If there’s one conversation from my college days in the early 1990s that I still vividly remember, it’s one I had with my classmate Michelle. “Have you seen all those teal new cars that are around? Boy, talk about a color that’s going to feel soooo 1990s!” Yep, Michelle, you certainly called that one!
Now, thanks to a bunch of junkyard finds uploaded to the Cohort by canadiancatgreen, we can continue our 1990s automotive tour from last week, this time devoting the whole gallery to that very ’90s thing called teal. Or tealish, in the case of a few of these cars. You know, just to keep things fun.
Let’s get going with a 1998 Chevrolet Cavalier, and its oh-so-1990s peeling paint to go with its oh-so-1990s teal color.
Last week, someone mentioned that I had somehow managed to avoid including a Saturn. Yes, I had. But how to avoid it indefinitely? Here, a 1994 SC coupe, a true 1990s flashback.
I did include a teal car in last week’s post, a 1994 Oldsmobile Cutlass. Here’s a companion, another Cutlass, this one a 1995. This one looks like a respray, though. Still, I would think it would be aping the original hue.
Teal? Or tealish? How to tell? Regardless, the second-generation Ford Probe was a considerable improvement, looks wise, against the earlier first-gen.
SUVs had to join in on the teal fun, too. Here, a first-gen 1997 Ford Expedition.
In our current era of drab colors, I welcome any old hue of the past. However, GM F-bodies always seemed somehow off in this color. Still, this 1996 Pontiac Firebird droptop, in its teal color, would’ve seemed very trendy for its selected audience when new.
Work vehicles also joined in the teal fun. Here, a 1997 GMC Sierra.
And one more, even if blue-tealish; a Chevy Astro Van.
And jumping to greenish-teal, a 2000 Ford Ranger.
We’ll close with a 1999-2002 Mercury Cougar; last of the Cougars. Teal would last a bit longer, though as a trend, not quite as prominent. An image to close out the end of two eras.
Gross, good riddance. My parents (and later me) had a splash green mica 2003 Miata. Can’t believe that wretched color was offered so late.
Teal is one of my favorite colors. Looked good on cars when new, but teal doesn’t fade well. White is better on an older vehicle.
I dislike Ford products but one thing that is undeniable (at least to me) are color palettes that are spot-on for the times. One of my favorites was ‘Light Aqua’ available from 1965-67, then, later, Light Blue. I’ve actually bought their vehicles (to my later regret) solely due to their color and, to this day, it’s hard to resist Fords due to the color, alone.
Speaking of unusual Ford vehicle colors reminds me of the distinctive (and quite pricey) ‘Mystic’ that was available on the 1996 Cobra. It really was a unique and true color shifting option and, to this day, is 2-3x more expensive than any other color to obtain. I don’t know if it’s still true but, back then, you actually had to prove you had an OEM Mystic Cobra to get any more of that special paint.
I wonder if there any Toyota, VW, Nissan, Honda, Mazda, Mitsubishi or even Huyndai in some junkyard who have that color?
Like this 1993 Dodge Colt?
Bingo! Like this Colt and some others.
Affordable two door coupes and teal colour? Love them both. Bring back the 90s!
Here, too, teal green metallic is an absolute favorite color (alongside ice blue metallic and opaque dark blue shades).
By the way: My 1993 model year Volvo 940 has just turned 34 and is still on the road.
Nice Volvo!
My mom had a ’93 Mercury Sable in teal.
Of course, variations of turquoise/teal/aqua were quite popular in the 50s and 60s. Our 1967 Chevy Bel Air 2-door sedan looked like this one:
I seem to recall visiting auto shows in the late 1980s and early 1990s and seeing green making a resurgence as a car, truck, and SUV shade before teal did. But I’d agree teal WAS the color of the 1990s, almost to the point of being cliché.
Anyone else remember the accompanying trend of gold badges to go with your teal paint? Whether factory or dealer installed, nothing says class like teal paint, a decklid “luggage rack” or decklid spoiler, and gold badges.
Indeed I remember some dealers (Honda especially) down under even tried selling the gold badges as some sort of limited-edition prestige pack nonsense. Personally I thought of it as more of a tacky pack.
I’d forgotten until reading your comment.
I remember the Honda Accord looking especially good in teal paint.
I’ll take those colors any day of the week over today’s black and gray which are ugly colors for many cars outside a limo. Just saw a beautiful 1970 Charger R/T 440-4V in Green Go this morning and it made my day but will admit a Charger can pull black off.
Pontiac offered a one year only color in 2009 on the Vibe called Mystic Blue Metallic that looked more teal to me. It was very sharp.
A beautiful colour, sadly missed.
The other day I saw a flat black BMW M5. My immediate reaction was ‘How ugly!’
Be nicer if it had been teal.
I’m not fond of Teal but at least it was a color .
Next do a thing about all those FUGLY copper metallic cars .
-Nate
Oh yeah!
1992 Sable!
It was the coolest color ever!
Ah Colors , who needs color in todays grayscale world!
I owned a 1996 Mustang convertible in “Pacific Green” while my wife drove a 1993 Taurus wagon in “Caribbean Green”. I now own a 1966 Olds Toronado in “Ocean Mist” and a 2026 Mustang Mach E in “Adriatic Blue-Green”. While the ‘90s were the peak years for teal, it has enjoyed a degree of popularity over many decades. My Mach E’s color is new for ‘26 and is exclusive to the Mustang (if you’ll forgive me for referring to my Mach E as a Mustang!) so teal is making a comeback. My experience demonstrates a practice of teal being given “watery” names by the automakers.
Mercedes Benz 560 sl came in Petrol green which is a pretty teal color. Signal Red is better, but the teal is nice.