Before the 1990s, you had iconic boxes and an endless sea of pop-up headlights on the road. Or, far too often, broken down in a layby. When the automotive world struck into the 1990s, however, that changed. 

The cars suddenly became reliable and carried their coolness with them from the prior decade. Commuting became a little more interesting, and you could do it reliably. You could fix them with a stick and hammer. These cars were icons printed and stuck to your wall. Luxury cars quickly became available to the everyman, and touring car enthusiasts were suddenly shopping (I mean actually shopping) for their favourite coupe on Sunday TV.

Take the legendary BMW E36 M3 for example. Comfortable seats, sleek-styling and a driving experience tailored to the actual driver – not the chauffeur. Maybe it was the Vauxhall Astra GTE and its quirky digital dashboard, or 1999’s Ford Focus that took the streets by storm for a quarter of a century. Was it the Honda Civic that you raced in Need For Speed: Underground, or the fighter-jet-inspired NSX’s VTEC that screamed your name?

Whatever it was, it was from an era unbeaten.

“Every single type of car you might be interested in, the ‘90s probably did it first, and did it best,” says Michał Fidowicz, an online car aficionado known as Candy Showroom. “Don’t feel like you’ve missed out on the best car ever or the golden era, no, no. The golden era is now.”

“It really was a golden era of motoring, no doubt,” says ‘90s BTCC Champion Tim Harvey, in our finale interview at Bicester Heritage. “The motoring we did see was rallying, Formula 1 and Touring cars, and they were all perfect. All three genres were absolutely fantastic.”

If you prefer different decades, that’s fine, but it’s hard to deny how unique the cars that made the 1990s looked. You had gnarly aero design on Japanese legends like the Nissan Silvia (be it your S13, 14, or 15), rally heritage in Mitsubishi Evo’s and, of course, the Subaru Impreza, and the classy coupe focus of the SAAB 9000.

“You had actual design and innovation happening inside each cabin,” adds Michał. “Every single car looked different, every car felt different. Every car gave you a different energy, a different aura.”

Tim continues this point: “We all talk about, you know, you could drive down the road and you could identify every car on the road. You can’t do that now! Honestly, the cars pass me and I haven’t got a clue what the manufacturer is, let alone what type of car it is.”

Gero Sicilia, owner of a stunning red 1994 Alfa Romeo 155 Silverstone, shares this view: “90s cars were different… they were all individual. You could do so much with them; change the wheels, add rear spoilers, front spoilers… it’s all kind of got a bit lost today, I think.”

And sadly, it’s true. Although there’s no doubt that safety comes first, it certainly feels as though the real driving experience has been lost. Power steering steals away that hands-to-tarmac connection. Modern cars feel more cramped than 1990s hot hatches and their glass-house windows despite being more than 18% larger in some cases (Peugeot 3008 versus Mk2 Golf GTI).

“I’m generally quite optimistic and forward thinking about cars of the future,” Michał says. “But the ‘90s can still stand out for having their own energy that you just simply can’t get from a new car. And even the new things can come along and be better, can be more interesting, can push the envelope in terms of design and engineering, you can still look back at the ‘90s as a very distinctive and characterful part of the history of the automobile.”

Gurjinder Singh from Slough agrees with a chuckle, sitting in the left-hand driving seat of his Audi RS2: “The Mazda 323 I had at the beginning of my car journey, does that deserve to still be here today? No, it didn’t deserve to be there back then! But, yeah, I think certain cars deserve to be kept around for a little bit longer. Whether that’s going to be possible in the future or not, but if it can be… yeah.”

We love our cars, and now is the perfect time to enjoy these 1990s legends before – God forbid – they go extinct. With the ever-changing, uncertain automotive landscape in the UK, your chance is now.

“Before all the cars disappear,” Tim Harvey closes his interview with us. “Go and get yourself, you know, a Clio. Get yourself a 205 GTI. Get yourself a Golf GTI, and just experience what it was to drive a lightweight, analogue, seat of the pants real car. You’ll never experience that in anything that’s ever made again.

“And if you do it, you’ll have a passion for cars, and more importantly to me, a passion for driving… for the rest of your life.”