1992 Chevrolet Camaro RS

The whole concept behind the Pony Cars from Detroit was that they could be optioned across a wide spread of price and performance.

By the third generation of Chevrolet's Camaro, they no longer shared much in the way of mechanicals with any sedans, rear-wheel drive cars being seen as atavistic throwbacks by then, and the number of trim levels had dwindled, but they still could be had in flavors from mild to wild.

While the sportier Z28 got all the ink, the base RS version was the bread and butter of the lineup.

For '91 the Camaro got a light styling refresh, despite its successor already waiting in the wings. The RS got new ground effects and standard 15" alloy rims from the now-extinct IROC-Z.

Base motor was the port fuel injected corporate 3.1L pushrod V-6 making 140 SAE net horsepower, and it could be backed with a standard 5-speed manual or an optional 4-speed slushbox.

This Arctic White example is pretty well optioned. It has t-tops and the red cloth buckets with height-adjustable headrests were an extra cost option. Moreover, those five-spoke 16" alloy wheels were only available with the optional LO3 throttle-body injected 5.0L V-8, rated at 170 horsepower.

This one was photographed in September of 2021 using a Nikon D7000 and a 16-80mm f/2.8-4E zoom lens.

1992 Buick Regal Gran Sport

The Regal nameplate got its start with Buick as the upmarket personal luxury coupe version of the Century, back in 1973. The second generation debuted in 1978, sharing a platform with the Monte Carlo, Grand Prix, and Cutlass Supreme.

The Regal was a popular coupe and although sedan and wagon variants were occasionally offered in the first and second generations, the coupes outsold them ten-to-one. The second generation Regal was best known for sending out the RWD era at Buick out with a bang in the form of fire-breathing turbocharged T-Types, Grand Nationals, and the ultimate GNX.

With the 1988 model year, the Regal became a front-wheel drive car on the new W-body, shared with the Grand Prix, Lumina, and Cutlass Supreme. The Regal version was initially available only as a coupe with the funky "beer tap" door handles in the B-pillars.

The only powertrain available in the debut year was the GM LB6, a 2.8L multiport fuel injected pushrod V-6 making 125 SAE net horsepower. Performance was a faint shadow of the Regal Grand National. For 1989 the Gran Sport package became an option and the 140hp 3.1L version of the corporate V-6 supplanted the 2.8L later in the model year.

1990 saw the Regal become the only one of the W-body coupes to offer the 3800 Tuned Port Injection 3.8L OHV V-6. The "Series I" 3800 made 170 SAE net ponies and managed to restore something approaching reasonable acceleration again.

When Car and Driver tested a 1992 Regal GS coupe not unlike the Arctic White one in the photos, they clocked a 9.2 second zero-to-sixty time and a 16.9 second quarter.

The one in the photo was snapped in October of 2025 using a Sony a77 and a Sony Zeiss 16-80mm f/3.5-4.5 Vario-Sonnar T* zoom lens.

1992 Acura Vigor

All through the Malaise Era, while the US domestic automakers floundered through quality control problems and a crisis of relevancy as the market sought smaller, more fuel-efficient cars, the Japanese automakers gained ground in the American market. By the mid-Eighties, they'd surpassed the domestics in consumer perception of quality and were starting to challenge some of the revered Euro marques.

A Road & Track comparison test of a Benz 190E and a Honda Accord SE-i from 1985

Honda was ready to move upmarket, but knew that the badge-conscious US market wouldn't know how to deal with "luxury Hondas", so they created a new division of the company, Acura. It sold the new Legend, an upscale V6 midsize sedan, and the Integra, a sporty hot hatch derived from Civic genes.

For 1991, Acura dealerships also got the new NSX mid-engine sports car, and then for '92 came the Vigor. Honda had been selling the Vigor, a sportier and more luxurious Accord derivative, at home since the early Eighties, but this new third generation (CC2) version was its first appearance on US shores.

Slightly wider than an Accord, the CC2 Vigor was also stretched forward of the firewall and, unusually for a Honda, featured a longitudinally-mounted engine driving the front wheels. Even more unusually for a Honda, this engine was an inline-five cylinder, the company's G25A1. A SOHC 20V motor with Honda's PGM-FI and a dual-stage induction system, the 2.5L I-5 was rated at 176 SAE net horsepower at 6300 rpm. The Vigor could be had with a standard five-speed manual or an optional four-speed auto with a lockup torque converter.

Car and Driver tested the Vigor in a six-way shootout of sub-$25k sports sedans against the Audi 80, the Mitsubishi Galant VR4, the Nissan Maxima SE, the Subaru Legacy Sport Sedan, and the Infiniti G20.

The Vigor's performance was only moderately...er, vigorous, laying down a 7.7 second zero-to-sixty and a 16.1 quarter mile at 88 mph through the traps (although it did not, notably, proceed to go back in time.) It got dinged on its handling, posting subpar slalom numbers and a second-worst 0.76g skidpad performance, but mostly on its price which, at $23,575, was the highest base sticker in the batch. That's $54k in 2025 bucks, by the way.

In the end, the Vigor finished third in the test, behind the Mitsu VR4 and Nissan's "Four Door Sports Car", and it also finished third in Acura showrooms, behind the plusher Legend and sportier Integra. The Vigor didn't set the world on fire sales-wise, and its tenure on our shores was brief, being discontinued after the '94 model year, making this Cassis Red example a rare sight.

It was photographed in July of 2025 using a Canon EOS R and an RF 24-105mm f/4-7.1 IS zoom lens.

1992 Chevrolet Corvette Convertible

The fourth generation of Corvette was nearing a decade old in the early Nineties, and the next generation had originally been scheduled to debut as a 1995 model, but a soft economy affected sales and so the new 'Vette had to get pushed back another few years and the C4 would linger on.

For 1991 the car received a styling update, with the nose and rear fascia revised, new front fender panels with faux horizontal vent strakes, and new 17" turbine-styled aluminum wheels.

For the 1992 model year, the revised exterior was joined by underhood upgrades to match.

In the '92 Corvette, the L98 Tuned Port Injection 5.7L motor that had powered Chevy's flagship since the 1985 model year was replaced by the new LT1.

An evolution of the previous 350 small block V-8, the new second generation LT1 featured a host of changes, including a revised intake and exhaust, new free-flowing cylinder heads, new engine controls, and a reverse-flow cooling system that directed coolant from the radiator to the heads first which helped enable the 10.5:1 compression ratio.

All these changes bumped the output by twenty percent, from 250 to 300 SAE net horsepower.

Car and Driver's testing of a 6-speed 'Vette coupe with the new motor returned a zero-to-sixty time of 5.0 seconds flat and a quarter mile run of 13.6 seconds at 104 mph, with a top speed of 157. Base price for the coupe was $36,604, or the equivalent of about $83,250 in today's prices.

This one was snapped with a Nikon D7000 and 16-80mm f/2.8-4E in October of 2020.

1992 Volkswagen Cabriolet Wolfsburg Edition

Volkswagen stopped selling the Mk.I Golf, known as the Rabbit, on our shores after the 1984 model year, replacing it with the Mk.II which was badged as the Golf here the same as everyplace else.

There was one exception, however, in that the convertible version soldiered on. It lost its "Rabbit" name, but didn't pick up the "Golf" moniker to replace it, being sold alongside the newer Golf models as simply the Volkswagen Cabriolet.

Interestingly, the Cabriolet bodies were not conversions, but build from the ground up at Karmann's Osnabrück factory and fitted out with drivetrains, suspension components, and interiors provided by VW.

Starting with the 1983 model year and continuing through the end of production of the type after 1992, there was an annual run of special "Wolfsburg Edition" Cabriolets, like the Flash Red one seen here, only skipping the '88, '90, and '91 model years. Despite the name, these weren't built at Volkswagen's Wolfsburg plant, but in the Osnabrück factory alongside the other droptop Karmanns.

This one was snapped with a Nikon D700 and 80-200mm f/2.8 zoom lens in March of 2020.

1992 Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4

Mitsubishi launched its rakish Starion 2+2 grand touring sports coupe for '82 and at the time, it was fairly competitive with its domestic competition. The 280ZX 2+2 and Toyota Celica Supra both sported 2.8L inline sixes to the Starion's 2.6L turbo four, but the Mistu pretty much kept up, at least in the intercooled ESI-R variant. Within a couple years, though, the motors in the Supra and Z-car had swole up to three liters and the Starion was outclassed.

It was replaced in 1990 by an all-new car, sold as the Mitsubishi GTO in the home market and the 3000GT here in America. Replacing the longitudinal turbo four rear-wheel-drive setup of the previous car was a transverse three liter DOHC V-6.

In the base cars, this motor was naturally aspirated and sent 222 SAE net horsepower to the front wheels through either a four-speed automatic or five-speed manual transaxle.

The performance version added a brace of intercooled turbos and was called the 3000GT VR4, signifying the "Viscous Realtime 4WD" system, sending power to all four wheels. It had active aerodynamics and four-wheel steering. All that gear came with a price, as the base MSRP for a 1993 VR4 was $38,492, or just shy of eighty five grand in today's money. 

With the 6G72 motor thumping out 300 (wink wink, nudge nudge, seriously underrated) horsepower, the 3000GT VR4 was plenty beastly for its time. While all that tech made for a chunky 3,860 curb weight, Car and Driver's 1993 test car managed a 5.6 second sprint to sixty, which would have been a supercar-only number just a decade earlier. The quarter mile was disposed of in 14.1 seconds at 99mph and the car barreled all the way to 155 before it couldn't push the air out of the way anymore. On top of that, the plushly-equipped, nearly-two-ton coupe circled the skidpad at 0.93g and stopped from seventy in just 161 feet.

3000GT VR4's like this Monza Red example are scarce sights in these parts these days, with most of them having been sucked into the black hole of the west coast import tuner scene. 

The one in the photo was snapped with a Canon EOS 7D and an EF 70-200mm f/4L IS zoom lens in January of 2023.

1992 Mercury Capri

In a way, I'm surprised that it took FoMoCo until 2011 to shutter the Mercury division. For most of my life it had been struggling to find a real brand identity. I've known Ford fans and Chevy fans, diehard Stans of Pontiac, Cadillac men, and of course the rabid "Mopar or No Car" gang... but I can't recollect ever meeting someone who bled Mercury... Mercury... what color would a loyal Mercury fan bleed if you cut them? Did Mercury even have a specific brand color?

The core of Mercury's lineup always consisted of slightly plusher and more upmarket versions of Ford's sedans. The thing is, by the time you look at the high end of a fully-optioned LTD and the low-end of a base Lincoln Continental, that didn't leave a lot of room for Mercury to run around in.

To pad the lineup of Montereys and Marquises over the years, to stir a little variety into the showroom, as it were, FoMoCo tried various things. For instance, Mercury dealers got to sell various captive imports over the years, like the original Capri and Merkur (née Sierra) from Ford of Europe and the De Tomaso Pantera.

Ford gave Mercury a more well-appointed version of the Mustang, dubbed the Cougar, but it eventually bloated into a more plush-bottomed Thunderbird clone. When the third generation Mustang debuted on the new Fox platform in 1979, Mercury tried the Capri name again, this time as a re-badged 'Stang. They gave up on that after '86, after several years of tepid sales.

Come the 1991 model year, Mercury dealers got a third iteration of the Capri. This time it was a little front wheel drive 2+2 convertible using Mazda 323 mechanicals via the Ford (of Australia) Capri, based on the Ford Laser econobox. Mercury had been selling the Laser-derived Tracer as a subcompact alternative to Ford's Escort, so the new Capri should have fit right in at Mercury dealerships.

The base Capri had Mazda's 1.6L normally-aspirated DOHC 16V inline four, rated at 100 SAE net horsepower. Performance was ho-hum, with Car and Driver recording a 10.0 second zero to sixty time, 113mph top speed, and a decidedly un-sportscarlike 0.79g trip around the skidpad.

There was a sportier XR2 version with a spoiler, ground effects, and a 132hp turbo mill, but even it was no threat to a Miata. Nothing could hide the fact that these were econoboxes with a roofectomy. The same handling that that makes the Tracer/Protege cool is a lot less cool in a car with actual sporting pretensions. The new Capri sank without much of a ripple after the '94 model year.

This one was photographed with a Nikon D700 and 24-85mm f/2.8-4D zoom lens in June of 2020.

1992 Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1

I know we just did the 1990 Corvette ZR-1, and the 1992 is basically mechanically identical, so this is just more of an exercise in 'Vette spotting cues than anything else.

For 1991, the C4 Corvette got a new, more aero nose, the molded "vents" in the front fenders switched from two vertical gills to four horizontal slots, and all 'Vettes received the convex rear and squarish taillamps of the ZR-1, so the only way to tell a '91 ZR-1 was a small ZR-1 badge on the rear fascia and the fact that its Center High-Mounted Stop Lamp was still externally mounted atop the hatch, while more pedestrian Corvettes had theirs integrated into the top center of the rear fascia.

The four-slot fender gills ran from '91-'96, so they don't narrow it down much. However this one has ZR-1 badges on the front fenders, also, and those were added in 1992. For 1993, the fortieth anniversary year of the Corvette, the 17" "sawblade" or "turbine" wheels received a shinier machined finish, replacing the matte cast finish on the '91-'92 cars, and then in 1994 the ZR-1 went to distinctive five-spoke wheels.

All that points to this Bright Red ZR-1 being a 1992 model.

It was photographed in October of 2024 using an Olympus OM-D E-M1X and M. Zuiko Digital 12-200mm f/3.5-6.3 zoom lens.

1992 Ford Mustang LX Convertible

By the early Nineties, the 3rd Generation Mustangs, known to enthusiasts as Fox Body cars, were getting long in the tooth. A replacement was already in the works, and it would be another front-engine rear-wheel drive car with an optional V-8; fan outcry had saved the Mustang from being re-cast as a Mazda-sourced FWD coupe. (That car was instead being sold as the Ford Probe.)

Sales hadn't been strong in the recession of the early '90s and so ambitious plans for the next generation 'Stang were shelved in favor of a much more modest upgrade. In the meantime, the Fox Body would need to soldier on for another couple model years.

For 1992 the only really new external visual cue was the black rubber strip in the side molding and bumpers was replaced with one in body color, as can be seen on this Bright Calypso Green LX ragtop.

The LX came from the factory with a 2.3L SOHC inline four; Ford's Lima motor that had been around since the days when it was found under the hoods of '74 Pintos. Now sporting electronic fuel injection and dual spark plug heads, it was rated at 108 SAE net horsepower. The only optional motor was Ford's 5.0L H.O. V-8. Either engine could be had with a five-speed manual or a four-speed automatic.

The pony fender badges, rather than prominent chrome "5.0" ones, tell us this is a four-cylinder secretarymobile, like roughly half of all Mustangs sold that year. No race car, but certainly a pleasant cruiser with the top down on a sunny summer day. Besides, the fuelie OHC twin plug Lima probably made as much juice as any six cylinder available in a First Generation 'Stang.

This one was photographed in September of 2023 using a Canon EOS-1D Mark III and EF 24-105mm f/4L IS zoom lens.

1992 Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera S

There's been quite the brouhaha among auto buffs regarding the decisions by Ford and GM to expand the Mustang, Camaro, and Corvette badges into entire sub-brands. I mean, that almost happened with the Corvette from the start; in some alternate universe there were probably Corvette Nomad station wagons built right alongside the roadsters in 1953.

One of the most notable recent examples was Oldsmobile's use of the "Cutlass" name to cover all of its midsize coupes and sedans in the mid 1980s.

The Cutlass nameplate had been a winner for GM. Between the '78 and '81 model years, Olds dealers had moved something like two million of the RWD midsize Cutlass, which was available in coupe, sedan, and wagon body styles.

Hyped by this success, in 1982 they renamed the existing rear-wheel-drive Cutlass the "Cutlass Supreme" and added the slightly smaller and cheaper Cutlass Ciera, built on the on the FWD A-body shared with the Buick Century, Chevy Celebrity, and Pontiac 6000. 1985 saw the Cutlass Supreme and Cutlass Ciera joined by the compact-midsize Cutlass Calais, build on the N-body FWD platform of the Buick Skyhawk and Pontiac Grand Am.

Like the Buick Century, the Cutlass Ciera was a darling of fleet buyers, and so while Chevy and Pontiac axed their A-body cars after the 1990 model year, Oldsmobile and Buick let theirs continue to sell alongside their more modern replacements all the way through 1996.

The car in the photo is a a post-facelift '90-'94 Cutlass Ciera S sedan in Bright White. It's in unusually nice shape for a GM sedan of its era, most of which have either decayed into hooptie-dom or succumbed to rust.

If we split the difference and guess at a model year of 1992, the base engine would have been the 2.5L Tech IV inline-4. This was the final evolution of the elderly pushrod Iron Duke four-banger, with throttle body fuel injection, 9.0:1 compression, and 110 SAE net horsepower, a nearly thirty-percent bump from the original 85hp carbureted version back in '77. If the buyer were feeling frisky...well, they wouldn't have bought a Cutlass Ciera...but if they were feeling frisky by buying-an-Oldsmobile-in-1992 standards, they could have ordered the optional GM corporate 3.3L pushrod V-6, rated at 160hp.

This one was snapped in November of 2023 using a Canon EOS 40D and EF 24-105mm f/4L IS zoom lens.