New Car Report 1995
Manufacturers debut options for all budgets.
JOEL SIMON SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
E
very new automotive
model year the old war-
riors and a couple of al-
most unknown upstarts
prepare new guns to get prospec-
tive buyers excited all over again
about rubber and steel. Some of
these turn out to be misses, but
this year it looks like there are
a few hits in store, as well.
One of the biggest pieces of
news for the 1995 model year
comes from General Motors
Corp., which is making a bid to
revitalize its ailing Oldsmobile
Division with the long-awaited
Aurora sedan.
GM has been throwing fixes
at Oldsmobile for the past few
years, with jarring
and unorthodox of-
ferings like an
Oldsmobile-badged
minivan and sport-
utility. Meanwhile,
the same old lifeless
cars show up year af-
ter year, and sales
figures plummet. It's
hard to think of
Oldsmobile coming
up with anything re-
ally exciting.
But after a very
slow start, Aurora has
finally made its debut.
An all-new front-wheel drive
four-door with a 4-liter 250-
horsepower V-8, Aurora may be
the head-turner Oldsmobile has
needed for so long. Curiously, it's
something of a stealth car; the
Oldsmobile badge appears
nowhere on Aurora's exterior,
which is going to make it awful-
ly hard for people who do have
their heads turned to know
where to turn next.
As with most of the new GMs
of the past few years, Aurora is
a big, heavy car: it's a little over
17 feet long and weighs 3,830
pounds. But it exhibits a rigidi-
ty and clean interior design that
is very different from what peo-
ple have come to expect from
Oldsmobile. And at about
$32,000, it costs thousands less
than its targeted competitors,
the Acura Legend and BMW
540i.
Early reviews are very en-
couraging; even if you've gotten
tras" like a radio and air
conditioning, the average
going price is more like
$12,000.
Neon replaces the out-
moded and unlamented
Shadow/Sundance. Its dis-
tinctive styling is bound to be
a little too cute for some, but
it gets good performance out
of its 2-liter, 132-horsepower
four-banger.
The body's composite pan-
els and state-of-the-art design
make it quiet and relatively
rigid. With the exception of one
massive recall (which Chrysler,
no doubt learning from GM's
Saturn experience, handled
straightforwardly), the reviews
on the Neons currently on the
road have been very encourag-
ing.
Ford's new economy model is
the Aspire, and although it's too
early to draw conclusions, the
Neon shows signs of doing to the
Aspire what Mazda's Miata did
to Mercury's Capri a few years
ago: make a not-so-bad car look
absolutely second rate. The As-
pire is built in Korea by Kia and
is intended to replace the Festi-
va. It comes in three models, in-
cluding a hatchback.
Interior room, while not as
Top: 1995 Neon Sport
bad as the Festiva, is not excep-
replaces the Shadow and
tional. Neither is body noise.
Sundance.
And somehow the Aspire actu-
ally manages to be slower than
the
Festiva. Its fuel mileage is
Middle: Early reports
rated about seven miles per gal-
indicate that the
lon better than the Neon, if that
Oldsmobile Aurora will be
means anything.
a big hit.
Speaking of Kia and small
cars, guess who's the latest for-
Bottom: The 1995 Cadillac
eign carmaker to try and crack
Eldorado sets new
the American market under its
standards for the luxury
own name? Kia has been pro-
car market.
ducing the Festiva since 1987,
but that hasn't meant a thing in
terms of name recognition, and
America has been awfully hard
out of the habit of thinking about Swoopy and lovely, the new paign you couldn't have missed on offshore automakers in the
Oldsmobile, Aurora might be coupe will offer a choice of two if you were in cryogenic storage. past several years.
worth your time.
V-6s, including the supercharged There have been a few little
A Kia staffer put it succinct-
Another striking new GM is 3800 that currently powers the teeny hiccups since then, like ly:-"We started out with three
the 1995 Buick Riviera. Having Park Avenue. Other engines will the ballyhooed list price of key issues: No one knows us. No
never put down the torch I car- follow shortly.
$8,975.
one needs us. And no one wants
ry for my 1972 bullet-back Riv,
Big cars, notwithstanding, the
Turns out that price buys to hear from us."
I love to see them finally do big news for 1995 is small cars. you a car so stripped down a
So why are they here? Where
something else exciting with the Chrysler's Neon kicked off monk would refuse to drive it. else would they go?
Riviera You have to see this one. early with a massive ad cam- Once you've finished adding "ex-
Kia's first American offering