In my close to 15 years of driving experience, I've changed plenty of cars. From a '88 Volvo 740 2.0L turbocharged beast that was so un-aerodynamic, you felt like you were driving a hearse, but oh Lordy me, once the turbo hit, you felt like the king of the road. To a '05 Subaru Legacy (actually, six deadbeat Subarus throughout the 15 years - from Imprezas to Foresters) - an irrational love of mine - most of them were made in the glorious '90s. Now, I might be prone to some irrational nostalgia considering cars from the period, but to me, nothing beats an old stripped-to-basics vehicle that's as predictable as your 10th re-run of The Office.
And boy, did my cars and I go on some adventures! From abandoning my refrigerator-white Volvo v90 stuck to its arches in a bog and wading to the nearest homestead some 5 kilometers through uninhabited fields on an Easter evening to fixing my bugeye Impreza of its ailments by slamming the hood down as hard as I could (it always helped - except for a manifestation of a rusted-out hole in its floor), the '90s cars will always mean adventure to me. Although, in all honesty, I'm so old-school when it comes to cars that the first time I saw an SOS button inside a Volkswagen, I burst into a laughing fit - why would anybody want their vehicle to call for help? You either do it all yourself (yep, including the driving part), or woe is you.
By now, you might be pretty confident of your narrator's stance toward '90s cars, but if my words aren't witness enough, I've prepared a whole list of the best '90s cars for you! From the Audi 100 (lovingly called a herring where I'm from) to such beauties as the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo and a Ford Sierra Rs500 sporting the rare as hen's teeth Cosworth engine, you'll find all of the winter-beaters, whale-sized town cars, rally beasts, and every notable vehicle that came from the '90s. And to make it even better, I talked to the creators and organizers of the Rat Race rally - the whole premise of which is to complete a 1000km race with a car that costs as little as possible (say 500 EUR), so '90s cars are the top choice for most of the contestants. And you don't even have to be a professional to compete! So scroll down below to see what the Rat Race crew has told me about the race, '90s cars, and their adventures!
