Millennial Nostalgia for the 1980s and ’90s Will Reshape the Auto Industry Forever

Timothy

Jamie Moore does not suffer boring cars. That’s why the 34-year-old media executive’s driveway mainly reads like a younger enthusiast’s dream duo—a 1992 Mazda MX-5 Miata and a 1991 Acura NSX, two unique cars that set the benchmark for driver engagement and reliable performance almost three decades ago. He’s owned a lot of older vehicles over the last decade and recently decided to pare his collection down to a few grail models. These are what he treasures most.

But sitting pretty in his West LA garage alongside those Radwood-approved, daily-drivable collectibles is something unexpected: a 2020 Acura RDX A-Spec.

The story of how it ended up there might seem insignificant at first. In reality, Moore’s decision as a millennial collector to fork over the money for a less-than-collectible new crossover from a brand like Acura speaks volumes about a massive shift that’s currently underway. Not electrification or driver-assistance tech—this is about how the industry as a whole will deal with the rise of a new generation of Gen-Y buyers with their own expectations to meet and nostalgic connections to make.

We’re still in the early stages. The oldest millennials are turning 40 this year, and until now their growing financial and cultural influence on the car world has mainly been felt on the collector side; think Radwood, and the rapid increase in values for ’80s and ’90s oddballs. Like the OK Boomers with their six-figure Mopars, the passionate (and financially secure) are seeking what they knew and loved as kids.

But while there are new car throwbacks like the Dodge Challenger to pay kitschy fealty to that older past—and what’s that Kundera said about kitsch being the inability to admit that shit exists?—the industry hasn’t yet responded with products that reflect and capitalize on a younger generation’s legacy tastes. Save for maybe the new Toyota Supra.

That’s going to change a lot over the next decade, and the automaker who can draw the clearest line between the 16-bit joys of the 80s and 90s and their cars of today—whenever today is—is going to make a lot of money with enthusiasts. That is how you find that ever-elusive first-time buyer with the means and desire to stick around for a while. And I’m not just talking about a full-on revival of a classic nameplate, or some sort of batshit nouveau-retro project, but the kind of then-and-now connection that pushes a 34-year-old manual transmission fanatic to buy a compact crossover from a brand that he still sees as flying the same flag it did 30 years ago.

I can hear you protesting now. There’s no comparing a 1991 NSX and a dumb crossover! That is extremely true. But the RDX can certainly compliment the NSX, in ways that, say, a 2020 Toyota RAV4 cannot possibly to do to something like a 1994 Supra in an analogous two-car garage. And if Moore’s already got the dream car, what’s wrong with a little practicality? 

Where does all this leave Generation X? Like the latchkey kids we were, who knows and really, does it matter anymore? (Yes, your author is a card-carrying member.) Seriously, we’re (supposedly) reaching our peak earning power now, so it can be hard to parse out just which age group will be driving the 1980-1999 nostalgia craze as viewed through the new car market.

Those poster cars for five-year-old millennials were our high school dream rides, after all. But Gen X is also smaller and way more constrained with financial obligations and thoughts of retirement at this stage—so spending power matters just as much, and some indicators show millennials have already passed Baby Boomers with a collective $1.4 trillion on tap.

Plus, Radwood mania is distinctly a millennial phenomenon, as anyone who remembers how we really dressed back then can tell you. So let’s call the two age groups force multipliers of each other—blammo!—and figure out what that collective interest means for the future—er, current disruptions notwithstanding.

The Radwood ​Effect

If a then-and-now link is the goal, let’s start with the then. Call it the openness of a new generation, or a rejection of the biases of the past, but the appreciation for 1980-1999 cars—from the Lamborghini Countach (!) to a Toyota Tercel wagon (!!!) —among millennials can only be compared to the way Boomers rediscovered muscle cars in the early Aughts and promptly sent prices for rarer models into the six-figure range.

Most of those have since come back down to earth. But this more recent wave has yet to crest—witness this 1993 Toyota Supra that sold for $122.5K at Amelia Island in March. More and more, it’s made up of younger people, not oldtimers speculating on or following up trends.

“There are many collectors in their 30s and 40s who are very active and have an interest in a wide variety of cars. There are also lots of younger collectors who are more interested in cars of their era—by and large these are cars with a more approachable price point,” said David Brynan, Senior Specialist at Gooding & Company, the Santa Monica-based auction house that runs the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance events. “Generally, there is a greater interest in cars that are fun to drive and operate.”

This rings true for Moore, a shaggy-haired car freak who found himself in the hunt for one of the era’s brightest stars back in 2017.

Having learned how to drive on his older brother’s 1991 Honda Prelude Si and falling in love with the automaker’s light, simple approach back then, he knew he wanted something that hit all the right buttons. “My car in college, and still my favorite car I’ve ever owned, was a 2001 Phoenix Yellow Acura Integra Type R, which I used to track.” To quote Emily Dickinson, the heart wants what it wants—or else it does not care. He decided to look for another old Acura, in particular an early-year Acura NSX.

The NSX, or New Sportscar eXperimental, was Honda’s effort at proving you could make a mid-engine halo car that rivaled the performance of anything coming out of Europe without any of the same reliability and usability issues. Developed with input from none other than Ayrton Senna, it blessed the world with incredible handling, V-TEC and the awareness that a supercar need not be a temperamental diva. Moore thought it was perfect.

“My dad had a red Ferrari 308 when I was very little and I completely fell in love with mid-engined, red sports cars,” he said. “Dad would drop my brother and I off at school every morning in that car.” To keep Moore’s love of the Rosso Corsa going, it meant he needed—needed—his NSX had to be red. Formula Red, to be exact. So the hunt began, and pretty soon Moore stumbled on a car that had been originally purchased in the United States, imported back to Japan and then back to the States again. It had just 23,000 miles on the clock. Even at $55,000, it still seemed like a steal.

To bring his old can up to date, Moore has spent a lot of time, effort and money on his particular NSX and his list of modifications is immense, way more than we have room for here, but Moore says he’s essentially brought the car up to Type R spec. If there was a non-visual part that was available for his NSX, he’s put it on—like four-piston Brembo brakes, a KW V3 coilover suspension and a Koyo radiator to name a few.

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