You Know You’re a ‘90s Tuner If…
Ah, the ‘90s: When hip hop was better, social media was a Motorola pager or (gasp) an actual phone to talk to someone and, best of all, when building tuner cars was fresh and super fun — especially in SoCal (but don’t worry East Coast, we still got you).
See if these ‘90s tuner trends bring you back... Let's take a trip down memory lane with some old-school cool.
You know you're a '90s tuner if...
1. Your first car was a Honda Civic.
2. It could’ve also been an Acura Integra, and if it was, you were a baller.
3. You carried a pocket full of change just so you could return a page.
4. You unscrewed your Fuba antenna in fear of having it stolen.
5. You rocked a Japanese Air Spencer squash scented air freshener. And by the way, we all know a real squash doesn’t smell that way, so why do these smell so great?!
6. You cut your lowering springs to go lower (coilovers didn’t exist).
7. 3-inch exhaust tips: sometimes bigger, not necessarily better.
8. Pulling a headlight or using dryer hose to help bring more air into your engine bay.
9. Super huge K&N air filters that really didn’t do anything except look cool (while overcompensating).
10. You raced Terminal Island and hid a friend in the trunk to save $10 on entry.
11. You raced at LACR (Los Angeles County Raceway) because TI eventually closed and Battle of the Imports started.
12. You wrote ‘N/T’ (no time) on your window because you knew your car was slow. Or because you wanted to keep how fast you were on the DL.
13. AutoMeter Monster Tach set to shift at 4K rpm. That’s what’s up.
14. Print was king. RIP Sport Compact Car and Turbo magazines.
15. If you had 15-inch wheels, you were cool. 16s? Godly.
16. Speaking of wheels: SSR Super Fins, Super Mesh, Neos, Bang Vecs, 265s, Mugen RnRs… We could go on and on. How much time do we have?
17. Honda emblems, Audi side markers, PIAA 959s... Don’t ask. We won’t tell you where they came from.
18. Supra taillights, MR2 side vents, Acura Integra Type R headlights: multitudes of ways to alter a car’s exterior with parts from other manufacturers.
19. Massive wings, non-functional hood scoops, racing stripes.
20. Veilside body kits. Don’t laugh!
21. You went on the Super Street Tour to the NOPI Nationals. Might still have the stickers on your ride to prove it.
22. Hot Import Nights, Import Showoff, IAS…those were the days for the OG car shows!
23. You lived your life a quarter mile at a time. Seriously, who wasn’t at the drag races?
24. Fix-it tickets were issued on the regular. Too low, too loud…blah, blah blah!
25. Amber switches for those late night freeway runs.
26. Two-tone pleather interiors.
27. T3/T4 hybrid turbochargers...
28. Pull-out cassette decks with auto-reverse.
29. Wink or Broadway mirrors.
30. Drifting? What’s that?
31. Option videos from Japan to keep up with current trends.
