The new cars of 1993 – From the Old Box

In 2023 we expect various special new cars, especially many SUVs and electric cars. If that doesn’t appeal to you, then it might be nice to see again which new cars were expected thirty years ago. It turns out that the car country looked very different then than it does now. Citroën Xantia, Renault Laguna, Ford Mondeo, Fiat Punto, the first Mercedes-Benz C-class, they all appeared in 1993.

BMW 3 Series Convertible

We kick off with a car that we already knew in January 1993, but not yet as a convertible: the BMW 3-series E36. In 1993 the open version of the 3-series introduced in 1991 would be launched, initially only as 325i. It was quite a bit, because the open E30, which had to go on a bit longer than the rest of the E30 series, did not have it very easy anymore due to the arrival of the E36. What particularly appealed to us about the new 3-series Cabriolet? “With the hood up, the resemblance to the Coupé’s resemblance is astonishing.” BMW had wonderfully succeeded in giving the 3-series Cabriolet a beautiful shape, even with the roof closed. Do you own one now? Be careful with them: they are starting to rise in price.

Citroen Xantia

1993 was also the year in which the Citroën BX handed over the baton to its long-awaited successor: the Xantia. Production started at the end of 1992, but in 1993 you could admire the Frenchman in the Dutch showroom for the first time. As with the previously released ZX, Citroën took a more conservative design direction than before, although the Xantia was slightly more extravagant in shape than its little brother. What remained was the hydropneumatic suspension system, which also made the Xantia an above-average comfortable car. “Big surprise with the new Citroën is the name. Not a letter combination like (speculated) DX, but a real name: Xantia.” That turned out to be a harbinger of things to come. After all, the ZX was succeeded by the Xsara. Citroën, however, returned to this approach with the successor to the Xantia, the C5, and Xsara successor C4.

Fiat Punto

We thought we were still dealing with the new Fiat Uno at the beginning of 1993 when we saw the photo above. Not surprising, because it was not entirely certain that Fiat would give the successor to the Uno a different name. There were rumors: “The name ‘Bino’ is already being whispered left and right in the corridors. We will know more after the exhibition in Geneva.” Ultimately, the new Fiat would only be presented in Frankfurt in the autumn of 1993 and it turned out that the name Punto had been chosen. A name that can no longer be ignored from the car world, although we have been waiting for a new Punto for a few years now.

Ford Mondeo

Not only Citroën brought a new mid-sized car on the market in 1993. In that year, Ford pushed the first generation Mondeo forward as the successor to the Sierra. The Sierra left big shoes to fill, and the Mondeo was eventually able to fill them. As with the Xantia, however, the Mondeo was not as striking at its introduction as its predecessor. Incidentally, at the beginning of 1993 we still hoped for a version that would not eventually come: “As now, the program will consist of a sedan, hatchback and station wagon, but in the long run there could also be a coupe.” A Mondeo Coupé did not come, but the Ford Cougar based on the first Mondeo appeared at the last minute.

Lada 2110

Perhaps not an all too relevant car, but we still take a moment to reflect on the arrival of the Lada 110. After all, it marked a considerable turnaround for Lada, with its rounder and significantly more modern appearance. Thirty years ago, the Lada 110 was still known as 2110, but it eventually turned out to be marketed as a sedan as 110, the five and three-door version as 112 and the station wagon as 111. That took a bit more time than we expected : the Russians only got it in 1995 and here in the Netherlands it even lasted until 1998. Then the freshness was of course already gone.

Mercedes Benz C class

More relevant was the arrival of the new Mercedes-Benz 190. Or rather the first generation C-class, as it would appear at the introduction. Mercedes put an end to the 190 with the new nomenclature and would later do the same with the big brother 200/300 series by calling the successor E-class. The C and E class thus followed the example of the S class. In January 1993, however, we did not know any better and we had not yet seen the car completely uncamouflaged. The photo above gave the best picture of the first C-class, clearly showing that Mercedes still wanted the taillights to resemble those of the W124. “No more baby Benz: the new 190 is bigger than the current one. In addition to ABS, an airbag may also be standard”, we wrote, among other things. What a luxury!

Peugeot 306

Even more mysterious was what the successor to the Peugeot 309 would look like. In the photo above you can see that we had to make do with a blurry and dark image of the car that we already knew would be called 306. It was also clear that Peugeot was going for a line pattern that partly harked back to that of the 205 and was especially similar to the 106, which had been on the market for some time. “That line will guarantee success”, we expected. That turned out to be true: the 306 was indeed a success, although we turned out to be somewhat wrong on one point, namely that the 306 would succeed both the 309 and the 205. After all, the 205 would remain available for years to come alongside the 306 and only really find a direct successor in the 206.

Renault Laguna

Elsewhere in France, early 1993, work was still going on to prepare the first Renault Laguna for its introduction. As with the Fiat Punto and Mercedes-Benz 190, thirty years ago we were not quite sure what the newcomer would be called. For the sake of convenience, we therefore bought Renault 21, because that car would be the successor. The new mid-sized car was already clearly visible and we described it as a cross between the Renault 19 and the Renault Safrane. The Laguna turned out to be a golden opportunity from Renault: it sold better here in the Netherlands than the 21 and would rise to great heights with the second generation.

Seat Ibiza

Where the second generation of the Volkswagen Polo had to wait a little longer for replacement, Seat already introduced a completely new Ibiza in 1993. A car that shared its base with the Polo Mk3 and that got a nice quirky carriage thanks to grandmaster Giorgetto Giugiaro. Above we see a partly edited photo that was already supposed to give an impression of the new Ibiza and, except for the bumper and the grille, that turned out to be quite a nice representation. Incidentally, this Ibiza would in turn serve as the basis for the order version Inca and also the second generation Volkswagen Caddy, the sedan and station wagon versions called Cordoba came on the market as the Volkswagen Polo.

Subaru Impreza

Of the Japanese, Subaru in particular managed to arouse interest with a view to 1993. That came in that year with the first Impreza, which succeeded the now quite outdated L-series. At the end of 1992, the Impreza was already presented in its home country Japan and in 1993 the car would also be available here in the Netherlands. A modern appearance, although we were surprised by the shape of the station wagon version, the Plus. “The new Subaru Impreza is available as a sedan and station wagon, with the rear of the latter in particular being remarkable to say the least.” We feared that the 2.0 turbo would pass us by, but it came on the market in 1994. It made it clear how seriously fast such an Impreza could be.