Full disclaimer here: We at MyStarCollectorCar are not from Generation X, in fact we are from the previous generation when a large population bomb exploded in North America.
We have watched Gen-X car guys take their journey from playing with kiddie toys to playing with internal combustion toys that are more suitable for adults.
Generation X was a chronological label hung on people born between 1965 and 1980 in North America, an age range that planted them in three separate decades and put them in the middle between Baby Boomers (born between 1946 and 1964) and Millennials (born between 1981 and 1996).
Jim Sutherland
Generation X is a smaller group in terms of numbers than both Boomers and Millennials, but they will become the most important group of people to keep the car hobby alive for the foreseeable future. Many of them were influenced by vehicles built during the 1980s, depending upon their age, but the 1990s also played a significant role in their vehicles, and now Gen-Xers have reached an age where they can buy the retro ride of their dreams.
Gen-X car guys are now able to write bigger checks for their dream rides because they have advanced their careers to a point where disposable income is more available to them and their only barrier is the lack of available vintage vehicles from a bygone era, including the 1990s. It is an age-old challenge for every car guy because rust never sleeps and so many old rides took their last trip to a crusher.
The search for the right ride from the 1990s may be difficult for Gen-X car guys, but it is not an impossible task, so MyStarCollectorCar decided to compile a list of 1990s-era vehicles that enjoy (or will enjoy) significant value increases because of Gen-X car guys’ interests and incomes.
A herd of pony cars leads the way in our picks. The original pony cars were small by 1960s standards, a trend that continued into the 1990s and smaller cars are an important consideration for Gen-X car guys. The most famous pony car was the Mustang and it stayed true to its old school size throughout the 1990s, including its style makeover in 1994.
Nineties-era Mustangs included performance packages that turned them into fire-breathing stallions and drew the undivided attention of a young legion of fans while leaving a lasting impression upon them. These formerly young fans are now middle-aged Gen-Xers who have the financial means to buy the pony of their automotive dreams from the Nifty Nineties.
Another Nineties-era pony car of note is the Camaro, vehicle that grew into the decade in terms of style and performance when it transitioned from the famous LT engine into the LS engine in 1998.
The fourth-generation Camaro is an excellent fit with Generation X owners because it defined the 1990s in terms of cool style with hot performance.
The influence of international automotive designs was evident when Mother Mopar introduced the Mitsubishi-built Dodge Stealth in 1991. The Stealth in R/T Turbo form was an incredibly fast street machine that could go from 0-60 in about 5 seconds, a figure that is still quick in ‘23-but was warp speed fast during the early Nineties for a street machine.
The Dodge Stealth’s performance and style was not lost on Gen-X car guys when they were kids, but they have flown under the radar with other generations, so a Stealth is still an affordable dream for the Xers.
The final car may seem unusual to some of our readers because it is a station wagon. But not just any wagon since it’s the Buick Roadmaster Estate wagon built from 1991 to 1996. The Buick Roadmaster name had been dead for decades before GM breathed life back into the moniker with a very fast wagon version in the early Nineties.
The earliest segment of Generation X was very familiar with station wagons because their childhood occurred before the debut of the minivans, so they remained attached to the long roofs for nostalgic reasons.
However, the Buick Roadmaster Estate was also very fast during its heyday in the early to mid-1990s, so a factory-built hot rod wagon has enormous appeal to them in 2023. The value of these sporty Buick long roofs has risen dramatically in recent years, a clear sign older Gen-X car guys are willing to invest in their childhood dreams in a big way.
MyStarCollectorCar readers will undoubtedly recall more famous Nineties automotive icons like the Dodge Viper, but this day belongs to other cars that excited an entire generation (X) during that decade.
Jim Sutherland
BY: Jim Sutherland
Jim Sutherland is a veteran automotive writer whose work has been published by many major print and online publications. The list includes Calgary Herald, The Truth About Cars, Red Deer Advocate, RPM Magazine, Edmonton Journal, Montreal Gazette, Windsor Star, Vancouver Province, and Post Media Wheels Section.
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