It was new to Americans, but the Infiniti M30 was almost half a decade old when it first appeared in what were then brand new Infiniti showrooms in 1990. Baseball-loving Japanese would refer to the…
Posts tagged Radwood
Subaru Justy: The Little Guy
It was basic transportation in the eyes of American consumers. As small a car as you could get, with as small an engine as many of them could remember. The Subaru Justy, which arrived on…
Decade: 10th Anniversary Mazda FC RX-7
Everybody’s celebrating “100 years of Mazda” this week (though it did not build any vehicles until 1931) so here’s an actual anniversary Mazda – 1988’s 10th Anniversary RX-7. Mazda’s road to recovery from its slump…
SUV Mania: 1993 Ford Explorer Limited
The year was 1985. Just a year earlier, famous auto exec and future Chrysler and GM product Czar Bob Lutz had returned to Dearborn, Michigan. He was still working for Ford then, and fresh off…
Volvo 780 Bertone: Sprezzatura, Swedish Style
At the time of Volvo’s first collaboration with Bertone in 1976, Volvos were still distinctly middle-class cars. By 1991, they were “premium” machines, at least in the U.S. At the very top of the line…
The Cadillac of Minivans: Oldsmobile Silhouette
GM’s first attempt at minivans, the long-lived 1985 Chevy Astro/GMC Safari, were more “van” than “mini.” This wasn’t so surprising since they were designed in a hurry and therefore based mostly on off-the-shelf truck components….
4WEverything: Mitsubishi Galant VR-4
Mitsubishi was still a new brand in the United States when the 6th-Gen Galant was introduced for 1988. For a little while, a version of the previous Galant continued on sale alongside the new Galant…
Special Performance: Saab 900 SPG
The original Saab 900 was a darling of the Turbo era – vigorous to drive, comfy, reliable, and accessible. The 900 was so good that despite being rooted in the circa-1969 Saab 99 it still…
The Iron Mask: Tekkamen R30 Skyline
Most of the time, when people talk about classic Nissan Skylines, it’s the R32/33 GT-Rs that dominate the conversation; or possibly the 1968-72 C10 “Hakosuka” or 1972/73 “Kenmeri” GT-Rs. But Nissan built millions of Skylines…
Almost an M: 1987 BMW 535iS
The BMW 5-series first appeared in 1972, picking up the baton from the Neue Klasse sedans that had reinvented BMW in the 1960s. Like the Neue Klasse, that original 5, the E12, was also a…
The Future is Now: 1986 Mercury Sable
The 1986 Ford Taurus and it’s close sibling, the Mercury Sable, were landmark cars six year in the making, and they revolutionized Ford’s U.S. operations.
Volvo 850: Sweden’s Biggest Ever Project
It took 13 years to bring to life and ended up the most expensive project in Volvo’s history (and the most expensive in Swedish industrial history at the time) – but on June 11, 1991,…