Because I skipped yesterday’s post, I’m going to make it up by featuring a handful of vehicles today. The thing that today’s vehicles have in common is that they were all spotted in or around the parking lot for a senior citizen’s center in Austin, MN, when I was there about a month ago. Typically, when one thinks of the cars that senior citizens tend to favor, large, old sedans or small econobox cars come to mind. I don’t know what they’re putting in the water in Austin, but the senior citizens there have shown a fondness for performance oriented vehicles. Check out the stuff I found.
First, we’ve got this dragster tricycle thingy. I’m not a motorcycle person, though I do take my nephew to the motorcycle show every year. I really don’t know if this was somebody’s homemade custom or if it came from a kit (I suspect a kit due to how well done the fiberglass body looks).
It’s part motorcycle and part car, with a single wheel at the front to steer, an elongated body like a dragster, and a pair of wheels along with what appears to be a small block Chevy V8 at the back end.
This is somebody’s toy, and it is definitely eye-catching. I’ve got no clue what type of performance specs it features, though I bet it’s fast. This blue beast was what first caught my eye as I was driving by. After I pulled over and got out to look at it, I noticed a couple of other interesting specimens in the parking lot of the senior center.
Next up is this fox body Mustang 5.0 convertible. I’m fond of the Fox platform Mustangs that were part of the nameplate’s 3rd generation (1979-1993) because the later half of this generation (1987-1993) made up the bulk of the tuned up and bored-out muscle machines that guys I used to work with in high school would race around the back lot of Merle Hay Mall.
It can be difficult to discern year from year when dealing with fox body ‘Stangs, though judging from the fascia, the ornament (the pony rather than the Ford oval), the hood scoops in the grille, and the black instead of color-keyed body cladding, I’d place this as a 1991 LX model…. Though I might be mistaken -but I don’t think I am.
So, the notorious Five-Point-Oh rears its head again. These days, one can get a 5.0 with 420 HP and 390 lb ft of torque. Back in 1991, the 5.0 could make 225 HP and 300 lb-ft of torque. What a difference a couple decades makes, eh? Of course, a new 5.0 Mustang now has a starting MSRP of $30,900 -for a fastback coupe, that figure climbs to $35,900 for a convertible. In 1991, the base MSRP for a 5.0 Mustang was just over $15,000 for a coupe and just under $20,000 for a convertible. Overall, the cost of a Mustang has roughly doubled in the past two decades…. But of course, so has the horse power.
Nowadays, a fox body Mustang of this vintage could cost anywhere from a couple grand for one that’s been really beat up, on up to around $12,000 for one in pristine condition -more if it’s some special variation like a Cobra, or an aftermarket built Saleen version.
What is somewhat unique about this Mustang beyond the pristine condition it appears to be in, is the fact that it does not show any signs of being customized. It’s not all that easy to find an unmolested Fox body 5.0 these days. The nature of the 5.0 V8 was such that it was incredibly popular among folks looking to boost power via aftermarket performance parts. Pretty much every guy I worked with back when I was in high school who had a 5.0 had done at least something to it to enhance its performance. Sometimes, they didn’t know what they were doing, or went a little overboard and ended up damaging their engines. I remember having to constantly shuffle Mustang custom magazines off the desk at work when I was trying to get stuff done. At the time, I was amazed at just how many publications there were in existence that were about nothing else than customizing Mustangs. I mean, that’s a really specific genre, you know?
If this senior center operates anything like LazerX at Merle Hay Mall in Des Moines where I used to work as a teenager, then these senior citizens are probably having after-hours showdowns with their vehicles in the parking lot or on the side streets. If that’s the case, then here’s the Fox body Mustang’s main competition for that day: a Dodge Caliber SRT-4. I’m not sure of the year, though I know that while Calibers had a production run from 2006-2012 (they replaced the Neon, and were themselves replaced by the Dart), the SRT-4’s last year was 2009.
Ordinarily, the Dodge Caliber is a real snoozer. When I was in the car business, I had friends who worked at the Dodge dealership just down the street, and would drive over in one of our vehicles to say hello every now and then. My friend, Jim, who worked at the Dodge store told me that the only way he was able to sell a Caliber was if he only had one or maybe two on the lot at once. If management ordered that their entire inventory of about a dozen should be lined up in a row for display, not a one of them would move off the lot.
What’s wrong with the Caliber? you might be wondering. On the surface, they kind of seem like miniature, FWD, Dodge Magnum wagons, which were pretty bad ass looking station wagons, though the Caliber is kind of the cutesy, baby version of the Magnum. The base engines were a 1.8L I4 with 148 HP or a 2.0L I4 with 158 HP. They could be had with a five speed manual or a continuously variable transmission (CVT). A CVT is something you’ll see with some all wheel drive (AWD) systems, which were optional on the Caliber. The problem with CVT’s is that they’re really boring to drive, and deaden a large portion of feedback a driver would normally get from their car. The engine revs are lessened as the CVT gradually matches its gearing to the RPMs, so the sound of an engine growling to be shifted is diminished, and the feel of boost or thrust that one can get from even tiny little engines is all but eliminated in my experience. In short, they’re just not much fun.
So, we’ll bypass the base SE, the step-up SXT, and even the R/T (road and track) Caliber with its 2.4L I4 with 173 HP to get to the top of the heap for Calibers. The SRT-4 (SRT= Street Racing Technology) featured a 2.4L I4 engine with dual overhead cams, 16 valves with variable valve timing, an intercooled turbocharger for 285 HP and 265 lb-ft of torque (engine and turbo both are actually Mitsubishi products), a 6 speed manual transmission front wheel drive (no AWD option here, which is a shame, but at least spares drivers from that CVT in favor of a 6 speed manual), sport tuned suspension that sat about an inch lower than other Calibers, dual piston vented front brakes (borrowed from the Dodge Charger Police Package) and single piston discs in back, along with 19” rims and special badges.
If we’re going to go with a 2009 model year designation for this SRT-4 (which is probably accurate), that means it’s nearly 20 years newer than its 5.0 convertible Mustang LX competition. Starting MSRP on a 2009 Caliber SRT-4 was right around $23,000, which is actually not too far off from the base price for a 5.0 Mustang LX convertible back in 1991 (right around $20,000). Assuming both vehicles are still one-owner cars, that means both owners paid about the same for their vehicles (not adjusting for inflation), albeit 18 years apart.
The Caliber has 60 more HP than the Mustang. I’m finding varying specs on curb weight of the Mustang convertible, but they seem to average out to around 3,000 lbs, which is roughly the same as the Caliber SRT-4. 0-60 times stack up like this: Caliber: 5.3 seconds, 1991 Mustang 5.0: 6.7 seconds. So, it seems that the Caliber would probably win an out and out drag race.
In terms of driving experience, I’d venture to say that the Mustang is probably more enjoyable. Just considering the rear wheel drive set up, and the drop top, it would win for fun. When you add in the top-heaviness of the Caliber with its high center of gravity, its front wheel drive set up hampering its maneuverability, and the added body roll due to its height (it stands 7.5” taller than the Mustang with its top up), we start to see even more separation in driving experience.
Shopping between the two vehicles nowadays, a used 2008-2009 SRT-4 Caliber will cost a bit more than a 1991 Mustang Convertible (low teens for one in good shape)… for now, anyway. Online prices I was able to find on the SRT-4 Calibers were between $13,000 for examples with nearly 100,000 miles, up to just under $20,000 for examples with less than 25,000 miles. Most of what I found had around 50,000 miles and were priced between $15,000-17,000. For cars that are 4 years old at least, and going on 5 years old, the resale value isn’t too bad, actually.
I wouldn’t complain about having either vehicle. I think that Fox body Mustang can only go up in value from here, provided its owner continues to pamper it the way it’s clearly grown accustomed to. The SRT-4 will continue to slide in value, even if it is pampered and mileage kept low. By the time this SRT-4 is the same age that the Mustang we’re looking at is now, that Mustang will have increased in value, and the SRT-4 will probably drop down to well below $10,000 in value (even if it is kept well). The number of factors that contribute to this include cult status of the nameplate -Mustang wins hands down here for its heritage, whereas the Caliber has already come and gone in the span of just a few years. Also a factor is just the body style: A convertible will always be looked upon as more fun than a wagon.
So, to the hot-rodding senior citizens at the Austin MN senior center, I say keep the pedal to the metal, and keep on owning and driving performance oriented automobiles!
No comments:
Post a Comment