Welcome back to the 1990s! You’ve come back to a time when bold colors and jazzy patterns are in, shows like Saved By The Bell and Star Trek: Voyager are plastered across glass screens across America, and James Cameron’s Titanic is about to set box office records. The 1990s were a different time. There wasn’t a TSA telling you to take your shoes off at the airport, and you, like me, probably heard “You’ve Got Mail!” every time you fired up that dial-up Internet. This was the era of the rise of the personal computer and when people jammed out to tunes on their CD players.
The automotive industry was perhaps equally as optimistic and produced some real forward-thinking designs. What car best symbolizes the 1990s?
The 1990s were a fascinating time in the car world. What we now identify as the “Malaise Era” was firmly in the rearview mirror and cars had evolved away from the wedge designs of the 1980s to more streamlined aesthetics. Car technology also took leaps and bounds as most were now on board with composite headlight housings and flush glazing. The period also saw minimized grilles, the proliferation of car phones, rad three-spoke wheels, and multi-disc CD changers. At the same time, the 1990s helped bring an end to older tech like carburetors in cars, opening quarter windows, and the unpopular automatic seatbelt.
So, a lot was going on here! But what car represents it best? There were some awesome examples of 1990s optimism, such as the exploding popularity of sport utility vehicles like the Ford Explorer and the ascension of the neo-retro era in the Dodge Viper, Plymouth Prowler, Volkswagen New Beetle, and more. Enthusiasts practically drooled over icons like the McLaren F1 and the Acura NSX. Also, who can forget promising oddballs like the GM EV1 and hybrids like the Toyota Prius?
If I had to choose a car to represent the 1990s, it would be the Toyota RAV4, specifically the three-door model. Early crossovers were magical. Nobody quite knew the correct formula yet, so automakers were experimenting. The original RAV4 three-door was a compact, top-down, coastal drive-friendly fun car. It came with funky wheel styles, dazzling interior fabrics, and “Recreational” was right in its name. It was even available with a manual transmission!
Yet, look past the original’s weirdness and you see the future begin to take shape. The original RAV4 had the kinds of cladding that crossovers adore nowadays, and the RAV4 featured a unibody chassis with car origins. Likewise, while the three-door RAV4 might have been the cute enthusiast car, the five-door was the volume model. Early crossovers taught automakers that people will buy tons of five-door crossovers. Now, the market is dominated by them.
So, if I had to choose just one car to represent the 1990s, it would be the Toyota RAV4. It was fun, quirky, and the sort of car that you could see a college kid driving, but it also helped pave the way to the present day. Here’s where I turn things over to you. What car do you think represents the 1990s best?
Mercedes W140
96 Cavalier that is what I think about when it comes to 90s cars
I think this needs to be split up in to early (1990-1995) and late (1996-12/31/99)
Early 90s: 2nd gen Taurus. They were EVERYWHERE, and between 92-96 they were the best selling car in the U.S.
Late 90s: 2nd gen Ford Explorer. They were EVERYWHERE, and both the 1st and 2nd gen Explorers were the single best selling SUV of every year between 1990-1999.
I don’t have a lot of love for these cars, 1st gen Explorers were built MUCH better than the 2nd gens, and were more capable off road.
2nd gen Taurusi were only good if they had the 3.0 Vulcan (but still had a shitty AX auto) or the 3.0/3.2 SHO’s, although the 3.2 SHO’s were shitty AX auto only…
Has to be a Geo, right? Specifically the Tracker, in purple or maybe a garish teal. Extra points for those disposable cup-style stripes.
Based solely on the parking lot when I played in a rec volleyball league during the 90’s – the 3rd gen VW Jetta.
The first generation Ford Explorer was, IMO, the inflection point that made SUVs the new minivans. Sharp design, easy to drive, reasonably comfortable.
The Saturn lineup was also ultra-90s. The clean-slate design and sort-of-futuristic plastic panels were emblematic of immediate post-Cold War America. (“We’re going to leave old ways of doing things behind, and it’s going to be nothing but great from here on out!”)
Agreed on the Explorer as the tipping point
Side note: I *love* your username.
Del Sol. Cause I have one?
My mind goes right to the Japanese hero cars 3000gt, mark 4 supra, 1st nsx, 300zx, rx7. Also the Gen 2 ram and 3rd gen Taurus. Geo tracker / Suzuki samurai up there too along with Isuzu trooper. Also for some reason w163 and e36.
Ford Ranger Splash in teal and purple.
Officer: “Do you know why I pulled you over?”
Hip 90’s teen in Ranger: “I was going a little fast… wanna make sure that I don’t miss the start of today’s episode of Saved by the Bell”
I’m going with 1st-gen Dodge Dakota, with Sport trim graphics (of course). The first midsize NA pickup, you could eventually get it any way you wanted: auto or manual, I4 or V6 or V8, 6′ or 8′ bed, even a convertible! An acknowledgement that folks wanted something bigger than the compact pickups.
Europe: Fiat Multipla
Murica: Ford Taurus
A – PT Cruiser
2 – bubble caprice
d – OBS chevy and ford pickups
special mention – 2nd gen Ram
First model year of the PT Cruiser was 2001… so definitely not a 90s car.
Tenth-generation (1997-2003) F-150, for a number of reasons.
– Jellybean styling that couldn’t have come out in any other decade.
– Reliable V8 powertrain that debuted at the dawn of the ‘90s and had been further refined with OBD-II, like all 1996+ vehicles.
– A very ‘90s color palette was available. Teals, greens, purples.
– For better or for worse, I would argue that this THE truck that signaled the shift to the “pickup truck as a family car”. This was probably the first truck designed with the explicit goal to be more car-like. Compare the interior to the very truck-like GMT400 interior (even though I personally prefer the latter). I think they benchmarked the Crown Victoria for handling. Although the Supercab technically didn’t debut until 2000, it wouldn’t have been nearly as successful on the previous platform.
– On a more negative note, this truck signaled the fact that manufacturers had not been consistently designing for overlap-type crash tests in the ‘90s, especially when it came to trucks and vans. Look at how well the 1996 and even 1992 Taurus and Sable protected their occupants in the original IIHS test, yet the F-150 folded like a cheap suit (as did the Ram of that era).
Other people have covered most of these already, but in no particular order:
1. Neon
2. Saturn
B. One of the cab-forward Chryslers
IV. Every minivan
Something Teal. Maybe a Beretta?
90s Japan bubble cars. Japanese things were all the rage in the 90s.
If we’re talking about the car I saw most, it was the Dodge Caravan, so I guess that qualifies as a defining vehicle. There were lots of zippy little coupes and sedans and the rise of the SUV was well underway. And, of course, the F150 was everywhere. However, the car I think best defines the profligate greed and optimism of the tech bubble 90s is the Hummer. It was big. It was bold. It was expensive. It was excess embodied.
Forest Green Grand Cherokee ZJ Laredo
e36
I was going to say the 4th generation Camaro and Firebird, but yeah, the Ford Explorer is the right answer.
I agree the RAV4 and Explorer are good candidates, but unless I missed it there’s no mention of the Ranger Splash yet?? That’s just about peak 90’s there
Any car with those graphics that looked like messy paint strokes
From the disposable cups, yes!!
Since I haven’t seen them listed yet: Nautica-themed Mercury Villager, Eddie Bauer themed Ford Explorer, Chevy Beretta Z26 in teal or magenta, and the Toyota Previa.
Grew up in the back of a Previa. Super charger that would whistle, solid axle rear wheel drive, peak minivan!
1991 or 1992 Geo Metro 2-door 5-speed.
https://media.ed.edmunds-media.com/geo/metro/1992/oem/1992_geo_metro_2dr-hatchback_lsi_fq_oem_1_1280x855.jpg
A little blue jelly bean.
I would probably not choose one car as much as call the 90’s the Jellybean Era. So many cars of this period look like jellybeans to me.
That being said, I get Mercedes thoughts on the Rav4 Jellybean, they sold a ton of them in that last half of the decade. Though I think maybe I would choose the Taurus to represent the entirety of the 90’s. you could get them in pretty much any flavor, and they were more prolific around the midwest than Rav4’s initially. But I still say Jellybean is the era of the 90’s
First-gen Saturn S series, especially the SC.