American culture is a cyclical and cannibalistic beast, often times feasting on that which was popular in what many would call their “recent memory.” An example of this is the looming fact that the 1990’s---the decade of M.C Hammer pants, Grunge and Beverly Hills 90210---are making a comeback.
Evidence of this comeback can be seen in a number of arenas from the resurgence of flannel in the latest clothing lines of New York fashionistas to the chilly economic outlook for the auto industry. Sales this February for some manufacturers were down as much as 25% compared to last year.
Back in 1990, the economy was also skidding into a recession and car sales plummeted by similar amounts mainly amongst the Big Three and German manufacturers. This recession didn’t really lift until the dot.com boom of the late nineties when everyone and their mother-in-law got into buying the latest gas guzzling SUV’s.
The best part about this 90’s comeback, though, is that it hasn’t yet hit some of the soon to be classic cars from that era. While certain vehicles from the 1980’s like the Audi Quattro and some Mercedes models have seen their values skyrocket in recent years, nothing like that has really hit anything sold between 1990 and 1999.