We’re gonna road trip like it’s 1999

As we navigate the winding roads of mind-blowing nostalgia in our year-long celebration of the 1990s as a “classic decade,” we’ve made our way to 1999 — the final year of this beloved era!

With 2024 marking the momentous occasion where the 1990s officially achieve classic status (comfortably 25 years in the rearview mirror), let’s take a look back at the milestones that made 1999 a cornerstone in the automotive and cultural timeline.

• Two mega movie franchises take off with The Matrix and Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace premiering in 1999.
• At the age of 27, Lance Armstrong wins the Tour de France for the first time. He went on to win seven times before being banned from the sport and stripped of his titles in 2012.
• Canadian artists Alanis Morissette, Barenaked Ladies, and Sky each had a number-one single with the most successful song of the year going to Ricky Martin's "Livin' la Vida Loca"
• Nunavut becomes the newest Canadian territory and Paul Okalik becomes the first premier.
• Air Canada buys Canadian Airlines, merging the two giants and becoming the undisputed leader in Canadian aviation.
• Adnan Mevic, the six billionth human being, is born in Bosnia and Herzegovina. And with the current headcount up to 8.1 billion people, that’s just a casual two billion more humans roaming the earth today.
• The Sopranos premieres and is a real mob hit. Many fans still can't fuggetaboutit.
• After eight years in office, Boris Yeltsin resigns, and Vladimir Putin becomes acting President of Russia.
• The average price of a new car is $20,710 in 1999. Today, that cost has more than tripled with an average price tag of $66,000.
• High school kids all over start downloading music for free thanks to the launch of Napster.
• As the year 2000 approaches, Y2K panic sets in with people all over the world preparing with hoards of toilet paper, spam, water, gasoline and more. As it turned out, the clock struck midnight and… nothing happened.

1990s cars are classics? Yes way!

It's time to recognize, appreciate, and properly protect those rad rides from the 1990s with a collector car policy through Hagerty. Our specialty coverage is designed for enthusiasts who love and care for these iconic vehicles.

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