90's sleeper cars appreciating

James Hart

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My dream car from the '90's

1996_ford_bronco_162015437679113f387bc91996_ford_bronco_161934657508495d565e9f6b98dc-47cc-494b...jpg


my wife's previous vehicle (1993 Chevy version) next to my 1994 Suburban
20160618_134244.jpg
Kittalys_new_truck.jpg


I am currently looking for another or a square body Blazer as a winter vehicle
 

Guildedagain

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The only car I coveted from the '90s was the BMW M3.

1674665851973.png

I gained fame and notoriety once writing a 3pt essay on Roadfly about "the one that got away"...

Unlike the greatness of Japanese 1990's cars, Germans were arguably 10 years ahead of the curve and the 80's cars, specifically the E30 M3 were "The Ultimate Driving Machines".

And so I flew down to Florida to buy an '88 M3 owned by an instructor and the Nascar Driving/engine building Institute, but dude turned out to be a shady crook, sold me a chop shop car that was made from a car stolen in Jersey...

I had to change hotel rooms in the middle of the night because I thought he was going to have me killed. $10k in the year 2000 was a lot of dough.

It was heartbreaking. I was going to drive it back across country, the trip of a lifetime.

I started noticing weird things with the car while fussing around prepping for the trip, anxious to get out of West Palm Beach, too many creepy jacked up trucks with Dixie flags...

I realized the car was prob stolen, I made a call to an Auto Theft detective, and stayed put a couple days til I drove it to an inspection station, he showed me like ten different things on it, and the car wasn't safe to drive anyway, and I knew that.

The night I realized the car was FUBAR'ed, I contacted the seller, but he said he "put all the $$$ in an IRA and "the penalty" yada yada, no getting it back.

So I contacted the cops. Dude from NASCAR Institute robbed me of $10k.

A couple officers met me, and even though a "civil case" offered to help me get my money back, and possibly arrest him for selling a stolen car.

So here I am, following this cop down Okachobee Blvd at some insane rates of speed, and the lights go out in the car, then the whole car goes out, electrical problems, nightmare car. The cop came back around to see what happened and I jiggled enough wires to make it start again.

We got to his house and he barricaded himself inside, wouldn't open the door,

Next day he says "I would have given you your $$$ back if you hadn't called the cops", and it went on from there.

I flew home, and a lawyer from Broward Co got my $$$ back, through the Roadfly story. He'd bought a much later M3 that was a chop shop car, had it checked out by a shop but the shop was in on it.

Be safe out there people and Carfax ;[]

Screen Shot 2023-01-26 at 6.30.02 AM.png


Screen Shot 2023-01-26 at 6.34.11 AM.png


While a same year M5 and M6 would be on my list, there's something about these, truly the ultimate driving machine.
 
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Guildedagain

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My dream car from the '90's

1996_ford_bronco_162015437679113f387bc91996_ford_bronco_161934657508495d565e9f6b98dc-47cc-494b...jpg

Ok, so it's not a car ;[]

Or a pickup truck.

These were pretty hot in White for a while, with that Florida Citrus connotation, and I think Ford has homologated the model?

At any rate, it's not about just about oranges anymore, these lemons are bringing truly silly money, an ode to fools and money parting direction, but I only say this because I worship at the altar of Mopar.

"Between 2015 and 2018, buyers paid an average of $13,375 for 1990s Ford Broncos on Bring a Trailer. Now those Broncos are going for almost double that amount."

Even a Bronco hulk is worth $20k, way to go Cynthia, turns out them dead Fords are purdy valuable ;[]
 

twocorgis

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I gained fame and notoriety once writing a 3pt essay on Roadfly about "the one that got away"...

Unlike the greatness of Japanese 1990's cars, Germans were arguably 10 years ahead of the curve and the 80's cars, specifically the E30 M3 were "The Ultimate Driving Machines".

And so I flew down to Florida to buy an '88 M3 owned by an instructor and the Nascar Driving/engine building Institute, but dude turned out to be a shady crook, sold me a chop shop car that was made from a car stolen in Jersey...

I had to change hotel rooms in the middle of the night because I thought he was going to have me killed. $10k in the year 2000 was a lot of dough.

It was heartbreaking. I was going to drive it back across country, the trip of a lifetime.

I started noticing weird things with the car while fussing around prepping for the trip, anxious to get out of West Palm Beach, too many creepy jacked up trucks with Dixie flags...

I realized the car was prob stolen, I made a call to an Auto Theft detective, and stayed put a couple days til I drove it to an inspection station, he showed me like ten different things on it, and the car wasn't safe to drive anyway, and I knew that.

The night I realized the car was FUBAR'ed, I contacted the seller, but he said he "put all the $$$ in an IRA and "the penalty" yada yada, no getting it back.

So I contacted the cops. Dude from NASCAR Institute robbed me of $10k.

A couple officers met me, and even though a "civil case" offered to help me get my money back, and possibly arrest him for selling a stolen car.

So here I am, following this cop down Okachobee Blvd at some insane rates of speed, and the lights go out in the car, then the whole car goes out, electrical problems, nightmare car. The cop came back around to see what happened and I jiggled enough wires to make it start again.

We got to his house and he barricaded himself inside, wouldn't open the door,

Next day he says "I would have given you your $$$ back if you hadn't called the cops", and it went on from there.

I flew home, and a lawyer from Broward Co got my $$$ back, through the Roadfly story. He'd bought a much later M3 that was a chop shop car, had it checked out by a shop but the shop was in on it.

Be safe out there people and Carfax ;[]

Screen Shot 2023-01-26 at 6.30.02 AM.png


Screen Shot 2023-01-26 at 6.34.11 AM.png


While a same year M5 and M6 would be on my list, there's something about these, truly the ultimate driving machine.
I probably should have bought a E30 M3 when I could have, and I did have some opportunities from inside the BMW community. My problem was that I owned a '87 325i at the time, and it was really a much better street car than the M3, The M3 was stellar on the track, but that was where it really belonged. It was a bit high strung as a daily driver, and you really needed to keep the RPMs up to get good performance, and that's not really the best recipe for a street car. They also were noisy, and didn't ride particularly well.

All goes to show what I know. My 325 rusted badly, and the M3 would be worth a small fortune today!
 

Guildedagain

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I probably should have bought a E30 M3 when I could have, and I did have some opportunities from inside the BMW community. My problem was that I owned a '87 325i at the time,

Same here, same year Lachsiber 4dr 5sp all prepped everywhere with RIAL wheels, and the M3 would have been a nightmare to own, probably got me tickets, then stolen, it almost cost me my relationship as it was. Coming home without the money or the car, the impromptu flight back was expensive.

I also had a white 320i at the time, and an R60/6, R65, R100GS, something like a bit of Bayerishe fever...
 

twocorgis

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Same here, same year Lachsiber 4dr 5sp all prepped everywhere with RIAL wheels, and the M3 would have been a nightmare to own, probably got me tickets, then stolen, it almost cost me my relationship as it was. Coming home without the money or the car, the impromptu flight back was expensive.

I also had a white 320i at the time, and an R60/6, R65, R100GS, something like a bit of Bayerishe fever...
Mine was burgundrot, I really miss my old E30. BMW hasn't made a car quite like it ever since it was discontinued.
 

BradHK

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The only 90’s car that I owned that stands out in my memory was my BMW 8-series. Beautiful car that I always wanted to own. Unfortunately, reality was not as good as my expectations. Mechanically they were so over complicated and a pain to maintain. Especially the electronics. It looked really fast…but wasn’t. However, I forgot about all of those issues every time I stood back and looked at it. Beautiful. I don’t have a photo handy but it looked exactly like this one below:

1674750017637.jpeg
 

beecee

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I think my ultimate sleeper was a 65 Sunbeam Tiger. Yes, sold it for what today is peanuts.

Great car but the hydraulics were a pita.

Lovely interior, wood dash and Smith gauges.

I hate to say but the 90's were my worst car decade....I was really into the one downmanship thing driving tan Volvos or Mercury Gran Marquis.
 

twocorgis

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What's aspirin got to do with it? Are you implying BMWs are a headache to own? And doesn't aspirin bring fever down?
None of my BMWs have been particularly hard to maintain, at least until this point. Of course I haven't had any that were really overloaded with electronics, either.
 

davismanLV

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I only ever bought one car in the 90s. And it pales to all these fancy machines everyone is talking about. But it was super fun for me. A 1994 Chevrolet Cavalier Convertible. Nothing fancy but it handled great, the top went down and it was FAST as can be with that 3.1 V-6.

ohv V6
Engine Size (liters/cubic inches)3.1/191
Engine HP135-140
Engine Torque (lb-ft)180-185

I had my first (and only) car phone in it too. That thing ran so great and was dead reliable. I drove it over 120K and it got us to Vegas 18 years ago. Then things started going wrong and I bought my 2004 Nissan Frontier, which I still have.

1994 Chevrolet Cavalier.jpg
The 4 cylinder version was super sluggish but the V6 was a demon on a fairly light car!!
 

twocorgis

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I only ever bought one car in the 90s. And it pales to all these fancy machines everyone is talking about. But it was super fun for me. A 1994 Chevrolet Cavalier Convertible. Nothing fancy but it handled great, the top went down and it was FAST as can be with that 3.1 V-6.

ohv V6
Engine Size (liters/cubic inches)3.1/191
Engine HP135-140
Engine Torque (lb-ft)180-185

I had my first (and only) car phone in it too. That thing ran so great and was dead reliable. I drove it over 120K and it got us to Vegas 18 years ago. Then things started going wrong and I bought my 2004 Nissan Frontier, which I still have.

1994 Chevrolet Cavalier.jpg
The 4 cylinder version was super sluggish but the V6 was a demon on a fairly light car!!
That was a terrible era for GM interiors. They had the cheapest flimsiest looking hard plastics everywhere, even in the Corvette!

90123301000208.jpg
 

GGJaguar

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ohv V6
Engine Size (liters/cubic inches)3.1/191
Engine HP135-140
Engine Torque (lb-ft)180-185

It's amazing how much HP they squeeze out of engines today compared to back then. I have cars with 2.0 and 2.4L 4 cylinders (normally aspirated) that make more HP than that V6.
 

James Hart

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those V6 Cavaliers were pretty decent... my buddy had the Z24 fast back that was surprising... then in 95 when I started dating my wife, her mother drove a silver Cavalier wagon with the V6... it had some spunk.
 
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