I think the Saturn plastic-body cars and the Subaru Outback should both be on the list from the 90's. The 90's Saturns were incredibly successful, reliable, and completely changed the way Americans looked at car dealerships and car-buying, with customer-friendly policies. The bodies also didn't dent, ding, or corrode. saturn didn't start going downhill until the bozos at GM management started f***ing-up the company in 1999 with Opel-designed cars, and it's been downhill for Saturn ever since.

The 1995 Outback (discounting the original AMC Eagle of 1980-81) started the whole new wave of car-based AWD wagons and "Cute-Utes" with raised suspensions for bad weather and mild off-roading. It led to the RAV4, CR-V, and an entire class of car-based SUVs and AWD that transformed the marketplace.

 

Too late for the 90's, Phil. The American-market Prius went on sale in August-September 2000, some 6-8 months after the original Honda Insight hybrid in January-February (I remember test-driving them both when they were first available).

 

^^^

Ahhh...

I could have sworn the first gen Prius arrived in '98. My bad.

 

oh yeaaa, LS on that list .

 

how was the 92-96 camry left out? That car brought the whole midsize sedan segment into full circle...