What did you drive in the 90s?
Discussion
OK. Not very original. But I went to the What did you drive in the 80s (https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=74&t=1800408) thread and because:
a - I was too young/poor in the 80s
b - The 80s by and large weren't that great anyway (see (a) above)
c - I only owned rubbish cars
I decided to create one where I didn't feel quite so vehicularly challenged. I put this in GG rather than in Classic Cars... as the 90s still seem too recent but if it should be in another section, so be it.
By the 90s some things had improved -
Which brings us to - What did you drive in the 90s?
(Mine to follow when I have found the damn photos).
a - I was too young/poor in the 80s
b - The 80s by and large weren't that great anyway (see (a) above)
c - I only owned rubbish cars
I decided to create one where I didn't feel quite so vehicularly challenged. I put this in GG rather than in Classic Cars... as the 90s still seem too recent but if it should be in another section, so be it.
By the 90s some things had improved -
- Car design and engineering had improved significantly by this point (in the late 80s really but see above). Overall reliability, galvanising, fuel injection, turbos etc were more commonplace and better understood. Computers were being used more in the general design and engineering. These were starting to be used in the 80s but by the 90s had matured and cars were increasingly robust. Fewer howlers.
- Just enough safety features to add to rather than detract from the experience.
- I had finally sufficient money from an actual (though poorly paid) job to be able to save up/borrow enough money to start buying the cars I would have liked to own in the 80s...
Which brings us to - What did you drive in the 90s?
(Mine to follow when I have found the damn photos).
I passed in 1988, having won a MK2 Golf GTI in a Daily Mirror competition which I sold to my dad as the insurance was 3 grand.
1969 Mark 1 Capri 1600 GT XLR - First car, was my dads
1984 MK3 Capri 1.6 LS - Seemed like utter Luxury
1982 Golf GTI MK1 - Seemed like a rocket ship after the Capri - Sold as went to America for the summer - Wish I hadnt
1987 (Late 'E' registration) Capri 1600 Laser - My dad got me this for my return, not fast enough after a Golf so didn't last long
1986 Manta GTE - Seemed like a good idea, looked nice, nice seats, crap brakes, not that fast
1988 Montego GTI - Not sure why I bough that, was actually alright - left most of gearbox on road on one occasion
1985 Polo 1100 Bread Van - temporary having got married
1983 Golf GTI MK1 1900 GTI Engineering - Bit of a shagger, fast though,
1990 Audi 100 2.0 E-SE - Awesome, me being sensible as had kids by then
1969 Mark 1 Capri 1600 GT XLR - First car, was my dads
1984 MK3 Capri 1.6 LS - Seemed like utter Luxury
1982 Golf GTI MK1 - Seemed like a rocket ship after the Capri - Sold as went to America for the summer - Wish I hadnt
1987 (Late 'E' registration) Capri 1600 Laser - My dad got me this for my return, not fast enough after a Golf so didn't last long
1986 Manta GTE - Seemed like a good idea, looked nice, nice seats, crap brakes, not that fast
1988 Montego GTI - Not sure why I bough that, was actually alright - left most of gearbox on road on one occasion
1985 Polo 1100 Bread Van - temporary having got married
1983 Golf GTI MK1 1900 GTI Engineering - Bit of a shagger, fast though,
1990 Audi 100 2.0 E-SE - Awesome, me being sensible as had kids by then
I was born in '89 so will answer instead for my parents.
-Beige 1984 Peugeot 305 estate. 1.6 petrol until about 1996
-White 1994 Peugeot 405 GRDT estate. 1.9 diesel from 1996 - 2006
Wasn't a particularly thrilling time carwise but I used to love riding in the boot when we had more than 5 people to transport. No chance you'd get away with that sort of thing now I imagine!
-Beige 1984 Peugeot 305 estate. 1.6 petrol until about 1996
-White 1994 Peugeot 405 GRDT estate. 1.9 diesel from 1996 - 2006
Wasn't a particularly thrilling time carwise but I used to love riding in the boot when we had more than 5 people to transport. No chance you'd get away with that sort of thing now I imagine!
Passed my driving test late 90s, and as poor student didn't really have anything interesting.
2 notable cars back then was a 2.0 Ford Cougar and 2.0 Leon Cupra (non-R).
I wished I can afford the 3.0V6 Cougar but the otherwise the Cougar is a pretty looking car, and surprisingly large load space. Could fit one of those huge CRT TV in the back
The Cupra was my first taste of turbo power. Very nippy and well built. Missed it really. However, as with the Cougar, really wished I could afford the Cupra R...
2 notable cars back then was a 2.0 Ford Cougar and 2.0 Leon Cupra (non-R).
I wished I can afford the 3.0V6 Cougar but the otherwise the Cougar is a pretty looking car, and surprisingly large load space. Could fit one of those huge CRT TV in the back
The Cupra was my first taste of turbo power. Very nippy and well built. Missed it really. However, as with the Cougar, really wished I could afford the Cupra R...
For me the dawn of the new decade brought a job, a little money and slightly less silly hair and clothing. Hear me roar!
In my MG Metro, which saw out the 80s and remained for the first year of the decade. Red carpets and red seatbelts ftw!
Which brings me to the point where for me at least it gets more interesting. My first 'proper' car - it had 5 gears, electric windows, central locking, fuel injection AND a turbo. I had finally made it - in my Fiat Uno Turbo ie. A proper 80s hot hatch. In the 90s. My first Italian car. For some reason I can't find the picture of it, but it was red and looked like this:
The Uno Turbo then begat a Honda CRX 16V as I wanted a change and something a little less like it was constructed from recycled milk cartons. In white. First Japanese car. Nice:
Then I got a hankering for more debt and my eyes settled on this:
Toyota Supra 3.0i Turbo. Lovely straight six engine. First car with air-con (bought just before the hot summer of 95 - yay me). First car with leather seats. First car with cruise control. First car (and last) with a metallic black paint job. Went like stink after the CRX. Loved that car but it was too expensive for me to run on my meagre wages. Following a drive down to the South of France camping in my then girlfriends MX5 I decided I needed a sports car in my life:
Another red car - my Toyota MR2. Third Japanese car. A real hoot to drive. Had always loved these since sitting in one at a motor show years before. I particularly liked that you could pop out the sunroof and store it in a recess in the front boot to have almost-ish open top motoring. Kept the MR2 for several years and one of the few cars I would still like to have.
Sadly I then decided to 'grow up' a little and get something a little more respectable and grown up. I did lots of research, reading, viewing and eventually settled on a BMW 318is (E30). 1 owner, low mileage, a couple of years old. Red (again) in all its yuppie glory. I went for a car with the legendary quality of a BMW. Unfortunately I got one with the legendary quality of a latter day BMW and not one from the 80s/90s. It was a dog. I have no photos of this car. It is dead to me.
The BMW episode rather put me off my automotive stride. It was replaced by the rather more dependable Rover 220Gti:
In green (I know). The head gasket went a couple of times and the gearbox shat itself but at least it was better than the BMW. At the point of the third head gasket starting to leak I decided to get back into something reliable - my blue Fiat Marea ESX:
About as low key looking as it was possible to get. It did have the fantastic 2 litre 5 cylinder engine shared with the Bravo HGT and the Fiat Coupe so it went a whole lot better than it looked. Also, being Italian it was totally reliable with nothing needing doing beyond regular servicing.
And with that the 90s drew to a close.
In my MG Metro, which saw out the 80s and remained for the first year of the decade. Red carpets and red seatbelts ftw!
Which brings me to the point where for me at least it gets more interesting. My first 'proper' car - it had 5 gears, electric windows, central locking, fuel injection AND a turbo. I had finally made it - in my Fiat Uno Turbo ie. A proper 80s hot hatch. In the 90s. My first Italian car. For some reason I can't find the picture of it, but it was red and looked like this:
The Uno Turbo then begat a Honda CRX 16V as I wanted a change and something a little less like it was constructed from recycled milk cartons. In white. First Japanese car. Nice:
Then I got a hankering for more debt and my eyes settled on this:
Toyota Supra 3.0i Turbo. Lovely straight six engine. First car with air-con (bought just before the hot summer of 95 - yay me). First car with leather seats. First car with cruise control. First car (and last) with a metallic black paint job. Went like stink after the CRX. Loved that car but it was too expensive for me to run on my meagre wages. Following a drive down to the South of France camping in my then girlfriends MX5 I decided I needed a sports car in my life:
Another red car - my Toyota MR2. Third Japanese car. A real hoot to drive. Had always loved these since sitting in one at a motor show years before. I particularly liked that you could pop out the sunroof and store it in a recess in the front boot to have almost-ish open top motoring. Kept the MR2 for several years and one of the few cars I would still like to have.
Sadly I then decided to 'grow up' a little and get something a little more respectable and grown up. I did lots of research, reading, viewing and eventually settled on a BMW 318is (E30). 1 owner, low mileage, a couple of years old. Red (again) in all its yuppie glory. I went for a car with the legendary quality of a BMW. Unfortunately I got one with the legendary quality of a latter day BMW and not one from the 80s/90s. It was a dog. I have no photos of this car. It is dead to me.
The BMW episode rather put me off my automotive stride. It was replaced by the rather more dependable Rover 220Gti:
In green (I know). The head gasket went a couple of times and the gearbox shat itself but at least it was better than the BMW. At the point of the third head gasket starting to leak I decided to get back into something reliable - my blue Fiat Marea ESX:
About as low key looking as it was possible to get. It did have the fantastic 2 litre 5 cylinder engine shared with the Bravo HGT and the Fiat Coupe so it went a whole lot better than it looked. Also, being Italian it was totally reliable with nothing needing doing beyond regular servicing.
And with that the 90s drew to a close.
I passed my test in 1993 and had:
1994 - Peugeot 106 1.1 Ski. Loved it, took me up and down the A1 to university with no issues. Came with free insurance (how very 90s )
1996 - Vauxhall Corsa 1.2. Family member worked for Vx so big discount on price. Utterly miserable car to drive, 45hp and 0-60 in 18s. 18 fking seconds!!!
1998 - Vauxhall Tigra 1.6. Same deal with the discount so bought cheap. Thrashed the living daylights out it, seemed fun at the time.
1999 - Vauxhall Astra SRi 2.0. More discount....not a bad car but not great either. Reasonably quick for the time but handling was pretty poor.
Whilst the 90s were a great time and I really enjoyed life then, I think the less said about the cars I had the better
1994 - Peugeot 106 1.1 Ski. Loved it, took me up and down the A1 to university with no issues. Came with free insurance (how very 90s )
1996 - Vauxhall Corsa 1.2. Family member worked for Vx so big discount on price. Utterly miserable car to drive, 45hp and 0-60 in 18s. 18 fking seconds!!!
1998 - Vauxhall Tigra 1.6. Same deal with the discount so bought cheap. Thrashed the living daylights out it, seemed fun at the time.
1999 - Vauxhall Astra SRi 2.0. More discount....not a bad car but not great either. Reasonably quick for the time but handling was pretty poor.
Whilst the 90s were a great time and I really enjoyed life then, I think the less said about the cars I had the better
I past in '88. Sadly I have no surviving pictures of my first few cars.
Daily drivers:
'88 to '90 - 1967 Triumph Herald 1200, modified with lots of Mk 2 Spitfire parts. Sadly destroyed by a blind truck driver who pulled out directly in front of me and couldn't be avoided due to traffic on the other side of the road.
C'90 to '92 - 1971 Triumph Vitesse Mk2 - also modified a bit to up the power output of the mighty 2.0 6 from 104 to around 125 bhp.
92 to 93 - Lada Riva estate. Required for getting kayaks on the roof / people in the car.
93 to 96 or 97 - Vauxhall Carlton 2.0GL. Good for carrying loads of kayaks and people, but still remains the single worst car I have ever owned. Unreliable, temperamental, thirsty, glacial acceleration
95 to 96 - '89 Porsche 944 turbo. Yay! my first Pork. Brilliant machine that I shouldn't have sold.... but.....
96 to 97 - Porsche 928 GT Manual. Awesome motor in every way. But then I made a huge mistake...
97 to 99 - '95 Alfa Romeo 155 Q4. Oops. The only car I've ever owned that cost more in repairs than it did to buy. Brilliant when it worked, which wasn't very often.
99 to 03 - Went back to a 944!
Daily drivers:
'88 to '90 - 1967 Triumph Herald 1200, modified with lots of Mk 2 Spitfire parts. Sadly destroyed by a blind truck driver who pulled out directly in front of me and couldn't be avoided due to traffic on the other side of the road.
C'90 to '92 - 1971 Triumph Vitesse Mk2 - also modified a bit to up the power output of the mighty 2.0 6 from 104 to around 125 bhp.
92 to 93 - Lada Riva estate. Required for getting kayaks on the roof / people in the car.
93 to 96 or 97 - Vauxhall Carlton 2.0GL. Good for carrying loads of kayaks and people, but still remains the single worst car I have ever owned. Unreliable, temperamental, thirsty, glacial acceleration
95 to 96 - '89 Porsche 944 turbo. Yay! my first Pork. Brilliant machine that I shouldn't have sold.... but.....
96 to 97 - Porsche 928 GT Manual. Awesome motor in every way. But then I made a huge mistake...
97 to 99 - '95 Alfa Romeo 155 Q4. Oops. The only car I've ever owned that cost more in repairs than it did to buy. Brilliant when it worked, which wasn't very often.
99 to 03 - Went back to a 944!
Edited by Magnum 475 on Thursday 25th February 11:45
Edited by Magnum 475 on Thursday 25th February 11:45
The 1990s was when I started buying all the 80s hot hatches i couldn't afford in the 80s. I would have had a Mk1 XR2 in 1990, and then worked my way thru various others, XR3i, Escort 1.6i Cabrio, Golf GTI, Peugeot 205GTI, Astra SRI & GTE, even the dreaded MG Maestro. I finally settled on a Peugeot 309GTI that i kept for a while, alongside a Nissan Terrano for the family stuff.
Passed my test in '98. Drove a 1987 Polo Coupe S for the remainder of the 90's. Fast as f**k compared to walking! Handling a little untidy in hindsight. But man, I loved that car. Totally opened up my world. Sold it to buy something faster after a couple of years but after 20 years of experimenting since, I'm yet to recapture the fun of a first car. I suspect just about anything would have sufficed.
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff