I can’t speak for the rest of the world, but first generation Neons (Dodge or Plymouth) are rather infrequent sights here in southeastern Massachusetts. They’re clearly rare enough that, yes, I did whip out my phone while driving on the highway to get a quick passing shot. After all, it is a “pastel shade of neon” (Alpine Green Pearl to be exact).
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Had a girlfriend that had one of these when they first came out.
I was stunned and very impressed by the cab forward design. The interior was crazy roomy, 4 adults fit in the inside of this car with ease. The back bench seat was wide and comfortable.
Never see them on the road today, which shows they were duds mechanically. The same generation civic, Corrolla, or even the ho hum Cavalier is seen much more frequently than these.
Yeah, they were designed to be disposable. Which is sad; race a ’96 Civic, Corolla or Cavalier down a twisty, bumpy road against a Neon and see which car comes out first.
There’s still a bunch of these cruising the streets around my neck of the woods (Vancouver Island) but certainly I don’t see these as frequently as I once did!
That’s because Vancouver Island is the automotive equivalent of Brigadoon, and if one of them leaves, all the CCs will vanish forever.
Head gasket and radiator failures were very common, with these piles of junk. Hence, why these are a very rare sight on the roads, today.
Yep, thanks to the CEO of Chrysler at the time who took a really nice design and then nickel and dimed them into cheapness. And then sold the company to Daimler-Benz.
The usual clueless clods who used mud puddle water in lieu of actual, real coolant killed them off pretty quickly. I owned 2 of the first generation Neons and had no problems with them, head gasket-wise because I actually followed the proper service intervals.
Nice find Brendan. The distinctive styling of the first gen Neons made them an icon of the 90s. Like the PT Cruiser in the early 2000s, their lack of anonymity dated them faster than say concurrent Corollas or Civics. Of course they weren’t as dead reliable as Corollas and Civics either. So, that affects the lack of Neon longevity as well of course.
The distinctive design and marketing of the Neon was such a big part of that era, that it strongly dates them straight back to the mid 90s. Like Hootie and the Blowfish. A late 90s Corolla still blends in with traffic. While a Neon always stood out. And was easily identifiable. I think today, that gives the Neon a quirky social element, most owners don’t want to be associated with. Of course Corollas and Civics proved a lot more durable in the long term as well. Whereas you still see plenty of mid to late 90s Civics and Corollas on the road, that don’t look out of place, the Neon is virtually extinct. And they do stand out. And always will.
Several years ago, I worked with a guy in his mid 20s who drove an immaculate hand me down mid 1990s Dodge Intrepid. Owning such a car, made the guy a regular topic of fun derision in the office, in keeping this emblematic 90s icon on the road.
It goes beyond lack of long term ruggedness, there is a social element as well. If you don’t mind being the subject of jokes about your car. People might ask if you still regularly listen to Sophie B. Hawkins or Meredith Brooks as well. As the Neon is so tied culturally to the mid 90s. 😉
You’re right in that the ’90s association is part of what makes the Neon so glamorous. It’s more quickly associated with being a classic than many other ’90s cars, since there are still so many cars like mine (an ’00 Civic) on the road and since so many such cars of the era were dangerously conservative even when new.
There are more flattering ’90s musicians you could tie the Neon to, besides Hootie and the Blowfish (though Chrysler did aim rather low in terms of its target demographic). I’ll always associate the Neon with better acts, listened to by friends of older siblings who drove Neons; Delerium, for one or Tori Amos or Pavement or…
The Sundays, Pearl Jam, Spice Girls, Enya…the list is endless. I hesitate to add Nirvana tho.
Ew Nirvana. Stab me in the ear with a knitting needle.
@ Perry Shoar
Perhaps if Chrysler had maintained the momentum. Rather, the Neon is a snapshot in time, with a strikingly similar career trajectory as Hootie and the Blowfish. Thus the analogy. From that distant time ago, when Chrysler was at the top of their design game.
I hear you. I appreciate this car too. Curbside Classic is a support group for fans of cars others might immediately deride, like the Neon. However, the jokes from friends (and strangers) in owning one after their faddish popularity faded, would get on my nerves rather quickly. ?
Hi!
That was a major marketing success, and I remember it well. The Neon’s biggest failure, IMHO, was that it was sold as the same name by Plymouth and Dodge, which really diluted the value in a lot of people’s minds. Plymouth was the Mopar low price/value brand, Dodge was mid-pack, and Chrysler the stodgy upper end. The Plymouth version should have been the value model, the Dodge a bit more sporty and upscale, but alas, no. Just as the Plymouth brand should have got the PT Cruiser (Plymouth Tourer), along with the Prowler (to go with the Plymouth performance heritage), instead it got axed. Poor Chrysler, at that point failure was an option, and may have been the better choice. Perhaps someone may write up the Mopar Deadly Sins, but that is such a long list, it may take several authors each their lifetimes. All any other manufacturer wanted was Jeep, but they had to buy the whole company to get that one part (yes, I am talking about Renault, Daimler, and now Fiat). At what point does an entire brand become moot?
I am not sure I agree with your thoughts on 90s Mopar branding. Chrysler had done such a poor job of differentiating their Plymouth and Dodge brands over the years that I don’t think most people considered either of them any better than the other. After their 1974 restylings, the Dart/Valiant were pure twins, and ditto the Aspen and Volare that followed them. Even 1990s GM “clones” usually got different dashboard and styling jobs.
I always thought it was a good marketing move that acknowledged reality. More Neons on the street and fewer costs in little distinctions that most people would never notice anyway was a good idea in my book.
You do raise a good point. Mopars, by and large, really did not see much difference in Plymouth and Dodge by that era. However, it did before, and as they did not appeal to a younger crowd (they all were buying Euro and Japanese stuff at that point, not American), so their target market and their real market were markedly different. Had they done any differentiation, it could have been along the lines mentioned. As it was, Chrysler and Plymouth were usually lumped into one dealer and Dodge the other. A few styling tweaks, a different dash or grill/front end/something? would have been cheap and helped both dealership channels. The guy selling Plymouths would rather sell up to a Chrysler, and the Dodge guy would rather you buy something more profitable. Instead, they rode the cash cow of Jeep at the expense of the rest of the company.
I thought the Dart had a longer wheelbase than the Valiant.
Yes and no. Beginning in 1967, the regular Valiant was 108 inches and the Dart was 111. Then the Scamp got the Dart hardtop body and its 111 inch wb. Then the Demon/Dart Sport got the Duster body and its 108 inch wb. I think both of these things happened in 1971.
Then in 1974 the short wb Valiant sedan body went away and both Valiant and Dart sedans (and the Scamp/Swinger hardtops) were on the 111 inch through the end of production in 1976, while the Duster/Dart Sport stayed on the 108.
I have owned both a ’67 Dart and a ’69 Valiant, both 2dr sedans with 6cyl -auto and nothing else except R&H with rubber mats. As close to comparably equipped cars as you are going to get, even the mileage was comparable at 70-80,000 miles. They drove and handled completely different. The Dart felt more like my ’67 Dodge Coronet the way it rode and handled. The Valiant was much nimbler and responsive. The stock 13″ tires did neither one any favors but handicapped the Dart more than the Valiant. After upgrading the Valiant to 14″ tires and better shocks it was much better.
The mid-seventies Dart/Valiant and Aspen/Volaré weren’t identical. While the sheetmetal and interiors were the same, they did have brand-specific grillework and tallights.
But that all changed with the Neon. Those cars ‘were’ identical with the only thing differentiating them being the Dodge or Plymouth emblems. As to whether that was a good thing, well, that depends on whether you thought Plymouth was a good thing. I can’t think of any more specific point when it became abundantly clear that Plymouth was being phased out than the complete lack of anything that would separate the Neon models.
They solved that problem in Australia by marketing them as Chryslers.
I think the 3 speed automatic didn’t help anything…it really needed a dependable 4 speed OD auto.
I think a stripped-down 5 speed manual would be a cheap little beater.
IMO the way to go at least in the first couple years would’ve been to skip the SOHC and have (DOHC) manual or (2.2/2.5 w/3 speed) auto at the same price.
That 3 speed auto really made them seem cheap and outdated. An auto without overdrive, in the nineties?
Yes but it did help reliability considerably considering the 4 speed option in mopars stable at the time.
Agreed. Given the choice between a reliable 3-speed auto and unreliable 4-speed auto, I can’t imagine anyone choosing the latter. There are a lot of earlier Chrysler 4-speed auto owners who, thanks to the experience, swear they’ll never buy another Chrysler product.
Of course, the poor Neon got a typical GM-style cheapass head gasket problem thanks to Bob Eaton, which was nearly as bad (I’ve read that the head gasket needs to be replaced with a proper one at around 60k miles). I might go so far as to suggest that the Neon’s head gasket issues are why there are so few left. Rather than go to the trouble of fixing the engine after the head gasket blows, the boneyard gets the car.
Toyota used a 3-speed auto into the 90’s. In fact, Corollas were built with a 3-speed to at least 2000! Tercels had the 3-speed to at least 1998. (I worked with a dude who had a 98 Tercel with a 3-speed transaxle.)
I owned two of the 1st generation Neons, a ’95 and a ’98. One was my commuter car, the other a car for the teenagers. I must have been lucky on the mechanical end of things because neither car ever suffered from some of the more common problems. The teenagers wrecked the ’98 when it had about 110k miles by running it off the road over a culvert. The car ran, but the under carriage was really torn up and it wasn’t worth fixing. I drove the ’95 myself and ran up 190k before giving the car to a teenage nephew as it was worth nothing in trade. My experience was that the mechanical parts of the car were not the weak link. I think the body was a bigger issue. I remember my wife setting a grocery bag gently on the trunk and leaving a dent. The light weight of these cars accounted for the good handling and decent economy even with an obsolete 3 speed automatic. However, once the cars were a few years old, even minor encounters with other cars, objects or road hazards could cause damage out of proportion to the cars. Adding to the problem was that even here in the south, the cars proved to be easy rusters – which certainly didn’t help the already marginal structural integrity. I think a lot of these Neons ended as scrap for non mechanical reasons. The 2nd generation (also had one – an ’05) was a more durable car in almost every respect. However, it also lost a lot of the “fun to drive” appeal of the lighter 1st generation. No such thing as a free lunch I guess.
This is as good an explanation as any as to what happened to all the Neons. For a while, they were everywhere, then, suddenly, as if by magic, they all just disappeared one day. You still see the occasional Cavalier/Sunfire and all I can figure is that, as bad as they were, they were still screwed together better than the Neon.
These stayed around until they were around 15 years old then disappeared in mass. As some one else mentioned the awful resale has as much to do with that as actual issues. But there were issues way to much cost cutting. I had a girlfriend who had a 97 at 4 years old all the door locks stopped working (just out of warranty of course). She never had mechanical issue’s but lots of little annoyance’s in the time she owned it.
Shame really because they were fun to drive.
Since we’re already talking tunes this morning….Good choice of driving music, Brendan. I whole-heartedly approve. Gotta love The Kylie. I’d be a fan regardless, but it helps that she’s still smokin’ hot at our shared age. Somewhat of an inspiration. lol.
Thank you! She’s definitely seemed to have found the fountain of youth, especially astonishing considering what she’s been through. Her voice and upbeat dance-pop is perfect driving music, and I take my driving music very seriously! Count me in as a fan. I just can’t get her out of my head ?
I must agree that these just don’t look right when they are not in a bright color.
I remember getting one of these as a rental when I had another car in the shop for some reason. I remember liking it. I had quite a few miles in an 88 Honda Accord at the time, and remember that the Neon felt fun to drive in a similar (but less expensive) way.
I would guess that these sold better in the midwest than they did in the northeast but I don’t see many of them out here either. Up until a few years ago, the branch manager at my bank was still driving one of them. They either didn’t pay their managers enough or he was extraordinarily thrifty.
These Neons are fantastic cars–I love them, truly.
I was Honda-intoxicated when I first drove them and the good damping and ample use of suspension travel was a revelation to me at the time. I dunno if this is the influence of AMC-poached Renault engineers like Francois Castaing, but it is a definitely French trait. A Golf from the same era was a fun car, but not in the same way, feeling somewhat leaden and inert. It’s like a Mazda Protege/Ford Escort from the same era but with better damping and rigidity.
It really is a shame that people just remember the undeniable cheapness of the finish, the head-gasket failures and general taint of ’90s Chrysler cheapness more than the brilliant chassis. No American small car has come close unless you count the Anglo-German Focus, and even that car was more steady and stolid in its comportment.
Agreed. It is a true shame that these car’s many positive attributes and feats are often overlooked and under appreciated. And it’s always worth bringing up that they were the only American compact for their time to turn a profit.
What Kylie Minogue song are you listening to?
Neons were great handlers…offhand, they did so well in Showroom Stock (running against the vaunted Acura Integra) that the rules were changed to make them uncompetitive. (Which marked the second time that happened to Chrysler…)
Sanctioning bodies changing the rules to make Chrysler uncompetitive is a reoccurring theme. Nascar, NHRA, SCCA have all done it multiple times.
Years ago, early 70’a, my brother used to say the NHRA rules were fixed against Mopar, and to the advantage of Chevrolet. This was at the time Bill Jenkins was cleaning up in Pro Stock in his small block Chevy, yet Hemi Demons were not getting treated fair.
Absolutely correct. Things went totally off the rails in 1972, when Jenkins showed up with a tube-chassis Vega. Until then, Pro Stock had been actual production cars…Jenkins’ Nova or the Sox & Martin ‘Cuda really WAS a modified production car. After that, it was a joke. (And even then, the NHRA had to keep adding weight to Sox & Martin’s Duster to keep them from winning.)
True enough…the NHRA putting more and more weight on the Hemis, NASCAR banning the aero cars.
Actually, one racer came close to wrapping that rule areound Bill France’s neck. NASCAR allowed the Daytona to race…but only if the car ran a 305ci (5 litre) wedge engine. Two guys, owner Mario Rossi and driver Richard Brooks, were determined to run a Daytona, and talked to several engine builders. Most said it couldn’t be done…Keith Black shrugged and said, “Sure, I can do it.” He did, building an engine based heavily on the W2-head Trans Am small-blocks, and the car-proudly wearing “305 CU. IN.” hood graphics qualified eighth.
Other racers saw the little engine and promptly nicknamed it “the lunchbox”. Nobody took Brooks seriously with his 120+ cubic inch deficit…until the green flag dropped. Initially, Brooks was a bit cautious, carefully working through the pack…then, he went for it. Lap 60, it happened: coming out of turn four, the red and gold Daytona took the lead…and for the next 18 laps, it stayed in front, pulling ahead with every lap. At that point, Keith Black was grinning, and Bill France was fuming. (Yes…the Daytona body was THAT good.)
Sadly, it was not to be: about lap 78, Brooks was sideswiped. He lost a full lap in the pits, replacing a damaged tire and pulling out the crushed fender…and the car depended so heavily on the now-compromised aerodynamics that he wasn’t able to make it up…he finished seventh.
Keith Black’s little engine spun 9,500-10,000RPM for the entire race, probably spun to 11,000 (it was past the end of the tach) on the long back straight …and never missed a beat.
Such colors! Such cheerful styling! So 90’s. Refreshingly different than today’s hordes of gray, silver, and black angrymobiles.
Had a ’96 and a ’98, both five speeds, great gas mileage, 40mpg on the four-lane. Generally fun to drive, roomy and comfort (had the better seats). Bought both for wholesale prices, only wear items replaced, easy to work on even the head gaskets, on-line help found at Neons.org for the sticky problems. Rust did them in but that was typical of most anything here in the northeast. Good all-round cheap, unpretentious transportation. Followed up the first two with a second generation ’01 Neon, also a five speed which I kept for nine years.
These disappeared as quickly as they arrived – sort of like the Macarena craze of cars. (That makes the PT Cruiser “Who Let the Dogs Out” and the second Neon “The Ketchup Song”.)
I don’t even remember the Ketchup Song but then again I barely remember the bland, less popular Gen2 Neon either (most of which have already vanished off the face of the Earth, too) so I suppose that’s fitting.
I have a very rare an one of a kind Neon. Its a custom baby blue