Cars of the ’90s

There is going to be debate as to which are the best cars of the 90s?
I am not going to answer the question in the post as this will always be a matter of opinion based on tastes in cars whether it be Japanese cars, German and other European cars or American cars.

The topic of best 90s cars is also debatable according to vehicle types if you are thinking about Supercars, Sports Cars, Coupes, Saloon cars or SUVs. Another factor in forming an opinion on the best cars of the 90s depends on where you live in the world as there will always be people who will have a bias to which cars they will buy if the cars are of their own nationality, this makes me think of the poorly made British cars of the 70s that people in the UK bought because they were homemade – LOL!

I for one am not going to write about what I think were the best cars of the 90s but what I will do is write about any car that was around in the 90s as it comes to mind, if I feel like writing about it then I will regardless if it was a great car or a monstrosity and/or a complete lemon.

Thinking about cars of the ‘90s it casts my mind back to 1997 when I first acquired a PC a Pentium 1 166 MMX(lol!) and wanted a game or two to play on it. In the latter part of ’97 I came across a cool game which I had to have which was Need For Speed 2 Special Edition by Electronic Arts. This game was awesome I can never forget the Christmas of ’97 between terms of my first year at University no coursework to do but only one assignment to be handed in at the end of the first week of January I used to play this game for hours on end staying up well into half of the night.
The car list in Need For Speed 2 Special Edition consisted of three classes of cars for you to choose to drive which included McLaren F1, Ferrari F50, Ford GT90, Jaguar XJ220, Lotus GT1, Lotus Espirit V8, Italdesign Cala, Isdera Commendatore 112i and a Ford Mustang Mach III concept. That’s a few items for your debate on the best ‘90s cars.

When I think of ‘90s cars the following immediately come to mind and again not stating these are my votes for my list of best 90s cars:
Mazda RX7, Honda NSX, Ferrari F355, Ferarri F50, Ford Mustangs from 1994 to the 1999 35th anniversary edition, Dodge Viper, McClaren F1, Nissan Skyline and the Lotus Elite.
Also check out my earlier post on the Porsche 911 – The 90s models

Another topic for debate on ‘90s cars could be the introduction of the Ford Mondeo to the world markets in 1993, this era wasn’t the best of times for Ford of Europe.The pressure was on where this car had to be a success and it was a revelation. The introduction of the Ford Focus in 1998 was also a revelation in Europe setting a new benchmark for cars in it’s class.

I bought a 1998 Chrysler Neon in 2006 which had a 2.0 litre engine, came with leather seats, state of the art music system and alloy wheels. I got it for a low price. The Neon has received many opinions a good car or was it a lemon?

I know this is very much a topic of debate having read the forums while I owned it, I live in the UK and is a rare site on the roads here despite being officially imported to the UK market from around 1995/96. Think the Neon was an acquired taste you loved them or hated them. In the end mine developed electrical problems with the speedometer becoming intermittent and the engine began to constantly leak oil. It died on me on around 105k miles. I have since owned a 1999 Mazda 323 which is still going strong on 176,000 miles these cars were gems but not received too well by the market for some reason.

There’s going to be more to come on this blog on the subject of ‘90s cars I’ll write a feature on a 90s car as I think about it like I said above nothing to do with personal taste or if the car was any good.

Therefore I wish to ask if you could start thinking about 90s cars and forming your viewpoints.

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The Spice Girls

Didn’t you just love them?

These girls were a phenomenon. Do you remember where you were and what you were doing the first time you heard Wannabe in 1996? A great era and great times!

’90s Tommy Hilfiger T-Shirt

I thought I’d share with the world that in 2011 I do still have a few items of clothing which I acquired back in the mid ’90s heyday such as this Tommy Hilfiger t-shirt which I bought in 1996.

In the mid ’90s I was well into the designer label clothing and had items from Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, Versace, Armani & Dolce & Gabbana. On arriving in Vancouver, Canada in the Summer of 1996 I quickly became aware of the popularity of Tommy Hilfiger across North America at that time and not having seen this label in the UK I bought the following T-shirt in September ’96 from a large Eaton’s department store in Vancouver, unfortunately I heard this chain went bankrupt in 1999.
At the time I thought I would impress my friends back in the UK by introducing them to the Tommy Hilfiger label, unfortunately when I got back to the UK in October 1996 it was getting cold so this t- shirt didn’t get viewed by anyone until the Spring of 1997 which by that time Tommy Hilfiger became more prominent in the UK.

Here’s a picture of my 1996 Tommy Hilfiger t-shirt taken at home in 2011:

Looks pretty good for a 15 year old t-shirt and as Chandler Bing may say “Could this t-shirt be anymore 90s?”:)

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Beavis & Butthead

It was only a matter of time before I posted on these guys, there was no way the90sblog was ever going to go without an inclusion of these two. This in my opinion was The Cartoon of The ’90s

I was a massive fan, one that had the required acquired taste which meant people either loved or hated them. There was no in between and my feet as friends would testify would be firmly planted in the love them camp, there may have been a danger of one point of my life revolving around these two. The series ran from 1993 to 1998.

In my opinion how can you look back on the ’90s without Beavis & Butthead entering your thoughts?

Beavis & Butthead started for me when I visited California in January 1994. I kept seeing them appear on TV when I was in bars or flicking around channels whenever I found myself in front of a TV but I never paid any attention to them until I went to a Superbowl party enthusiastically indulging in a very American occasion in a very British way of drinking lots of beer so I was already feeling a little merry by the half time.

Not sure what I remember between The Dallas Cowboys v The Buffalo Bills on January 30^th 1994 other than The Cowboys winning but I remember well my very first episode of Beavis & Butthead.

At half time someone had switched the channel on the TV and there was all these well educated people going crazy for a cartoon so I thought this must be good so I’ll watch too, little did I know after my introduction to Beavis & Butthead I would never be the same again. For the remainder of my time in California I knew I was hooked and wanted to see more episodes of the legendary twosome. When I got back to the UK I wondered on how I can get to watch more episodes of Beavis & Butthead without ready access to MTV and my wish was granted in April of 1994 when Chanel 4 decided to screen them late every Friday night. I remember rushing home from my bar job at the time every Friday evening to get to see them.

Also in addition to telling friends on my return to the UK of the wonderful places I visted and things I did in California I also had to mention the discovery of Beavis & Butthead.

I have since found out my first episode of Beavis & Butthead was called Citizen Butthead. On President Clinton’s planned visit to their school Principal McVicker dreads the prospect of Beavis & Butthead meeting the president so from an emergency meeting in the morning he decides to give them a pass to take the day off school as it would be a disaster if these two got anywhere near The President as only the handpicked elite students would be allowed to meet The President…..but it doesn’t work out that way as Beavis & Butthead decide to walk around the school to boast to the other students about their day of freedom The Principal has given them.

Beavis & Butthead episodes are nowadays available on DVD at places such as Amazon where you can order special editions and other official episode compilations at discount prices with first class customer service and fast delivery.

It was sad in 1998 when the creator Mike Judge decided to kill them off but for me the Cornhlio impressions continued well into the noughties and I paid little attention to South Park when that became the cult cartoon at the very end of the ’90s.

In addition to the episodes that aired from 1993 to 1997, in 1996 a full feature length movie was made called “Beavis & Butthead Do America”.

As I write this in 2011 it is said that by the Summer there will be new episodes of Beavis & Butthead being shown. I hope this is true.

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Porsche 911 – The 90s models

The Porsche 911 is a car I’m a big fan of and so figured it would be good to include something in the 90sblog on Porsche 911s – “The 90s models”

Porsche 911 964(1989 to 1993)

The 964 was the internal codename for this generation of the Porsche 911 that ran from 1989 to 1993.

Manufactured in Stuttgart, Germany the first variant of the 964 series introduced in1989 was the Carrera 4 which was all wheel drive and the first generation of the 911 to be offered with Porsche’s Triptonic automataic transmission as an optional extra. The 964 variants which followed the introduction of the Carrera 4 were the Carrera 2, Carrera RS, Turbo & Turbo S and other Special Editions. Engines came in 3.3 and 3.6 sizes.Another first for this generation Porsche 911 was power steering & ABS braking.

Both the Carrera 4 and rear wheel drive Carrera 2 they were available in coupe, Targa and Cabriolet versions. The engine was a horizontal flat six cylinder 3.6 litre rear engine, top speed was 163 mph.

In 1992 introduced were the Carrera RS for Europe and for the US the RS America which continued into 1993 & 1994.

Porsche 911 993(1993 to 1998)

The successor the 964 series in late 1993, the 993 was the first Porsche 911 to have a manual six speed gearbox.

The Carerra Coupe/ Cabriolet models as with the previous 964 came in both 2 and 4 wheel drive versions with the 2 now dropped from the Carrera name for the rear wheel drive model. Production for this model ceased at the end of 1997.

The other variants in the 1993 series were the Targa, Turbo, Turbo S, Carrrera 4S/Carrera S, Carrera RS, GT2, Speedster & Turbo Cabriolet.

The engines sizes were 3.6 and for the Carrera RS 3.8.

This was the last generation of the Porsche 911 to have an air cooled engine.

Porsche 911 996(1998 to 2005)

Introduced in 1998, the most significant change was the introduction of a watercooled engine for the 911 after being in production for 34 years.
This was an all new design with new bodywork, interior and drivetrain in adition to the watercooled engine. There were no components from the previous generation carried over into this model.

The engines available were 3.4 and 3.6 sizes.

Variants included Carrera, Carrera 4/Carrera 4S, Targa, GT2/GT3, Turbo & Turbo S and other Special Editions as the 90s gave way to the new millenium. The 1996 was replaced by the 997 in 2005.

My choice if I had to pick any of the cars above would be the 964 Carrera 4 from 1990 and it would have to be in black. It’s because that’s what Hank Moody drives in Californication, a TV show I like but out of the scope of discussion in this blog as this show didn’t arrive until 2007 and the 90s blog hence the name is about the 90s.

With references and for more technical information:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porsche_964

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porsche_993

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porsche_996

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Robert Miles – Children(1996)

This is very much a trancetastic chill out tune perfect to taking your mind away from work and the other stresses in life .

This reached number one in 12 countries and was the most successful song on the Dreamland album by elctronic composer Robert Miles.

This was very much a clubbers anthem back in the day.

Top songs on iTunes

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SNAP – The Power(1990)

One that frequently came on the radio during my drives down the M4 to South Wales back in the Summer of 1990. I think it provided a welcome distraction to the shakes and rattles at speeds over 60 in a mid 80′s built Ford Fiesta:)

Top songs on iTunes

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SNAP – Rythym is a Dancer(1992)

Here is a big one from the second half of 1992, one without doubt was widely played in the clubs, one that got people up on the dance floor especially after a few drinks.

Top songs on iTunes

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1990s Rugby World Cups – 1991, 1995 & 1999

1991 -

The 2nd tournament jointly hosted in England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales & France.

The final was played at Twickenham won by Australia defeating England on their home ground 12-6.

The 3rd/4th place play off final consisting of the losers of the semi final was won by New Zealand who defeated Scotland 13-6 in Cardiff.

1995 –

The 1995 tournament was hosted in South Africa.

South Africa defeating New Zealand 15-12 after extra time

3rd/4th play off was France v England with France winning 19-9 to take 3rd place.

1999 -

Hosted in Wales which was the first Rugby World Cup tournament to be hosted in the professional era.

The Millenium Stadium was newly built for this tournament which was to be the venue for the final.

The final was won by Australia who defeated France 35 – 12. Third place was won by South Africa who defeated New Zealand 22-18.

More information on the Rugby World Cup it’s history since it’s inaugaration in 1987 and the results of the tournaments after the 90s (2003 and 2007) can be found here – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rugby_World_Cup

The 2011 tournament is to be held in New Zealand from 9th September  to 23rd  October.

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Nelson Mandela Release 1990

I know I should have posted this earlier but regarding political events of the 1990s this has to be the most significant.

Nelson Mandela is a man of true greatness who injustly spent 27 years in prison and was finally released on February 11 1990.

His achievments since leaving prison include winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 and becoming president of South Africa between 1994 to 1999.

During his presidency he united South Africa in supporting The Springboks(theme behind the movie Invictus) for which they went on to win the 1995 Rugby World Cup defeating New Zealand in the final courtesy of a Joel Stransky drop goal in extra time.

I did have a video recording of this match and many other games of this tournament recorded but with the demise of video tape in the last decade thanks to DVD I no longer have it.

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