The 19990s are a decade most people probably just want to forget, and the automotive industry is no exception. Despite constant improvements in engineering and technology, just about every car manufacturer produced a long string of duds throughout the decade as they tried, and failed, to find the right balance between efficiency, affordability, attractiveness, and fun driving. There were some exceptions to the generally bland automotive products of the 1990s, they just happened to be few and far between. Even some of the era's greatest successes in-period have turned out to be questionable vehicles with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight. The cultural forces that made for successes and failures in the 1990s cannot be understated.

Updated April 2022: If you're looking for some nostalgia, you'll be happy to know that we've updated this article with more facts about these iconic '90s cars that didn't age well.

The major Detroit brands were coming off a rough decade, as the 1980s simultaneously delivered crippling fuel crises and the (not-coincidental) rise of economical, reliable Japanese imports. Rather than doubling down on what had once made their muscle cars great, however, Detroit manufacturers tried to crank out their own takes on commuter cars, often with dubious results. The supercar industry also ballooned during the 1990s, however, as the world's wealthiest businesses amassed massive fortunes with the expanding growth of the internet. But even some of the most high-end sports cars of the time seem slow and strange-looking today, designed with absurd spoilers and angular venting that might have seemed cool then, but seems a far cry from the sleek computer-aided aerodynamic designs of the world's current hypercars. Keep scrolling for 21 cars that defined the 1990s, but that make absolutely no sense looking back at them now.

16 Fourth Generation Ford Mustang

via mcsmk8.com

The Ford Mustang has had plenty of ups and downs throughout its half-century of production, but the 1990s surely represent the lowest of the low. After the quintessential 1980s style of the Fox Body Mustang, a redesign was needed to bring one of this country's most iconic models into the new decade, but unfortunately, when the smoothed out, underpowered, fourth-generation hit the streets for model year 1994, a plethora of flaws prevented any true success worthy of the Mustang name.

The exterior's failings could have been overcome with serious performance, but a selection of bland engines paired to slushy transmissions and sloppy suspension defined the 90s Mustang.

Related: 10 Modified 4th-Gen Mustangs That Look Much Better Than Expected

15 Pontiac Firebird

via wikiwand.com

So many highly questionable cars came out of Detroit during the 1990s that boring cars almost came to define this country's entire automotive industry during the decade. Feeble attempts to fix the situation can even be partially blamed for the automotive industry's crisis almost ten years later, and today Pontiac as a brand doesn't even exist anymore.

The 90s-era Firebird is a classic example of the strange design decisions and lackluster performance that came to define Pontiac during the last few decades of its run, with looks that resembled a bird's beak up front and a decidedly non-muscle series of engines under the hood.

14 Ferrari Testarossa

via motor1.com

The Ferrari Testarossa is such an iconic car that it can be thought of as being a quintessentially 1980s and 1990s model. But by today's standards, and even fairly solidly for its day, the Testarossa was more an exercise in style than it was a true sports car. Its flat-12 engine mounted directly behind the cockpit only produced 385 horsepower and 310 lb-ft of torque when it debuted in 1984, hardly worthy of the Ferrari name.

At least its styling kept sales from flatlining, and somehow the Testarossa would be produced all the way through to 1996, eventually becoming known as the 512 TR which thankfully received a modest power bump as well as a name change.

Related: Here’s How Much A 1991 Ferrari Testarossa Costs Today

13 Ford Probe

via motor1.com

Most automotive enthusiasts today scoff at the Ford Mustang that was one of the defining Detroit cars of the 1990s, but they'd be even more shocked to learn that Ford's original plan was to sell what became known as Probe with Mustang badging.

After the lean years of the 1980s, when oil crises and the rise of Japanese engineering combined to make this country's manufacturers nervous of a loss of market share, the Probe was developed in concert with Mazda to replace the rear-wheel-drive Mustang muscle car with an efficient, lightweight, front-wheel drive option that would compete with cars like the Honda Civic and Toyota Celica.

12 Subaru SVX

via automobilemag.com

The Subaru SVX was purposefully built to look futuristic during the 1990s, so much so that today its design almost makes it a cult classic. It was an aggressive move by the rally-focused Japanese manufacturer to try and combine sportiness with grand touring capabilities, and to their credit, Subaru dropped in the largest displacement engine they would build all the way until 2008, a 3.3-liter boxer six producing 231 horsepower and 228 lb-ft of torque.

All-wheel drive and even four-wheel steering were also options, though the SVX's lack of a stick shift means that today, specialty tuning and modding crowds that might otherwise flock to the model have to turn elsewhere to get their 1990s kicks.

Related: 10 Things We Actually Like About The Subaru SVX

11 Tenth Generation Ford Thunderbird

via howler.space

Even when dressed up in an aggressive body kit complete with a hood scoop, there's no denying that the tenth generation of Ford Thunderbird is simply one of the most boring automotive designs ever.

How exactly Ford arrived at the decision to transform one of the original muscle cars, complete with massive engine options and iconic style in its earlier iterations, into little more than a bland commuter coupe is quite the mystery. But perhaps at the very least, the 90s Thunderbird was quintessentially a car that helped to define one of the low points for automotive manufacturing in the United States.

Related: The Evolution Of The Ford Thunderbird

10 Ford Taurus

via masbukti.com

Few cars can claim to offer bland looks and performance to match as much as one of the 1990s' least desirable cars, the Ford Taurus. With styling resembling some sort of whale-like sea creature, a front-wheel-drive layout, and a roomy interior typically trimmed in terrible cloth, the Taurus was in some ways a remnant of larger automobiles from previous decades but also tried to move into the future-obsessed 1990s.

The result was a car that may have seemed right in the twisted mindset gripping the nation during those years, but today absolutely no one with any taste wants to find a used Taurus on the secondhand market.

9 C4 Chevrolet Corvette

via corvette-web-central.com

The third generation Chevrolet Corvette hit the market in 1968 and was resoundingly criticized for combining aggressive styling with engine options that couldn't keep up with its predecessors, much less its own stellar looks.

Clearly, when Chevy began redesigns for what would become the C4 Corvette, they decided to tone down the looks rather than upping the performance, a decision that sadly trailed the C4 generation all the way through until 1996. Undoubtedly the worst Corvettes ever made, the C4s of the 90s risk being laughed out of the parking lot.

8 Land Rover Discovery

via partsopen.com

The 1990s were the years when SUVs truly became a force in the automotive market. Especially by the decade's end, a new genre had been solidly founded, with forms like the Chevy Suburban, Ford Explorer, and Jeep Cherokee finding success and traction with consumers.

But the boxy designs of the 1990s were perhaps typified by the Land Rover Discovery, which hit these shores for the 1994 model year. Sadly, the Discovery helped to establish Land Rover's reputation of being a continuation of poorly-designed, poorly-built English vehicles, notorious for spending all their time in the mechanic's shop while waiting for expensive parts to be shipped across the Atlantic.

7 Chevrolet Lumina

via netcarshow.com

The Chevy Lumina: is it a sedan or a van? The name may bring up questions in any automotive enthusiast's mind simply because of the fact that both sedan and minivan models of the Lumina are some of the blandest cars ever to have been built in this country.

The Lumina was classic 1990s, though, with a long body, plenty of room inside, a front-wheel-drive layout, and little to draw in consumers other than a low entry price tag. Today, Luminas might still be prowling the parking lots at retirement communities, but no one who might ever want to drive fast would even consider owning one.

6 Geo Metro

via caranddriver.com

The Geo Metro may have been the quintessential economy car of the 1990s, but even during its production run, it was little more than a punchline, as evidenced by this classic Car and Driver photo that accompanied its feature review.

And sure, in a time when efficiency was a serious selling point, a car with a 1.0-liter, three-cylinder engine weighing in under 2,000 pounds may have sounded great, but driving one on the streets or highways back then (and especially now) surrounded by enormous pickup trucks and SUVs was a seriously scary experience that few drivers wanted to undertake if they could avoid it.

5 Dodge Grand Caravan

via valentinopattaya.com

The Dodge Grand Caravan ushered in a new era of minivan design, though, at face value, its boxy profile, ridiculous faux-wood accents, and complete lack of any style may at first be off-putting to drivers who don't remember exactly how ubiquitous the model was in the 1990s.

Even by the first half of the decade, the Grand Caravan was solidly established as a grandparent's commuter vehicle, and with engine options maxing out at a 162-horsepower V6 driving a van that weighed in over 3,000 pounds, acceleration on freeway on-ramps was nearly non-existent and compared to today's torquey turbocharged options, would probably seem downright dangerous.

4 Honda Del Sol

via hellohonda.com

While the Honda Civic continued its domination of the economy-class market throughout the 1990s, its little Targa-top sibling, the Del Sol, came to define the curious design decisions of the entire decade. At first glance, the Del Sol may look like a mid-engined sports car a la the Toyota MR2 or the Acura NSX, but the exterior is just for show.

Underneath, the Del Sol features the same front-engined, front-wheel-drive setup as the more standard, and purposefully boring, Civic.

3 Kia Sportage

via parkers.co.uk

Today, Kia is a brand enjoying a long run of significant success, with some of the best-designed, most affordable cars on the market. Throw in the powerful Stinger GT and one of the industry's best warranties, and it almost seems like a lifetime ago that their Sportage SUV first hit the domestic market.

But the Sportage actually arrived in the early 1990s, and was the beginning of the Korean brand's attempt to corner the economy car market in this country. Today, the thought of owning a first-gen Sportage should produce sheer terror in would-be buyers, however, as their cheap, lightweight construction is clearly a factor in their low cost.

2 Honda Odyssey

2000 Honda Odyssey minvan from the back
Wikimedia Commons

Honda was fresh off a long string of sales success in this country by the time the 1990s rolled around. Cars like the Civic and Accord, as well as their Acura counterparts, had developed a reputation as reliable and economical competition to the massive boats coming out of Detroit throughout the 1970s and 80s.

So when Honda delivered their Odyssey minivan for the 1995 model year, consumers seemed willing to accept its plain exterior and its four conventionally-swinging doors. But today, the Odyssey looks straight out of the 1990s, and potential minivan buyers are still in love with their much more utilitarian sliding doors.

1 BMW Z3

via topspeed.com

Cinema fans may have been skeptical when Pierce Brosnan was announced as the new James Bond for 1995's Goldeneye, but automotive fans were all the more skeptical when it became clear that he wouldn't be driving an Aston Martin.

Instead, Brosnan as Bond famously drove a BMW Z3 in Cuba, a tiny convertible from the famous German manufacturer whose cars had come to be equated with sporty, aggressive driving. But the Z3 was a strange design and its engineering was even more peculiar - despite its tiny size, the Roadster still weighed in at just under 3,000 pounds, while a 189-horsepower engine was at first the most powerful option.

Sources: bringatrailer.com, wikipedia.org, and caranddriver.com.