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.

• Jeff Gordon wins the pole and the race at the 41st Daytona 500, making him the first Daytona 500 pole sitter to win the race since Bill Elliott in 1987.
• 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.
• The average price of gasoline falls under $1 (for the last time in history).
• 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 $20,686 in 1999. Today, that cost has more than doubled with an average price tag of $48,334.
• High school kids all over the U.S. 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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