Hammer Time: Let's Party Like It's 1989

Steven Lang
by Steven Lang

Wake up. Have breakfast. Head off to work. Wait… you need to put on some decent clothes for goodness sake! You’re not a teenager anymore.

You put on the finest thrift store clothes you can find and head off to your car and… wow! Who put a Delorean with a flux capacitor and gullwing doors on your driveway?

Weren’t these supposed to be the ride of the future at some point? After watching an old guy and a young dude head off to your friend Biff’s soon to be foreclosed home, you get a twinkling thought that quickly becomes a ‘gotta do’.

“I wonder if I can go back in time and trade this thing in on something nice.” Hey, no one said you were smart.

You quickly go to the bank and get out $53,000 (approximately $100k in today’s dollars but who’s counting?) After quickly buckling your seat belt, you set the date Novermber 5, 1989 and blast off into a dimension that is named in honor of Steven Spielberg.

You’re back in 1989 time with Huey Lewis & The News providing the audio for your journey. After a brief stop to buy some brand new MC Hammer pants you find an enormous auto park.

You name the brand and it’s there; from Acura to Yugo. Heck there’s even a Winnebago dealership in the back with this guy making a bit of history.

What will you buy?

There is a lot to choose from. The Mazda Miata. A Lexus LS400, an E-Class Mercedes (sorry no S-Class since the price is too high). You can go to an Infiniti dealership with a babbling brook and get yourself a Q-Ship. Or get a 300ZX Turbo with enough left over to upgrade the circa 1989 stereo system.

What will you get? Oh and don’t worry about the return trip. That flux capacitor on the DeLorean can be easily removed and installed on your new ride. Just use the Clapper.

Steven Lang
Steven Lang

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  • PeugeotHound PeugeotHound on Aug 17, 2011

    Top choice for me, no surprise, would be a Peugeot 405 Mi16, followed closely by an Alfa Romeo Milano 3.0.

  • BOF BOF on Aug 17, 2011

    I'll take a brand new 1990 Buick Estate Wagon or Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser off the showroom floor, thank you! This was the last year for the box B-body wagons. These were quite rare when new and you don't see many around anymore. Wagons in general need to make a comeback!

  • Corey Lewis For those who would enjoy some long-form Wagoneer video content, Vice Grip Garage has an installment on a 1967 model with an interesting combination: The Buick Dauntless V8 and a three-on-the-tree manual.Derek incorrectly cites in the video that the Dauntless arrived in 1968, it was actually 1966 ( Directory Index: Jeep/1966_Jeep/1966_Jeep_Wagoneer_Brochure). Likely he looked at the Wiki, which is incorrect. However, he is correct in saying the V8 would've been paired only to an automatic transmission. This three-speed manual Borg Warner with V8 was a hurried build with what was available, or some sort of special order at the time. What surprised me was the incredible smoothness of the ancient Buick V8.https://youtu.be/hXu4MS-IKsk?si=dVd-E8hHGtCiQW2Z
  • Slavuta --------- 1990 Honda Prelude -- 2026 Honda PreludeWeight 2,700 lbs -- 3,242 lbsEngine 2.0L inline-four, 135 hp -- 2.0L hybrid inline-four, 200 hpTorque 130 lb-ft -- 232 lb-ft0-60 mph 7.5 seconds --- 6.5 secondsQuarter Mile 15.4 seconds --- 15.3 seconds---Basically, with all the refinements, only marginal gain in performance. But I am sure that there is huge loss of feel.
  • Slavuta The whole point of a car like this is the manual transmission. Rest is history
  • Buickman Bag Man Wheels
  • The Ayatollah of Rock n Rolla For $4000 more you can get the Civic Type-R which has 100 more HP, a legit manual transmission, and is much more practical for every day driving. They decided to make a less practical car with none of the benefits of being less practical. People don't buy sporty coupes for economy. They buy them for style and performance. Neutering this thing with less horsepower and less fun due to the omission of a proper manual is the dumbest move I've seen Honda ever do. They'll probably say they did it to not cannibalize type-R sales, but really, the two models would appeal to two different buyers if their specs were comparable. The Civic would appeal to the 30 something dads who want something practical but still fun. The Prelude would appeal to the 20 something single guys, as well as the 40 something empty nesters who no longer require the practicality and want something fun.Way to completely miss the mark Honda. What's next? Gonna reintroduce the S2000 as an EV using the Nissan Leaf powertrain?
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