Top cars from the 90s to buy now

Once upon a time, new cars were simple, fixable, easy to live with and fun - with just enough kit to be safe and comfy. That was the 1990s, but today they make smart buys

James Ruppert

by James Ruppert

9 June 2024

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For some of us, the 1990s were only yesterday.

They were simpler, Britpoppy times with dial-up internet (1p-per-minute? Bargain - Yes really). The cars were brilliant, too. Not just characterful and entertaining, they were also safer than cars had ever been. The widespread adoption of ABS and crumple zones, along with power steering and air-con made them easier to live with – and today they remain eminently fixable, rather than being chip-based life forms. But when you wander around a car park, how many ’90s survivors do you find?

They seem to be disappearing fast and are now owned by only the eccentric or impoverished. But now, the recent arrival of E10 petrol has condemned cars that can’t drink it to obsolescence, pricing frugal motorists out of cars mostly made before 2002. But if you’re happy to pay the extra for super-unleaded fuel, which ’90s models should you save for posterity?

Example prices correct at the time of writing. As with all older cars, keep an eye on their ULEZ status and how that might affect your usage where you live and work
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Lotus Elise

Guide Price: 1999, 46,000 miles, £25,250: Lotus’s stunning return to its lightweight roots and one of the very best back-to-basics performance roadsters. Getting into the tub is not unlike climbing aboard a racing car. It’s that focused.
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Lotus Elise

Despite the prosaic MG 1.8 engine, the Elise managed so much with 118bhp. Endless spin-off performance models proved just how good the original concept was.
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Porsche Boxster

Guide Price: 1998, 95,000 miles, £5200: Affordable roadster has rather a lot of 911 in its DNA. Its mechanical issues are well known but this is a no-compromise package that looks sensational and is great to drive.
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Porsche Boxster

The years have been kind to what is one of the best routes into serious sports car ownership. The 2.5 engine later increased to 2.7 and a 3.2 S is also available.
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Honda Integra

Guide Price: DC2 Type R, 1998, 93,000 miles, £17,000: Car makers once knew that less (it weighs 1140kg) is so much more. Available in black, red or white. Just 500 UK cars, plus private imports.
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Honda Integra

Virtually hand-built with an uprated VTEC, thinner windscreen glass and no creature comforts. It was all about the performance.
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Peugeot 106 GTi

Guide Price: 1998, 83,000 miles, £8000: The French had this market sewn up and this is one of the best of the breed. Tiny, light and purposeful. The Rallye costs a bomb now, but the GTi is still a reasonable-money hottie.
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Peugeot 106 GTi

Also consider an XSi. The range was revised from 1996. Great handling, steering and gearshift, with lots of grip and half-decent front seats.
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Seat Ibiza GTI

Guide Price: GTI 16v, 1999, 95,000 miles, £1700: At a time when the Golf GTI wasn’t great, the VW Group was making a lighter, faster, better-value, Polo-based quick hatch. Choose between a 2.0 8v or 16v.
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Seat Ibiza GTI

There are the better-equipped and wider-wheeled Cupra models, too. Close to extinction now. Many have been over-modified.
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Renault Clio Williams

Guide Price: Williams 2, 1994, 85,000 miles, £26,000: A Clio 16v with more power and F1 badgework could have been ordinaire but this homologation special was anything but.
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Renault Clio Williams

There were 390 originals, but making do with the almost identical 2 won’t spoil the fun. Rightly lauded.
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Peugeot 406 Estate

Guide Price: 2.2 petrol, 2002, 80,000 miles, £3000: A great hard-working saloon, but best enjoyed as an estate. It’s supremely comfortable and has a great ride. There’s also a huge rear area when the back seats are folded out of the way. The 1.9 turbo diesel is very basic but brilliant and dependable.
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Peugeot 406 Estate

Otherwise, the more modern 2.0 HDi diesel is excellent. Watch out for corroded radiators, rusty brake discs and worn suspension bushes.
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Ford Mondeo

Guide Price: 1.8i Lx 5dr, 1993, 50,000 miles, £2500: The Mk1 Mondie was the best Ford in a generation. It was great at working hard during the week, running up and down the motorway. Then it did the all-important family stuff at the weekend. Seen one recently?
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Ford Mondeo

Most were driven to destruction. Great handling. The 1.8 petrol is economical but lively. The V6 is rather fun.
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Citroën Synergie

Guide Price: 1.9 TD SX 5 seats, 2000, 49,000 miles, £4500: People carriers were big in both senses back then. This one was also available with Fiat and Peugeot badges. Sliding doors, old-fashioned diesel engines and bags of room in that box that could seat up to eight. Beware leaking fluids, iffy clutch and potentially MOT-failing rust.
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Ford Ka

Guide Price: 1.3 Sun Limited Edition, 2001, 80,000 miles, £1800: Fabulously ’90s with then fashionably edgy styling inside and out. The best bit was the pinsharp chassis connected to an Anglia-derived engine. It was always a hoot to drive in relative safety. The ultimate first teen car. It has tough enough mechanicals but rot has been the killer.
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Citroën AX

Guide Price: 1.4 GT 3dr, 1991, 132,000 miles, £9000: Featherweight shopper that is a cube of simple goodness. Amazing fuel economy, especially the 60mpg diesels. They’re easy to look after and live with and there’s a truly great GT. Revised range from ’91 on – if you can find one, of course. Bright and airy inside. Rust and electrics are its enemy.
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Renault Twingo

Guide Price: 1.2, 1995, 32,000 miles, £1400: Not an official import, but here’s what a city car was designed to be. Small, cute, economical and very easy to live with. It’s left-hand drive only but that’s never a problem.
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Renault Twingo

Both 8v and 16v engines on offer. Mild revamp in 1998. Worth a weekend away in mainland Europe to get one.
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BMW 5 Series

Guide Price: 528i, 1996, 135,000, £1800: Fact: 1996 is the point at which the Bavarians built the perfect business express. The E39 generation was the very best 5 Series and came with a variety of decent engines.
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BMW 5 Series

The six-cylinders included potentially frugal diesels and smooth, strong petrols, and the V8s were even smoother and more muscular. These models are technically the last of the truly fixable ones, too. But watch out for ULEZ...
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Alfa Romeo 156

Guide Price: 2.5 V6, 2000, 80,000 miles, £5000: No one saw this coming. Here was a pretty Italian saloon with some wonderful engines. The specification had all the essentials, from climate control onwards. It was never without issues, of course.
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Alfa Romeo 156

Think faulty oil pumps, iffy airflow sensors and Selespeed gearbox malfunctions. Otherwise, what you got was a very stylish package that was at least different from the Germans.
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Audi A4

Guide Price: 1.8 SE, 1998, 40,000 miles, £5000: The BMW 3 Series suddenly had a credible rival when this A4 arrived. It’s a compact saloon, Avant estate, oh, and a convertible to impress. Audi also raised the standards of fit and finish to stratospheric levels.
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Audi A4

Any executive going somewhere wanted one. There was a range of great engines, including diesels and some interesting V6s, plus the very hardcore RS 4.

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