24 ❘ August22, 2019 http://www.oldcarsweekly.com
Cars of 1994
1994 Ford F-150 Lightning
The hot rod Lightning pickup went through a couple of
evolutions over the years, and 1994 wasn’t the hottest year for
the cool truck, but it was the fi rst year.
The 240-hp, 351-cid fuel-injected V-8 could pull a
15.6-second quarter mile, which made it by far the quick-
est hauler on the market. They had dual exhausts and bucket
seats, which added to their cool factor. Ford only built 11,563
of the fi rst-generation vehicles from 1993-’95, so they don’t
grow on trees.
With pickups among the hottest segments of the old car
market, it seems a given that nice survivors from the earliest
days of the Lightning will continue to climb in value. Really
nice ones command in the neighborhood of $20,000. Now
that the trucks are 25 years old and widely eligible for collec-
tor plates, don’t expect the demand for Lightning to go cold
anytime soon.
Ford Probe (GT and SE)
The 1994 Probe came out right in the middle of the model’s
10-year run, which lasted from 1988-’97. These things were
everywhere when they were at their peak, and they certainly
qualify as one of the best all-around pseudo-sports cars of the
past 25 years. Probably the best thing about them was they
were affordable — just $16,000 and change would get you
into a Probe GT in 1994, and for that you got a pretty hot little
number with great handling, 164 hp from its DOHC 24-valve
V-6 and lots of options to pick from. With or without the fi ve-
speed manual, these cars were fun to drive.
The SE Package was available on the Probes in 1993-’94,
and juiced them up with fancy alloy wheels, ground effects,
fog lights and some different badging and trim goodies. There
was also a “GT Plus” package, or “Wild Orchid Edition,” that
came with special purple paint and black cloth seats with spe-
cial inserts.
The Probe has a pretty loyal fanbase and active online com-
munity. If you haven’t seen Probes showing up at car shows
yet, we have a feeling you will soon.Honda Prelude VTEC
Honda squeezed 190 hp out of the VTEC 2.2-liter four-
cylinder, which made this Honda a pretty spirited little beast
for a daily driver 25 years ago. The base engine still gave you
135 hp, but the VTEC was what the cool kids wanted.
Critics gave the Prelude high marks across the board. They
had performance and handling, and Honda’s usual iron-clad
reliability. They had cool smoked dash lenses inside, comfy
seats and fi ve-speed manual transmissions. The Prelude’s styl-
ing certainly didn’t excite everybody, and the VTEC version
would run you close to $25 grand, which was no cheap date,
but it might have been the best sports car-compact car combo
machine around at the time.
The tuner car crowd has been into the Preludes for years.
You’ve likely seen plenty of ’em at stoplights with tinted win-
dows, aftermarket wheels and gaping exhaust cans howling
out the back. They were fun cars new, and they are fun cars
now with a lot of nostalgia for the age 25-to-40 crowd.1994 Mazda RX-7
The Mazda RX-7 was a hairy little pure sports machine for