It’s a little strange how ephemeral cars are. Certain models have staying power, and can be seen in the wild for decades after they’ve gone out of production, eventually becoming classics, but others seem to vanish almost entirely after a few years. Today we’re going to look at two cars that I haven’t seen in quite a while, let alone for sale.
I’ll be honest: Never in a million years did I guess that anyone would be clamoring for a “both” option for yesterday’s choices. But I saw at least two commenters who wanted just that – to tow the sandrail with the school bus, presumably to Burning Man or something. Hey, if you can get that bus moving under its own power, and overcome its registration entanglements, then more power to you.
Nearly everyone else voted for the sandrail, including me. The comments about it being a cheap alternative to a side-by-side are spot on, and it can be an even better choice if your state doesn’t allow side-by-sides on the roads; a sandrail or dune buggy could retain the title from its original VW donor, if there’s enough of it left, making obtaining license plates a breeze.
You hardly notice when a car stops becoming a common sight on the road, until you see one after a long period of not seeing any, and then you remember: Oh right, those used to be everywhere. Today’s choices jumped out at me purely because they used to be common sights, but I can’t even remember the last time I saw either of them. I bet you haven’t seen them in a while, either. Let’s check them out.
1991 Dodge Shadow ES Convertible – $1,900
Engine/drivetrain: 2.5-liter overhead cam inline 4, three-speed automatic, FWD
Location: North Hollywood, CA
Odometer reading: 75,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
You have to hand it to Chrysler engineers: They certainly know how to get their money’s worth out of a platform. By the time the P-body Dodge Shadow and Plymouth Sundance were introduced, its basic K-car underpinnings were already six years old (nine, if you go all the way back to the L-body Omni and Horizon), and had been used under everything from station wagons to sports cars to limousines. The K platform also reintroduced the convertible to the US market, after six long sunless years. Dodge was in on the convertible revival from the start, with the 400 and later the 600, but after the 600 convertible was phased out after 1986, the Chrysler LeBaron carried on alone – until 1991, when Dodge chopped the top off the Shadow.
Chrysler stuck with its well-known 2.2 and 2.5-liter four-cylinder engines for the Shadow, in some cases with a turbocharger. As far as I know, the turbocharged versions had a bump in the hood, and the 2.2 was only offered in the bargain-basement “America” trim level, so I’m going to take an educated guess and say that this one is a naturally-aspirated 2.5-liter. It drives the front wheels through a Torqueflite three-speed automatic. It’s not as fun as a manual, but it’s reliable, and this isn’t exactly a sports car anyway. It runs and drives fine, and has new brakes and front wheel bearings.
This is the fancy ES version, and it looks like it has power everything. That’s the good news. The bad news is that it’s surprisingly rough, especially considering its low mileage. The carpet is trashed, the seats are ripped and worn, and I don’t know what’s going on with the airbag cover – did someone paint in the lines and the logo? Very strange.
Outside, it’s not much better. Someone definitely painted the wheels, apparently after it lost one hubcap, and I don’t think the black lower cladding is original either. The red paint is pretty patchy as well. And speaking of patchy, the top is covered in repairs, some of which might be gaffer’s tape. At least it’s a California car, so it isn’t rusty. Besides, what can you expect for under two grand?
2003 Chevrolet Blazer Xtreme – $2,600
Engine/drivetrain: 4.3-liter overhead valve V6, four-speed automatic, RWD
Location: Reseda, CA
Odometer reading: 170,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
Chevy’s Blazer, like the Ford Bronco and International Harvester Scout that inspired it, started out with two doors and a removable roof. Gradually, over the years, it morphed into the basic four-door wagon we all became so familiar with: in 1976 it lost the full removable roof; after that the roof over the front seats was fixed. In 1983, when the compact S-10 Blazer was introduced, it was still a two-door, but with a fixed roof. In 1990, to compete with the Toyota 4Runner and Nissan Pathfinder, a four-door was introduced, and quickly became the more popular version. But Chevy kept the two-door version around, and used it as the basis for the sporty versions, like the off-road ZR2, and this lowered, 2WD Xtreme.
Power for all versions of the Blazer in 2003 was the same: a 4.3-liter Vortec V6, making 190 horsepower. Either a five-speed manual or a four-speed automatic was available; this one has the automatic. It’s the same smooth, durable 4L60-E transmission found in everything from Corvettes to Yukons, and while it’s not perfect, its foibles are well-known and fixable. It has 170,000 miles on it, which is nothing for these drivetrains, and the seller says it has been reliable for them.
The interior is exactly like every other early-2000s GM vehicle: fuzzy upholstery and hard plastic, both in the same shade of gray. It’s not inspiring, but it’s surprisingly comfortable, and it looks like it has been well taken care of. The air conditioning works fine, and if you feel like fresh air instead, it has a power sunroof too.
The Xtreme package included 16-inch wheels, lower body cladding, and a lower, firmer suspension; supposedly, they handle pretty well. This one looks good, except for a wrinkle on the rear bumper, and I think it might be missing a spoiler on the front bumper. Good luck finding one; you’ll probably just have to live without it. Fortunately, aerodynamics isn’t this car’s strong suit anyway, so a missing spoiler shouldn’t make much difference.
We all know that rare doesn’t equal valuable, or even interesting. But these two are all but guaranteed to elicit a “wow, haven’t seen one of those in a while” from car folks. They’re not only cars you don’t see very often, they’re uncommon versions that were only made for a couple of years. Either one would be a cheap way into the wave of 80s/90s/00s nostalgia that’s going around. They’re not perfect, but they both run fine, and that’s more important than some cosmetic flaws. So what’ll it be – a convertible economy car, or a lowered, sporty SUV?
Had a girlfriend that owned one of those gen Blazers. I’ve never heard an interior creak and groan as much as that Blazer. Even as a car-uneducated teen I could tell it had a flaccid chassis. But I also had a Sundance at that age that was shite. Considering the Blazer at least looks well cared for it’s the easy win.
Shadow. Cheap and easy to fix, parts are ubiquitous since most of them are interchangeable with basically every Chrysler made for fifteen years. 3 speed auto gives me pause. That won’t be as much fun to drive. I had a 92 shadow most basic trim. God I hated that car. But it was reliable and cheap and easy to fix. When I traded it in the dealership offered me $26 for it and encouraged me to just sell it privately. We were about $1,000 apart at the time and I said “I don’t care if you call it a trade in or you just come down to my price, but this is what I’ll pay and I’m leaving the shadow here with you, no matter what.” They agreed to my terms.
Is there a link to the ad for the Blazer?…
LA Craigslist, shows up near the top. It’s been up for a bit
My parents had a 4 door Blazer of that generation, and it really was a wonderfully comfortable vehicle. Add in good durability, readily available parts, and reasonable repairability, it’s a good vehicle to keep long term.
If i had money I’d buy both and see which loses more in a head on with each other.
My memory of a failblazer is news talking about a crash, where someone ended up with a ranger parked in the passenger compartment. If you are so bad that the hieght of 80s safety that a ranger wins, it’s super bad. It was a head on too.
“ The bad news is that it’s surprisingly rough, especially considering its low mileage. The carpet is trashed, the seats are ripped and worn, and I don’t know what’s going on with the airbag cover – did someone paint in the lines and the logo?”
Parked a lot with the top down explains the trashed interior, bored art student with a metallic felt pen explains the airbag cover.
Actually, for a 24 year-old cheap convertible I’d say it was in amazingly good shape.
North Hollywood? Yup
Gee, it’s hard to argue with a cheap red beater convertible.
On the other hand, the blazer seems like a good choice for the “all my other cars are interesting and I need something for the ten percent of the time I can’t drive them , or need to tow something, or go to the dump, plus a non collectible car for the insurance”
On the other other hand, they are both regrettable red resulting in random traffic stops, so if you have a funny accent or tan easily, that might be an issue.
If I weren’t getting rid of cars I’d be inclined to to get both, even with the red thing.
Obviously the blazer is the sensible choice so it’s the Shadow vert for me.
You know I’ve heard that old story about red cars for years, but having driven red cars for the last seven years I have yet to be stopped in one, and that with a pretty heavy foot on the gas. Granted that’s anecdotal evidence, but just like racial profiling I think that random stops on cars just because they are red is pretty rare.
Well situational awareness is key, but my experience is that some cars get stopped a lot and some don’t. I had a gold Volvo wagon that I could drive 90 mph all day and I never got stopped, and a Chevy convertible that got stopped for dirty license plates all the time. The rest of the car was filthy, it was a 68 front clip on a 69 body that was pulled out of a junkyard and washing it made it look worse.
I really like trashed convertibles, but apparently their raffish charm comes off as dangerous scofflaw to some. Anecdotal evidence indicates that they are attractive to romantic partners with poor impulse control and the police.
Anyway, I carried a roll of paper towels so the cop could see that the plate was clean, apologize for taking up their valuable time, all in my best upper class twit voice, and I was on my way.
Priuses seem to be fairly invisible too for that matter. They are attractive to neither persons with poor impulse control nor the police.
If the Shadow appeared to be in similar condition to the Blazer, I’d go Shadow. But the Shadow looks beat, and the Blazer looks fairly well preserved, so Blazer.
I used to sell Dodge and no what disappointment is ahead but still take it over the Zombie Blazer. I don’t remember the Shadow having any cladding but I know our dealership when they were having trouble moving a used one they painted the bottom, the most abused area, and made the car two toned. It jazzed it up a small bit.
Yup, easy to cover repairs with black paint and not worry about matching the rest of the car.
If the Blazer was 4 wheel drive, it’d be no contest. Since it’s 4X2, the ragtop wins hands down.
Yikes, only 5% vote for the Shadow; I feel like I’ve done something wrong.
The issues with the Dodge all seem to be cosmetic, whereas you cannot fix the plastic fantastic, mouse-fur garbage of that Blazer. I have driven one and it was utter rubbish. Also, I feel like it stinks. I’m obviously in the very small minority though!
I don’t really enjoy drop tops. Easy decision.
A No Brainer!
You’re right that the 2.2 isn’t in this, but that’s not because it was limited to the America. It was standard fare on America and Highline models, but bumping up to the ES in 1991 got you the 2.5 as standard with the turbo 2.5 optional. In ’92 partway thru the year the 3.0 V6 started phasing out the turbo.
The convertible was available in Highline and ES trims but only ever got the 2.5 or better.
This was easy…Blazer! Those Shadows were pretty much junk like most K cars…this one is in bad shape too. That Blazer is in great shape and the body style looks great. It will be fun to cruise and off-road in. I would buy it right now if I could
Dodge Shadow for me. I’ve driven variations of the 1980s FWD Chryslers as well as those Blazers… the Blazer has more power but is worse at everything else.
Also the Shadow convertible is a relatively rare car. I would take that, fix up the cosmetic issues such as the fuel door, get a set of nicer wheels and replace that plastic rear window.
That Shadow is trash. And, as C/D pointed out, a CONVERTIBLE called “Shadow” is ironic AF.
I always wanted one of those Blazers. Pure Radwood.
The Shadow is… it’s a car, that’s for sure. I had a Voyager, so I assume I’ve have the driving experience. I was kinda interested in turbos back in the day, but I can’t imagine even that would make too much difference in how it actually feels to drive.
Also there’s no way I’m dealing with a ripped ragtop.
Great that the AC still works, but these are going to be R12 systems, right?
R134a after ’96
We still have quite a few Blazers in my area, although I think they are finally starting to drop off at a faster rate. Still see one every time I drive though. Same with 90s Thunderbirds.
Okay I’m gonna say that I voted for the surprisingly clean if well traveled S-10 Blazer Xtreme edition, no contest vs that Dodge convertible. I’m also gonna say I’m just a bit flabbergasted by a few of the comments I’ve read referring to this Blazer as an is this the real price? Suspiciously cheap, even suspiciously cheap classic? Is this a case of mistaken identity, as in this isn’t the 2 door Blazer they are thinking of? Or have I genuinely missed something here that in the last few years 2nd gen S-10 Blazers have gone from tired used cars to somewhat desired classics/collector vehicles? I know many of these and lots of other 90’s-early 00’s era SUVs were permanently taken off the road through Cash for Clunkers. An S-10 Blazer of this style is an uncommon though not super rare sighting for me in central Texas. Have they actually become somewhat valuable through externally induced rarity? Or as the basis for hot-rodding projects? What SHOULD a fairly clean late model 2 door S-10 Blazer with 170k miles actually be priced at?
I like that the Shadow convertible exists, but it looks in way rougher shape than the Blazer for this matchup. Had the Blazer been in equally rough shape, I might pick the Dodge, but for today, easily going Extreme.
Condition wins the day.
If the convertible were in nicer condition, you wouldn’t want to drive it anywhere where you had to park it and either leave the windows open or the top down or have somebody slash the top to get in. If it were in nicer shape, you wouldn’t want to take it to the beach, get sand and sunscreen all over the upholstery or go to In-N-Out Burger on the way home. You probably wouldn’t want to drive a nicer condition convertible in the rain with the top down which is absolutely glorious. I’d say the condition of the convertible is just exactly right for doing all the fun convertible things.