We’re going to start off the week with two examples of the vehicles that took over the roads in the 1990s: SUVs. We have the best-selling SUV, and what I suspect is probably the worst. One is incredibly useful, and the other, well, isn’t. Which one is the better deal all these years later is up to you.
On Friday, we stepped up in price a bit to look at a couple of sporty liftback coupes. I expected the Celica to run away with it; RWD plus a bulletproof engine seemed like a winning formula. But the vote ended up being extremely close, and as of this writing, the VW Scirocco is actually eleven votes ahead.
You know it has to be the Scirocco for me. I greatly prefer the Mk1 bodystyle, but the Mk2 drives pretty much the same, and it’s still a good-looking car. Is this example worth the asking price? I can’t be sure without seeing it in person, but I don’t think it’s too far off. I wish a good Scirocco wasn’t a $7,500 car these days, but alas.
The 1990s saw the rise of two things that pretty well changed the landscape of the entire US: the internet, and SUVs. (Some of us were hopeful for a while that the Spin Doctors would be the third thing that changed everything, but it didn’t pan out.) SUVs were around as early as the 1960s, but around 1989-1990 they really hit their stride as family vehicles, when nearly every manufacturer started offering a four-door model at the same time – except Jeep, which had already been doing it for years. Four-door SUVs took over minivan and wagon duties, while smaller two-door SUVs were seen as the fun choice. Today, we’re going to look back at both ends of the spectrum: a nice practical four-door, and a truly frivolous two-door. Here they are.
1992 Ford Explorer Eddie Bauer – $6,000
Engine/drivetrain: 4.0-liter OHV V6, five-speed manual, 4WD
Location: San Rafael, CA
Odometer reading: 177,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
Ford has a long history of partnering with designer brands to create special editions of its cars. Back in the 1970s, a whole line of Lincoln Continental Mark IVs were offered, with trim and paint chosen by various fashion designers. Ford teamed up with tennis outfitter FILA for a special-edition Thunderbird in 1984. And starting in the mid-’80s, the top-of-the-line Ford trucks came with branding from upscale outdoor clothier Eddie Bauer. And just to make sure everyone knew you splashed out for the expensive version, all the Eddie Bauer Fords were two-tone, with beige along the bottom.
Eddie Bauer Explorers weren’t all that uncommon, and for the first few years quite a few Explorers came with manual transmissions, but the combination of the Eddie Bauer trim and a manual is pretty rare. Not many high-end buyers wanted to shift their own gears. Like all first-generation Explorers, the engine in front of it is a 4.0-liter Cologne V6, a stout but thirsty engine that no one would accuse of being overpowered, but it gets the job done. The seller says this one runs “amazing,” and that with the addition of new tires and some suspension bushings, it drives well, too.
Leather seats and power everything were hallmarks of the Eddie Bauer trucks, and this Explorer is no exception. We don’t get a great look at the interior, but what we can see looks good. Explorers tended to hold up a bit better inside than their Chevy Blazer counterparts; seeing one that’s truly trashed inside is rare. The seller proudly proclaims that everything works in this one, but I’d still test it all out before handing over your money.
It has been a Western car all its life, spending time in Washington and Idaho before coming to California, so it has been spared the horrors of road salt. Midwestern Explorers all had rust holes just above those fancy fiberglass running boards after ten years or so. The paint looks nice and shiny, in a very ’90s teal that goes well with the beige.
1996 Suzuki X-90 – $5,900
Engine/drivetrain: 1.6-liter OHC inline 4, five-speed manual, 4WD
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Odometer reading: 100,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
I would like to have been in the room for the pitch meeting when this car was created. “You know that Vitara SUV we sell? What if we turned it into a sports car? We’ll put a stubby little trunk lid on it, add T-tops, and make it a two-seater! You know, like a Miata, but off-road capable! It’ll sell like crazy! We can’t miss!” Only, you know, in Japanese. (Spoiler alert: It didn’t sell like crazy.)
The X-90 was only available for three model years, and Suzuki only managed to move about seven thousand of them here in the US. All were powered by the same engine, a 1.6-liter four-cylinder backed by either a five-speed manual or a four-speed automatic. This one has the manual, along with an old-school 4WD system with a dual-range transfer case. It runs and drives well, the seller says, and breezed through Pennsylvania inspections last year. (It now wears classic plates, so it wasn’t inspected this year.)
Like any good cheap-and-cheerful ’90s car, it has wild seat fabric, carrying over into the door panels. It’s a little worn, and there’s a small cut in the driver’s seat. The driver’s door panel is delaminating, but that’s not uncommon for cars this age. The seller says the T-top seals are leak-free, which is a nice bonus.
It’s kind of a mixed bag outside. Most of the paint is decent, but the bumpers have been painted black, as well as the grille and part of the hood. I have no idea why. It also has some pretty serious dents in the right front fender. But as rare as these are, if you really want one and aren’t willing to pay auction-site prices, you may have to put up with a little scruffiness.
Both of these could be fun to drive, in their own way, but one of them is a whole lot more practical than the other. But then again, T-tops. I guess it all depends what you’re looking for. So what do you think: will it be the best-seller with the rare stickshift, or the funny little failed experiment?
Those Exploders were everywhere in the 90s and there’s a reason you don’t see them much anymore, outside of sketch used lots
reality is you don’t see much of anything early 90s vehicles anymore, regardless of brand and model unless it’s a collectable or highly sought after vehicle like a Toyota Pickup or a CR-X.
The Explorer is a family hauler, almost nobody cared what they looked like after 10 yrs of children hauling duty and 2-3 owners, let alone almost 35 years later. This one has a manual, so the weakest mechanical link (transmission) has been addressed. I think both are overpriced but the Explorer looks in much better condition than the newer, lower mileage Suzuki so that won me over.
Yeah fair enough, but in the 90s those Explorers were pieces of shit and in the 2000s they were garbage used cars. Now I guess any around today are decent due to survival of the fittest?
The Explorer is a “practical” vehicle that today really only fits “practical” for a pretty narrow niche.
The Suzuki is an entertainingly ridiculous vehicle that absolutely nails “entertainingly ridiculous”
Man, tough call. The X90 that offers no new capability over my Tracker, and looks worse, BUT, it would make a good parts rig for the Tracker. Or get the also cool Explorer that I would hardly ever drive, but would do some jobs my Tracker can’t
The Suzuki has too much fun styling not to get my vote today. The Explorer is probably the safe bet, but even the Eddie Bauer edition feels expensive (are these classics now?).
I was just thinking the other day that the styling of this generation of Explorer was an exercise in making clonazepam-flavored oatmeal. Even a good color can’t fully save it.
The Suzuki remains delightfully bonkers, despite being from the rust belt.
Everyone’s favorite Car Guy is behind the Explorer….It’s one of the Bob Lutz hit parade
Is that meant to elevate the Explorer or condemn Lutz?
Open to interpretation
I find both to be interesting. But I’ll go with the Suzuki since it has lower mileage, likely cheaper to operate and I have no need for a vehicle as large as that Explorer.
The Explorer having the manual addresses one of the primary weak points in the first gen Explorer’s drivetrain: the automatic. The fact that it is in nice condition is icing on the cake. If it had the manual transfer case, I’d be on a plane to California right now.
Spending $6K on either of these 30+ year old cars would be foolish
Can we put down the crack pipe and get back to shitboxes?
(Squints suspiciously at the Ford) There is NO WAY that a 90’s Ford doesn’t have a leather driver’s seat that isn’t cracked and split to hell!
My heart says Suzuki while my brain says to go for the California Explorer. I also like the Eddie Bauer styling. Gas prices are up, so the heart wins.
I was on the fence until I thought about spare parts. I immediately fell off onto the Ford side.
Fair. It is that kind of a day where the small things make the difference.
Suzuki is definitely more fun. I had a 5-speed 4X4 Tracker for about 9 years. This would be a lot more fun at a beach.
X-90 today.
The Ford is extremely practical, in great shape, and a good price, but I’d rather have fun and the Suzuki will deliver that in spades.
I was going to say X-90 but the Explorer is a steal at that price.
Those X-90s always looked like a bucket of monkeys.
That Explorer is a gorgeous survivor and I would love to have it, except that the use I would put it to (cheap second car) would take its toll on it quickly. Between sitting around, hauling duties, and snow-driving, I doubt it would look as pretty after a couple years of benign neglect. It’s a shame, really. I love that 90’s teal and the 5-speed makes it a rare bird.
So little, purple Suzuki runabout it is. Wildly impractical, but good for when the daily driver is in the shop or when it snows. And I wouldn’t feel guilty about picking up a little road salt or a couple more dings in the fenders as time goes by.
In my head, cars from the 1990s, yeah, about 20 years old.
No, that Exploder is turning 34.
I voted for the Suzuki. Why? Because the X90 is one of the stupidest, worst, most ill-advised vehicles ever made. The part of me that unironically wants a Yugo also wants an X90. I like vehicles that are footnotes in automotive history. In history, the villains are often more interesting than the heroes.
I also like the Explorer and might have voted for it it weren’t an Eddie Bauer edition. I always thought it was weird that the “fancy” Explorer is an explorer with leather interior and a bunch of cheap bolt-ons. If this were a regular ’92 Explorer with a manual transmission in this condition for this price, I might have voted for it.
I go the other way. My frustration has always been that when manual transmissions are (were) available, they were only on the stripped-down base model (Mazda 3 excepted). As someone who always preferred a nicely optioned car but insisted on a manual, this eliminated a huge number of cars from my shopping list. I’m giving Ford credit for offering the MT in their top-line spec.
I voted for the purple one cuz it looks like a fun, impractical vehicle, and then I realized I have enough of those already taking up space. Intrigued by the 5 speed Explorer. I assume it drives like my long-gone 5 speed Ranger which was fine, hopefully better than the still-around 4 speed F-250 which is like driving an old farm tractor.
X-90! one of my favorite cars
Going with ugly and uncommon over staid and boring. I drove both my ex-girlfriend’s and my parents’ Explorers back in the day and although they were very practical, they were also very boring. The MT is certainly a draw but not enough to counter the rest of the boringness. Nowadays, “practical” is less of a concern and the Suzuki would be the perfect thing to travel up fire roads to get to good day hikes. It would also be easier to park when heading downtown, for what that’s worth.
As the site Explorer apologist, the Eddie Bauer (my favorite trim) gets the easy win. Both are certainly overpriced, but where the Explorer is just well maintained, the X90 seems like to had a series of good owners and then recently nothing but bad ones.
It’s pretty unbelievable to see one of these without the standard Ford rust on the rockers and lower quarter panels. Easy vote today.
Not surprising for somewhere that we don’t use salt. Just normal here.
I grew up in Michigan and anytime my father visits he goes on and on about all the old cars drivng around without huge rust holes.
destroyed leather seats was also supper common in these 90s Explorers, as soon as they became 10 yrs old. This one is a true survivor and I dig the 5spd and teal color, so easy vote as well.
I had to go Explorer even though I have personal bad blood with explorers. (Not this generation but the next) The color got me with nostalgia for all the early 90’s SUVs that were the borrowed or hand me down cars of my friends in high school. Lots of late nights and dumb adventures with one too many kids in a car like this.
The X90 gets my internet dollary-doos today. It’s weird and will make any Gambler 500 that much more interesting.
I had no idea they even made a 5 spd for the Eddie Bauer trim – I’ve never seen one and assumed the manuals were all in the base/fleet trim or the 2 door sport models.
I have never seen one in person, although the 5spd was standard equipment on Eddie Bauer, throughout the 1st gen
If the Suzuki was in Cali also I would have voted for it but that Eddie Bauer is way to clean to pass up and it is a stick vs rust belt Suzuki.
If I had a bag or Halloween mask to pull over my head, I might consider the X-90. That thing is major-league, capital-F Fugly.
I’ve driven Exlpoders over some rough — but not rocky — terrain, in everything from midsummer desert heat to Alaskan winter, and they all worked as they should.
It’s cheaper than a decent XJ, which would be my first choice if it were on the list.