For July's issue, we assembled the most important cars ever built, working forward from 1955, when we were founded as Sports Car Illustrated, and the modern auto industry came of age. These are Car and Driver's GOATS – the Greatest of All Time. Today: The Nineties.
Marc UrbanoCar and Driver
1990 Mazda MX-5 Miata
A decade after the British sports car retreated from America, a Japanese sports car with a British accent arrived. While the 1990 Miata bore a strong resemblance to the original Lotus Elan, the little Japanese car had a four-cylinder that would start every time and a top that wouldn't leak. It also didn't piss its fluids on the garage floor.
Marc UrbanoCar and Driver
Its looks hint at the '60s, but the original Miata is a car of the '90s. Its DOHC 16-valve 1.6-liter features fuel injection and makes 116 horses, the suspension has two control arms at each corner, and a brace connects the five-speed gearbox to the rear differential. It weighs 2210 pounds with the optional hardtop and can run to 60 in 9.2 seconds, not quick enough to scare any insurance agents.
Mazda gave the roadster the tech to work but kept out anything that might dilute the purity of the experience. It's a simple car with direct connections to the driver. What you notice first is that the nub of a shift knob moves perfectly with short, mechanical throws. Sound engineers listened to their favorite exhaust notes for inspiration and left behind warmth, not noise. In a world obsessed with stopping body roll, we've come to appreciate how the Miata heaves on its suspension in an endearing and silly way under cornering. The open structure quivers, the steering wheel kicks your hands.
British sports cars performed similar tricks but never for long. The Miata can do them 24/7 because it's imbued with Camry-like reliability. Driving one is a lot like playing with the best dog ever. You will laugh. You will want to hug it. You will feel better. And it won't leave a mess behind in the garage. —Tony Quiroga
Values, market analysis, auction results, and more on the Mazda Miata at Bring a Trailer.*
1991 Acura NSX
The NSX's multifaceted flyby still stands as the most spectacular overtaking maneuver in sports-car history. Acura's mid-engine wedge forged new ground technologically with its aluminum body and suspension, an 8000-rpm V-6 sporting titanium connecting rods, and the first U.S. application of Honda's now ubiquitous VTEC variable valve control. Formula 1 great Ayrton Senna personally insisted on last-minute structural improvements and had a hand in the car's ruthlessly pure handling. How ruthless? In two different comparison tests, pilots from this fine publication left the road, engine first, in the NSX as it vanquished a variety of competitors, such as the Chevy Corvette ZR-1, Dodge Viper, Lotus Esprit, Porsche 911, and Ferrari 348 and F355. The tactility of its unassisted steering and the directness of its five-speed manual hold up against sports cars decades newer. But the most mind-blowing achievement is that the NSX did all this while maintaining the reliability and friendly ergonomics that the rest of Honda's lineup had already become known for. Every sports car and supercar since has been held to a higher standard. —Dave VanderWerp
Values, market analysis, auction results, and more on the Acura NSX at Bring a Trailer.
James LipmanCar and Driver
1995 Porsche 911
As the end of the air-cooled branch that germinated in the 1960s, Porsche's 993-generation 911 is the apogee of the original concept. Zoom out on 911s and you'll find that the 993 strikes the perfect middle ground between the 2020 model and the '65. It introduced a variable-geometry intake, twin turbos, xenon headlights, flush-mounted glass, a simplified all-wheel-drive system, and a multilink rear suspension that would carry on into the next generation. Regular-strength Carreras had a 3.6-liter flat-six with 270 or 282 horsepower and could clip to 60 in 4.7 seconds. The prescription-strength Turbo S had 424 horsepower and picked off 60 in 3.7 seconds.
Granted, 30 years of incremental change means there's a bit of George Washington's ax to the 993, but the size, shape, interior, air-cooled waffling, impeccable paint, exacting build quality, and even the clicking sound the doors make as they open and close remain as reminders of where it all began. It's a magical blend of old and new. —Tony Quiroga
Values, market analysis, auction results, and more on the Porsche 993 911 at Bring a Trailer.
BMW
1997 BMW 5-Series
In the 1990s, while Mercedes-Benz was cost cutting the gravitas out of the E-class and Cadillac was marketing a rebranded Opel with a duck-heavy ad campaign, BMW's product-development boss, Wolfgang Reitzle, and his team were busy building the best 5-series ever. BMW imbued the E39-generation 5 with the luxury, refinement, and technology of the top-gun 7-series but in a smaller and more entertaining size. Viewed through a 2020 lens, this car came at a time when tech enhanced reliability and comfort. BMW didn't attempt to reinvent the wheel, the radio, or the turn signals. A high-class cabin and soft leather seats spoke to Lexus's influence.
No one would call the ride soft, though. A roughly 50/50 weight distribution ensured handling balance, and careful tuning of the front strut and rear multilink suspension kept the ride civil but controlled enough for back-road, or even track, shenanigans. Despite smatterings of aluminum in the chassis and the engine and a few lightweight materials in the structure, E39s were heavy; the 528i weighed more than 3600 pounds. The payoff for that mass is a structure that still feels solid today.
In its inaugural model year, you could order a turbine-smooth 190-hp inline-six or a torque-rich V-8 with 282 horsepower. A 400-hp M5 (shown above) hit in 2000 and ran to 60 in 4.8 seconds. A manual was available in every E39 model and mandatory in the M5—poseurs need not apply. The M5's quad-exhaust tips and menacing engine left the most lasting impressions, but the nearly-as-good 540i six-speed manual is a legend in its own right. We thought enough of the E39 to hand out six 10Best awards from 1997 through 2002. A new 5-series followed in 2004, but while it modernized the 5's design, the technology it introduced cost the 5-series its soul. BMW had muddied the alchemic blend of luxury, design, and performance that made the E39 a GOAT. —Tony Quiroga
Charlie MageeCar and Driver
1999 Ferrari 360 Modena
In 1999, for its new mid-engine mainstay, Ferrari adopted cutting-edge technology—an aluminum spaceframe and Pininfarina-designed body that made downforce without a wing, a longitudinal gearbox with an automated shifting option, and variable valve timing for its 395-hp V-8—with immediate results. The 360 Modena won its first C/D comparo, dispatching a Porsche 911 Turbo and an Aston Martin DB7 Vantage, with excellent marks in all the subjective areas. The ergonomics created a new high mark, but nothing with a license plate could come close to replicating the F1 fantasies conjured by the Modena's 3.6-liter climbing to its 8500-rpm redline. When the eight individual butterflies activate the short-length intake trumpets above 5700 rpm, the driver's ears are assaulted with the high-pitch melodic clatter of 40 valves galloping in harmony. An intake song may never come this close to perfection again. —K.C. Colwell
Values, market analysis, auction results, and more on the Ferrari 360 at Bring a Trailer.
Previously: The Eighties | Next: The Aughts (coming July 4)
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The Greatest Cars of All Time: The Nineties - Car and Driver
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