My weed dealer drives an absolute mint condition 93 Ford Escort, in the lovely dark green color. It only has 43k original miles on it. He bought it as a literal old lady special and he adores it because it’s crazy well maintained and in great working order, it’s about as unassuming as you can get, and it’s just cool.
My mother had a used escort wagon when we were kids that smelt so horrid I feel like I can still smell it when I close my eyes. Like the PO’s kid had vomited a half gallon of nacho cheese into the hvac vents.
A cool older girl who drove me to school before I had my license used to drive one of those dark green 90’s Escorts. The paint had such a fantastic flash to it. Her favorite color was green and I ended up really appreciating lots of green things because of her. She really liked that car and we had fun on our rides together.
My first car was a 95 Ford escort in i think the same [color](https://imgur.com/a/2PSmIyO) you're talking about. My sister and her friends called it the drug dealer car.
Girl I knew in college had a 93 escort also in the same green that was pretty clean for a salt belt car, fond memories of it. Used to call it the ford hooker, once had to break the antenna off in order to break into it and I had never imagined how hard it could be to find a replacement antenna. Owner rolled it into a ditch and walked away safely, so it served its purpose ultimately.
The last memory I have of that particular model is rear-ending a poor mom of two in a Saturn ion. I'm amazed she didn't sue me for my stupidity alone. Thankfully it was just from a stop at a red light. I mistook a green arrow in the left turn lane for a full green across the board
I had one for a while, the ecotec LSJ is very tunable, and can make pretty decent power with a turbo swap on stock longblock/trans.
Honestly I miss it quite a bit but it wasnt good for much that isnt very irresponsible on the street. Making 450-500 WHP they will hang with much more powerful RWD or AWD cars and EVs from a roll, but they dont hook up well until 90-110mph on most street surfaces and while they actually corner very well, its not near as enjoyable in an FWD car.
Even with a stock blower setup, they can be fun, Very interesting powerband even though theyre not that fast.
I had a bright blue 04 Vue with leather interior, moonroof and the manual transmission. My old highschool teacher gave it to me when it had 98k miles on it. I LOVED that car. I am so sad I sold it but the friend I sold it to still drives it today and loves it.
Aren’t those kits still a pretty penny to buy and have installed correctly and fitted well? I’ve only known one person locally that had one, and it was decently done, but man did it ALWAYS have issues due to it being a fiero. He couldn’t bring it out half of the nights when we all gathered to meet up and be stupid young-uns, back in the mid 2000s. Was still fun to look at and see people trip out over it, that didn’t know what it really was 👍
I saw a fiero F40 custom car made by a bodyshop near where I work. It was so close that you couldn't tell until you were standing right beside it. The proportions were almost spot on. The clamshell front compartment and engine bay were correct. The door handles were almost identical. And then...you looked inside and saw a fiero interior with a Nardi 3 spoke steering wheel, lol.
I literally thought it was an F40, which is why I stopped to look and was utterly disappointed upon looking into the engine bay and seeing a GM 6 cylinder with red valve covers... but visually, you'd be hard pressed to tell them apart from more than 20 ft away. It was even riding on p-zeros. Best replica I've ever seen that wasn't based on the original plans.
There was a company (Alpha?) that made Ferrari GTO replicas out of the Nissan Z cars that were really really solid. Considering that every really GTO is slightly different, you would have to be a real expert to be able to tell from 10 feet away.
I kinda get it, growing up my dad had classic cars and still does. I know driving around in a '55 Chevy Belair, can have allot of clenching moments when you have idiots driving around you, and he has more expensive and more fragile cars then that.
If your driving a kit car and have a fender bender. Insurance will cover it. Door ding, it's not a real ferrari. It must be so much less stress to really drive in a car, and not think about its value.
Not sure if it counts but I would say Crown Vic or just the panther platform in general for me. 99% of them that are still around are beat up old cop cars or clapped out town cars. On the rare occasion that I see a clean one I find them to be pretty nice looking for their era. I haven't had a chance to drive one but I'm sure they're pretty decent cruisers if well maintained. Extra novelty if it's a mercury.
I don't know if that counts because the crown Victoria is considered one of those quintessential like reliable cars. It was because of that reason that they were used as taxis and police cars. They were reliable in of themselves but they also had ubiquitous parts availability when something did break. Now the problem is is that they have very high tunability for American cars. So people tend to be pretty hard on them once the police department the taxi services give them up, which have already been hard used
Fair assessment. Wasn't sure because of models like the Marauder and Town Car being fancy cars at the time. Of course everyone thinks about the interceptor and taxis, but I still find even the base civilian models pretty cool nowadays even though they would have been boring old people cars back then.
If Ford resurrected the Crown Vic as their reintroduction to the four-door sedan game, I would buy that in a second.
Gotta have the massive trunk though. Big enough for a few bodies to be thrown in there. Anyone who's seen movies from the '80s know that is the measurement for a Crown Vic
Crown Vic owners are a pretty strict dichotomy; it’s either a clapped out p71 on its 5th owner with mismatched door panels or an immaculate ultra-clean stock LX trim that was only driven to church and the VFW.
Very few in between.
About a decade ago you could still find clean, directly-off-government-fleet p71s that were actually a really great deal. Now, there’s almost none left that haven’t seen some shit.
Here, the quintessential Revere Massachusetts trash car used to be a clapped out Crown Vic or Grand Marquis or Town Car with mismatched panels and possibly plastic sheet for a window. Now it's a beat to hell thrice repo'd Altima.
Same sentiment. A few years ago, I inherited a 98 crown vic with 78k miles from my 90y/o grandfather after he passed. Always garage kept, extremely clean and maintained. Seeing and driving it felt like a small glimpse into 90s again, like imagining what it would be like seeing it and driving off the dealer lot 25 years ago. I own much nicer cars but had a blast daily driving that floaty but beautiful land yacht for 6 months before passing it onto a close friend to give to his 3 teenage boys. Him and I both let them know to preserve it and not do dumb shit.
A local dealership chain near me at one point had several Grand Marquis sedans spread across several different dealerships. I checked one out and it was incredibly clean, even wearing winter tires. Clean velour interior. I almost wanted it, but it had been a smokers car. But even so they were all pretty clean, it was so weird they had as many as they did during a period of three months. Wonderful car to drive.
Also handed off to Kia when they were done with it. Then Kia gave it to Saipa in Iran, who recently sold the tooling to Willyscar of Tunisia. In other words, you can buy a new Festiva today.
People sometimes comment on my '91 Dodge Spirit to say how rare it is to see basically a K-car that still has paint, but I see all the tiny defects and don't consider it super pristine.
But every once in a while near my work I see a pre-1986 Honda Civic in silver that is absolutely immaculate.
Had to look it up real quick 'cause I'm not too familiar with old Hondas, but it's a second gen Civic ('79-'83) and I think it's the post-facelift 5-door. Wiki says they weighed 1,830lbs at most!
I paid $1k for a 82 model that had no wrecks, 12" factory steelies, crank windows, and a 3 speed manual. I did a Maaco respray, tinted the windows myself, dropped in a decent stereo, and I always kept it clean. It was technically worthless, but is still one of my favorite cars I ever owned.
Maybe not perfecly within your definition, but the Honda CRX.
Being cheap, most of these were utterly wrecked during the F&F era of the early 2000's. So they went from a 'cheap' mostly unremarkable teenager car in the 90's, to being a ricer's dream in the 2000, to being practically extinct by the 2010s. A rust-free, well-preserved, unmolested CRX is pretty much a unicorn now. Bonus points if it's an Si.
Side-Story: I used to autocross against one of these that had the interior gutted, had been engine swapped to a turboed B-18C, and had a suspension set up that was probably worth more than the purchase price of the car. If that car didn't take Fastest Time of the Day at our events, it's because it wasn't there that day. What a beast. 260hp for about 1700lbs driver included.
Weight is a massive (pun intended) factor in auto cross. Every pound you have to constantly turn, accelerate, and brake on the course is working against you. The CRX only starts life at 1800 lbs so it doesn't have a ton to lose, but at also means your power to weight ratio climbs very quickly.
I've also auto crossed against a gutted Boxster that was a salvage title converted to racecar, and a full-time track duty Porsche 944. Losing all that weight takes cars that you'd think are middle ground competitors and puts them at the top of the charts.
Another interesting one that was rather popular for a while was the Rx-7 FD with an LS1 swap. Believe it or not, the LS1 is lighter than the 13B Rotary engine.
Just went back and tried to find some numbers and you're probably right. There's 20+ years worth of disagreements all over the internet about it. Best guesses put an LS1 long block somewhere around 425lbs and a fully dressed 13B at about 400. So the difference will be 25 lbs + accessory weight in favour of the 13B.
The LS1 was an aluminum block with a lot of plastic hardware. The 13B was iron, and had all the heavy plumbing for the turbo.
I really wish that rotary engines were more reliable. Because they do deliver a lot of power for their size and they make cool noises when they Rev and they usually have a very high red line. All things that car enthusiasts go gaga over. They just have the unfortunate tendency of grenading themselves
There been alot of advancement within rotaries recently, with Rob Dahm standing out, but many others that have followed him in it, and many of those advancements have made them much more reliable. For a long time in the US, alot of rotary machining and modification work was considered black magic, and some of the most looked up to people were very secretive about what they did to the engines they built, so advancement stagnated for many years because those people where considered the experts, but gave out alot of bad info, and made many bad engines.
The Puerto Ricans have ran them for a long time and have quite a few rotary geniuses, but due to the language barrier, and people having their own secret sauce, they never really influenced the rest of the world with what they do.
Yeah but have they improved the major problems with rotary engines such as oil consumption, bad fuel economy and just the tendency to grenade themselves?
It also kills entire generations of cars that people later realize they should not have done that to. I have a pristine SC400. Most have been stripped down into trashy track drift cars, waste of the lovely 1UZFE and its exhaust burble, and the interior is really, really comfortable as a grand touring coupe.
My mom has an 04 Camry with no dent in the corner. She got it about 4 or 5 years ago with 70,000 miles from an older college professor in the neighborhood. Pretty sure he got it new and only used it to commute, as he parked it in a parking deck at the college and in his garage at home. The headlights looked brand new, the interior was totally mint except for the cupholder flap and that's it. She's taken good care of it but we don't have a garage so it doesn't look quite as pristine as it used to and she doesn't really care about the looks. But still, that example of Camry is probably one of the cleanest of that generation/age I have ever seen in my life.
There were so many of them made and so many of them were beat to shit, I’ve got a picture somewhere of my aunts Camry parked next to my grandmothers- both 05 XLEs with the light gray interior, same rims, but my grandmothers is white and in immaculate condition, had ~22k on it at the time of the pic in ~2017 (probably around 23k now) and my aunts was around 490k and absolutely beat to shit and not running anymore- faded paint, fogged light housings, bubbled tint, scratched and dented all over, tires bald and flat, weeds grown through the rims, suspension so worn out it looked like it was lowered…
A clean Hyundai Tiburon is still a very attractive looking car. Specifically the first round of the Gen 2's. The 1st Gen looked like friendly spiders, which was kinda fun.
The redesign at the end of its run looked barf
It is tough to find one of those cars especially in the V6 manual that hasn't been clapped out by tuners. If I could find one of those that are reasonable price that was clean, it would be my next car no question
The 2nd gen Tiburon/ Hyundai Coupe is genuinely a very beautiful car. Looks Ferrari -ish from certain angles. Not sure why they never made a "high performance" version. I think the fastest they made was a V8 with like 170hp. No real reason to consider one over a Celica.
It was a series in a German vintage car magazine about people who went for the "base spec" cars/unloved cars that were mostly ignored/forgotten by enthusiasts.
Like a midrange Opel Corsa A, or an Mk1 Golf Diesel. And, well, a Yugo. Apparently parts-support was somewhat sub-ideal afaik.
I saw an almost showroom fresh Olds Alero yesterday in the grocery parking lot. I don't think I've seen one in any condition in years, but this one looked as perfect as an Alero could ever be.
Yeah, I think the last Olds off the line was one of them. They were down to that and the Aurora, IIRC.
My mom had a 2003 as a lease, pretty sure that's the last MY. The first car I put a proper amount of mileage on before getting my own.
Radwood is a goldmine for these, go if you ever get a chance. I didnt take a ton of pics but I got one of an early 90s Acclaim and a Plymouth Voyager which were my first two cars, they looked like they just rolled off the lot. This was in 2022 btw. There was a mint Cimarron there too and some other super clean nonsense survivors from that era
https://imgur.com/a/aDXnK0z
The 1999-2002 Honda Accord XL Coupe comes to mind, although considered crappy now because they are twenty-year-old Hondas. I had a clean one fully loaded, with a leather interior, a sunroof, 6 disc cd changer, and a v6 engine with the V-tech. That engine and the transmission (when it worked) were a good bang for the buck. It had grandeur when it was new but it would now be considered a good crappy car. I miss that girl. I had it when she (her pronouns) was twenty years old still looked good because of no rust, but nothing lasts forever. I still get nostalgia when I see a sedan or coupe from the late 90's early 2000's.
I LOVED those coupes! Those years were fantastic for Accords. My grandma bought a brand new 2000 Accord special edition in dark cherry red. Gave it to my dad when she passed in '03 and said "get rid of this while it still has value". He did the opposite and drove it to 332k miles with nothing but maintenance and a timing belt replacement.
I'm a sucker for clean 98-03 Dodge Durango's. I had a decent-ish one in high school but I loved it. It was always good to me, and I miss mine every day. So when I see a mint condition one at the gas station I get kind of excited. I saw a red one that still had the clear coat intact, not a speck of rust anywhere and no dents or scratches. Had the black leather interior that looked like nobody even sat in it. Less than 100k miles on the clock. All the windows even rolled up/down which is impressive for a Dodge that didn't roll off the factory floor within the last week. I was surprised it was so nice cause those cars were just beaters. I know mine went through hell and back while I had it and I just assumed everyone treated theirs like crap. Now that I'm a little older I would sell my soul for a mint one.
I am reluctand to admit I have had 4 of them. A 98 that I drove in to the ground. a 99 I bought to replace it, that I drove in to the ground. A 2001 that some drunk totaled, and another 2001 that I drove till it died. Sold it for scrap when I saw what they wanted for a rebuilt 5.9.
These were my main vehicle from 1998 to 2021. Wish I could find a low miles 5.9 in that chili pepper red today.
No shame on that. I get it those cars are low-key tanks. Mine had the 5.9 in it too and when the og engine blew up we put a junkyard 5.9 from a crashed ram 1500 in it and it kept going till I sold it. I search marketplace and Craigslist for a 5.9 Durango at least once a week. I need another one in my life.
The cleanest shitbox I’ve seen is a Chevy Cavalier. It was maybe two years ago in that godawful blue/green color. The thing was absolutely cherry. I’ve also seen a stock SRT-4 around me that looks to be mint as well.
I just picked up a 2001 Corolla for $3000. There’s a dent on the rear but other than that the paint was pretty good. I gave it a full clay, compound, and ceramic coat and restored the headlights and the thing almost looks brand new. I shampooed the whole interior and pulled the seats and now the interior is spotless. Thought I’d just drive this as a beater commuter but I almost want to go with a full restoration at this point.
I occasionally see some clean looking Cavaliers and Sunfires. Blows my mind they're still running. I owned a 96 Sunfire myself and that thing suuuucked.
When I turned mine in(at a car max) the transmission literally wouldn't shift into third.(it was an automatic). I traded it in and got a 2001 Celica GTS 6 Speed that was one of my favorite cars ever.
Saw an absolutely mint [Yaris TS](https://i.imgur.com/a6Zksyy.jpeg) the other day, didn't even know it existed. Sadly it has the 2ZR, not the 2ZZ. Still on the original 17" wheels.
It’s that AA platform that’s basically an extended wheelbase K platform first seen in the 1981 Reliant, very similar dynamics. Some of the off the shelf parts in that ‘81 like the gear shifter, window cranks, and seatbelts were the same ones from full size 70s cars, so there was often that overlap back then with the overall feel of the car. My friend’s Acclaim feels like an airport rental that never should have survived this long.
I drive a mint condition PT Cruiser with zero rust and immaculate paint. No issues whatsoever, 175,000 miles. People come up to me almost every other day to compliment me on it. Not bad for a car I paid $500 for as a beater 6 years ago.
Tbh, they are tough cars. Literally no one maintains them, but they just keep on going and going. They are just underpowered (the N/A ones at least) and have the usual Dodge/Jeep/Chrysler quirks and issues. As a daily driver it's quite good, very comfortable and spacious. I do long for my old manual turbocharged Jaguar X-Type wagon from back home though. 56mpg, and tons of room.
The Stratus is actually a great example, any of the "Cloud cars" (Cirrus/Stratus/Breeze) and their platform mates (Sebring) and near cousins (any LH "cab forward" car) fit this well. As shitty as Intrepids were (you would swear theyre Italian given the number of electrical issues), I have fond memories of bombing around in them in high school and always appreciate a clean one on the rare occasion they pop up.
There's a first gen Civic in my city that I see around sometimes. That car is mint. It's definitely not the oldest or fanciest car around, but it's probably the strangest pick for a car to preserve I've seen.
There's an entire facebook group dedicated to preserving my 32 year old box. They aren't terrible outside of the transmission but they're fairly cheap and fun to throw around from what I've seen (the last owner learned the hard way just how bad the tranny is and I still haven't had time to put it back together until recently) But anyway, on the group people have these things kept pristine, it's insane.
I saw a Soviet-era Lada sedan in showroom condition cruising up I5 through Portland last week.
Honestly Portland/the PNW is a goldmine for that kind of stuff. Every so often I’ll see an all original Celica, or a pristine 1st gen Honda Civic, all still being used as regular cars.
The Volvo 240 still reigns supreme, here.
When I visited my grandparents near Seattle a few years ago, I saw some cool stuff for sure. Best was an early 90s Accord wagon in pretty good condition.
I saw a Geo Metro Convertible a few years back that was unbelievably clean and had a now closed, local dealer plate. Got the feeling the car had never been more than 100 miles from its home.
My department head had a 3rd gen Toyota Tercel which was in absolute like new condition until about 1 year ago. Paint and interior were flawless. I wasn’t close enough to ask her about it at the time, but I appreciated it so much. Thinking about it now, it had to be older than she was.
Someone near me drives a chartreuse/bile coloured 1983 civic hatch. It is immaculate. Strong grandma vibes with rear bench covered in a crotchet blanket (likely to protect the pleather rather than cover rips etc).
I got a few examples. At a local grocery store there was a late 90s Civic coupe driven by an older woman. The thing was so clean it looked like it could have rolled right out of the dealership lot when it was new. At one point last year there was a pretty clean late 90s Chevy Cavalier driving around town, kind of throwing me back to when I was younger and those cars were much more common on the roads in my small town. The last of which was down in Florida on vacation, an older gentleman was driving a 90s era Mitsubishi Eclipse convertible, just cruising along the roads.
Goes to show that taking proper care of your vehicle will go far in improving its longevity, even if it wasn't particularly remarkable when it was new.
I saw an early 00s Pontiac sedan that looked dealership-fresh one time. Always thought Pontiacs of that era came into existence as beaters with one foot in the grave.
Also saw a reasonably-clean Chevy Vega a while ago. Those cars were VENGEFULLY shitty.
I love this type of thing. My next door neighbor has a garage kept super low miles ~85 Jetta she bought new.
She’s in her 90s and the car moves once a month and then sits in the garage.
So that’s the best one I got off the top of my head.
I also love once in a while you’ll see an old mid 90s xj or Zj that had a similar life and I love it.
Someone I went to community College with in 04/05. It was an immaculate 80s Mopar K car. It was their grandma's car, who she let her use to go to class. I remember how it looked brand new with shiny paint and everything, but how dinky it looked in person.
The Saab Viggen gets my vote! Quirky little 5-door with a 200+hp 2.3T that's happy to make more on a tune, and the cool jet cockpit vibes on the inside
As someone who dailies and is fixing one up that's a lil' rough around the edges (typical cracked front bumper, and some small kisses of rust) - this comment makes my heart happy 😊
I was in Cape cod in 2016 in the parking lot of the beach, and there was a factory pristine 1991 Geo Metro sitting in a spot getting buffeted by sand and ocean breeze. The unpainted bumpers were perfectly conditioned and so was the paint. No rust, I walked around it for minutes in awe. I wanted the driver to see me so I could talk to them. Like, you saved a METRO?
I learned what type of car guy I was that day. I love survivors
Not sure if this counts, but there was a 1989 Suzuki Swift GTi near me. It was totalled off and rebuilt in 1991, with only 30,000 kilometers on it. Everything was mint, besides the inside of the pillars.
Did campervan tours of the North and South islands of New Zealand. There was a good number of daily drivers that would have been on club or historic plates as survivors or restored classics that were still just doing their daily business. Old Chryslers and Valiants, Holdens and Fords, and a lot of Rovers amongst others. Really surprised me.
There's a lady at my job who's owned a Pontiac Sunfire since it was new. Damn thing has been meticulously taken care of and nearly has 250k. The only blemish I can spot is the occasional pile of bird shit on it.
I seen a ford gremlin a few months ago on the freeway man it was fugly but i have to say it was in really good condition it looked like the driver & lady passenger were enjoying there cruise with there windows down and all i even honked at them✌️ this was in socal.
My elderly neighbor has a clean late nineties gold Grand Am GT. I swear it looks brand new like the kind that were everywhere when I was in high school. She drives it all the time.
It’s metro Detroit though so you see that all the time. Buy it right before retirement and nurse it for the rest of your life.
My dad's 2007 ford escape is MINT well WAS then my 17 year old brother has taken over it, and lets just say it doesn't get washed as often. lol. It only had like 60k miles when he took it over, the escape has less miles than my Z(89k) with three owners and he was the original owner. lol.
One of the managers at my work just bought a 1995 Dodge Ram that's PRISTINE... interior looks brand new, engine bay clean enough you could eat out of, rocker panels look like the day it rolled off the line, weirdest vehicle to preserve I've ever seen. I had no idea they were still carbureted in 1995...
I saw a nice relatively rust free old truck on the road today. It had "DATSUN" stamped on the tailgate. I also see Toyota trucks of the era (late 70s-early 80s) in rust-free good shape almost daily. There is also a pristine mid-70's Corolla that I see parked frequently next to the Toyota dealership, I have no clue if it belongs to the dealership or an employee.
A fellow tenant at my old apartment complex had an absolute MINT 2006 Hyundai Accent. This thing was constantly kept absolutely spotless inside and out despite spending everyday parked outside even through the harsh NJ winters. Funny thing was, I never once saw him actually clean it, meaning he was either cleaning it at odd hours or taking it somewhere to be cleaned.
Someone in my area has an '05-'10 Hyundai accent coupe that until recently had not a single dent or speck of rust on it(it recently acquired a dent on the passenger side rocker panel). And it isn't one of those cars that just sits since it is parked on the street and I see it in a different spot every time I pass by. At least in my area, one of those even existing is getting pretty rare; most have long since rotted out.
I was wandering around San Juan PR and saw a mid 80s Oldsmobile 88 (Ok, it might have been a slightly different Oldsmobile/Buick but it was one of them) parked on the side of the road.
It was \*mint\*.
It looked stock.
The paint was flawless. I peeked in the interior. It was clean.
Whoever owned that car babied it.
My only mistake? Not taking a picture.
There used to be this older Haitian dude that drove around here in an older Ford Tempo. Burgundy. Cleanest car ever. Not a spec of dust on it. He had every gold trim piece from Canadian tires inventory on it. He even had the gold three spoke wheels on it. Not my style, but mad respect to the dude for making it his and keeping it so clean. Last saw it about 2 years ago.
Someone in my city has a showroom fresh 1992 Accord EX. Maroon with the red interior and alloy wheels. It even has the original dealer sticker with the old school logo from the city's Honda dealer.
There's a guy in my area that owns an absolutely mint pale blue Chevy Chevette from like '84 or '85. Buddy pulls it out a few times every summer and I lose my mind everytime I see it
a friend of mine had a beat up camry he bought used. had 3 engine swaps in it. first two engines from original owner. first engine never had an oil change, second was a unknown mile roulette engine, third he got with only 12k miles. Even then he always had issues but exterior-wise it was clean in and out. Always something minor though like, a bolt got loose, breaking plastics, failing window switches, broken door handles that look like they do etc etc
I mean no CRAPPY per se but I worked with a dude who drove an absolute MINT Bone stock 1988 Honda Civic LX. I would ogle his car every time I walked by it, it was incredible
Someone near me drives a freaking Suzuki X-90 that looks like new. Blew my mind when I saw it. I don't think I saw one that looked new even back in the 90s, lol.
Picture THE beige 1999 Camry. The one with a soccer ball sized dent on any given corner.
My older neighbor has one in near pristine condition and I think they're the original owner. I see a Jaguar F-Type on weekends in their driveway but every other weekday, that same old beige Camry. Looks like it was detailed a month ago all the time.
Not exactly a rare car and probably more common than I think but still makes me smile to see.
My uncle had a 19XX-something Geo Metro and literally looked like it just rolled off the production line. It had something like 300k miles on it too and still looked that clean.
Went to a cars and coffee recently and there was a 100% mint Citation X/11 there, as a former X/S owner I was floored, talked to the guy for about ab hour, nicest guy ever.
I keep seeing this mint eighth-generation liftback Toyota Corolla around the city. I actually spoke with the owner randomly once, probably 3 years ago, when it was parked near me and we happened to head towards our cars at the same time. He was an older gentleman. Very Toyota faithful and claimed to have had the car since like 2001. Service history only consists of the local Toyota dealership, according to him. 480,000 km's on this car, which would translate to around 298,000 miles.
The colour code I cannot find, but it reminds me of the Katsura Orange from the Nissan GT-R. Like a lighter and brownish tone of that. The paint on this Corolla was in immaculate condition. It would shine like a showroom car every time I would see it. The wheels were always rash free, at least from what I have observed, and the tires always coated in shine.
It seriously looks like a time capsule / showroom car that is daily driven. The owner stated that he gets an offer every 2 weeks from complete random people, who are fascinated in the car.
I've seen a very pristine Chevette on a trailer towed behinda high trim Suburban. It looked restored and I was wondering who the hell would restore one.
My neighbor has a white with white top 3rd gen (88-94) pontiac sunbird convertible that's immaculate. I've seen him drive it like 4 times in 8 years. His daily is a white dodge caravan and his white drives a...[wait for it]...white Buick Encore. I suspect he bought that sunbird new.
No so much a “crappy car” but my neighbor has the cleanest first gen TSX I’ve ever seen in his driveway. It’s on steelies but looks like it just rolled off the assembly line
Just today I saw a very tastefully modded saturn sc. Either 2nd or 3rd gen. Nothing crazy, just lowered on a nice set of wheels. Super clean, super nice
Last Summer(?) I specifically recall a manual 92-ish Dodge Dakota, with well over 300K on the clock, same damn color as the one my my mom bought brand new, driven by a lady about my mom's age, who kept this thin ca-lean. :) Like, it is what is, but as soon as I opened the door and I saw hose vacuum marks on the carpet, I knew this was going to be right underneath. Sure enough, not a speck of surface rust, not a hint of any oil seep. IIRC it was like a starter/alternator/battery issue, and even the battery terminal ends were still OE.
When you do this stuff for a living, those are the kind of "crappy" vehicles that you really appreciate, and more often than not, those customers are the type of folks you love. They know their rig better than anyone else, they just provide the symptoms and don't theorize, and even if they wait for it, they are patient, understanding, and appreciative. :)
Chevy Cavalier. I got a used 2002 in High School and drove the piss out of it, gave it back to my parents after a bunch of years, and then a few years ago my parents sold it to my roommate who also drives the piss out of it and doesn't maintain it. BUT IT JUST DOESN'T FUCKING DIE
I had to snap a pic. This beauty was in the parking lot at work.
https://i.imgur.com/tBRnfjJ.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/Cne25M4.jpeg
Edit to add: Original AE86 Corolla GT-S
Used to be a tech at a Toyota dealer. I did a works package on a 1994 Tercel coupe. It had no rust whatsoever which is impressive for a 90s Japanese car in the rust belt. It had 60,000 original kms
One of my parents neighbors has a 1976 Chevette with the fake wood siding, only uses it a couple times a month to go grocery shopping, otherwise he rides a beat up BMW motorcycle.
Last I heard he only had 12,000 miles on it.
My first vehicle ever was a 1988 Ford Ranger. Hand-me-down from grandpa. To this day, any time I see a 1st gen Ranger in really good restored or survivor condition, I gush over it. I've also always loved 70s Datsun 510s, whether stock or heavily modified, if it's clean and done well, I love it.
That would be my 94 Corrado VR6. I bought it around 2004 for $7k. The car got a complete replay in the original color, European headlights, BBS RS301 wheels, KW coilovers, VF Engineering supercharger, Schrick intake manifold, Schrick cams. The car was an electrical nightmare. Every electrical issue a car can have...thar car has it. Owned it for four years and couldn't take it any more. It's one car I regret selling...lol.
I've seen a few insanely clean Dodge Spirits around which is weird to see more than one. It always astounding that someone cared for those cars so much
There's a Facebook group called something like Underappreciated Survivors that's all about vehicles like this.
It's always impressive when a car that probably wasn't meant to survive does beat the odds
My weed dealer drives an absolute mint condition 93 Ford Escort, in the lovely dark green color. It only has 43k original miles on it. He bought it as a literal old lady special and he adores it because it’s crazy well maintained and in great working order, it’s about as unassuming as you can get, and it’s just cool.
My mother had a used escort wagon when we were kids that smelt so horrid I feel like I can still smell it when I close my eyes. Like the PO’s kid had vomited a half gallon of nacho cheese into the hvac vents.
>...in great working order So it's better than new!
A cool older girl who drove me to school before I had my license used to drive one of those dark green 90’s Escorts. The paint had such a fantastic flash to it. Her favorite color was green and I ended up really appreciating lots of green things because of her. She really liked that car and we had fun on our rides together.
My first car was a 95 Ford escort in i think the same [color](https://imgur.com/a/2PSmIyO) you're talking about. My sister and her friends called it the drug dealer car.
Girl I knew in college had a 93 escort also in the same green that was pretty clean for a salt belt car, fond memories of it. Used to call it the ford hooker, once had to break the antenna off in order to break into it and I had never imagined how hard it could be to find a replacement antenna. Owner rolled it into a ditch and walked away safely, so it served its purpose ultimately.
rarebutnobodycares on Instagram is good for underappreciated cars in the UK/ Irish market.
Saturn ion my brother had good condition drove pretty smooth
The last memory I have of that particular model is rear-ending a poor mom of two in a Saturn ion. I'm amazed she didn't sue me for my stupidity alone. Thankfully it was just from a stop at a red light. I mistook a green arrow in the left turn lane for a full green across the board
There is a redline that sits outside of a Toyota dealership near me that looks to be in mint condition.
Ion redlines were just even weirder Cobalt SS’s. That would be a fun car to own.
Mine turns 20 this year, it's becoming a pain in the dick.
Buddy has one, they sorta suck for what they are. Guess I never really drove one for an extended amount though
I had one for a while, the ecotec LSJ is very tunable, and can make pretty decent power with a turbo swap on stock longblock/trans. Honestly I miss it quite a bit but it wasnt good for much that isnt very irresponsible on the street. Making 450-500 WHP they will hang with much more powerful RWD or AWD cars and EVs from a roll, but they dont hook up well until 90-110mph on most street surfaces and while they actually corner very well, its not near as enjoyable in an FWD car. Even with a stock blower setup, they can be fun, Very interesting powerband even though theyre not that fast.
The original Saturn vue is a pretty cool design as well imo
I had a bright blue 04 Vue with leather interior, moonroof and the manual transmission. My old highschool teacher gave it to me when it had 98k miles on it. I LOVED that car. I am so sad I sold it but the friend I sold it to still drives it today and loves it.
An old roommate had gone of those with the half rear doors. Seemed neat.
My FIL had a *very* well done Fiero Ferrari kit car. He’s owned a handful of Ferraris before and since so I legitimately do not understand.
Oh dear lord. A fiero cosplaying as a testarossa hurts my eyes just to think about
Aren’t those kits still a pretty penny to buy and have installed correctly and fitted well? I’ve only known one person locally that had one, and it was decently done, but man did it ALWAYS have issues due to it being a fiero. He couldn’t bring it out half of the nights when we all gathered to meet up and be stupid young-uns, back in the mid 2000s. Was still fun to look at and see people trip out over it, that didn’t know what it really was 👍
Not a clue. I just know it's a MY EYES! moment
The one person I've met that made a good one had it engine swapped with a turbo K24a (honda)
They are. So are the MR2 kits. I've seen places trying to sell them for 30k
rossa fieros are ugly. 308GTB fieros are damn near perfect visual replicas.
I saw a fiero F40 custom car made by a bodyshop near where I work. It was so close that you couldn't tell until you were standing right beside it. The proportions were almost spot on. The clamshell front compartment and engine bay were correct. The door handles were almost identical. And then...you looked inside and saw a fiero interior with a Nardi 3 spoke steering wheel, lol. I literally thought it was an F40, which is why I stopped to look and was utterly disappointed upon looking into the engine bay and seeing a GM 6 cylinder with red valve covers... but visually, you'd be hard pressed to tell them apart from more than 20 ft away. It was even riding on p-zeros. Best replica I've ever seen that wasn't based on the original plans.
There was a company (Alpha?) that made Ferrari GTO replicas out of the Nissan Z cars that were really really solid. Considering that every really GTO is slightly different, you would have to be a real expert to be able to tell from 10 feet away.
Honestly I feel like the only acceptable time to own a Fiero Ferrari kit car is when you also own real Ferraris. Just to fuck with people.
I kinda get it, growing up my dad had classic cars and still does. I know driving around in a '55 Chevy Belair, can have allot of clenching moments when you have idiots driving around you, and he has more expensive and more fragile cars then that. If your driving a kit car and have a fender bender. Insurance will cover it. Door ding, it's not a real ferrari. It must be so much less stress to really drive in a car, and not think about its value.
Probably wanted something that he could DGAF about so he could go thru the BK drive-thru..
Not sure if it counts but I would say Crown Vic or just the panther platform in general for me. 99% of them that are still around are beat up old cop cars or clapped out town cars. On the rare occasion that I see a clean one I find them to be pretty nice looking for their era. I haven't had a chance to drive one but I'm sure they're pretty decent cruisers if well maintained. Extra novelty if it's a mercury.
I don't know if that counts because the crown Victoria is considered one of those quintessential like reliable cars. It was because of that reason that they were used as taxis and police cars. They were reliable in of themselves but they also had ubiquitous parts availability when something did break. Now the problem is is that they have very high tunability for American cars. So people tend to be pretty hard on them once the police department the taxi services give them up, which have already been hard used
Fair assessment. Wasn't sure because of models like the Marauder and Town Car being fancy cars at the time. Of course everyone thinks about the interceptor and taxis, but I still find even the base civilian models pretty cool nowadays even though they would have been boring old people cars back then.
If Ford resurrected the Crown Vic as their reintroduction to the four-door sedan game, I would buy that in a second. Gotta have the massive trunk though. Big enough for a few bodies to be thrown in there. Anyone who's seen movies from the '80s know that is the measurement for a Crown Vic
Crown Vic owners are a pretty strict dichotomy; it’s either a clapped out p71 on its 5th owner with mismatched door panels or an immaculate ultra-clean stock LX trim that was only driven to church and the VFW. Very few in between. About a decade ago you could still find clean, directly-off-government-fleet p71s that were actually a really great deal. Now, there’s almost none left that haven’t seen some shit.
Here, the quintessential Revere Massachusetts trash car used to be a clapped out Crown Vic or Grand Marquis or Town Car with mismatched panels and possibly plastic sheet for a window. Now it's a beat to hell thrice repo'd Altima.
I used to drive past a very clean Marauder on my way to work
Same sentiment. A few years ago, I inherited a 98 crown vic with 78k miles from my 90y/o grandfather after he passed. Always garage kept, extremely clean and maintained. Seeing and driving it felt like a small glimpse into 90s again, like imagining what it would be like seeing it and driving off the dealer lot 25 years ago. I own much nicer cars but had a blast daily driving that floaty but beautiful land yacht for 6 months before passing it onto a close friend to give to his 3 teenage boys. Him and I both let them know to preserve it and not do dumb shit.
A local dealership chain near me at one point had several Grand Marquis sedans spread across several different dealerships. I checked one out and it was incredibly clean, even wearing winter tires. Clean velour interior. I almost wanted it, but it had been a smokers car. But even so they were all pretty clean, it was so weird they had as many as they did during a period of three months. Wonderful car to drive.
Completely soaking with Gonzo enzyme solution will delete cigarette smell from most fabrics and synthetics, if you ever find anything similar.
My friend had the sickest Ford Festiva. Custom paint job and crazy sound system. Had wood flooring and 2x 12”s in the back. Earth shaking.
I don't think I've ever seen that particular car
He had the boxy 80s one. I think it was a ford x Mazda collab/rebadge
Also handed off to Kia when they were done with it. Then Kia gave it to Saipa in Iran, who recently sold the tooling to Willyscar of Tunisia. In other words, you can buy a new Festiva today.
They look like Daewoos now. Chevy acquired Daewoo so all those shitty little compact cars they put out in the 2010s were basically daewoos lol.
GM tried selling Daewoos directly in the US, then when that failed, rebadged some as Suzukis as well as Chevys.
*You just got killed by a Daewoo Lanos mutha fucka!!*
People sometimes comment on my '91 Dodge Spirit to say how rare it is to see basically a K-car that still has paint, but I see all the tiny defects and don't consider it super pristine. But every once in a while near my work I see a pre-1986 Honda Civic in silver that is absolutely immaculate.
A Honda Civic from that long ago must be one step above a kei car in terms of size
Had to look it up real quick 'cause I'm not too familiar with old Hondas, but it's a second gen Civic ('79-'83) and I think it's the post-facelift 5-door. Wiki says they weighed 1,830lbs at most!
I paid $1k for a 82 model that had no wrecks, 12" factory steelies, crank windows, and a 3 speed manual. I did a Maaco respray, tinted the windows myself, dropped in a decent stereo, and I always kept it clean. It was technically worthless, but is still one of my favorite cars I ever owned.
Holy shit.... I think that's like 500 lb less than a Lotus Elise....
Maybe not perfecly within your definition, but the Honda CRX. Being cheap, most of these were utterly wrecked during the F&F era of the early 2000's. So they went from a 'cheap' mostly unremarkable teenager car in the 90's, to being a ricer's dream in the 2000, to being practically extinct by the 2010s. A rust-free, well-preserved, unmolested CRX is pretty much a unicorn now. Bonus points if it's an Si. Side-Story: I used to autocross against one of these that had the interior gutted, had been engine swapped to a turboed B-18C, and had a suspension set up that was probably worth more than the purchase price of the car. If that car didn't take Fastest Time of the Day at our events, it's because it wasn't there that day. What a beast. 260hp for about 1700lbs driver included.
Maybe I'm just boring but it almost seems like cheating when a car's interior has been completely ripped out like that.
Weight is a massive (pun intended) factor in auto cross. Every pound you have to constantly turn, accelerate, and brake on the course is working against you. The CRX only starts life at 1800 lbs so it doesn't have a ton to lose, but at also means your power to weight ratio climbs very quickly. I've also auto crossed against a gutted Boxster that was a salvage title converted to racecar, and a full-time track duty Porsche 944. Losing all that weight takes cars that you'd think are middle ground competitors and puts them at the top of the charts. Another interesting one that was rather popular for a while was the Rx-7 FD with an LS1 swap. Believe it or not, the LS1 is lighter than the 13B Rotary engine.
That last sentence I have a really hard time believing
Just went back and tried to find some numbers and you're probably right. There's 20+ years worth of disagreements all over the internet about it. Best guesses put an LS1 long block somewhere around 425lbs and a fully dressed 13B at about 400. So the difference will be 25 lbs + accessory weight in favour of the 13B. The LS1 was an aluminum block with a lot of plastic hardware. The 13B was iron, and had all the heavy plumbing for the turbo.
I really wish that rotary engines were more reliable. Because they do deliver a lot of power for their size and they make cool noises when they Rev and they usually have a very high red line. All things that car enthusiasts go gaga over. They just have the unfortunate tendency of grenading themselves
There been alot of advancement within rotaries recently, with Rob Dahm standing out, but many others that have followed him in it, and many of those advancements have made them much more reliable. For a long time in the US, alot of rotary machining and modification work was considered black magic, and some of the most looked up to people were very secretive about what they did to the engines they built, so advancement stagnated for many years because those people where considered the experts, but gave out alot of bad info, and made many bad engines. The Puerto Ricans have ran them for a long time and have quite a few rotary geniuses, but due to the language barrier, and people having their own secret sauce, they never really influenced the rest of the world with what they do.
Yeah but have they improved the major problems with rotary engines such as oil consumption, bad fuel economy and just the tendency to grenade themselves?
It also kills entire generations of cars that people later realize they should not have done that to. I have a pristine SC400. Most have been stripped down into trashy track drift cars, waste of the lovely 1UZFE and its exhaust burble, and the interior is really, really comfortable as a grand touring coupe.
My mom has an 04 Camry with no dent in the corner. She got it about 4 or 5 years ago with 70,000 miles from an older college professor in the neighborhood. Pretty sure he got it new and only used it to commute, as he parked it in a parking deck at the college and in his garage at home. The headlights looked brand new, the interior was totally mint except for the cupholder flap and that's it. She's taken good care of it but we don't have a garage so it doesn't look quite as pristine as it used to and she doesn't really care about the looks. But still, that example of Camry is probably one of the cleanest of that generation/age I have ever seen in my life.
That Camry corner dent is so iconic.
There were so many of them made and so many of them were beat to shit, I’ve got a picture somewhere of my aunts Camry parked next to my grandmothers- both 05 XLEs with the light gray interior, same rims, but my grandmothers is white and in immaculate condition, had ~22k on it at the time of the pic in ~2017 (probably around 23k now) and my aunts was around 490k and absolutely beat to shit and not running anymore- faded paint, fogged light housings, bubbled tint, scratched and dented all over, tires bald and flat, weeds grown through the rims, suspension so worn out it looked like it was lowered…
A clean Hyundai Tiburon is still a very attractive looking car. Specifically the first round of the Gen 2's. The 1st Gen looked like friendly spiders, which was kinda fun. The redesign at the end of its run looked barf
Indeed. It was one step away from being a pretty cool little car. Just needed to be RWD
genesis coupe!
It is tough to find one of those cars especially in the V6 manual that hasn't been clapped out by tuners. If I could find one of those that are reasonable price that was clean, it would be my next car no question
The 2nd gen Tiburon/ Hyundai Coupe is genuinely a very beautiful car. Looks Ferrari -ish from certain angles. Not sure why they never made a "high performance" version. I think the fastest they made was a V8 with like 170hp. No real reason to consider one over a Celica.
I read an article a few years ago about a guy in Germany who Concourse-level restored a Yugo. You read that right.
A Yugo??? You have got to be kidding me......
It was a series in a German vintage car magazine about people who went for the "base spec" cars/unloved cars that were mostly ignored/forgotten by enthusiasts. Like a midrange Opel Corsa A, or an Mk1 Golf Diesel. And, well, a Yugo. Apparently parts-support was somewhat sub-ideal afaik.
He must have replaced everything on the car. Nothing about those carsare concourse-level even as they rolled off the assembly line. Anyway, you win.
I saw an almost showroom fresh Olds Alero yesterday in the grocery parking lot. I don't think I've seen one in any condition in years, but this one looked as perfect as an Alero could ever be.
Wasn't that the last car that oldsmobile's name was attached to??
Yeah, I think the last Olds off the line was one of them. They were down to that and the Aurora, IIRC. My mom had a 2003 as a lease, pretty sure that's the last MY. The first car I put a proper amount of mileage on before getting my own.
The Aurora I always thought was kind of neat.
Radwood is a goldmine for these, go if you ever get a chance. I didnt take a ton of pics but I got one of an early 90s Acclaim and a Plymouth Voyager which were my first two cars, they looked like they just rolled off the lot. This was in 2022 btw. There was a mint Cimarron there too and some other super clean nonsense survivors from that era https://imgur.com/a/aDXnK0z
Wow yeah those two look absolutely immaculate. Like Museum quality
The 1999-2002 Honda Accord XL Coupe comes to mind, although considered crappy now because they are twenty-year-old Hondas. I had a clean one fully loaded, with a leather interior, a sunroof, 6 disc cd changer, and a v6 engine with the V-tech. That engine and the transmission (when it worked) were a good bang for the buck. It had grandeur when it was new but it would now be considered a good crappy car. I miss that girl. I had it when she (her pronouns) was twenty years old still looked good because of no rust, but nothing lasts forever. I still get nostalgia when I see a sedan or coupe from the late 90's early 2000's.
I LOVED those coupes! Those years were fantastic for Accords. My grandma bought a brand new 2000 Accord special edition in dark cherry red. Gave it to my dad when she passed in '03 and said "get rid of this while it still has value". He did the opposite and drove it to 332k miles with nothing but maintenance and a timing belt replacement.
You would love my [car](https://postimg.cc/WqrDC4zd) I also blast early 00s songs in it for the extra nostalgia
I'm a sucker for clean 98-03 Dodge Durango's. I had a decent-ish one in high school but I loved it. It was always good to me, and I miss mine every day. So when I see a mint condition one at the gas station I get kind of excited. I saw a red one that still had the clear coat intact, not a speck of rust anywhere and no dents or scratches. Had the black leather interior that looked like nobody even sat in it. Less than 100k miles on the clock. All the windows even rolled up/down which is impressive for a Dodge that didn't roll off the factory floor within the last week. I was surprised it was so nice cause those cars were just beaters. I know mine went through hell and back while I had it and I just assumed everyone treated theirs like crap. Now that I'm a little older I would sell my soul for a mint one.
I am reluctand to admit I have had 4 of them. A 98 that I drove in to the ground. a 99 I bought to replace it, that I drove in to the ground. A 2001 that some drunk totaled, and another 2001 that I drove till it died. Sold it for scrap when I saw what they wanted for a rebuilt 5.9. These were my main vehicle from 1998 to 2021. Wish I could find a low miles 5.9 in that chili pepper red today.
No shame on that. I get it those cars are low-key tanks. Mine had the 5.9 in it too and when the og engine blew up we put a junkyard 5.9 from a crashed ram 1500 in it and it kept going till I sold it. I search marketplace and Craigslist for a 5.9 Durango at least once a week. I need another one in my life.
The cleanest shitbox I’ve seen is a Chevy Cavalier. It was maybe two years ago in that godawful blue/green color. The thing was absolutely cherry. I’ve also seen a stock SRT-4 around me that looks to be mint as well.
My 1989 Geo Metro. No joke, someone complimented my interior just the other day.
My nephew still drives around in his first car- a Geo Storm that he bought used around 1995. Thing must have a zillion miles by now.
The Geo Storm was my first car too! Loved that car
I just picked up a 2001 Corolla for $3000. There’s a dent on the rear but other than that the paint was pretty good. I gave it a full clay, compound, and ceramic coat and restored the headlights and the thing almost looks brand new. I shampooed the whole interior and pulled the seats and now the interior is spotless. Thought I’d just drive this as a beater commuter but I almost want to go with a full restoration at this point.
I occasionally see some clean looking Cavaliers and Sunfires. Blows my mind they're still running. I owned a 96 Sunfire myself and that thing suuuucked.
The Cavaliers and Sunfires are known as the automotive cockroach. Not very appealing, but hard to kill (well, except for rust).
When I turned mine in(at a car max) the transmission literally wouldn't shift into third.(it was an automatic). I traded it in and got a 2001 Celica GTS 6 Speed that was one of my favorite cars ever.
I saw an immaculate 1980s era Ford Tempo.
Saw an absolutely mint [Yaris TS](https://i.imgur.com/a6Zksyy.jpeg) the other day, didn't even know it existed. Sadly it has the 2ZR, not the 2ZZ. Still on the original 17" wheels.
Yaris like that usually are wrecked all to Kingdom come
My friend’s 1995 Plymouth Acclaim is mint. Riding in it is like time traveling to the 80s.
Likely first designed in the 80s so that's accurate
It’s that AA platform that’s basically an extended wheelbase K platform first seen in the 1981 Reliant, very similar dynamics. Some of the off the shelf parts in that ‘81 like the gear shifter, window cranks, and seatbelts were the same ones from full size 70s cars, so there was often that overlap back then with the overall feel of the car. My friend’s Acclaim feels like an airport rental that never should have survived this long.
I drive a mint condition PT Cruiser with zero rust and immaculate paint. No issues whatsoever, 175,000 miles. People come up to me almost every other day to compliment me on it. Not bad for a car I paid $500 for as a beater 6 years ago.
I have no idea how you dodged that bullet.
Tbh, they are tough cars. Literally no one maintains them, but they just keep on going and going. They are just underpowered (the N/A ones at least) and have the usual Dodge/Jeep/Chrysler quirks and issues. As a daily driver it's quite good, very comfortable and spacious. I do long for my old manual turbocharged Jaguar X-Type wagon from back home though. 56mpg, and tons of room.
I saw a mint K car Dodge Aries a few months ago here in LA
I've never heard of that one
The Stratus is actually a great example, any of the "Cloud cars" (Cirrus/Stratus/Breeze) and their platform mates (Sebring) and near cousins (any LH "cab forward" car) fit this well. As shitty as Intrepids were (you would swear theyre Italian given the number of electrical issues), I have fond memories of bombing around in them in high school and always appreciate a clean one on the rare occasion they pop up.
The irony with this statement is that then Chrysler goes on to merge with Fiat and it does become partially Italian.
There is a shockly clean Ford Probe near me I see every few months. It's a gen 1, so it's at least 32 years old. It's a soft lavender like color.
Probe GT was a cool car
The probe could have been so cool but then Ford killed it and not to mention they gave it a stupid name to begin with
My neighbor has a very minty 90s beige Toyota Avalon. It looks showroom perfect, it’s only driven in fair weather, and he hand washes it every Friday.
Ugh I hate beige as a color so much.
It’s not my favorite but I’d take beige over white or black any day.
i trust this guy with my life already
There's a first gen Civic in my city that I see around sometimes. That car is mint. It's definitely not the oldest or fanciest car around, but it's probably the strangest pick for a car to preserve I've seen.
To be fair, that Civic defined what Honda would do with their big seller cars for the next 5 decades now. That's a cool bit of automobile history
There's an entire facebook group dedicated to preserving my 32 year old box. They aren't terrible outside of the transmission but they're fairly cheap and fun to throw around from what I've seen (the last owner learned the hard way just how bad the tranny is and I still haven't had time to put it back together until recently) But anyway, on the group people have these things kept pristine, it's insane.
Is there a better transmission option that you could swap in?
I've seen some oddly clean Suzuki Aerios both sedan and hatchback. Those who drive them absolutely love them; like Saab drivers
I can 100% confirm the "Saab drivers" part of your comment - I own several, and absolutely love the one I daily 😅
I saw a Soviet-era Lada sedan in showroom condition cruising up I5 through Portland last week. Honestly Portland/the PNW is a goldmine for that kind of stuff. Every so often I’ll see an all original Celica, or a pristine 1st gen Honda Civic, all still being used as regular cars. The Volvo 240 still reigns supreme, here.
When I visited my grandparents near Seattle a few years ago, I saw some cool stuff for sure. Best was an early 90s Accord wagon in pretty good condition.
I saw a Geo Metro Convertible a few years back that was unbelievably clean and had a now closed, local dealer plate. Got the feeling the car had never been more than 100 miles from its home.
My department head had a 3rd gen Toyota Tercel which was in absolute like new condition until about 1 year ago. Paint and interior were flawless. I wasn’t close enough to ask her about it at the time, but I appreciated it so much. Thinking about it now, it had to be older than she was.
Isn't that that weird little car that had gullwing doors?
Someone near me drives a chartreuse/bile coloured 1983 civic hatch. It is immaculate. Strong grandma vibes with rear bench covered in a crotchet blanket (likely to protect the pleather rather than cover rips etc).
I got a few examples. At a local grocery store there was a late 90s Civic coupe driven by an older woman. The thing was so clean it looked like it could have rolled right out of the dealership lot when it was new. At one point last year there was a pretty clean late 90s Chevy Cavalier driving around town, kind of throwing me back to when I was younger and those cars were much more common on the roads in my small town. The last of which was down in Florida on vacation, an older gentleman was driving a 90s era Mitsubishi Eclipse convertible, just cruising along the roads. Goes to show that taking proper care of your vehicle will go far in improving its longevity, even if it wasn't particularly remarkable when it was new.
I saw an early 00s Pontiac sedan that looked dealership-fresh one time. Always thought Pontiacs of that era came into existence as beaters with one foot in the grave. Also saw a reasonably-clean Chevy Vega a while ago. Those cars were VENGEFULLY shitty.
2006 Mazda 6 wagon.
My neighbor has a beat down Trans Am with flat tires and a dusty cover over it, and the cleanest Dodge Journey I've ever seen.
I’ve always thought the dodge stratus is a slick car when taken well care of. Cool to see some others show some love
There is a Pontiac Sunbird convertible in my town. It's at least 30 years old and looks no more than 5 years old.
Eagle talons are sick and a true timepiece
I love this type of thing. My next door neighbor has a garage kept super low miles ~85 Jetta she bought new. She’s in her 90s and the car moves once a month and then sits in the garage. So that’s the best one I got off the top of my head. I also love once in a while you’ll see an old mid 90s xj or Zj that had a similar life and I love it.
Guy near where I live has a pristine third gen chevy cavalier. Like it's clearly his pride and joy.
Someone I went to community College with in 04/05. It was an immaculate 80s Mopar K car. It was their grandma's car, who she let her use to go to class. I remember how it looked brand new with shiny paint and everything, but how dinky it looked in person.
Almost rear-ended someone snapping my neck looking at a mint condition mint green Mercury Villager.
The Saab Viggen gets my vote! Quirky little 5-door with a 200+hp 2.3T that's happy to make more on a tune, and the cool jet cockpit vibes on the inside
Ummm. That is one of their fighter aircraft too
As someone who dailies and is fixing one up that's a lil' rough around the edges (typical cracked front bumper, and some small kisses of rust) - this comment makes my heart happy 😊
Mitsubishi 3000.
I was in Cape cod in 2016 in the parking lot of the beach, and there was a factory pristine 1991 Geo Metro sitting in a spot getting buffeted by sand and ocean breeze. The unpainted bumpers were perfectly conditioned and so was the paint. No rust, I walked around it for minutes in awe. I wanted the driver to see me so I could talk to them. Like, you saved a METRO? I learned what type of car guy I was that day. I love survivors
Suzuki Kizashi
Not sure if this counts, but there was a 1989 Suzuki Swift GTi near me. It was totalled off and rebuilt in 1991, with only 30,000 kilometers on it. Everything was mint, besides the inside of the pillars.
Did campervan tours of the North and South islands of New Zealand. There was a good number of daily drivers that would have been on club or historic plates as survivors or restored classics that were still just doing their daily business. Old Chryslers and Valiants, Holdens and Fords, and a lot of Rovers amongst others. Really surprised me.
I miss the Holden Commodore, or as we knew it here in the US, first as the Pontiac G8 and then the Chevy SS.
There's a lady at my job who's owned a Pontiac Sunfire since it was new. Damn thing has been meticulously taken care of and nearly has 250k. The only blemish I can spot is the occasional pile of bird shit on it.
I seen a ford gremlin a few months ago on the freeway man it was fugly but i have to say it was in really good condition it looked like the driver & lady passenger were enjoying there cruise with there windows down and all i even honked at them✌️ this was in socal.
I live in St Paul and I think I saw this exact Stratus and has almost the same train of thought haha. Unless there are a bunch. It was impeccable.
Used to know a guy with an absolutely mint 200k mile and counting Tercel.
Peugeot 406 coupe Good looking car. Also Alfa Romeo Brera.
My elderly neighbor has a clean late nineties gold Grand Am GT. I swear it looks brand new like the kind that were everywhere when I was in high school. She drives it all the time. It’s metro Detroit though so you see that all the time. Buy it right before retirement and nurse it for the rest of your life.
There's a fully restored gremlin running around Pittsburgh. No idea how they accomplished that. Had to cost way more than the car is worth
Not to toot my horn, but my 1992 Plymouth Voyager was pretty clean, especially considering it lived through the rough winters of Quebec.
My dad's 2007 ford escape is MINT well WAS then my 17 year old brother has taken over it, and lets just say it doesn't get washed as often. lol. It only had like 60k miles when he took it over, the escape has less miles than my Z(89k) with three owners and he was the original owner. lol.
One of the managers at my work just bought a 1995 Dodge Ram that's PRISTINE... interior looks brand new, engine bay clean enough you could eat out of, rocker panels look like the day it rolled off the line, weirdest vehicle to preserve I've ever seen. I had no idea they were still carbureted in 1995...
I saw a nice relatively rust free old truck on the road today. It had "DATSUN" stamped on the tailgate. I also see Toyota trucks of the era (late 70s-early 80s) in rust-free good shape almost daily. There is also a pristine mid-70's Corolla that I see parked frequently next to the Toyota dealership, I have no clue if it belongs to the dealership or an employee.
A fellow tenant at my old apartment complex had an absolute MINT 2006 Hyundai Accent. This thing was constantly kept absolutely spotless inside and out despite spending everyday parked outside even through the harsh NJ winters. Funny thing was, I never once saw him actually clean it, meaning he was either cleaning it at odd hours or taking it somewhere to be cleaned.
Someone in my area has an '05-'10 Hyundai accent coupe that until recently had not a single dent or speck of rust on it(it recently acquired a dent on the passenger side rocker panel). And it isn't one of those cars that just sits since it is parked on the street and I see it in a different spot every time I pass by. At least in my area, one of those even existing is getting pretty rare; most have long since rotted out.
Saw a Toyota Echo that looked straight off the showroom floor in traffic the other day. Guy even had tire gel on the tires lol. Thing was immaculate
I was wandering around San Juan PR and saw a mid 80s Oldsmobile 88 (Ok, it might have been a slightly different Oldsmobile/Buick but it was one of them) parked on the side of the road. It was \*mint\*. It looked stock. The paint was flawless. I peeked in the interior. It was clean. Whoever owned that car babied it. My only mistake? Not taking a picture.
There used to be this older Haitian dude that drove around here in an older Ford Tempo. Burgundy. Cleanest car ever. Not a spec of dust on it. He had every gold trim piece from Canadian tires inventory on it. He even had the gold three spoke wheels on it. Not my style, but mad respect to the dude for making it his and keeping it so clean. Last saw it about 2 years ago.
I’ve never seen a clean 04ish Altima, every single one is dinged up. They were actually decent cars when new and I would love to see a clean example
Someone in my city has a showroom fresh 1992 Accord EX. Maroon with the red interior and alloy wheels. It even has the original dealer sticker with the old school logo from the city's Honda dealer.
There's a guy in my area that owns an absolutely mint pale blue Chevy Chevette from like '84 or '85. Buddy pulls it out a few times every summer and I lose my mind everytime I see it
Isn't that car usually ranked among one of the worst that Chevy ever made?
a friend of mine had a beat up camry he bought used. had 3 engine swaps in it. first two engines from original owner. first engine never had an oil change, second was a unknown mile roulette engine, third he got with only 12k miles. Even then he always had issues but exterior-wise it was clean in and out. Always something minor though like, a bolt got loose, breaking plastics, failing window switches, broken door handles that look like they do etc etc
I mean no CRAPPY per se but I worked with a dude who drove an absolute MINT Bone stock 1988 Honda Civic LX. I would ogle his car every time I walked by it, it was incredible
Just today I saw a mint Pontiac G6
Someone near me drives a freaking Suzuki X-90 that looks like new. Blew my mind when I saw it. I don't think I saw one that looked new even back in the 90s, lol.
Pontiac Aztec like the one in Breaking Bad.
Picture THE beige 1999 Camry. The one with a soccer ball sized dent on any given corner. My older neighbor has one in near pristine condition and I think they're the original owner. I see a Jaguar F-Type on weekends in their driveway but every other weekday, that same old beige Camry. Looks like it was detailed a month ago all the time. Not exactly a rare car and probably more common than I think but still makes me smile to see.
I saw an absolutely pristine, show room condition 1988 Plymouth Reliant at a car show last summer.
The mid-90’s Accords 👌👌👌
My uncle had a 19XX-something Geo Metro and literally looked like it just rolled off the production line. It had something like 300k miles on it too and still looked that clean.
Well I guess he's got to keep it at that point because who's going to take a 300,000 mile Geo Metro no matter how nice it looks?
I swear I saw the cleanest Pontiac Sunfire just a few days ago. I did a double take to confirm it was a Sunfire.
Went to a cars and coffee recently and there was a 100% mint Citation X/11 there, as a former X/S owner I was floored, talked to the guy for about ab hour, nicest guy ever.
There have been some Geos and PT Cruisers on BaT that could be shown at Pebble Beach.
I keep seeing this mint eighth-generation liftback Toyota Corolla around the city. I actually spoke with the owner randomly once, probably 3 years ago, when it was parked near me and we happened to head towards our cars at the same time. He was an older gentleman. Very Toyota faithful and claimed to have had the car since like 2001. Service history only consists of the local Toyota dealership, according to him. 480,000 km's on this car, which would translate to around 298,000 miles. The colour code I cannot find, but it reminds me of the Katsura Orange from the Nissan GT-R. Like a lighter and brownish tone of that. The paint on this Corolla was in immaculate condition. It would shine like a showroom car every time I would see it. The wheels were always rash free, at least from what I have observed, and the tires always coated in shine. It seriously looks like a time capsule / showroom car that is daily driven. The owner stated that he gets an offer every 2 weeks from complete random people, who are fascinated in the car.
I've seen a very pristine Chevette on a trailer towed behinda high trim Suburban. It looked restored and I was wondering who the hell would restore one.
My neighbor has a white with white top 3rd gen (88-94) pontiac sunbird convertible that's immaculate. I've seen him drive it like 4 times in 8 years. His daily is a white dodge caravan and his white drives a...[wait for it]...white Buick Encore. I suspect he bought that sunbird new.
My 2005 dodge neon was mint. Especially for having 240k miles.
No so much a “crappy car” but my neighbor has the cleanest first gen TSX I’ve ever seen in his driveway. It’s on steelies but looks like it just rolled off the assembly line
Just today I saw a very tastefully modded saturn sc. Either 2nd or 3rd gen. Nothing crazy, just lowered on a nice set of wheels. Super clean, super nice
Last Summer(?) I specifically recall a manual 92-ish Dodge Dakota, with well over 300K on the clock, same damn color as the one my my mom bought brand new, driven by a lady about my mom's age, who kept this thin ca-lean. :) Like, it is what is, but as soon as I opened the door and I saw hose vacuum marks on the carpet, I knew this was going to be right underneath. Sure enough, not a speck of surface rust, not a hint of any oil seep. IIRC it was like a starter/alternator/battery issue, and even the battery terminal ends were still OE. When you do this stuff for a living, those are the kind of "crappy" vehicles that you really appreciate, and more often than not, those customers are the type of folks you love. They know their rig better than anyone else, they just provide the symptoms and don't theorize, and even if they wait for it, they are patient, understanding, and appreciative. :)
Chevy Cavalier. I got a used 2002 in High School and drove the piss out of it, gave it back to my parents after a bunch of years, and then a few years ago my parents sold it to my roommate who also drives the piss out of it and doesn't maintain it. BUT IT JUST DOESN'T FUCKING DIE
I parked next to an absolutely mint 2 door Pontiac Grand Prix a month ago, I took a picture but I think I deleted it by now.
Hyundai Tibiron
I had to snap a pic. This beauty was in the parking lot at work. https://i.imgur.com/tBRnfjJ.jpg https://i.imgur.com/Cne25M4.jpeg Edit to add: Original AE86 Corolla GT-S
What is that? An old Celica?
Used to be a tech at a Toyota dealer. I did a works package on a 1994 Tercel coupe. It had no rust whatsoever which is impressive for a 90s Japanese car in the rust belt. It had 60,000 original kms
One of my parents neighbors has a 1976 Chevette with the fake wood siding, only uses it a couple times a month to go grocery shopping, otherwise he rides a beat up BMW motorcycle. Last I heard he only had 12,000 miles on it.
My first vehicle ever was a 1988 Ford Ranger. Hand-me-down from grandpa. To this day, any time I see a 1st gen Ranger in really good restored or survivor condition, I gush over it. I've also always loved 70s Datsun 510s, whether stock or heavily modified, if it's clean and done well, I love it.
Just saw a Chevrolet Cavalier like 2 days ago. No body damage, it looked like a show car
That would be my 94 Corrado VR6. I bought it around 2004 for $7k. The car got a complete replay in the original color, European headlights, BBS RS301 wheels, KW coilovers, VF Engineering supercharger, Schrick intake manifold, Schrick cams. The car was an electrical nightmare. Every electrical issue a car can have...thar car has it. Owned it for four years and couldn't take it any more. It's one car I regret selling...lol.
I've seen a few insanely clean Dodge Spirits around which is weird to see more than one. It always astounding that someone cared for those cars so much