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).
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.
B'stard Child said:
I wonder who will start the What are you driving in the 20's and what are your car plans for the next 8 ish years 
It will only be a matter of time before some fool does. It won't be me, though I am waiting avidly for it as it will allow me to put up a picture of my favourite-ist car that I only bought last year...Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff