This shot of an apartment building parking lot was shot last week, not ten or twenty or even twenty-five years ago. I’m not going to try to peg the exact years of each of these cars, but it would appear that the two newest ones, the Corolla and Escort, came out in 1991 in these generations. Here’s a closer look at the ones to the rear.
Maybe the name of this apartment is the CC Manor.
Asking the important questions:
I am curious about that black panel on the Metro… seems an odd panel to have to replace when the rest of the car is undamaged. How do you bang the car there without hitting anything else?
Someone probably backed into him when he was parked.
Might have been rust damage and not an accident that warranted replacement.
Highly unlikely that panel was replaced as it is a welded part of the body and would extend below the trim piece to the bottom of the car. For what ever reason when they repaired what ever damage there was they decided to paint to the natural break point rather than leave a fuzzy or hard line just around the repair area.
The thunderbird is a 1994 or 1995. The Escort looks really clean!
The Metro and T-bird appear to have led hard lives up to this point, but the Corolla and Caravan are relatively nice. Extremely rare to see a 1st-gen Caravan that’s not rusty or beat-up. And the Escort looks particularly nice, even.
Folks who hate to have carpayments.
…a good feeling, if you can swing it.
It is mine is paid for and I’m ignoring the itch to get something newer
Easy for me since most new cars don’t give me much of an itch.
+1.
I really tried. My last three cars were all paid in cash…’97 Volvo 850, ’01 Volvo V70 T5, and a ’05 Nissan Quest SE. It just seemed like I was replacing a car every 3-4 years and (with the Nissan at least) spending more a year in repairs than I would be if I were making a payment on something newer. I finally took the dive on a Buick Enclave since my kids are still little and I wanted something new and safe to put them in. That said, I do miss the feeling of not caring about where I park my car. Some day I’ll give it another shot.
Did the V70 have transmission issues?
No. But the shift cable did, making it impossible to shift into any gear. Most of the problems with mine were electrical (lights not working, error messages, etc.). Apparently a software update in 2003 rectified the most egregious transmission issues.
In my personal experience,The best cheap cars that are reliable are TOYOTAs and Nissans(stick shift ofcourse).that is why used TOYOTAS are expensive all over the ?.i don’t Live in usa but from here i can assume that E100 Corolla(if it’s running good)is probably the most expensive car in these pictures.
This does look like a typical parking lot (albeit) a run down one in say 1996-97 I would say.
That would give the Geo Metro & Thunderbird enough time to look a bit run down.
I remember 1991 like it was yesterday. We were in the beginnings of starting our used car dealership partnered up with an already established place. They were good times. Neat used cars were all over the place and cheap. We used to pick up perfectly good ones that had something bone headed done to incapacitate them for as little as 50 to 100 bucks, fix them and put them out front all cleaned up for the magical 1495 price that insured they sold really quick. We made a lot of money and had a lot of fun in the process and drove most everything save certain exotics.
As the 90’s wore on we eventually went solo and set our dealership next to a popular local repair garage and that was a great marriage for many years. The Obama cash for clunkers program virtually destroyed us and we had to close up shop and close the dealership as there were no reasonably priced used cars around. Shortly after we partnered up with another dealer we knew for many years that sold southern cars to help both of us and have been going ever since. Thankfully things have picked up again in the past 3-4 years with some reasonable used cars value out there. But the days of making good money have all but evaporated. I would love to have the 90’s economy back again.
Oh hey, someone won the Mopar lottery! Impressive to comprehend that most of these vehicles are officially antiques now or at least officially classic. Good shot Paul and here is an image from Tigard in December.
That Escort looks great.
Wrong, it looks more like 1993. 😛
That Corolla is an AE101 1993-97 model.
The 1991 Corolla was the AE92 model, which went from 1988-92.
DOH!!
Side shot of 1991 AE92 Corolla
Man, where have all the MN12s gone? They were everywhere up until a few years ago and now I can’t remember the last time I saw one on the road. I miss my ’91 XR7.
Rust around the suspension eventually claimed both my best friend’s Cougars; a pearl white ’94 and pacific green ’97.
Unfortunately they all had a mechanical Achilles heel at one time or another, Teves II ABS failures, 3.8 head gaskets from beginning to 1995, the plastic intakes on 96-97 4.6s, the AOD and early 4R70ws in between, and yeah, in northern climates they can rust badly too, sometimes in critical places like where the rear shocks mount to the unibody. They’re not particularly easy to work on or service either, there are tasks that can run up labor costs to the point of fixing not being worth it.
Still have mine though!
And unlike Mustangs, nobody used an MN12 as a summer “fun” car and meticulously stored it the rest of the year. They depreciated, got used up, and that was it. Unfortunate, since I always liked their styling (as long as no vinyl roof was added).
And that’s a shame. I think an ’89 Cougar XR7 or Thunderbird SC with a supercharged 3.8 would be a cool car and conversation piece at any cars and coffee event.
I would love to snatch up an ’87-88 T-bird “turbo coupe” if I ever saw one cheap enough on CL. Most of the mechanical parts from fox bodied cars are interchangeable, so it’d be fun to swap out some Mustang go-fast stuff onto one.
In 2004 I was helping a friend buy a new CR-V. We were on the test drive and I asked the salesman what kind of car he had. He told me it was the best car ever made. I expected a bull line about an Accord, CR-V or Civic. He took us around the back of the dealer to show us a 1997 Mercury Cougar complete with fake convertible top. I appreciated his honesty.
I still seem them around, though it’s been a bit since I’ve seen a Cougar. Someone around drives a white Thunderbird where I work. I don’t know enough to pin down the year exactly, but it’s one of the later models. I cringe a bit seeing it driven in the winter, but it looks like whoever owns it washes the salt and grime off of it regularly and thus it’s always looking sharp and in really good shape for a northern car that gets driven year-round.
A lot of MN12s still roll here in Phoenix…Some in pristine condition, others look like delivery vehcles in Aleppo, but they all still roll, no rust, or very little, but a lot of sun damage to some. Clearcoats do not hold up here. Bring back single stage paint you can buff and wax to bring the shine back, but clearcoat cancer is a one way street. Clearcoat peel is not a good looking patina.
Have to admit to a secret hankering for the Thunderbird…..
The T-Birds are rare in my area(which is surprising since the local Ford Dealer(Apple Ford) was selling them like hot cakes in the 1990’s so there were a lot of them out there
The Metros only comes out when gas prices are really high. Them and the Fiesta. I have not seen a Metro in years but a neighbor has a Fiesta so I see one all the time.
First Gen Caravans and 91-96 Escorts are rare in my area. Rust(Escort) and trans issues (Caravan) killed them off.
Maryland is full of1993-1997 Corollas in various conditions from pristine to true beaters. In fact I see more of them then the next generation(98-01) Corolla
It is a testament to the fact that the 93-97 Corolla was the last well made Corolla