Under appreciated 90's/early 2000's cars that deserve preservation
- Thread starter Stacysmom
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Dodge Stealth.
While it is a rebadged GTO, the only game IIRC it was ever in was the Forza Motorsport series
While it is a rebadged GTO, the only game IIRC it was ever in was the Forza Motorsport series
Joey D
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- GTP_Joey
- GTP Joey
I wouldn't call 4Runners underappreciated. They are still very popular and ridiculously overpriced. So much so that in my area they're probably increasing in value instead of decreasing. When I was buying my 5th gen 4Runner two weeks ago, I saw numerous listings for 3rd gens and they were all around $20k. I mean I get it though, they're excellent trucks.
The Stealth was better than the 3000GT and I'll live by that statement until the day I die.
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My three picks for your consideration:
Subaru SVX (1991-1996)
Alpine A610 (1991-1995)
Venturi 300 Atlantique (1994)
Subaru SVX (1991-1996)
Alpine A610 (1991-1995)
Venturi 300 Atlantique (1994)
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Infiniti G20 (P10 & P11)
I've always liked the look of these cars (richer & more sophisticated design than a contemporary Honda Civic or Toyota Corolla) and they had the pretty decent SR20 engine. The P10 had fully independent suspension while the P11 switched to a simpler beam at the rear. They were never as popular with the tuner crowd as the Civics of the era, but the Nissan version (Primera) was made into a good looking touring car. The big problem was that they were sold in the US as more of a luxury sedan and were therefore close to 3,000lbs...which is a lot for 140hp. The SR20DE is an on-paper match for a B18B Honda unit, but the Hondas (Such as the Integra) were always lighter and had better suspension so were more of the enthusiast pick.
I've always liked the look of these cars (richer & more sophisticated design than a contemporary Honda Civic or Toyota Corolla) and they had the pretty decent SR20 engine. The P10 had fully independent suspension while the P11 switched to a simpler beam at the rear. They were never as popular with the tuner crowd as the Civics of the era, but the Nissan version (Primera) was made into a good looking touring car. The big problem was that they were sold in the US as more of a luxury sedan and were therefore close to 3,000lbs...which is a lot for 140hp. The SR20DE is an on-paper match for a B18B Honda unit, but the Hondas (Such as the Integra) were always lighter and had better suspension so were more of the enthusiast pick.
Very true, go Tigers by the way. Nearly all the 3rd gens I see in my area (San Diego) are beat to hell with stickers and what not and are clearly headed to the junk yard later on in life rather than a car collection, same with the burbs out there. Congrats on the new 5th gen, I'm hoping Toyota brings back the removable hard top and manual transmission for the upcoming 6th gen.
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- 15,931
- Melbourne
- ScottPuss20
- CheetahsMeow
90s and early 00s were so diverse comparing to these days of crossover domination. Any 3 door hatchback, 2 door and 4 door hardtops, 2 door sedans, interesting MPVs, discounted BMW-MB-Audi-Lexus-Infiniti competitors etc. deserve to be preserved since very unlikely they will come back. Also any grand tourer that is a true grand tourer because most of modern GTs are too sporty.
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I almost purchased a mint example a few years ago, but decided not to after reading a lot of bad things about inevitable automatic transmission failures caused by bad engineering. Too bad, I really like the design but the lack of a no nonsense manual version ruins it for me.
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- GTP_Cyborg
I'm surprised I almost forgot about these. It's been a while since I've seen one, and they used to be all over the place in my area. Very popular with the local tuner crowd. Deserves some sort of award for having power front windows, but manual-crank rears! Honorable mentions as well to the Caliber SRT-4 and PT Cruiser with the same engine.
Neon mentioned, I always thought the Cobalt SS looked so much cooler, and these never caught on from what I've seen. Sedan looks better, but bonus points for having a 2-door option.
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Not sure you've seen how much R32s and ZZW30 MR2s are selling for these days (at least in the US), but I don't think you could call either one of them underappreciated. And the Eunos Cosmo is definitely not under-appreciated...maybe a bit unknown. I've heard the Fiat Coupes are also on the up in terms of appreciation, but they were never sold here so I don't know.
MedigoFlame
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Isuzu Vehicross gets my vote! Still want to own one someday. Such a great design that sadly seems to be often bought for cheap and modified into a mudtruck or rock crawler, getting beaten up.
Same goes for the Lexus IS300 and IS300 Sportcross. Personal thing as I owned a Sportcross, but these are being bought up and turned into stance or drift cars...
Last gen Pontiac GTO. Also being bought up for fairly cheap and thrashed for the most part.
Acura TL Type S. One of my favorite 2000s Acura designs that has sadly been modified plenty.
I can't quite think of more off the top of my head, but I know there's plenty. My list is mostly of cars that ended up being modified and thrashed with them hitting below $10k. Mostly 2000s stuff as that still hasn't gotten it's "Radwood" moment yet.
Edit: Apologies if the TL and GTO seem a bit late into the 2000s.
Same goes for the Lexus IS300 and IS300 Sportcross. Personal thing as I owned a Sportcross, but these are being bought up and turned into stance or drift cars...
Last gen Pontiac GTO. Also being bought up for fairly cheap and thrashed for the most part.
Acura TL Type S. One of my favorite 2000s Acura designs that has sadly been modified plenty.
I can't quite think of more off the top of my head, but I know there's plenty. My list is mostly of cars that ended up being modified and thrashed with them hitting below $10k. Mostly 2000s stuff as that still hasn't gotten it's "Radwood" moment yet.
Edit: Apologies if the TL and GTO seem a bit late into the 2000s.
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That's also what I've heard, no manual being available is the biggest injustice considering how cool the flat-six engine seemed. Nevertheless, I still think it's underrated, if for no other reason than it's unique in many ways. It's cool in a way I can't describe properly, at least I think so.
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- Marin County
Ah yes, the Vehicross - excellent pick. I, too, really hate how these are turned into rock crawlers and mud boggers. It's basically a Paris-Dakar truck for the road! People, put some rally wheels/tires (I would suggest Speedline Corse wheels) and big mudflaps on it if you just have to modify it. The last few that I've seen for sale (that weren't beat to hell) were actually not that cheap. The tide seems to be turning on these cool trucks, especially now that there aren't many left.Isuzu Vehicross gets my vote! Still want to own one someday. Such a great design that sadly seems to be often bought for cheap and modified into a mudtruck or rock crawler, getting beaten up.
Speaking off off-roaders, I think the first gen Infiniti QX4 is under-appreciated, at least compared to comparable Toyota/Lexus models of the same vintage. Later models had the 240hp VQ engine, probably pretty fun little trucks to drive.
I thought about posting the Porsche 986 in this thread, but I don't think they are under-appreciated anymore. Mine is probably worth 50% more than I paid for it 6 years ago - though some of that is to do with the pandemic stimulus - they were already rising a bit before COVID. The 996 is well clear of under-appreciation now as well and the days of good, cheap ones are probably over.
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I feel like the premise of this thread fit a lot better before These Unprecedented Times. So many have gone crazy in price that (other than V6 SN-95 Mustangs, the 🤬 EP Civic Si and the 3000GT/Stealth) if you wanted something from that vintage that was interesting in any way you've already missed your chance if you wanted a nice one cheaply; no matter how many hundreds of thousands were made (take a look at what clean, well-equipped GMT400s are already going for).
Even (manual) Boxsters and (ZF6) C4s can be exchanged for goods and services nowadays (latter is even starting to eclipse early C5 prices); and I think it's probably a rising tide raising all boats (many of them were trending up before the US government gave everyone whose industry was mildly impacted by COVID tens of thousands of dollars of largely free money) rather than just pandemic craziness like what's driving claptrap 10 year old Chevy Equinoxes and just off-lease CamCords.
Though that might be stretching "good."
Even (manual) Boxsters and (ZF6) C4s can be exchanged for goods and services nowadays (latter is even starting to eclipse early C5 prices); and I think it's probably a rising tide raising all boats (many of them were trending up before the US government gave everyone whose industry was mildly impacted by COVID tens of thousands of dollars of largely free money) rather than just pandemic craziness like what's driving claptrap 10 year old Chevy Equinoxes and just off-lease CamCords.
Certainly I can already unload Ayeka III for 10 grand more than I paid for her 9 months ago, but the whole world still seems to be your oyster if you are in the market for a fried eggs Tiptronic Carrera 2 cab.
Though that might be stretching "good."
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The dealer I bought Ayeka III from had a 3.2 cab at the dealer as one of his personal cars.
It looked immaculate (as you'd expect a high end car dealer to keep his personal cars) but it looked like one of those bad ASC hack jobs from the 80s that were rushed to the market after being commissioned by a manufacturer purely to pad time while they get their own real factory convertible (which was probably also done by ASC, granted; but with actual development time given to them to design it) ready in a couple years. The roof looked like something someone made with their sewing machine with leftover Wrangler tops. Just worse across the board than my Volkswagen was even though they were contemporaries of each other. And it looked like that all the way through the 993! The 996/997 was kind of dumpy looking and, like, just buy a Boxster; but at least the roof looked like it was designed to go on the car.
The 944, which I'm pretty sure ASC actually did do, is just as bad.
It looked immaculate (as you'd expect a high end car dealer to keep his personal cars) but it looked like one of those bad ASC hack jobs from the 80s that were rushed to the market after being commissioned by a manufacturer purely to pad time while they get their own real factory convertible (which was probably also done by ASC, granted; but with actual development time given to them to design it) ready in a couple years. The roof looked like something someone made with their sewing machine with leftover Wrangler tops. Just worse across the board than my Volkswagen was even though they were contemporaries of each other. And it looked like that all the way through the 993! The 996/997 was kind of dumpy looking and, like, just buy a Boxster; but at least the roof looked like it was designed to go on the car.
The 944, which I'm pretty sure ASC actually did do, is just as bad.
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- Marin County
The 964 and 993 Coupes are very easily in the top 5 most desirable cars (realistically speaking) for me. The automatic convertible variants of those, however, I would probably slot somewhere between Saturn Ion Redline and Peugeot 504 sedan. My mechanic has a 964 tiptronic cab that he bought wrecked and restored. He goes on and on about how it's actually better and faster than a manual coupe for various reasons. My eyes glaze over as I nod along.
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- Melbourne
- ScottPuss20
- CheetahsMeow
I don't see these cars very often here in Australia so that's why I chose them.
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Under appreciated is more like the 318is to the M3. The 318is has less power, but still has the dynamics of a sporting BMW. I mean, most BMWs are sporting, but the 318is would be a RWD Jetta 16V in 2-door form. Just without the large boot of the Jetta. 
Less power than the E30 325, yet it’s closer to a baby E30 M3, since the M3 has a 4-cylinder itself. Wish I would have bought a black 318is. Maybe people, at the time, felt why get a four cylinder(can’t remember it was manual only) when the six-cylinder is the better cruiser. I don’t know. Anyway, I feel the roundel guarantees driving joy.
Less power than the E30 325, yet it’s closer to a baby E30 M3, since the M3 has a 4-cylinder itself. Wish I would have bought a black 318is. Maybe people, at the time, felt why get a four cylinder(can’t remember it was manual only) when the six-cylinder is the better cruiser. I don’t know. Anyway, I feel the roundel guarantees driving joy.
MedigoFlame
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As someone who's still tempted in buying one someday, it does seem like the nice stock Vehicross's have crept up in value. They're close to $20k now. Especially the stock Proton yellow Vehicross's which is the color I want most. Should have considered one when they were around $10k for stock ones.
