What did you drive in the 90s?

[BraunNizo]

cerb4.5lee said:

1990-92...1982 Skoda Estelle 120L
1992-93...1983 Escort 1.3L
1993-94...1988 Metro 1275 Sport
1994-95...1989 Sierra XR4x4 2.9(sold to buy a house)
1996-2001...Another 1989 Sierra XR4x4 2.9.

Great memories now when I think back.

Yep also started with a Skoda Estelle 120 but please note it was the LSE version which gave you alloys and extra plastics bolted on. Great memories and for £75 in 1992 seemed good value doing 12,000 miles before the head went. Moved through various Skoda's finally owning a Rapid Coupe 136 with the ally head in black. It seemed totally awesome at the time. A real crumpet puller or so it seemed back then.

Moved by the late 90's to the Citroen 2CV Special in red, now those things were so much fun. Managed to hit a bus head on in the thing, next thing came round semi conscious and in an air ambulane.

Went out and bought another Special in sky blue. Totally amazing car so much fun so little power but the handling and the roof and the coastal roads, totally awesome, then one day the steering disappeared as the chasis snapped in two and hit a hillside barrier. Pushed it round the back when back home with the AA and did re-chassis it using a donor car later but mid next decade.

Saabs from then on starting late 90's with a silver Finnish built (the good ones if memory serves) 900 saloon, bog standard 2ltr 8v that drank like an alcoholic but the quality, especially having come form the previous cars seemed like it was made for the military. Wicked car so much fun.

Great cars all of them, in a time which even though it might be clouded with rose tinted glasses really felt fantastic to be alive, especially the 2CV with You Sure Do etc banging out of the oh so modern CD player on the way back from the club https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/imgs/10.gif

[Fastchas]

Fastchas said:

1990-92 Ford Onion
93-95 Honda CRX 1.6 16v
95-96 Honda CRX V-tec (loved that car)
96-97 Honda Prelude 4WS 2.0i
97-98 Toyota MR2 2.0i
98-2000 Honda CRX 1.6 16v
2000 Fiat Coupe Turbo 16v

Quoted to add; how can I forget my bikes?!

CB125T
GSX600F
RG250 GAMMA
VFR750F
CBR900RR-T Fireblade
CBR600F
FJ1200

[JeffreyD]

I was living in London 1990 to 1994 so didn't have a car.

Came back up north with my then girlfriend and we "settled down" both had jobs and the mortgage was way cheaper than the rent.

Got bored doing the house up so put the money we had lined up for a kitchen and central heating into a deposit on TVR Chimaera and she bought a horse.

Picked it up on a Thursday and crashed into a lamp post on the Sunday.
Wife still has the same horse.

And we lived without central heating and a proper kitchen until 2000 when we realised we really needed to improve the facilities as we had a child on the way.

I loved that car and I've had a few TVRs since.

[AC43]

JeffreyD said:

Got bored doing the house up so put the money we had lined up for a kitchen and central heating into a deposit on TVR Chimaera and she bought a horse.

Picked it up on a Thursday and crashed into a lamp post on the Sunday.

Wife still has the same horse.

Brilliant :-)

[swisstoni]

TVR S in 1991 and then a brand new Chimaera from 1995.

[anonymous-user]

My first car was a Peugeot 205 GT, followed by a 405 Mi16

[andySC]

Passed my test in September 1991.

Here goes...
MG Metro (required new engine after 2 weeks of ownership, you live n learn)
Peugeot 405 GE - metallic grey, boot spoiler, tweed-like upholstery.
Citroen BX 16v - decent car, felt fast & flimsy, totally reliable. Yorkshire to Cornwall several times.
MGB GT- Inca yellow, ended up being rebuilt on chrome bumpers via an insurance payout, had a few mods & went pretty well for a “B” or so I was told !
Volvo 480 Turbo - why? I don’t know. I have no answer. Pop up lights??
Citroen Saxo VTS - brand new in Poseidon blue. Nearly totalled after a full 15minutes of ownership. Liked this car a lot.

That’s all the way upto September 2000.

A few bikes too...
Suzuki RF600 - grim, very red.
Yamaha YZF750R - killed it in a field.
Kawasaki ZX7-R - loved it, looked amazing, big bugger.

Edited by andySC on Thursday 25th February 18:49

Edited by andySC on Thursday 25th February 20:32

[Gavarnie]

This little Fiat was a lot of fun right through the 90s

[white_goodman]

Very nostalgic thread. Loved this era of cars. Only just got in to the 90s having passed my test in '97. First car was a '95 Fiat Cinquecento Sporting very much like this. Brilliant car!

[cerb4.5lee]

BraunNizo said:

cerb4.5lee said:

1990-92...1982 Skoda Estelle 120L
1992-93...1983 Escort 1.3L
1993-94...1988 Metro 1275 Sport
1994-95...1989 Sierra XR4x4 2.9(sold to buy a house)
1996-2001...Another 1989 Sierra XR4x4 2.9.

Great memories now when I think back.

Yep also started with a Skoda Estelle 120 but please note it was the LSE version which gave you alloys and extra plastics bolted on. Great memories and for £75 in 1992 seemed good value doing 12,000 miles before the head went. Moved through various Skoda's finally owning a Rapid Coupe 136 with the ally head in black. It seemed totally awesome at the time. A real crumpet puller or so it seemed back then.

Nice one.

Yes and I certainly enjoyed the scud as my first car, I liked that it was a little different from the norm(the constant ribbing did get on my nerves a bit though!).

I always wanted a higher spec version like yours for sure. I also used to really enjoy looking around the Rapid Coupe when mine was in for a service at the main dealer too.

[Old Merc]

Peugeot 405Mi16X4. One of the most underrated cars of that time. 4X4, 16V DOHC, LSD front and rear, Active rear suspension. I had it re-chipped, altered the induction, wide speed-lines with Yokohama`s. It would do 150MPH ( I often went to Germany in it ) and stick to the road like glue.

[belleair302]

Early 90s was a Peugeot 205 GTi, 1994 was a Subaru Legacy Turbo, then an imported GTB Twin Turbo from Japan and finally in 1999 an Audi RS2.

[Drive Blind]

Nova 1.4SR

[LunarOne]

Passed my car test in November 1991, two months after my 17th birthday. But I couldn't afford a car of my own for a couple of years, so started driving mum's gold 1984 Merc 230e:


I managed to write that off by sliding on ice and not knowing how to correct it, so we replaced it with a 1988 BMW 318i in white:


After a couple of years, I was able to get my first car, a 1972 MGB GT in blue:


Which was a lot of trouble to keep on the road since things kept falling off. Time to be sensible so I PXed it for a Volvo 440. It had the 1.7 carbureted Renault engine that was troublesome. The carb/engine mating surface kept warping, giving me all or nothing throttle control. That was er... interesting:


After a couple of years of that I got promoted to a job where I earned commission, so I had disposable income for the first time. So I said goodbye to the Volvo and bought a 1993 BMW 320i in this exciting shade of grey:


I really loved my 320i for its silky smooth power delivery, but I started earning more and so for my 25th birthday in 1999 I bought my first new car - an E46 BMW 328Ci coupe. But it was doomed. That car had so many problems, and after spending as much time being repaired as it did being driven, I collared BMW GB's MD at the Birmingham motorshow, making a scene and delivered him a 5-page letter detailing every fault. He agreed that it was not acceptable, and they took my car back and replaced it with a brand new 2001 330Ci:


I still own the 330Ci has been owned from new and was faultless until 180k miles when small items started going wrong. I now have another car as the BMW is now tired and off the road...

However, for most of the 1990s I owned a 1979 Buick Regal V6 Coupe, which my father had bought as it was cheaper than renting a car for a couple of months in the States. And he brought it back with him as he had many American cars. I never really drove it on the road apart from on our large driveway, but technically I did drive it in the 90s!

[Pupp]

1990 - 93 a Peugeot 309GTi
1993 - 96 a Vauxhall Frontera swb
1996 - y2k a Ford RS2000 4x4

Should have kept the Ford and the Pug; should have been shot for the Poxhall

[Terzo123]

1983 Mk 1 Jetta 1.3 in Mars Red - 94 to 96
1986 E30 BMW 316 - 96 to 99
1991 Honda Civic VT - 99 to 2000

[PomBstard]

Lots of dross mostly - Escorts, Cavaliers, Cortina, 309 amongst others - as I was fairly skint for most of the decade. Highlights, if they could be labeled such, would be:

1978 Datsun 160J SSS Coupe - rwd and surprisingly swift, well, for what it was
Mk2 Escort Mexico with tweaked 2.0 engine - definitely fast and more than a little skittish
1980 Audi 80 converted by judicious use of an angle grinder to use a twin-choke Weber - nothing below 4000rpm then lots of noise and a suddenly-empty tank
1998 Mk1 Punto Sporting - yellow, natch. Fun and reliable - when we’re those words ever used together to describe something Italian??

The 2000s were much more refined and sensible but lacked the drama and excitement of not knowing if your journey would start, or that, if it did, the destination would be reached.

[C n C]

I passed the test in 1985 but didn't buy my first car until 1996 then didn't change it until 2002 - Mk2 Astra GTE 16v Champion special edition:

Untitled by conradsphotos, on Flickr

A couple of years after I sold it, it was off the road for many years, but a few years ago was bought by an enthusiast:

Astra_before_rebuild by conradsphotos, on Flickr

And treated to a full restoration:

Astra_rebuilt by conradsphotos, on Flickr


Full rebuild thread on Astra Mk2 Owner's Club site here.

The guy who restored it also talked to Corgi who made a 1:43 scale model of the car even with the same numberplate, one of which I managed to find on eBay:

Champion_model1 by conradsphotos, on Flickr


More pics here.

Edited by C n C on Thursday 25th February 22:02

[Superdavros]

Passed in 92.
1. 1992 to 1996 Mother’s mk3 Escort 1.3L
2. 1996 to 1999 my first car, Fiat Punto 55s
3. 1999 to 2003 my second car E30 M3

[gazza285]

A right load of crap for most of the ‘90s.

Sunny estate.
XR3
Fuego
Freight Rover 400
Cavalier
Land Rover 90
Fiat Fiorino
And finished the decade with a Volvo 940 turbo estate and a souped up Mk1 Escort.