#FamilyCars
Rare Rides: A Nearly-new 1997 Buick Skylark Coupe
When was the last time you saw a Nineties Skylark? More relevant to today’s subject, when did you last see one in showroom condition? The answer to the latter question is probably during the Clinton administration.
But here we are in the just wonderful year of 2020, and somehow a stunning late model Skylark has survived. Let’s take a look.
Buy/Drive/Burn: European Luxury Wagons in 2020
Checking through the Buy/Drive/Burn archives, we’ve considered three sets of wagons previously: American wagons of the Seventies, Japanese wagons of the Nineties, and European wagons of 2004.
But Americans have more European luxury wagon choices in this, the Awesome Year of 2020 than in the decade and a half prior. So let’s revisit the discussion.
The 2020 Audi A6 Allroad, Did You Realize It's On Sale Now?
It’s an occasion worthy of a future “Rare Rides” label when the North American market is graced with a new large wagon. Only a few of the breed are for sale presently, and that quantity has remained largely unchanged since the late 1990s.
Audi is selling two new ones this year, but they don’t seem to be on anyone’s mind. Not even the wagon-loving car journalists.
Rare Rides: An Ultra Brown 1984 Oldsmobile Firenza Cruiser
In the Eighties, did you seek a compact car with the highest possible number of lamps at the front? If so, the choice was clear in ’84: Oldsmobile Firenza.
Rare Rides: The Most Excellent 1992 Oldsmobile Bravada
Today’s Rare Ride represents a landmark for the Oldsmobile brand and a somewhat unsuccessful luxury badge experiment for General Motors.
Let’s check out the rarely seen first-generation Oldsmobile Bravada.
Rare Rides: A 1999 Dodge Durango Shelby SP-360, a Subtle Family SUV
Rare Rides has featured a few examples of Dodge vehicles which were breathed upon by the legendary Carroll Shelby. We add another entry to the file today, with the largest and most powerful Shelby featured here to date.
It’s a Durango Shelby SP-360 from 1999.
Rare Rides: A Pristine 1996 Oldsmobile LSS Guarantees Sports Luxury Enjoyment
An oft-overlooked offering in Oldsmobile’s product catalog, the LSS was available for a few short years as the Rocket brand headed toward closure. Comfort and sporty driving appeal awaited its customers then, and still awaits you today.
Come along as we learn about this very beige supercharged sedan.
Rare Rides: A 1986 Peugeot 505 Wagon - French and Turbocharged
Rare Rides has featured a couple of Peugeot cars in previous entries. From the Nineties was the sporty front-drive 405 Mi16, which had the honor of being the last Peugeot model sold in the United States.
We also featured a Seventies Peugeot: The graceful 504, which was predecessor to today’s 505.
Rare Rides: The 2003 Lancia Thesis - Questionable Styling and Legality Comes Standard
Rare Rides occasionally features vehicles that have somehow slipped through the 25-year importation net and exist in this country as illegal immigrants. First up was a little Citroën Picasso hatchback from Arizona, and more recently we featured a bright orange Fiat Barchetta from Florida.
Today we venture into illegality once more, with the luxurious and beautiful Lancia Thesis from 2003.
Rare Rides: The 1986 Pontiac Grand Prix 2+2, Not Actually Named Aerocoupe
Rare Rides: A 1986 Chevrolet Celebrity Eurosport Cabriolet - Ultimate Rarity Assured
Today’s Rare Ride is quite possibly the rarest Chevrolet Celebrity ever made. And it’s also, possibly, one of those cases where rare does not equal desirable.
Rare Rides: The Practical and Luxurious 1979 Mercury Zephyr Villager
Today’s Rare Ride comes from a time when the family wagon segment was alive and well and Ford was eager to use its brand new Fox platform on as many vehicles as possible.
Presenting the wood-clad Mercury Zephyr Villager wagon, from 1979.
Rare Rides: The 1948 Willys-Overland Station Wagon - the First SUV?
Rare Rides has featured a classic Jeep previously, with the Kaiser-Jeep-produced Jeepster Commando. While that model was eventually succeeded by the Jeep Cherokee, today’s Rare Ride was predecessor to the Wagoneer.
Let’s learn about a seven-seat SUV from 1948: the Willys Overland Station Wagon.
Rare Rides: The 1986 Chrysler Town & Country Wagon - Adventures in Vinyl
Rare Rides previously featured the last rear-drive Town & Country wagon, a model closely related to the sturdy and reliable M-body Dodge Diplomat. Today’s wagon is a sign of its times: It’s front-drive, efficient, and based on the K-car platform (like 98 percent of Chrysler’s offerings for the years 1981 through 1995).
Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
Rare Rides: The 1994 Ford Aerostar - Better in Brown
Much like our recently presented Tempo, today’s Ford is a well-kept oddity that’s already considered a classic due to its age. A ho-hum family van, the Aerostar was the sort of vehicle that got well-used and (usually) rusted by its eighth birthday.
Today’s short-wheelbase beauty, however, made it to 26.
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