The 1980s, with their accessible hot hatches, monstrous homologation specials and ballistic supercars, were a tough act to follow, and with insurance premiums biting, you’d be forgiven for thinking cars from the 90s would be a bit of a let-down.

But don’t write them off so quickly. This was the era in which the widespread adoption of fuel injection, ABS, power steering and air conditioning improved dependability, safety, usability, and comfort. In short, these cars are modern enough and indeed fast enough to be practical, but old enough – and, now, rare enough – to be interesting. And unlike many ‘80s cars, their successors from the 90s are still very much within reach, and we offer starting guide prices (for decent examples) for all, production dates, 'How many left? data when available, and an example we've found in the current used car listings:

Cars are listed in chronological order – this story covers 1996-1999 – we did earlier cars recently. Slideshow story – please click the right-hand arrow above to continue - guide prices are for reasonable condition examples without intergalactic mileages