Some of us are in denial that the mid-1990s took place three decades ago. All it takes is a few magazine page-flips to feel nostalgic about cars (and culture) of a bygone era.
How many makes and models that were featured in full-page advertisements in the July 1996 issue of Car and Driver magazine are still in production today? In total, there were 20 vehicles featured (and surprisingly, three of them came from one brand alone). Here they are in alphabetical order:
1. Acura 3.5 RL: Acura’s flagship went on to become the RLX, which has since been discontinued.
2. BMW 328i: The 3-Series is still an important model for the BMW brand.
3. Chevrolet Cavalier: Went out of production after 2005.
4. Dodge Stratus: Ahh, remember Auto Stick? A precursor to many of today’s manually-shiftable automatics.
5. Ford Taurus SHO: A muscle car for the whole family.
6. GMC Sierra: Still a top-seller for General Motors, alongside the Silverado.
7. Isuzu Oasis: Essentially, a badge-engineered first-generation Honda Odyssey.
8. Land Rover Discovery: Still around, and marketed as a versatile seven-seater.
9. Lexus SC400: The original Lexus “sport coupe,” which lived on in spirit through the RC, which has just been discontinued.
10. Lincoln Continental: Perhaps the longest-running nameplate in this list — around since 1940.
11. Mazda 626: Mazda produced a “6” for many years, but today the largest sedan in the American market is the 3. Like many other brands, Mazda is focused on crossovers.
12. Mitsubishi Eclipse: An icon from a vastly different (and perhaps better?) era for Mitsubishi.
13. Nissan 200SX: Many of these cars are making me miss the days of compact sport coupes.
14. Nissan Pathfinder: A stalwart member of the Nissan family — still around, both in 2WD and 4WD configurations.
15. Nissan Quest: Wow, Nissan ran three ads one issue. The Quest was also badge-engineered as a Mercury Villager.
16. Saab 900: Lasted through 1998 and then was replaced by the 9-3. Saab went defunct in 2016.
17. Saturn SL2: Another brand that didn’t survive. I remember how Saturns were advertised for having dent-resistant plastic body panels.
18. Subaru Outback: The TV commercials for these were great as they featured Paul Hogan from “Crocodile Dundee.”
19. Suzuki X-90: Unique in its time, and incredibly rare today — it was a two-seat, open roof SUV.
20. Volkswagen Passat: Around since 1973, but discontinued in the United States after 2022.
Maybe you or someone you know owned (or still owns!) one of the vehicles on the list.
What vehicle nameplates from 2026 do you think will still be around in 2056?
