Wake up. Have breakfast. Head off to work. Wait… you need to put on some decent clothes for goodness sake! You’re not a teenager anymore.
You put on the finest thrift store clothes you can find and head off to your car and… wow! Who put a Delorean with a flux capacitor and gullwing doors on your driveway?
Weren’t these supposed to be the ride of the future at some point? After watching an old guy and a young dude head off to your friend Biff’s soon to be foreclosed home, you get a twinkling thought that quickly becomes a ‘gotta do’.
“I wonder if I can go back in time and trade this thing in on something nice.” Hey, no one said you were smart.
You quickly go to the bank and get out $53,000 (approximately $100k in today’s dollars but who’s counting?) After quickly buckling your seat belt, you set the date Novermber 5, 1989 and blast off into a dimension that is named in honor of Steven Spielberg.
You’re back in 1989 time with Huey Lewis & The News providing the audio for your journey. After a brief stop to buy some brand new MC Hammer pants you find an enormous auto park.
You name the brand and it’s there; from Acura to Yugo. Heck there’s even a Winnebago dealership in the back with this guy making a bit of history.
What will you buy?
There is a lot to choose from. The Mazda Miata. A Lexus LS400, an E-Class Mercedes (sorry no S-Class since the price is too high). You can go to an Infiniti dealership with a babbling brook and get yourself a Q-Ship. Or get a 300ZX Turbo with enough left over to upgrade the circa 1989 stereo system.
What will you get? Oh and don’t worry about the return trip. That flux capacitor on the DeLorean can be easily removed and installed on your new ride. Just use the Clapper.
A low-mileage 1987 Buick Grand National or Lincoln Mark VII. Not sure $53K would have been enough for a GNX even then.
1989 — the classic car bubble was still heading up, so Ferrari Daytonas are out of the question. I’d go for one of the few 1971 Hemi Cuda convertibles. You could probably could have bought all 11 made for $53k in 1989 and cornered the market. One sold at RM four years ago for $2.2 million.
As late as 1991 the Buick dealership on Rt. 28N in Manassas VA had a 1987 0-mileage Buick Grand National for $35 thousand right on the showroom floor.
Can I go used? If you turned that back to 1985, I could get an El Camino with room in the bed (and the budget) for me to strap down a Kawasaki GPZ750 Turbo.
Well, if I’ve got to go with a MY1989 car, the choice is pretty obvious: BMW M3 E30.
I would go for the GPZ900, the original Ninja. Tom Cruise would agree, after all. Can’t fault you on the Bimmer, though.
The 750 Turbo was both more powerful and lighter. The factory turbo represents an interesting chapter in sportbike engineering that I wish we could see again. Also, it wasn’t in Top Gun, another plus.
You know if you look close enough at that scene in Top Gun you can see the straps holding down the bike to the bed of the pickup truck?
E30 M3 would be a great pick. Too bad the year isn’t 1988, as then the BMW dealer was a candy store: E28, E30, E32, Super-eta, elipsoids, 5-mph battering rams, high equipment levels on everything. By 1989, the M3 was the best that was left. We didn’t buy one in ’88 because it had a sticker on the window warning that the engine wasn’t tuned for use in normal traffic and damage would result. We got a regular 325 5-speed instead, which was a good car except for the elastic head bolts causing an engine failure at about 5,000 miles.
A Porsche 944S2 would have been nice, as would a last of the line real 911.
Owned a 944S2 (’87 model) – God I loved that car.
Ya, I know they weren’t the best but after watching Risky Business and seeing them on the road, I would dive right into my dream car, a 1989 928.
If money was an object than it would be a 1989 Ford Probe GT; bought one back then and have zero regrets looking back.
1989 20th Anniversary Pontiac Trans Am Turbo
1989 Oldsmobile Toronado Trofeo
$53K should be enough to get both.
What he said. Trofeo FTW.
A friend had a Trofeo, I asked him if that was Spanish for “more money than brains”, he laughed. His family is in the shopping mall business.
I’m going to agree with you on the TTA. Would you mind if we got them matching, in white?
The LS400 sounds good to me.
I’d hang out in ’89, watch myself graduate HS, then bum around for a year, long enough to score a brand new ’90 Acura NSX… I know nice try, but too expensive. Then I guess anything with a turbo: a Nissan Z, RX-7, MR2 or a Supra.
Something everyone forgets about the Delorean:
it was SLOW and a pain to park due to the gullwing doors. I knew someone, who knew someone, whose 2nd cousin had one (or something like that) he said the transmission was junk too.
True story: August of 1985, about-to-go-into-High-School me is sitting at home one afternoon, and a DeLorean pulls into my driveway outta nowhere. I’m thinking “What the hell???” and my best friend hops out of the passenger side. His dad had bought one from some guy in Texas as a speculation vehicle for whatever reason. He ended up doing some point-to-point rallies and car shows with it, and I guess sold it about 8 years later. I have no idea if he made any money with it, but he also had other ideas about cars, like he owned a two-limo company and ran that out of his house. I got to drive it a couple times, and while it was cool, it didn’t hold up to “movie cool”.
The gullwings really weren’t a problem in parking lots. Because they were hinged so far inboard on the roof, they really only went out about 8-10 inches from the car when you were opening or closing them. It was actually a lot easier to get in and out than a standard car in a tight parking space. Where they were a problem was after you fell into the seats, the strap to pull the door down was waaaaay up there, and I was over 6′ tall. You kinda learned to grab the strap as you were falling in.
It was about the same as any car of the time, definitely not a sports car except in looks. Disappointingly, the speedo only went up to 85 MPH. The other things I remember about it were the really raked windshield that started above your ankles and ended above your stomach, through which you could see pedestrian’s legs but not much else, and the smallish steering wheel with no power steering. Made it a bit of a bear to turn at low speeds.
Too Easy…new and not beat all to hell FJ62 Land Cruiser.
That’s for sure. Talk about your rabid fan base.
I’ve got an ’89 FJ62 with 213k on the clock and still ticking. The A/C actually works better and cools off faster than my sister’s late model Explorer!
Acura Integra R
1989, not 1999 (not in the US that year either).
This’ll sound silly, but I’ve always had a week spot for the second generation crx. I’m above whatever adult height percentile the car was designed for, but I would just skip the sunroof. A clean, and not so subtle Barbados Yellow crx is all I ask for. I’d drive it, keep it forever, and leave it completely stock. The rest of the money would be used for obvious financial tomfoolery on wall street.
1989? My folks bought an SHO that year, replacing the 1986 MT-5. That was a cool car to my young eyes. Looking back though, I remember our neighbors had a Legend coupe with a manual…even though we were still firmly American, that car appealed to me (still does, given my current Acura).
Last of the truely square Lincoln Town Cars with enough money left over for a Ford F150 with a I6 and manual trans. I might be able to drive those two for the rest of my life.
Hear, hear!
Assuming there is some type of budget involved, I’d buy the same car I bought the first time I visited 1989: a turbo Shelby Daytona.
I miss the whole “hang on, something stupid is about to happen” effect that you really only get with turbo lag.
Otherwise (and partly for the same reasons) I’m going to have to trump every post above this one and say: F40.
/thread!
Wow. Where was this post six days ago…??
We took in trade a red and silver ’89 Shelby Daytona Turbo w/74k original miles, FL-owned and registered since new. Original books, stickers, etc. Automatic, ‘digital guidance pkg’ (or whatever), and T-Tops. The owner decided to let it out on a Buy-Here/Pay-Here contract and the bimbo who bought it TOTALLED it on Saturday…pulled a U-turn in front of a GMT-800 Yukon.
I like your thinking but I would have hung around for a year, and picked up the 1990 model. Better exterior, much better interior, and I would have gotten the rare Turbo IV engine which had a variable nozzle turbo (VNT) which cut turbo lag in half. Very few of them made. With the money left over I would have got a 1990 LeBaron GTS convertible with the same engine. I think only 125 of those convertibles were made.
Shortly after my first daughter was born in 1990, I had a 1987 Dodge Lancer ES Turbo that had a warranty claim back in the 7/70 days. The service manager was a clown, I got into a shouting match with him and finally the dealership manager got me to calm down by offering to send the zone rep to discuss the matter.
The day of the zone rep’s visit, I was waiting for him at the dealership, imagining he would be some old fart and would immediately take the dealer’s side in the matter. As I’m sitting there, a silver LeBaron GTS convert pulls up, and out pops the zone rep. He was a really nice guy, allowed the warranty repair and took me aside and suggested a different Dodge dealer for warranty repairs.
When our official business was finished, I commented on his car and he was happy to show me the car and even let me drive it.
We hooned around the back streets behind the dealership and had a good old time with that car. I’m guessing it was the VNT version because that thing pulled like a beast! It had practically no lag in the boost response.
Ever since then, I’ve wanted a VNT Dodge of some kind.
A loaded Cutlass Ciera, with the 3.8 and every option, column shift, quilted seats and the whole 9 yards. White, with maroon interior.
3.3 or 3300 was available but not the 3.8. Although the 3.8 will fit and mounts up pretty simply. Unless you mean Delta 88 or Ninety-eight. Although if you’re gonna go with a Cutlass Ciera in 1989 give me a wagon with the 3.3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cutlass_Ciera#1989.E2.80.931996
D’oh! I meant the 3.3
ha! my first car was a Buick Century (85) wagon with the 3.8. Wood grain laminate, too. It had the self-leveling suspension that never worked. If you loaded the car up, you’d hear this mechanical droning sound as the car would try to raise the back end. It went through batteries like tissue paper. Then we pulled it out and put in truck springs. Pretty much everything on the car except the actual engine (radio, power windows, transmission, door handles, fabric on the roof, brakes, power steering, every pump) failed at some or several point(s) in it’s 150,000 mile/12 year life.
A loaded Cutlass Ciera? You’re kidding, right? Why not aim for a real car? Cutlass Supreme or nothing!
hey this is great, the car is already here, I save $20K for repairs and don’t have to risk the flux capacitor malfunctions!
http://www.cars.com/go/search/detail.jsp?tracktype=usedcc&csDlId=&csDgId=&listingId=69292039&listingRecNum=0&criteria=sf1Dir%3DDESC%26mkId%3D20005%26stkTyp%3DU%26mdId%3D21396%26mdId%3D35050%26mdId%3D36963%26mdId%3D20498%26mdId%3D20481%26mdId%3D20496%26mdId%3D20487%26mdId%3D20502%26mdId%3D20470%26mdId%3D20500%26rd%3D100000%26crSrtFlds%3DstkTypId-feedSegId-mkId-mdId-yrId%26zc%3D10022%26rn%3D0%26PMmt%3D1-10-0%26stkTypId%3D28881%26sf2Dir%3DASC%26sf1Nm%3Dprice%26yrId%3D20136%26yrId%3D20191%26yrId%3D20135%26yrId%3D20190%26yrId%3D20134%26yrId%3D20189%26sf2Nm%3Dmiles%26isDealerGrouping%3Dfalse%26rpp%3D50%26feedSegId%3D28705&aff=national
I like the Buick GN suggestion though
89′ Ford Sierra Sapphire RS Cosworth. The Sierra was a fantastic handling machine anyway, and with a turbocharged Cosworth YBB engine attached to a T5, RWD, no ABS/Traction control or other electronic nanny to get in your way, it was the perfect B-road racer. And with 4 doors was the perfect sleeper too.
W124 Mercedes E class. Transfer the time travel equipment to a relatively timeless 300E and bring a super low mileage one to the present. Can’t buy a new over engineered Mercedes and the old ones sans time travel have a lot of wear since then.
Apple stock. Then I’d come back and buy something so much better.
nice
That was my thought too.
Simple. 1989 Volvo 245GL. If I treated it right, I could still be driving it 22 years later.
You have 53k! Treat yourself to a 745T with a stick!
But yeah, I’m totally with you. You can’t go wrong with any Volvo from ’89.
For that kind of money, I’d buy a Saab 900 SPG AND a 245. And both would still be driving nice because the 245 would take the majority of the driving, and the SPG would be garaged and used on “special occasions”.
Or you could be conservative and buy two 245s and never have to buy another car for 100 years…
Also, it’s ’89, so we’d be buying ’90 245s. Yay airbags and flush rear tailgate windows!
I’d buy a leftover 1988 Thunderbird Turbocoupe. Actually I’d buy two. One to use then replace the engine with a LSx swap. The other I’d keep as a collectible…Midnight Canyon Red
I was going to suggest a Lotus Esprit (not for investment purposes, of course) but I can’t find the MSRP for a normally aspirated Esprit. The Turbo Esprit was $67K.
BMW Z1 Alpina Roadster Limited Edition
http://www.alpina-automobiles.com/fileadmin/user_upload/website/IMAGES/content/history/Z/alpina_historie_Z1.jpg
I think 89 was the last year for the Chev Caprice “Box body” built in Arlington Texas?
Oh yeah, spray it with oil, every Fall. I’d still be driving it.
Now you’re talking. Were coupes still available? If not, I’d have to go with one of the mid-size coupes like I wrote above.
On the full-sized coupes, I always wanted to kit-bash one to try to fashion something to make the rear windows roll down – they were set in a real channel.
Other than that, I’d have to see what a 1964 Chevy like I used to own would go for.
If I’m in the US of A, I’m stocking up on XR4Ti’s and Scorpios to put in storage so I can enjoy them for decades to come. I ought to be able to get a couple of each for that kind of coin at the end of 89, right? :)
I also like the Sapphire Cosworth idea if I can buy grey market stuff.
The original Infiniti Q45. Better looking, better handling than the LS400. My uncle had one, then got a Q45a when it came out (and wished he kept his original). Unfortunately, it was downhill from the original with the Q.
My votes are for the 1990 LS400, Q45, Eldorado Touring Coupe, or Galant. The derivative LS400 is itself the prototype of the modern luxury sedan copied by everyone from Bentley to Jaguar to Mercedes, and it’s interior looks as attractive in 2011 as it did in 1989. It’s the car I’d keep for 20 years, because it was the best engineered car of it’s time.
But I’ll settle for the Toronado Trofeo with touchscreen CRT, which was my dream car and still looks great.
Ms Christina drives a 944.
Are we talking only new cars here? Because if used, I’d buy up every used muscle car that I could. Back in that era, I remember that the son of my hometown Pontiac dealer was getting rid of his two 1969 GTO Judges (eastern WA cars; no rust) and I could have had both for less than $5K. But alas, I was in college and didn’t have that kind of scratch laying around!
OT – has anybody else had a problem with this site not displaying the second page correctly? I am using IE8.0 both at work and at home, and I continually am getting about a 3-day-old 2nd page (based upon the posting dates) every time, even after I manually reload. It’s frustrating when I can’t get to a post after it drops off the first page.
Yes, happening to me on both IE8 (at work) and Safari (phone and home).
The very best example I could find of a Mk II Scirroco with the 16V engine (I think they stopped making them in 1988….)
Ferrari race cars such as the 275 gtb were worth very little in those days before the market took off. I would likely the best one of those that I could afford with the money. Either that or a nice used stingray
vette.
My first thought as well, so I checked – 1989 was the peak of the market for some of the Ferraris. A 250 GTO was sold for over $14 million that year.
First thought is a Vauxhall Lotus Carlton, but I agree with the above suggestion to stock up on cheap classics.
Version A, raw practicality: Take all $53k and invest it in Apple and Berkshire Hathaway stock. Trade the DeLorean for a Ducati 851, which should be a fun ride with the flux capacitor installed.
Version B, fun ride: Trade the DeLorean plus the $53k and get a new NSX. If I can’t find one, a clean 1971 Hemi Cuda in Plum Crazy or Curious Yellow.
Can I import an R32 Skyline GT-R? If no, then I’ll go for the 300ZX turbo.
Approximately 5000 shares in Apple.
Volvo 740 GL Wagon
The tie-in between 1989 and Back to the Future confuses me. Back to the Future was in 1985.
Back to the Future II?
The tie in comes from a 1989 model I recently purchased. One that cost more than the $100k+ inflation adjusted price I used as a cutoff.
I’d get whatever I could at the Toyota dealership. First and foremost, a 4×4 5-speed Van (with captain’s chairs). I’d use whatever was left to get whatever combination I could between the MR2, Supra, Cressida, Celica Alltrac, Camry wagon (v6 5MT sedan…maybe even an all trac sedan), pickup truck, 4runner, or corolla all-trac wagon. Back then everything came with 5 speeds (except the cressida).
I might even get lucky and find a FX16 GTS still on the lot (but not likely). The Van is they key, though!
1990 Eagle Talon TSi AWD. Was in the mags late 1989. Tried it against a used 944 and the new at the time Nissan 300ZX. The Nissan was gutless, the Porsche had great handling, and the Talon went like absolute stink. I bought one. Great car — Audi quattro performance for not much loot.
Since we’re talking about November 1989, and new cars (?) only I think we’re looking at 1990 models.
1. Corvette ZR-1
2. Pontiac Trans Am GTA
3. Dodge Daytona Shelby Z
4. Yugo GVX
5. Mustang LX 5.0 2 door
Since November 1989 is when I found out we were having our first child, I would have been smart to sell off my 5.0L Fox body for something like this:
1. Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser Station Wagon (with 307 V8)
2. Dodge Grand Caravan
3. Mercury Grand Marquis Colony Park Station Wagon
4. Yugo GVX
5. Chevrolet Suburban (2WD)
EDIT: For all of those folks who would buy Apple stock in 1989, you were going to have to wait for a looooonnnng time to make your money back. Now, if you bought Apple stock in 1998, different story.
I would love a ZR-1. Looked up the price though, and they started at $59,000 in 1990.
I do wonder why you would pick a Trans Am GTA over the Turbo Trans Am. Absolutely love both of those cars.
Love the Daytona as well. The rest… to each their own. But hey, that’s why we all have our own personal tastes, right?
@majeskyb: V8 power! Nothing against the blown Buick, though. They were faster.
The Yugos were on there to see if anyone was paying attention.
EDIT: ZR-1’s were $59K? D’oh!
I know i’m outing myself as a huge movie nerd, but the BTTF date is November 5, 1985 not ’89.
November 5th also happens to be my wife’s birthday.
But I chose 1989 due to the wider breadth of interesting models along with the fact that I just bought a ‘time capsule’ Mercedes from that year.
Easy. A Saab 900 SPG turbo, stick shift, dark grey on matching leather. Heck, if enough money were left over, I’d throw a Sterling 827SLi fastback into the bargain too.
Toyota Celica All-Trac.
That would be one of my top three.
Truth be told I would have to drive a couple of other vehicles at the ‘auto mall’. But the Toyota Celica All-Trac would be on my short list along with the Mazda MX-5.
’89 was the last year for the first gen MR2, so, one of those, please. It’s as 80s as the Delorean but so much better.
For purely sentimental reasons I’d be tempted to pick up a 89 Camry with a stick, as well. Those Honda CRX HFs were around too; I’d like to get back to the future and befuddle eco-snobs with its amazing mileage.
Lets see.. in 1989 my parents had a 1984 Olds Delta 88, and a 1976 Chevy Malibu Classic. I’d be tempted to find a hold-over ’88 Monte Carlo SS, an MR2 would be interesting, a holdover ’88 Fiero GT could be tempting as well.
Going into the 1990 model year; a ZR1, a 911 or a 944. Those would break the budget though. a Olds Trofeo, or an Allante could be interesting as well. Course a 3 series or a 5 series BMW would be fun as well. If I waited a year I could get a GMC Syclone. but an S-truck with the hipo 4.3 would be fun either way.
I’d move over to Japan and would buy myself a nice 4-door R32 Skyline GTS-4. The rest I’d invest into some nicely deflated post-bubble property.
An Integer and as late a Peugeot 404 wagon as available with four on the tree.
Buy Microsoft, Cisco and EMC stock.
Sell it all in 1999 and I’d have a LOT more car options.
Well MSRP on a BMW (E24) M6 in ’89 was almost $59k(!!!) so I’d get an ’88 with like 10,000 miles on it for that much.
Top choice for me, no surprise, would be a Peugeot 405 Mi16, followed closely by an Alfa Romeo Milano 3.0.
I’ll take a brand new 1990 Buick Estate Wagon or Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser off the showroom floor, thank you! This was the last year for the box B-body wagons. These were quite rare when new and you don’t see many around anymore. Wagons in general need to make a comeback!