50 GREATEST CARS OF THE '90s

A time before touchscreens and implied exhaust pipes, but after mankind sussed how to make brakes and headlights work properly. We explore the greatest hits of motoring's golden age

- WORDS JACK SCARLETT

50 AUDI S8

If we were sensible types, we'd celebrate the first-gen A8-how its innovative aluminium construction offset the additional weight of its AWD system and whatnot. But we aren't.

So we've chosen the burbly S8, with its uprated 4.2-litre V8 and penchant for punting Citroen XMs off the road, as evidenced in the iconic chase scene in 1996's Ronin.

Price new: £60,000/ Now: £5,000

49 ASTON MARTIN DB7

A parts bin mongrel built on a miniscule budget, using a wildly outdated Jaguar platform and the brake lights off an old Mazda. And yet, look at it. The magnificence of lan Callum's design helped the DB7 to immense commercial success despite its shonky underbits. The car that both rescued and reinvented Aston Martin.

Price new: £78,500/ Now: £20,000

48 NISSAN MICRA (K11)

It looks like it came from a Kinder Egg, but the K11 Micra was a fearsome feat of engineering.

Its bombproof reliability, idiot-proof handling and surprisingly impressive refinement saw it crowned European Car of the Year in 1993 - a first for a Japanese car. Until recently a common sight on UK roads: that says a lot about what a solid all-rounder this Micra was.

Price new: £8,000/ Now: £1,500

47 FIAT COUPE