Classic Aurora "One of the best cars of the 90s"

[XJSman89]

I saw this on facebook today and decided to browse through it. I was quite surprised.

Road and Track's best cars of the 90s

I was honestly astonished. #22 of 30, in a list with the Ferrari F50, McLaren F1, and Jaguar XJ220 sits our Classic Aurora.

Pretty cool, huh?

[Toronado3800]

My Mustang is painted the same purple as the Prowler on their list.

I like the ZR1, that was a game changer for semi-affordable cars.

Really though, a Prowler?

[tigger]

Haha, c'mon Collins! The list is the best "looking" cars of the 90s. Why are you astonished? Though styling trends have not been a friend, the classic Aurora is still a good looking automobile!

Toro, that ZR1 was the only redeeming 'Vette amongst the slow and butt-ugly C4s, lol! But I still wanted one...
And don't hate on the Prowler, that's on Daimler. Could've been a nice roadster...

[rorafan]

Awesome that the Aurora made the list. Sometimes I forget just how groundbreaking they were when they came out. The fact that they still look great today, 20 years on, should mean something. In parking lots littered with the remnants of boxy '80s vehicles at the time they REALLY stood out. In a good way.

Happy to see the ZR-1 here, along with the NSX. And of course the Diablo! As a kid I had a giant poster of one hanging on my bedroom wall.

I'm still not sure what to think of the Prowler. I do like their comment about it screaming '90s though.

[XJSman89]

Jan 12, 2016 1:43:34 GMT -6 tigger said:

Haha, c'mon Collins! The list is the best "looking" cars of the 90s. Why are you astonished? Though styling trends have not been a friend, the classic Aurora is still a good looking automobile!

Haha I guess "astonished" might be the wrong word. It was just funny to see. I thought it would be another one of those articles championing all the Ferraris and Lambos of the day (which it did, incidentally) but to see such a normal consumer car in there too was surprising, but pleasing. I know it belongs in that list, but it's nice to see that others do too. The Aurora sure did have some groundbreaking styling. It's odd because in some instances it's unmistakably a car of the 90s (namely all the repairs!) but in other ways it is still very modern.

Driving around in my 96 I didn't feel like I was driving around a 20 year old car but hop in the Jaguar and it feels like I'm back in 1974 instead of 1989 when mine was built (the design didn't chance much from the 70s so I'm sure that has something to do with it.) Not that that's a bad thing, it's what the Jag is supposed to be. A grand tourer with a classic feel. But I digress. When you compare the Aurora to a lot of the other luxury sedans of the day (The Lexus LS400, for example) and put them side by side the Lexus, even a well taken care of one, would be an obviously older looking car while the Aurora still looks good in today's world.

I guess I was just surprised by the fact that someone other than us knows how good our cars are.

[Toronado3800]

I Really do like the LOOKS of the G1's and Prowlers. Our cars do feel great as drivers also.

[Hurricane87]

Don't get too excited. The linked article details a Classic running in the 24 Hours of LeMons. As in, lemons.

[sall]

Yes, I have seen that article before. If you read it it states,"Like the Gallic race it seeks to mock, the 24 Hours of LeMons is an endurance race for cars. Unlike the other race, this one is for cars that cost $500 or less, the notion being that when a car sinks to 500 bucks, it's a lemon." That notion as they say is not the traditional sense of the word lemon when referring to a vehicle. I bought my '98 parts car for $300, drove it in the winter daily four three years. It was hardly a lemon.

Alas as Collins stated we are a bit biased but this article was about aesthetics. The 2G is plagued by just as many issues as the Classic can have. Which is no different than the Cadillacs of the same era. A N* is something you love or hate I suppose. You'll find articles that praise or hate on the Aurora, but we usually only post the positive ones! You don't see much written about the 'shortstar' v6 unless you look to the 2Gs sister car.

[rorafan]

If that's the 24 Hours of LeMons article that C&D ran awhile back, it wasn't all that critical of the Aurora actually. IIRC at the end the car was flipped upside down, rolled a time or two, put right side up and it started first try. That after enduring punishment for I don't remember how many hours in the actual race!

[kaytrox]

It's funny that this thread would come about. I consider the Aurora to be an 'American Exotic'. The first time I sat in my 2001, on the dealer's lot about 2 weeks ago, this is what ran through my mind. 'If I had been sat in the driver's seat while blindfolded, when I removed it, I would have thought that I was in a Jaguar, a Maserati, or some other European exotic'. Driving it also gave that same kind of feel. I recently lost my 1995 Olds 88 to a fire under the hood. Even though the 88 was wider, and I would have to say a bit more luxurious than the Aurora, Aurora's handling, styling, fit and feel, more than make up for the SLIGHTLY stiffer ride. 

When I compare the two, I say that the Aurora rides BETTER over the small bumps, but couldn't match the 88's ride over the rougher patches. So when I'm out on the Interstate, it is a pure dream except for one small detail. Most luxury cars I've owned and/or driven fell GREAT at 55-70 miles per hour, and feel like they're not going near that speed. The Aurora ALWAYS feels like it's going faster than it is, and seems to yearn to have even more 'speed feel'. I'm so tempted to lean into it a little, but I pay $300 per year for car insurance!

But let's get back on track with the thread. This is what I tell people... Take a look at every new Japanese luxury car out there.. with their long slant windows, the down-turned trunk, and the outwardly sloped tail end. The rounded contour  of the sides, their tail lights neatly tucked into the upper rear corners. All those Lexus, Nissan Maximas, Honda Accords, and a whole host of others, are trying to BE a 2nd generation Aurora. Sorry Gen 1 guys, but I love the style of your just as much (maybe even more), but the Gen 2 inarguably has a more modern style. 

I've owned mine less than a week now, but here's what I told people at work today. You could give me ANY other car, and if I were not allowed to sell it, only to drive it, there is not a thing out there that I would trade it for. I've been wanting a late model Firebird for years, and the Aurora totally cured me of that. I'm in love with both the classic and the modern Challenger, but now that I have the Aurora, I have found my dream car, that shot right up to #1 on my all-time list!