Favorite Decade of Car?

[Crumpet]

The 00's are bad, and always will be.

I loved the 90's, followed by the 80's and then the 70's.

 

[Leonidae@MFT]

So the 300ZX Z32 and the NA Miata are also both characteristic of the 1980s then?

Indeed.

 

[deadcell96]

What do you mean the Evo is dead? I thought that they were making an XI?

I read that just recently. I guess Mitsubishi realized that killing their best car is a bad move. I'm also surprised that out of everyone who said 90's, I was the only one to post the McLaren.

 

[Mark II Blit]

I'm going to risk getting shot at and say the early 00's

It was the peak of the 5+ cylinder engine, until everything turned into turbocharged, soulless inline-fours.

Some of my favorite cars were built in the noughties: Toyota Crown Athlete (S182), Toyota Mark II (JZX110), Blit and sedan, and the Toyota Verossa VR25
The always lovely Samsung SM7 from South Korea is joined by the Genesis, that signified the new sexy Hyundai-line, aswell as the Peter Schreyer-penned Optima from sister company Kia Motors. I love the new Hyundai/Kia line-ups.

 

[Cano]

If that had a black red interior it would easily be in the top five cars that I must own.

Fixed it for you, man.

 

[ChaosStar79]

Prefer the 80's by a wide margin. Such beautiful shapes...
LAST AND MOST CERTAINLY NOT LEAST:

Ahh yes. The G bodies of ole'. The 80's was the golden age of cars for me. The Grand National was always a dream of mine but just never happened. but the first car I ever bought myself was this 85 Monte Carlo CL. I lost my license in that car, clocked at 131 in a 55. Great car, bad judgement. It ran till almost 230k miles.

 

[Roush_fan_99]

The '30s...... Cars were more art than aerodynamic

 

[TVC]

I have thought about this before and its hard to argue against the 1990s being the best decade for cars.

In the 1990s you had all the technology from the 1980s but it had evolved and was much more advanced. It was the first decade when most cars started to be built with computers which allowed for better design therefore better cars. It was also the pinnacle of car technology before the driving assists and regulations we see today took over.

The cars were advanced but were still raw. Look at a Porsche 993 and compare it to a new one; the 993 has much smaller A-pillars, the 993 has basically no driving assists, the interior is nice but isn't meant to look great, and the driver feels more connected with the car. Then compare the 993 with the 964: The 993 has more advanced suspension which means better handling, the intake manifold on the 993 is better designed to give it more power, the engine uses lighter components, an improved exhaust system allows exhaust to flow more freely.

Do this with nearly any car and you will come to the same conclusion. compare a modern Civic to an EG or EK Civic, compare the 7th generation Celica to the 6th generation Celica.

Sure a new 911 will be faster and a new S-Class will nicer but that does not mean a new 911 will be more enjoyable than a 993 and that does not mean a new S-Class will be as iconic as a W140.

The 1990s were the last time car companies actually cared about truly making cars enjoyable to drive. The technology was more advanced than the 1980s and prior which meant the cars were better than anything that came before them but they still had that connection with the driver that every sports car company is trying to achieve today.

And as a side note the 1990s were really the last decade in which you had the truly great super cars. Not only was the McLaren F1 released in the 90s but you also had the CLK GTR, 911 GT1, Ferrari F50, the Lotus GT1, and others. Sure today there are some similar cars but they aren't race bred like these cars were and there hasn't been anything like a CLK GTR, McLaren F1, or Porsche GT1 released since then.

 

[Roush_fan_99]

I have thought about this before and its hard to argue against the 1990s being the best decade for cars.

In the 1990s you had all the technology from the 1980s but it had evolved and was much more advanced. It was the first decade when most cars started to be built with computers which allowed for better design therefore better cars. It was also the pinnacle of car technology before the driving assists and regulations we see today took over.

Agreed, I see this next decade is going to be downhill, being that it's now mandatory for all cars to have traction control and other things, It's never going to be the same, even the viper (I think) among others which had no assists, has to have assists now and it's not going to be the same again

 

[Crispy]

^That's the truth right there. @ TVC


I think the only aid I'll ever care for is ABS, and that's because there's so many dumb people around here who dart in front of cars and bikes to show there tough guys. I was in the passenger seat of someone in an M Roadster one time, and he saw a kid looking at him like he was going to play chicken, so he put it in Neutral, and when the kid darted, he floored the car. Let's just say, the kid was scared straight out of his pants.

Nothing beats that pure driving expierience of no aids, no computer technology. That's why I like the stick shift the best. I don't need panels on the back of my steering wheel. It's still an Automatic no matter how you look at it. The only difference is your telling it when to shift. In fact for the ask Alex on the Week in Review, he described why he likes stick the best.

 

[JacoJa]

So you're calling a car released midway through 1989 and spending most of it's production run as a car of the 90s an 80s car?

Yeeop. If it was designed and built in the 80's, it's an 80's car, regardless of how long the car was produced. Same goes for the MX-5.

 

[Zenith]

I have thought about this before and its hard to argue against the 1990s being the best decade for cars.

Pretty easy if you ask me or anyone else who voted for a different decade.

It all depends in the values that make up "best". For instance, the 90's sure can't beat the 60's or 30's or many others in terms of styling.

 

[alvin23a]

I read that just recently. I guess Mitsubishi realized that killing their best car is a bad move.

If you think about it it makes sence if they kill it. As it's ment to be the road goning verson of a rally car that nolonger exist.

 

[the_stig_1]

I'm stuck between 80s and 90s

 

[Havok_]

In my opinion this past decade has been a very strong contender. This past decade has seen the re-introduction of the Z, the arrival of long sought after cars from Japan to the U.S like the EVO and WRX STI and most of all the GTR.

Even American and European automotive companies have made incredible improvements to their respective iconic vehicles. The M3 is as beautful as ever, even the jump in technology from BMW to include twin turbo's in some powerplants like those found in the 135i and 335i are impressive. Mercedes Benz have the SLS, Audi with the introduction of the r8, and the DSG transmission was emulated by many. Mazda brought back the RX-7 (or 8 rather), almost every car manufacturer has made leaps in engine efficiency this past decade. Every single significant car or every single advancement in technology is way too much to mention, so i'll just end with reiterating that the 00's have been my favorite decade in cars.

 

[JJ72]

I'll say the 90s.

80's were great for middle range modern classics and average men's pocket rockets, and some outstanding nutter supercars of course, but while there's a lot of excitement it lacks some refinement, and also I am not a huge fan of the boxy styling in the 80's, it works on some cars but also very generic on most.

The 90's still offer relatively light sport cars, and the emergence of real all rounders, 993 Turbo, Ferrari 355 etc. Finally you can have something exotic, reliable, handles well and still sensual to drive, while not over ridden with electronic trickeries.

The 00 isn't a bad decade but cars has gotten too big, too complicated and too heavy for my taste, and car styling has become a game of creating the most complicated mix of concave and convex surfaces in computers, but the overall proportion of car suffers because of new pedestrian safety laws.