I’ll admit that the background vehicles and location don’t help the “back in the 1990s” case, but let’s make an effort and ignore that sensorial noise. After all, seeing this pair of 1990s leftovers side by side, still rolling, made me briefly feel as if I had stepped back into a shopping lot, circa 1994 or so. A 1989-1992 Ford Ranger and a 1992-1994 Toyota Tercel, two popular models from that era.
Admittedly, not as charming as a pair of seventies or sixties cars found in the wild. But well, the nineties were three decades ago, and these two, while not incredibly rare, aren’t as plentiful as they used to be.
That 1990s illusion doesn’t last long if one moves around just a bit. Still, I felt more compelled to take photos of the Ranger since I don’t see those often; Ford’s first domestically-produced compact truck, which took over the previous Mazda-related Courier when it showed up in 1982. This one is still a first-generation model, and belongs to the 1989-1992 years with the updated styling (Ford experts may narrow it down). There’s some missing trim and some battle scars, but overall, decent for an old timer still rolling.
The 1992-1994 Tercel is a second-to-last generation, and would be replaced by the Echo/Yaris in 1999. White was a popular color for these Tercels over here in Central America, while the Ranger’s red was still an “in” color back in the 1990s, IIRC. If I had a choice, I would add a Pathfinder and a Miata to this image, to make for a more complete “back to the 1990s” image. Or better yet, a Taurus wagon.
Related CC reading:
1988 Ford Ranger STX – On The Job
1990 Ford Ranger XLT – Direct From Pizza Planet
1991 Toyota Tercel DX – Sub Corolla Syndrome
1992-1994 Toyota Tercel: Small Honest Car, For A Peaceful Time
A “human size”, pickup!!
It remind me of Hank Hill’s Ranger from King of the Hill, except Hank Hill’s one is a 1986 model.
https://imcdb.org/vehicle_151027-Ford-Ranger-PN105-1986.html
Fun seeing these two parked together, but I’m actually more intrigued with the other forbidden fruit in the parking lot, such as that Volkswagen and silver Hyundai i10(?). I couldn’t stop looking at all of the fun little cars denied to us Americans during my trip to Cancun. There is a small part of me that hopes gas prices stay high and maybe we can start seeing some of them again.
There are tons of i10s around here, along with the related Kia Picanto. The VW is an Amarok, a fairly popular double cab pickup and I think the ones over here come from VW’s Pacheco plant in Argentina.
Are there still any Chevrolet Wagon R rebadged Suzukis left there? They were either assembled in Columbia or Mexico or both(?), as far as I could remember:
Mine from behind, after a preliminary touch-up:
Very late reply here. Nope, those didn’t arrive to El Salvador. Plenty of other Suzuki models, though.
I don’t remember exactly, but some folks in the Ranger community call these gen 1.5 or gen 2 when they switched to composite headlights.
Ford Truck enthusiast generations are weird, they also group 80-96 F series into 3 separate generations which I think is utterly ridiculous considering the cabs and beds(other than flareside) are identical. Same goes for the bump side/dentsides to me it’s the same generation, but I’ll never say that around an owner!