1998 Volvo S70 T5

Unveiled in Europe for 1997 and in the US market the following model year, Volvo's S70 was the more aerodynamic-looking successor to the preceding 850, softening the sharp edges of its predecessor's styling.

It was available here in two levels of sportiness: S70 or S70 T5, with the latter sporting a turbocharged and intercooled 236hp 2.3L version of the transverse-mounted Volvo DOHC 20V inline five cylinder.

The Mystic Silver Metallic example in the photos was snapped in October of 2025 using a Canon EOS 7D and an EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM zoom lens.

1998 Honda Prelude

The fifth generation of Honda's sporty Prelude coupe launched for the 1997 model year. Wheelbase was up by two inches over the previous model, accompanied by a gain of a hundred-ish pounds of curb weight.

However, both the base model and the sportier SH package (for "Super Handling") came with the same 2.2L H22A4 motor driving the front wheels. Featuring a DOHC 16V head and Honda's VTEC variable valve timing, it made 195 SAE net horsepower at 7,000 wailing RPM. It could be paired with either a five-speed manual or, if your soul were dead, a four speed automatic.

The SH version added a funky setup called the Active Torque Transfer System that monitored the steering angle of the front wheels and shunted more torque to the outboard wheel in order to aid with turn-in and tame understeer. This was doubly necessary on the Prelude which carried its engine forward of the axle and thus sported a nose-heavy 63%/37% F-R weight distribution.

When Car and Driver tested a 1997 Prelude SH with the manual transmission, it returned a 7.2 second zero-to-sixty time and managed the quarter mile in 15.6 seconds at 91mph. It topped out at 139 when the motor just couldn't push the air out of the way anymore and circled the skidpad at 0.83g. Price as tested was $26,095 (which comes to $52,522 in today's money).

This 1998 Prelude in White Diamond was photographed in June of 2020 using a Nikon D700 and a 24-85mm f/2.8-4D zoom lens.

1998 Chevrolet Camaro SS

The fourth generation of Chevrolet's Camaro debuted for the 1994 model year on a heavily-evolved version of the third gen F-body platform. The driveline tunnel was big enough to accommodate a proper Borg-Warner T56 six-speed manual, so the 5.7L V-8 was no longer limited to an automatic transmission. The repackaging involved relocating the catalytic converter, which now lurked under a large lump in the front passenger footwell.

Unlike the previous generations where a certain amount of fiddling with the option sheet could get you an extra fun version of the Sport Coupe or RS, the new Camaros came as the base model with only the V6 available (there was an RS appearance package, still), or the 5.7L-only Z28, with the 302 small block having exited the lineup.

For 1998 the Camaro got a mid-cycle refresh. The new snout was less pointy, had a more prominent grille, and swapped the deeply inset quad rectangular headlamps with more flush ovoid composite assemblies.

The base Camaro coupe or convertible had the GM corporate 3800 V-6, rated at 200 SAE net horsepower. The RS badge was gone. The '98 Z28 replaced the previous year's 285hp 5.7L LT1 V-8, a direct lineal descendant of the small blocks that had powered the first Camaros thirty years earlier, with the new all-aluminum 5.7L LS1, which was a whole new OHV V-8 that was rated at 305hp.

For the gnarliest Camaro in '98, Z28 buyers could opt for the SS performance/appearance package. It came with 17" wheels and tires, suspension upgrades, and an LS1 whose output was bumped to 320 horsepower by, among other things, a functional cold-air induction hood, like on the Navy Blue Metallic car in the photo.

When Car and Driver included a six-speed '98 SS in a group 0-150-0 test, it managed that feat in 43.7 seconds, actually edging out a contemporary 911 Carrera. It ran zero-to-sixty in 4.9 seconds and put away the quarter in 13.5 seconds at 107mph. Not bad for a car that was under thirty grand; C/D's as-tested price was $27,141, or just short of $53k in today's money.

The one in the photo was caught with a Nikon D800 and 24-120mm f/4 VR zoom lens in October of 2022.

1998 Chevrolet Corvette Convertible Indy 500 Pace Car

For the 82nd running of the Indianapolis 500, the 1998 Chevrolet Corvette convertible was chosen as the official pace car, the fourth 'Vette to receive the honor.

The 1,158 Official Pace Car replicas were mechanically pretty much identical to the actual cars that paced the race, save for the light bar and the slightly freer-flowing intake on the track cars.

Painted a special Radar Blue color with yellow/white/purple decals, they had an eye-popping yellow and black leather interior and yellow five-spoke alloy wheels.

Under the hood was the 345 horsepower 5.7L pushrod LS1 V-8. (While the metric displacement was the same, the LS small blocks that had debuted in 1997 actually displaced 346 cubic inches and were a clean sheet of paper design not related to the small blocks that had been powering previous 'Vettes going back to the mid 1950s.)

When Car and Driver tested the new C5 1997 Corvette in hardtop coupe form, they got a zero-to-sixty time of 4.9 seconds and smoked the quarter in 13.4 seconds at 108 miles per hour. These would have been numbers associated with Italian exotica only a few years prior.

Base price of a '98 droptop 'Vette was $44,425, and the Pace Car package (which included a generous helping of luxury options as well as the eye-catching cosmetics) added $5,039 with an automatic or $5,802 for the six-speed manual. An interesting side note is that these were the first Corvette pace cars which had the livery applied at the factory rather than the dealer.

The one in the photo was snapped with a Canon EOS M and EF-M 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS in May of 2019.

1998 Buick Park Avenue

The Park Avenue name originated as a trim level on the Buick Electra 225 toward the end of that car's days. When the "Deuce and a Quarter" was discontinued after the 1990 model year, Buick slapped the moniker on their full-size front wheel drive sedan for 1991, which shared the GM C-body platform with the large offerings from Caddy, Olds, and Pontiac.

The Regal Blue Metallic example in the photo is from the longer, heavier second generation of Park Avenues, which ran from the 1997 to 2005 model years before being discontinued and replaced with the Lucerne. They were powered by the ubiquitous GM corporate 3800 Series II V-6, which could be had in 240hp supercharged form if you sprung for the Park Avenue Ultra. The Ultra also got you some snazzy Ventiports on the front fenders, "Ultra" badges on the rear fenders, and a flush tri-shield logo badge on the snout instead of the stand-up hood ornament. By way of trivial knownledge, the base Park Avenues were the last Buicks sold in the US with stand-up hood ornaments.

Also by way of trivia, there was a third generation of Park Avenues, based on the Aussie Holden RWD platform that underpinned the Pontiac G8 and Chevy Caprice PPV, which were sold only in China.

It's interesting to me that they sold them under the "Park Avenue" name in China, although that name probably sounds as exotic in Shanghai or Beijing as naming a car "The Road", but in Spanish, does in Dubuque or Scranton.

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

1998 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am Convertible

Like its crosstown arch rival from Dearborn, the fourth generation of the GM F-body Camaro/Firebird twins was actually more of a very heavy refresh of the previous generation than a clean sheet of paper reboot. If you park a '92 and a '93 next to each other and look at the line of the C-pillar and the hatchback, it really becomes obvious.

The new refresh had some very important upgrades, though, and the most important was a transmission tunnel capacious enough for a more modern manual transmission, namely the 6-speed Borg Warner T-56, which had originally been developed to live behind the brawny 488 cubic inch V-10 in the Dodge Viper.

This was important because the previous 3rd Gen cars were saddled with the Borg Warner T5 5-speed and that meant that the rowdiest motors could only be had with slushboxes, since the T-5 wasn't up to the torque of the 5.7L 'Vette motor.

For the Fourth Gen cars, though, the 305 V-8 was gone. You could get a base Firebird secretarymobile with a 3.4L V-6, or you could get a Formula or Trans Am with a hairy-chested LT1 350 V-8 Corvette motor.

1998 saw a mid-cycle styling refresh for the Firebird. The Trans Am got a more aggro-looking snout, vents on the front fenders, and now the motor choices were the GM corporate 3800 V-6 200hp for base Firebirds and the 5.7L LS1 'Vette motor for the Formula and Trans Am.

Packaged for the F-body, the LS1 was rated at 305 horsepower, or 320 if you checked the box for the WS6 package, with its functional cold air "Ram Air" intake.

Car & Driver tested a 1999 30th Anniversary WS6 Trans Am convertible and ripped off a 5.3 second zero-to-sixty and a 13.9 second at 104 mph quarter mile run on its way to a 163mph top speed. These would have been impressive supercar numbers just a decade earlier and the Fourth Gen F-bodies remain some of the most performance bang for the minimum wage buck on the used car market to this day.

This one was photographed in September of 2024 with an Olympus OM-D E-M1X and Panasonic 12-60mm f/2.8-4 zoom lens.