This week, I’ve been showing you vehicles with manual transmissions for under $3,000, and we’ve ended up with a final four of ’90s vehicles that wouldn’t look out of place at RADWood. So that’s going to be your assignment for today: Choose one to shine up and take to impress the crowds. It’s a tough choice between two of them for me, but I’m curious to see what you all decide.
Yesterday’s crossover battle was an absolute bloodbath. That poor Subaru Forester didn’t stand a chance. In fairness, I had a hard time finding anything to compete against that RAV4; it’s such a clean and friendly little vehicle that almost anything in the same price range was going to lose to it.
Personally, I don’t want anything to do with any Subaru that isn’t a Brat or maybe a Justy, so I’m with you on the RAV4. No one is claiming it will be sporty, or fun, but it’s just so charming that it’s hard to pass up. And I had completely forgotten about the center differential lock on those; that is a cool feature.
I suspect that, to younger crowds, the ’80s and ’90s nostalgia wave is going to soon become as tedious as the ’50s nostalgia wave was to my generation. Hell, I’m already getting a little tired of it myself. But I do still love the cars. I have yet to make it to a RADWood event, but if there is one in Detroit this year, I will be there with my 1989 Chevy pickup. It’s no show car, but it is a survivor that’s still earning its keep, and I suspect that the Forest Service Green paint might turn a few heads just due to rarity.
Personally, I like seeing older cars with some patina on them, rather than pristine examples. I’m glad the nice ones exist, but I never want to be afraid to use a vehicle for its intended purpose, and that’s easier if it isn’t perfect, and you didn’t pay too much for it. I think all four of these fit the bill.
1995 Oldsmobile Achieva S – $2,450
The case for it: It’s a Quad 4 with a five-speed manual, which is orders of magnitude cooler than the V6 and automatic that most of these came with. And it’s a lot rarer than a Grand Am or a Beretta, which might score it some points.
The case against it: Despite the Oldsmobile badges and the interesting drivetrain, it’s just another old GM coupe. I’m not sure this thing is old enough to have hit “classic” status yet.
1993 Jeep Cherokee Sport – $2,200
The case for it: Everybody seems to love these things. And stock ones are getting harder to find.
The case against it: It’s pretty beat-up, and the flat black paint doesn’t do it any favors. I think your best bet with this one might be to repaint it in black, put a brush guard and KC Daylighters on the front, shoot a couple bullet holes in the back, and dress up as the Fratellis. But that’s a lot of work for RADWood.
1992 Mitsubishi Mighty Max – $1,950
The case for it: The name alone makes it cooler than its Dodge Ram 50 twin. And after the show is done, you’re left with a useful little truck.
The case against it: Nothing, really, except that it’s a little beat up. But on an old truck, you call that “character.”
1996 Toyota RAV4 – $2,900
The case for it: It’s by far in the best condition of the bunch, and it’s got that cool interior fabric. It’s also a genuinely useful little car; you could drive this one daily.
The case against it: This one is also pretty new, and still in service in some parts of the country. It might not be special enough for anyone to care about it.
I’ve been to a lot of car shows in my day, and I have to be honest: most of the cars I see at them are boring. You can only see so many perfect shiny machines before they all start to blur together. I’d much rather see cars like these, well-loved machines that have paid their dues. Would anyone else agree, if you brought one to RADWood and parked it among the whale-tail Porsches and the DeLoreans? Only one way to find out. Which one would you pick?
I’d vote for the RAV4, except I can’t fit in it. The Cherokee is tempting, but is a bit too scruffy. I had an ’89 Ram 50, and it was a damned fine little truck, and I still miss it. I’d have to go with the Mighty Max.
The Cherokee. I have a 96 5 speed that looks just like that. Was gloss black at one time, now faded to flat. Simple to work on, and an endless supply of parts at every level from cheap to seriously modded. And huge enthusiast support base. A few summers I rebuilt the entire floor and part of the uniframe. More solid than it’s been in years and I just keep driving it.
I voted Mighty Max on name alone though all four are winners. Cherokees, though awesome, are not actually rare. I still see people daily driving them and I live in the rust belt, heck even my mail carrier has a right hand drive early 90s XJ. As a past owner of an Oldsmobile, I miss mine and have a soft spot for 90s Olds, that achieva is intriguing though I’d be worried about parts availability just as my 99 Olds Eighty Eight was challenging to find parts for near the end. The Toyota appears to be a great vehicle, I’d buy it and daily it tomorrow.
Tough call. It’s between the RAV4 and the Cherokee. I imagine the RAV4 will be cheaper to run, but the Cherokee certainly is compelling in its own way.
And whatever happens to it, please don’t give the Cherokee the “Fratelli” treatment.
I went Toyota but my second choice was Jeep how is it on last place?
That Cherokee is exactly how I would want mine to be – kinda rough, straight six, manual, four wheel drive… Heck, give it to me.
It tough between the rav4 or the mighty max but has to be that rav4 super clean.
RAV4 for me.
Easily the 96 RAV4 with the 01 rims. I owned a 96 and loved it. I still see first gen’s around but mostly used up. This one looks great.
Current voting is exactly the way I’d have ranked these.
Who would’ve thought?
Y’all are a buncha sillies for leaving the Olds running a poor third. Harrumph.
That Mitsu also, to my recollection, shared a lot of components of the Ford Ranger and Mazda B2600 / B2x00 series. A solid truck, but kidna obnoxious for something I’d be in on the daily (mine didn’t have AC).
I’d take the Rav4. I miss those meaningfully utility compact SUV’s of that era – Rav4, Isuzu Amigo, Suzuki Samurai. Like, you could get something fun that weighed under 2200 pounds. Hoon it in the dunes and drive it to school the next day. They weren’t nearly fast enough to get you into trouble, but still handled really neatly.
Nope
Honestly, if that Rav was even sorta nearby me, I would’ve already bought it. They’re great little vehicles for property maintenance/etc. Can fit a lot in the back with the seats out.
If that Cherokee was a 2 door I’d be in and give it a new flat black rattle can spray.
I went with the Cherokee. The only one that will still be cool, fun, and useful after the show.
Best of the 8 was the Ford F250. Of these it is down to the Mitsubishi or Toyota and the Toyota is a more practical vehicle for me.
If I’m buying a car for Radwood: Oldsmobile.
If I’m buying to screw around with: Jeep.
If I’m buying for utility: Mitsubishi.
If I’m buying for my daughter: Toyota.
Under $3000 they are all winners, really. Today I’m buying for my daughter. That Toyota is really nice, probably the most reliable, and definitely the safest daily driver of the four.
I was leaning towards the Olds, but that Rav4 is just too clean. And Radwood just goes for one day. That Toyota will be a great little car for many days after.
RAV4 is rad 4 Radwood. The Mighty Max is the oldest and the most useful to me, but the Yota is 90s-blobby to an egregious extent, and it’s in beautiful shape.
Here’s my case for the Olds: it’s the only one here that’s a type of car that (effectively) no longer exists. Every other one has several, if not dozens, of modern analogues, most of which are superior along a variety of axes. But a genuine 5-seater with 2 doors? And a stick? Friends, you simply can’t get one anymore, I think at literally any price.
OK, sticks are thin on the ground in every category, but family-sized coupes (as opposed to a 2+2) alone barely exist, and they’re way at the top of the market.
Grab that Achieva.
agreed 100%!
I didn’t even know you could get this Olds as a two-door manual. I’d be intrigued for sure.
Truly no bad choices here, but if we’re going for RADwood cred, I have a few points.
1) In places where rust is not a major factor, XJ’s and OG RAV4’s are still relatively common sights. I can find an example of each right in my own neighborhood.
2) The Olds scores points for being uncommon, but is not a vehicle that a lot of people have nostalgic feelings about. I do know one local guy with a mint-condition W41 that he loves and has owned since new, which is actually pretty special.
3) It seems like everybody loves a compact pickup from the ’80s or ’90s.
Now I admit to being biased. As some of you know, I own a 1990 Ram 50 that already has a spot reserved at this year’s RADwood Charlotte.
Y’all are boring
No kidding! Maybe all the cool kids are hungover or something.
I prefer frugal. The only interesting vehicle in the mix was the Mercedes. All 4 of these finalists are boring but the RAV4 is the one that makes sense to actually daily drive.
I went for the Cherokee but it was a tough call. The Cherokee hauls pretty much everything the Mitsu does, tows as much, and with abundant enthusiast support is eminently repairable at a level that far exceeds any kind of “Mighty What?” dumb looks I might get trying to jolly the Max along for another few years. And as another four-door 4×4, it does what the RAV4, although admittedly at a cruder level. That’s okay, I’m a crude kind of person.
The Achieva was an extremely attractive second choice; I like big fours and the rough-but-rowdy Quad4 is a brilliant example of the General getting something kinda right for a change.
If I’d been given the “All Four Please And Thank You” button, I’d have hit that immediately.
I like the RAV 4 but for RADwood, I’d have to go with the Max (might consider Cherokee). If I were to daily one of these, it would be the RAV 4 but it’s not interesting enough (at least not yet) for RADwood.
The Rav4 is the winner by defualt