The Neon sold in respectable numbers during its 1995-2005 production run, most Detroit cars in high-turnover self-serve wrecking yards are 12-15 years old, and so you'll see many, many Neons in such yards these days. Most of the time, Neons are just junkyard background noise to me as I look for interesting cars to photograph for this series; I'll shoot a rare Neon R/T, but that's about it. Still, something about the dot-com-boom optimism of the Expresso trim level catches my attention, so I paused to document this '96 in its final parking spot.
These cars were cheap and had a bit more power than their similarly priced imported competitors, but they never built up much of a popular reputation for longevity.
There was a time when 16-valve four-cylinder engines were exotic, as were 5-speeds and fuel injection.
This car has the automatic, though. Note the cheerful party-style seat fabric.
Because I spend a lot of time watching low-budget race cars clank around road courses, I think of the Neon as a very good cheap racer— quicker and more reliable than most Japanese LeMons cars, and of course there's that incredible junkyard parts selection. Here's in-car video from one of those Neons in action.
It's a pretty hot little number!
Neon-style cuteness was definitely out in the minds of car marketers of the 21st century, and so the Neon's successor got ads like this. Stupid little fairy!
from The Truth About Cars http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com
Put the internet to work for you.
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