With today's cornucopia of fabulous machinery available to anyone with a credit rating, it's all too easy to become jaded. Jaded with respect to the incredible advancements that have been made in performance, fuel economy, emissions, safety, creature comforts, and whole-new-type-of-vehicle design during just the past decade. Merely 10 years ago, Lexus was only an idea, a luxury Toyota we'd heard talk about but hadn't yet seen; ditto Mazda's "Lotus Elan-like" back-to-basics sports car that we today know and love as the Miata; Ford's revolutionary Explorer was just a spy photo of the upcoming "four-door Bronco" and certainly not expected to begin a craze that put a sport/utility in almost every garage. In 1988, BMW was struggling to rebuild a reputation for quality, Mercedes had yet to embrace the term "fun," and Ferraris were too finicky to drive every day. Literally all that has changed for the better during the past 10 years.
During the past 10 or so years, we've waved bye-bye to Alfa Romeo, Daihatsu, Maserati, Peugeot, and Sterling. Jaguar and Aston Martin were purchased by Ford (and not ruined!), GM snapped up Lotus and Saab, Chrysler bought and sold Lamborghini, and airbags went from none to driver-side-only to today being mounted on every interior panel shy of the ashtray (which you now have to special order, anyway).
Ten years ago, a Corvette had 240 horsepower; today a Lexus has 300. Ten years ago, pickup trucks were for farmers and tradesmen; today, they're welcomed at resorts and country clubs. Ten years ago, a 2756-pound Porsche 911 did 0-60 mph in 7.3 seconds; today, a 4053-pound Cadillac DeVille does it in 6.9. Ten years ago, we had no Dodge Viper, Plymouth Prowler, Ferrari F355, Jaguar XJR, Mercedes SLK, or BMW M Roadster; today we do. Clearly, today is the place to be.
That point was cemented into my brain recently when I got together with Hollywood Movie Cars' Jim Watson on the CBS Studios lot. He had just delivered a '63 Chevy Impala convertible, '88 Jeep Grand Wagoneer, and '95 VW Jetta for use in a new TV series starring Elliott Gould awkwardly titled, "It's Like...Ya Know," a phrase likely to incite ire from English teachers across the country. Nevertheless, from Hollywood Movie Cars' nationwide registry of vehicles, the studio selected these three, and were paying handsome daily rental fees for their use.
I was merely a bystander until Jim asked me to hop in the Jeep and follow the other two cars onto the set. Now, I hadn't driven America's premiere sport/ute from '88 since 1988, but it didn't take more than a nanosecond behind the wheel to realize that this thing was as old as a Conestoga. Not in condition (it was a super-low-mileage all-original example), but in design. The heavy doors with tiny windows, the lousy seats and cramped interior, the awkward styling and absurd ergonomics wouldn't be acceptable on the cheapest sport/ute today, yet Grand Wagoneers were snapped up willingly (and for the lofty price of $27,000) 10 years ago. My drive across the lot confirmed the noisy (carbureted!) powerplant, lackluster acceleration, dead-fish steering, spongy brakes, and not-great ride. And this was sold as a luxury vehicle!
Afterward, I climbed into the new Dodge Durango I'd driven there and took a minute to survey the scene. For only a bit more money now than the Jeep Grand Wagoneer sold for then, I had a machine that performed better, rode nicer, looked sleeker, carried more stuff, got better fuel economy, and was much safer to be in.
Yeah, they don't make 'em like they used to. Not even like they did 10 years ago.
President Lee KelleyVice President/Publisher Doug Hamlin
Editorial StaffEditor C. Van TuneExecutive Editor/International Bob NagySenior Feature Editor Rik PaulSenior Road Test Editor Mac DemereDetroit Editor Jack KeeblerFeature Editor Jeff BartlettFeature Editor Matt StoneRoad Test Coordinator Brad LongAssociate Editor Chris Walton
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