MotorTrend

Editorial Digital Director Erik Johnson Executive Editor Mac Morrison Deputy Editor, Daily Content Alex Stoklosa Daily Content Team Justin Banner, Andrew Beckford, Monica Gonderman, Alex Kierstein, William Irvin Lewis, Matt Rodriguez, Justin Westbrook Buyer’s Guide Director Zach Gale Buyer’s Guide Team Duncan Brady, Bob Hernandez, Alex Leanse, Kelly Lin, Billy Rehbock International Bureau Chief Angus MacKenzie Senior Features Editors Kristen Lee, Jonny Lieberman Detroit Editor Alisa Priddle Mexico Editor Miguel Cortina Features Editors Scott Evans, Christian Seabaugh Editor-at-Large Edward Loh Senior Editors Aaron Gold, Jason Gonderman Manager, Visual Assets Brian Vance Deputy Director of Photography William Walker Associate Photographers Renz Dimaandal, Brandon Lim, Darren Martin Managing Editor Rusty Kurtz Senior Copy Editor Jesse Bishop Copy Editor Claire Crowley Technical Technical Director Frank Markus Testing Director Eric Tingwall Road Test Editor Chris Walton Senior Technical Editor Matthew Chudzinski Associate Road Test Editor Erick Ayapana Technical Writer Jered Korfhage Art Creative Director Alan J Muir Digital Design Manager Ryan Lugo Editorial Operations Director…

As we went about putting together this issue, I couldn’t help but to think about a subsect of cars from the ’90s—cars that are more than deserving of their reputations. The past 10 years might very well go down as the peak hypercar era—the Bugatti Veyron, LaFerrari, McLaren P1, Porsche 918 Spyder, Aston Martin Valkyrie—but the ’90s were peak supercar. Sure, ’70s (the Lamborghini Countach) and ’80s (still Countach, plus the Ferrari Testarossa and Porsche 959) supercars were cool, but the high-flying stuff from the ’90s was simply on another level. After what seemed like two decades of general decline, cars suddenly didn’t suck anymore. The Dodge Viper is the first car that comes to mind when I think about ’90s supercars. Before the Viper, it had been forever since Mopar…

If you lived through the 1990s, you know it was a fascinating era. From cars to pop culture to politics and more, we can’t come close to reminding you of everything significant that occurred—but we can highlight some of the key cars, moments, and talking points that defined the decade. 1990 • MotorTrend Car of the Year: Lincoln Town Car • MotorTrend Import Car of the Year: Nissan 300ZX • MotorTrend Truck of the Year: Ford Aerostar 4WD • Best Picture: Dances with Wolves • Song of the Year Grammy: “Wind Beneath My Wings” (Bette Midler) New Vehicles and MotorTrend First Drives • Honda Accord (fourth generation) • Dodge Stealth/Mitsubishi 3000GT • Geo Storm • Acura NSX • GMC Syclone • Saturn S-Series Events • Smoking banned on domestic airline flights • Police beating of Rodney King prompts Los Angeles riots • Iraq invades Kuwait, leading to…

“The historian,” wrote Frederich Von Schlegel, “is a prophet looking backwards.” We certainly made more than our share of predictions in the ’90s; we were right about some, wrong about others, and downright embarrassed by a few. Here are a half-dozen of our 1990s projections and their eventual outcomes. 1990: Volkswagen Should Bring Back the Beetle In his June 1990 column, MotorTrend editor Jack Nerad recounted a chat with a Volkswagen PR rep who fretted about the company’s sinking market share. Nerad’s suggestion: Bring back the Beetle. “Volkswagen has lost its reputation for low-cost, reliable ‘transportation’ cars to the Japanese and Koreans,” he wrote. The PR man scoffed—surely Nerad didn’t mean the Beetle? “I wasn’t proposing the reintroduction of a several-decades-old model,” Nerad said. “I was suggesting fresh, modern mechanicals under a…

The ’90s can conjure thoughts of an automotive dark age full of unsatisfying niche vehicles and evolutionary dead ends. It’s the decade that gave us the Suzuki X-90, after all. But it was also studded with gems, some of which have become bona fide collectibles and some that still await a star turn. 1991–1996 Nissan 300ZX Twin Turbo The Z32 Z marked a triumphant return to sports car greatness, especially in twin-turbo guise. It looked sleek, and it packed 300 hp and 283 lb-ft of torque, wild numbers for the time. Nissan also included HICAS active rear steering for world-beating handling that helped it snap up our 1990 Import Car of the Year award. While the best examples have slipped slightly, an excellent 300ZX turbo is a $40,000 car as of this…

General Motors takes way more flak and gets nowhere near enough credit for the GM EV1, the most technologically advanced production vehicle of its time. It pioneered and/or demonstrated myriad features we either take for granted on today’s (electric and gas) cars or still regard as futuristic. And it’s worth remembering the first EV1 was built in 1996, just as another all-aluminum two-seater was rolling out: the Lotus Elise. Notably, that car’s rolling chassis would underpin the Tesla Roadster in 2008. Let’s review some of the EV1’s many innovations. A 137-hp, 110-lb-ft AC induction motor spun the front wheels via a single-speed transaxle. Tesla began with AC induction motors, and there’s been a move toward this motor type as the secondary motor in all-wheel-drive electric vehicles because it presents no drag…