Feelin' Great in 1998
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 1998.
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 1998 a cornerstone in the automotive and cultural timeline.
- McLaren driver Mika Häkkinen wins the Formula 1 World Drivers Championship at the Japanese Grand Prix. Hakkinen’s victory was a memorable milestone in his famed rivalry with Ferrari’s Michael Schumacher.
- Now a household streaming staple, Netflix launches with mail-order DVD rentals.
- The Titanic trivia will never let go: The film wins best picture at the Oscars and becomes the first movie to gross 1 billion dollars.
- German car company, BMW, buys British luxury car line Rolls-Royce for $570 million dollars.
- When one NYC apartment door closes, another one opens. After 10 years on the air, Seinfeld ends with the gang in jail. And just like that, Sex and the City premieres.
- Beloved crooner, known for his silky voice and blue eyes, Frank Sinatra passes away at Cedars-Sinai hospital in Los Angeles after suffering a heart attack.
- One of the most influential 1990’s pop culture icons, Britney Spears, releases her debut single “…Baby, One More Time.”
- As the result of $73.7 billion dollar deal, the ExxonMobil merger takes place, cementing ExxonMobil’s place as one of the world’s largest companies.
- After admitting to an affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky, President Bill Clinton is impeached.
1990s cars are classics? Yes way!
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