Why the 90s Produced the Best Decade of Cars

This throwback Thursday, we're looking at how the 90s was truly the best decade for cars, hands down! The 90s brought with it our favorite millennial sitcoms, cartoons, commercials, toys, pop music, and of course, superfast (and safe) cars!

Although many people might think that the 60s or 70s muscle-car era was the best for cars, or even the past decade from the 2010s and up, just look around your neighborhood and you'll find that 90s cars are still going strong!

Room for Creativity

There are around 6 million cars sold every year in the United States, with many of these being regular makes and models of big-chain dealers. Toyota, Chevy, Ford, Chrysler, and now Tesla, are some of the biggest names on the market today. Although it's nice to see cars that are manufactured by big companies, where's the fun in that? Is there any room for creativity, or any room to make a truly unique car that can withstand the test of time? In the 90s there was!

Sports cars and luxury vehicles were incredibly popular in the 90s. This lead to some obscure, yet charming cars being produced by even big-name car dealers such as the Oldsmobile Cutlass Calais made by GM, the Toyota Celica All-Trac Turbo, or the Nissan 300ZX Turbo (what's a throwback Thursday without turbo?) The 90s was determined to make the first supercar, the fastest with the most horsepower. This race to the finish is why so many sports cars survive from the 90s today, and it's also why so many collectors are paying tens of thousands of dollars to own a relic from the past.

International 90s and Super Cars

In addition to the United States jumping in on the action, other countries such as Japan also brought us amazing 90s cars that are still popular today. Classic Japanese cars that still survive and embody the supercar, the super-charged era of the 90s are the classic 4th generation Toyota Supra and the Honda NSX.

It wasn't just Japan that wanted to show off its advances in technology. In Europe, famous Italian automakers Lamborghini were in an all-out war to produce the fastest supercar against worthy British opponents Jaguar and McLaren. The latter would ultimately come on top, with the McLaren F1 setting the stage for virtually all modern supercars and topping speeds of over 240 miles per hour!

Of course, luxury automakers were also raising the stakes, and many well-built cars from the 90s still survive today such as the 1991 Mercedes Benz 300E. Since1886, Karl Benz patented his three-wheeled Motrowagen and took it on a tour of Germany (without his wife knowing of course). The Mercedes has come a long way from being powered by a 954cc single-piston, four-stroke engine, and has greatly improved from its 0.9 horsepower!

Safety Features Save Lives

Sadly, there are an average of 5,891,000 car accidents every single year in the United States, and up until the 1990s, many of them could be extremely dangerous or fatal due to a lack of safety features. The 90s also changed that, making improvements in anti-lock braking systems, pushing for people to wear their seatbelts (cue throwback Thursday PSAs), and dual airbags to protect both passengers and drivers. The 90s also saw the creation of The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), and their introduction of the 5-star safety programs on cars!

Living for Speed and Safety

Although some 90s cars might be somewhat obsolete and outdated, there's no doubting that the 90s spurred creativity, encouraged competition between car makers all around the world, and truly saved lives by implementing safety as a priority. In our opinion, the 90s brought with it the best decade of cars to date!