For some of us, the 1990s were only yesterday. They were simpler, Brit Poppy times with dial up Internet. The cars were brilliant too, not just characterful and entertaining they were safer. The adoption of ABS and crumple zones, along with power steering made them easier to live with, plus they remain truly fixable, rather than being chip based lifeforms. However, when you wander around a car park these days, how many ‘90s survivors can you find? They seem to be disappearing fast, owned and driven only by the eccentric, or impoverished.
It is possible to drill down into the official registration stats and lose several hours of your life by discovering that there are an awful lot of models which are rather more rare than any ‘90s Ferrari model you care to mention. Modena officially produced just 349 F50s in 1995, but compared to a bottom of the spec sheet Citroen ZX 1.4 Avantage, well there are just two of those knocking around on the King’s Highway. Meanwhile a Ford Mondeo Aspen (another base model) which peaked at 11,615 on the road in 1998, is now down to just 12 registered with the DVLA. It is possible to play this game all day long and it is immensely depressing.
So whatever happened to ‘90s cars?
You will have to buy the Bangerpedia to find out. There are new categories as the ‘90s was the last brilliant gasp of the actual City Car. This was the last decade that the original small wonder, in the shape of the mini, could still be bought brand new. It was responsible for creating this class, although it was properly outclassed by then and my Slog rating reflects this. There is also a good gaggle of Fiats and their related spin offs which shows how strong they were in this market.
Ruppert’s Bangerpedia at the usual outlets and direct from https://www.bangernomics.com
