Aged with dignity

Guide: These cars will get the H license plate in 2024 - Aged with dignity

When reading these lines, some people (including the author) will think: "Boy, how time flies." To give the second thought "it seems like yesterday" even more substance, let's take a look back at the year 1994. After all, a lot more happened during the twelve months 30 years ago than the new cars that came onto the market, whose owners can now apply for the coveted H license plate and pay lower insurance premiums, for example.

Since this is about mobility, it is interesting to learn that the railroads are being privatized in Germany. The Hollywood classic "Schindler's List" celebrates its premiere, Arno Funke, who had played cat and mouse with the police as department store blackmailer Scrooge, is arrested, Nelson Mandela becomes South African president and Helmut Kohl remains chancellor of a coalition consisting of the CDU/CSU and FDP in the Bundestag elections. Incidentally, the SPD's candidate for chancellor is Rudolf Scharping. And since we started this section with a mobility report, we want to end it with one too. In 1994, the great Ayrton Senna unfortunately had a fatal accident in Imola and a certain Michael Schumacher won the drivers' championship in the Formula 1 World Championship in a Benetton-Ford.

That brings us to the topic: a Ford will also achieve classic car status in 2024. However, the Ford Scorpio II is more of a niche vehicle for people with the courage to be unusual (to avoid the word ugliness). Although built in Cologne, the design of the second generation of the upper mid-range car followed US tastes. The coup didn't work out and in 1998 this Ford trump card was struck for the last time. The Lancia Kappa and the Maserati Quattroporte IV, with which the three-pointed brand celebrated its comeback on the luxury saloon market, were more respectable. Where the words luxury and saloon come together, German carmakers are not far behind. The BMW 7 Series E38 is probably one of the most handsome vehicles in the history of Bayerische Motorenwerke. Add a classic straight six-cylinder engine or, even better, eight pots and the white and blue world is in order. For the very status-conscious, the Munich-based company also offers a stately twelve-cylinder with plenty of temperament.

Around 70 kilometers to the north, Audi is trying to shed its old-man image. The new A8 is a counterattack in the luxury segment against Stuttgart-Untertürkheim and Munich. The Ingolstadt flagship with the internal code D2 makes extensive use of aluminum in order to be lighter than the Mercedes S-Class and the BMW 7 Series. As requested by Ferdinand Piëch, the Audi A8 scores with an armada of technology, welcomes a prominent passenger in the shape of German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and thus triumphs for the first time over the Mercedes S-Class, which is usually the preferred choice of a German head of government. Because Ingolstadt was in attack mode at the time, the Audi RS2 Avant was quickly added 30 years ago. As the internal designation P1 suggests, Porsche builds the power station wagon, which draws its 232 kW / 315 hp from a turbocharged 2.2-liter five-cylinder engine. A little treat on the side: the exterior mirrors come from the Porsche 911 (993). Certainly a car that still gives pleasure today and with which you are definitely not underpowered.

"Hang on a minute," connoisseurs will now be wondering, "the basis for the RS2 Avant was the Audi 80 from the B4/8C model series, wasn't it?" That's right. In 1994, Audi changed the nomenclature and presented the new A4 as the successor to the Audi 80 in the mid-size class in order to compete with the BMW 3 Series and the Mercedes C-Class. Mercedes had already rolled out the new W202 model series a year earlier, but deliveries did not begin until 1994. The Swabians wanted to show who was the master of the house right away and sent the C 36 AMG with 206 kW / 280 hp into the ring. BMW bakes much smaller rolls and approaches the segment from the bottom with the 3 Series Compact.

It may be hard to believe, but 30 years ago Alfa Romeo was still really active. However, the increasing influence of Fiat is noticeable in the new Golf opponent Alfa Romeo 145, as the three-door model with the distinctive sloping curve in the lower line of the door window shares parts of the technology with the Fiat Tipo. The same applies to the Alfa Romeo Spider and GTV from the 916 model series, which will also be celebrating their thirtieth anniversary in 2024. The same applies to Fiat, then still a genuine VW competitor, today on the Stellantis siding. Cars such as the charming Fiat Punto Cabrio and the Fiat Coupé, whose shapes actually originated from the pen of future BMW design boss Chris Bangle, are still popular 30 years after their launch.

Opel was also even more of a jack-of-all-trades in 1994 and tried to build on its rich history with the Omega B in the luxury class. At almost five meters long, the Rüsselsheim model made a visual statement that not all engine variants could keep up with. In particular, the four-cylinder engine with just 85 kW / 116 hp does not do justice to the Blitz car's appearance. The more powerful six-cylinder and the steam-hammer V8 were much better suited to Opel's last model with rear-wheel drive. The first Opel Tigra was a typical child of its time. Back then, the VW Polo III was still a real highlight and a real cash cow. Like its bigger brother the Golf, the small car from Wolfsburg (code 6N) is a guaranteed bestseller. The VW small car is well established and has a relative at its side: The Skoda Felicia is the first model from the Czech car manufacturer since the takeover by the Volkswagen Group three years earlier. The strategy is catchy and successful: solid VW technology, not the latest version but proven and at a good price.

Anyone who put a new Porsche 911 (993) Cabrio in their garage back then is now the king of chops at the ice cream parlors. The last air-cooled nine-eleven will be a sought-after classic car from 2024. The topless version of the second-generation Saab 900 convertible also has fans to this day, even if for some the Swedish glider is just an Opel Vectra in different clothes. The no-frills design of the Peugeot 306 Cabriolet comes from Pininfarina and the car rolls off the production line in Italy. As we are already romping south of the Alps, it should not go unmentioned that the Ferrari 355 can also have an H license plate screwed onto its body in 2024. One of the fiery Italian's rivals is the Aston Martin DB7, which three-time Formula 1 world champion Jackie Stewart is testing during the development phase. Basically the same role that Walter Röhrl fills at Porsche. Two other Brits, the fifth edition of the Jaguar XJ and the Range Rover 2, are more settled on the road. The new edition of the British off-roader is overdue, as the first generation has already been on the road for 24 years.

Thirty years ago, the Asians also made their presence felt in Germany. The number one Toyota RAV4 comes to Germany. The Toyota Celica VI is already better known in this country. The sporty coupé with the T20 registration number looks out into the world with four headlights. The emphatically athletic shapes are not to everyone's taste, but the formula of power instead of kilos follows basic racing principles. The first generation of the Kia Sportage took a different path. At that time, the products from Korea were still truly exotic and scored more on price. The Renault Laguna was delivered at the beginning of 1994 and from then on wanted to exude French flair in the middle class.