a junkyard off a CV or GM and are a pretty easy swap.
I’m around your age (22 currently) and most of my friends have pretty diverse interests in cars. Generally they tend to lean Japanese (Hondas, Toyotas) but at the same time we all find a lot of interesting cars when we go to the LA auto show. (They all thought the new Lincoln Continental was pretty neat).
I happen to have a ’96 Lincoln Town Car Executive Series (150,000), a ’94 Fleetwood Brougham (85,000), and an old ’76 Fleetwood Brougham (130,000). Of all of my friends, I’m the only one who would probably ever own one. Yet at the same time, they’ve all come to appreciate being passengers in the old land-yachts.
The ’95-’97 Town Cars are really solid cars. If I had to choose between the ’94 Fleetwood Brougham and the Town Car, I’d sell the Fleetwood before the Lincoln. The build quality and attention to detail is just a lot nicer in the Lincoln. I appreciate the little touches like the dual sunvisors, the foam around the door handles to prevent rattling, and all the soft-touch materials. Also, they sold 3X as many Lincolns as they did Cadillacs back then so parts are a lot easier to find both online and in the junkyards.
My Lincoln was a $1000 car that I’ve spent a lot more time and money into fixing up. You get what you pay for with these cars, but the plus side as been that I pretty much know how to fix almost anything in these. You’re right that the air springs do wear out in these, but these are nowhere near as complicated as the Eldorado’s system. I replaced mine in under 2 hours with just the back end just raised on a pair of jack stands. The Arnott brand ones are $200 a pair, and you can even find cheaper ones out there. Essentially, the air springs aren’t the weakest link on these cars.
You’ll want to find one that’s been taken care of and garaged. The mileage is less important. The downside of these cars is that by around 120-130,000, the front suspension is pretty worn out so they all require a decent number of parts to be replaced. If you can find a higher mileage one that’s had all that stuff handled, then that’s a big plus.
Overall, both the B bodies and the Town Cars of that era were pretty staightforward cars to work on. Even “tough” jobs like the rear shocks on the Lincoln, ended up being easier than work I’ve done on my mother’s Jag. They’re both solid cars, but after 20+ years you’d have to be willing to do some wrenching to justify buying them. The parts are not expensive and work isn’t too hard so overall I’d recommend them.
Thank you William!
You made me take a second look at cars that I thought were the end of the road for Detroit, when they first came out.
And I don’t know if it’s the different point of view or your excellent writing skills, but I will have to visit this time period of our automotive history with a more open mind in the future.
The other William.☺
Taurus Ghia?? Hmmm that is an oddity
I value the perspective from Australia from someone around my age, seeing as there are quite a few parallels in our tastes. I was born in Poland in early ’88 and my mom and I made it stateside by ’95 via Spain, oddly enough. Our first car in the states was a Dark Brown-Red Interior ’85 Delta 88 Royale sedan and I believe from there sprouted my love for Oldsmobiles. I was also disappointed to find that the brand was being axed, as I considered some of their models at the time to be pretty decent cars.
I always loved the Euro Lumina, loved the bathtub Caprice, loved both Aurora designs, dug that Ninety-Eight and the Lincolns, actually owned a ’93 and successively ’02 STS and one of my high school sweethearts drove a white MN-12 Cougar, jarring some warm and fuzzies every time I see one.
Where we differ is on that Taurus/Sable, I couldn’t stand the ovoid design on either the Taurus or Sable here. Though I’ll agree it was a ballsy design for the time. My disdain for them might have something to do with the fact that I’ve spent a good amount of time in the backseat in handcuffs(Chicago can be rough man, that was before I grew up.)
Where you kinda swayed my opinion is with the Chrysler LH cars. I hated them when they were launched and I couldn’t stand that dime-a-dozen 300M when I was coming of age, though I was partial to the newer Concorde. Your piece has seen to it that the 300M no longer makes me want to punch babies in a fit of rage when I see one as I must admit the design has held up well over time.
Thank you for the write up.
Being old enough to well remember all of these when new, you’ve prompted me to look at them in a different light. I just never could get into the Caprice.
My ’96 Thunderbird is one car I wish I would have kept.
Great essay and I’m looking forward to the next (two?) installments.
Interesting perspective. I’m American and a year younger than you – I’ve always liked the styling of the Aurora, 300M, Mark VIII, ’92 Seville/Eldorado, and Caprice (though certain years look better than others…IMHO, 95-96>91-92>93-94). The Thunderbird also looked better some years than others. The ’98-’04 Seville wasn’t bad but was left to rot on the vine. The Olds 98 and Caprice were probably the most reliable cars on this list.
I prefer the Taurus wagon to the sedan, though they both look strange.
Not a fan of the W-Body – dated and “plasticky”, for lack of a better word.
So, which American cars got me interested in the “Big 3”? Probably anything Jeep.
Ahh, the Aurora. The car that came back for warranty repairs more than any other car I’ve ever seen. So lovely to behold, and lovely to drive.
When new.
The Aurora was a quality disaster. The Shortstar was even worse than the Northstar. The car would quickly unwind itself at 60,001 km.
The LH. A warmed over Renault, never meant for a V-6 engine. The exhaust manifolds cooked the steering assembly. The air intake was just above the road. The battery was accessed from the left front wheel.
I always think of the Aurora and the contemporary Riviera as the last gasp of the big, extravagantly styled car. Cars whose packaging was compromised to permit flamboyant styling. Think back into the later ’50s – cars became huge and hugely stylish, and paid a price in terms of function for looking good. The last Riv and the first Aurora were the last of this glorious line of American iron.
The comparison was intentional — the Aurora was originally reported (and probably intended) to be a new Toronado, complementing the contemporary Riviera.
The Aurora was a European style FWD large sedan. I think it replaced both the Toronado and the Oldsmobile Turing Sedan. It was supposed to be the new direction Oldsmobile was going. Both the 1995 Riviera and the Aurora were production versions of what were prototype G platform cars. The 1997 Park Avenue and then the 1998 Seville were much better cars in large part because they could develop the design with actual production models.
No clue if you’ll see this AUwM, but about 15-20 years ago there was a guy active on the Motor Trend or similar forums called Art and Colour who did tons of really excellent photoshop chops. He worked up an absolutely gorgeous alternate 2 door version of a profile picture of my mom’s silver 2001 Aurora as a what-if Toronado. It was a jaw dropper. Of course I didn’t save it, sadly. And now it’s all gone. I remember he drove a 2000 or 01 Q45t.
I will chime in late here. I can see why you chose these cars in your youth from a far away place. There was a sort of “American-ness” about them that is hard to deny.
As a native Yank and somewhat older, I considered American cars in the 90s as an oasis compared to those of the 80s (on balance). But probably for different reasons. by the 90s the industry had finally digested the the combination of performance, emissions and fuel efficiency that had caused such indigestion in the 80s. In other words, for the first time since the 60s we had cars that didn’t remind you of their compromised engineering every time you got behind the wheel.
I really liked most of the ones you mention, at least from a distance. Except for the Caprice and the GM-10 W body. Like some others, I would add the Buick Park Avenue.
William I was the same as a kid. My “Matchbox” collection was [ is, still have it ] filled with things like a 64 Studebaker Wagonaire [it even had a sliding roof], 60 Rambler wagon, 68 Mercury Commuter and my more adult purchases have been 1:18th 50 Studebaker, 60 Falcon, 62 DeSoto, 1:24 Vega, Gremlin and Pinto as well as a Volga, Dodge Aries and Diplomat.
The supercars and such never charted for me either.
I always found the tail lights of both the 98 and Town Car too similar and ill defined. They destroyed the overall designs.
Among them, the Mark and Aurora stood out, especially among the anonymous Cadillacs. The Seville always looked like a large version of the Corsica five door. And the Eldorado, when one looks at the original 67, is bereft of any character.
But then, I can’t help being fascinated by British cars like the Marina, Allegro and Princess either, so I get it.
These never had the effect on me they way they did you, William. I guess because I am older and they all seemed like half hearted blobs at the time.
Ironic when I remember that my affection for Oldsmobile and GM came from my Father’s 84 Ciera. In brown.
I hear you- I was born in the 70s and so 80s GM appeals to me in a nostalgic way, even though the vehicles themselves were kind of terrible for the most part.
Interesting theme William.
I’m definitely with you on the Aurora and the Lincoln MkVIII. I’d add the Thunderbird too.
But for generation, in the UK, we’d have to add the Ford Torino in Starsky and Hutch stripes. Yes, I know, but ……
I think the car I’ve liked the looks of the most from that time period is the Cadillac Eldorado. A beautiful burgundy one with extremely low miles on it turned up close to me, but not being in a mood to buy cars at the time meant that I missed out on it.
So many of the American cars in the 1990’s had sketchy mechanical quality. I’ll never forget the Chrysler LH car that turned up abandoned in the parking area of the woods trails I walk. There was absolutely nothing wrong with it from the looks standpoint, inside or out. It was covered with dust (abandoned in the summer) which meant that it had sat in a carport for some time rather than outside. At least the people who left it behind didn’t fill it up to the belt moldings with garbage, which seems to be the rule with car dumpers hereabouts. I suppose that the transmission had broken again; that seemed to be the main complaint with those cars. I guess I’m old-fashioned; the idea of just throwing away a car doesn’t compute with me.
I did own a 1998 Aurora, which I bought used. I knew that the 1995 Riviera and the Aurora would be on the new “G Platform”, which was a stiff design made to compete with a Mercedes E class, probably an 80’s design. I tried to find out from the local Olds dealer what they knew, but either they did not know anything, or were not interested in telling me. My Buick dealer wanted to order a “sold” order, so I put in an order. So I had the Riviera first, then traded for the Aurora. My sold order went through the factory twice.
I was disappointed with the Riviera’s interior plastics on the door panels. They had a course grain which did not look good. The 1998 Aurora had the same plastics, but not only on the door panels, but the dash too. I think the Riviera’s styling was better, but the Aurora was a completely different looking car for Olds. Eliminating the radiator grill made the front quite stylish, but the engine would run warmer than normal on hot (85F+) days.
The 1997 Buick Park Avenue moved to the G platform and was a much better overall design, with a much nicer interior. The trunk opening was much more useful too.
I was born in 1955, so the cars from my youth attracted me most, though when I was around 14, I wanted a Model A, a ’41 Ford, and ’55 and ’56 Fords, among others. And, for several years, I thought that Dad’s ’54 Super Riviera was the best looking car around. Then the sixties cars came along, with a host of great looking cars and trucks. I loved the mid sixties stacked headlight Fords and I was disappointed that they were gone when the ’68’s came out, even though I own a ’68 LTD hardtop today.
Reading your words about your love of cars of a certain era reminds me of the way I felt and still feel about cars. Different ages, different tastes. All wonderful.
I’ve been attracted to only a few of the cars you’ve covered here. I, too, have liked Oldsmobiles. I have a ’49 Seventy-Six and a ’64 Eighty-Eight. Both needing much these days. I remember how sad I was when I turned on the news on the evening that Dan Rather announced that 2004 would be the end of the road for Oldsmobile.
I liked the last gen 88’s and I thought the Aurora was a great looking car. When shopping in 2001, it was a tossup between the Intrigue and Sable LS with the DOHC DuraTec V6. The Sable won out only because it cost $2500 less. I never understood why people would by a small cramped car when they could own a loaded Sable that gets 28 mpg. An excellent car, in my opinion. Mom is still driving that car today.
One day, as I left work, a new ’91 Olds 98 appeared in the driveway of a nearby house. It got my attention. I thought it was an attractive car. It was somewhat square and I liked that. And I thought Olds had done a good job with the squared off rear wheel openings. The fact that the car appeared to sit high made the difference. A proud look, in my opinion. It was a beautiful shade of bright deep blue which made it stand out. Just the other day, I thought of that car as I passed that house, and how long it’s been gone. Seeing the picture of one here in your post today, I think they are even more attractive than I remember them being back then. Maybe someday I’ll own one.
As a 13 year old at the time, the early Dustbuster vans were it for me. They had a smooth lean shape and still had clean defined lines, without the godawful jellybean look that dominated most of the 90s. I knew when I got older I would own one. I had two, once they got old and cheap. Still love the looks of them, but I got my fill of working on an engine half covered by the dashboard and scraping my head on the wiper linkage.
I also think that besides the 3800, the flat top 3.1 MPFI is one of the best engines GM ever made. Which in the early 90s was in many different cars. Then GM had to ruin it with the follow up version with junk intake gaskets.
Everyone, every age has their favorite cars
Yes, I’m old
Old enough to remember (and drive) a few the new muscle cars of the mid to late 60s. My friends and I also got to see cool the bands.
Muscle cars, mini-skirts, concerts (Hendrix $5), protests, left handed cigarettes, micro-busses, street drags, with no cares or worries (other than ‘Nam).
Doesn’t get better than that.
The aurora does have an extremely nice tapered rear end. While I’m not that into big american iron one of my favorites is the Oldsmobile Trofeo. Very understated if you ask me and always turned my head.
As a teenager in the 90’s I was also amazed by the Aurora and I also agree the choice for Oldsmobile nameplate (or the option for a whole new brand like Aurora, which probably would keep the name and surname of its concept: Aurora Antares) was an unhappy choice. The Aurora I should be the perfect Taurus beater as a new Chevrolet Malibu / Aurora / Antares. It was the perfect design for the wrong public, the wrong brand.
This is an interesting time period, expand it five years on each end, and you’d cover my most prolific new car buying period. Up into the mid 70’s I had been buying old cars from the ’50’s and the ’60’s. They were plentiful and cheap, and they weren’t that old yet, only fifteen years or so, depending on the model. As the ’70’s passed, the used cars got newer and newer. In 1984 I was 30 years old, and I bought my first new car, an ’84 Mercury Cougar, which turned out to be a very nice car. In ’90 we traded the Cougar for a new Dodge Caravan and later bought a new ’90 Civic Si. I ended up buying my dream car (at the time) a three year old Cadillac Seville STS, my buddy got an Eldo ETC. I thought that the original Aurora was a beautiful car, but making the choice as a Cadillac fan I went with the STS. I was not a fan of the SN95 Mustang until I bought an old ’96, and I must have liked it, as I’ve held onto it for 14 years, so far. I didn’t buy any more new cars until 2007.
From an Australian perspective all these cars look like cobbled together Russian or Chinese knock offs with styling influences primarily from AMC Hornets.
Whilst I’m not into golden age nostalgia, this article made me glad my golden age was the Fifties and Sixties. I can’t see many of these being cherished in 60 years. Sorry.