“Best” is a slippery word for a model year. The fastest car of 1998 isn’t the one that sold the most, and neither is the one people still point at in parking lots. So this list of the best cars of 1998 is split three ways: performance, design and cultural impact, and everyday value. Fourteen cars, each with a verdict, key specs, the original price, and what owning one looks like today.
Scope is global, with US, European and Japanese picks mixed together. Some of these are true 1998 launches. Others were already on sale and earned their place by what they did that year. Each entry says which is which, because plenty of “1998” lists quietly borrow cars that arrived in 1999.
Table of Contents
- TLDR
- Performance: the fast ones
- Design and culture: the ones people remember
- Everyday value: the ones people bought
- The sales winners of 1998
- Quick-reference table
- Buying one of the best cars of 1998 today
TLDR
- Fastest for the money: Chevrolet Corvette C5. 345 hp, around $37,500 new, and still cheap.
- Best driver’s car: Mazda MX-5 (NB). Light, rear-drive, and about $20,000 new.
- Collector halo cars: Subaru Impreza 22B and Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution V. Both are now legal to import into the US.
- Best design: Audi TT. It looked like the concept car, and it’s the one that aged best.
- Best everyday car: Ford Focus in Europe, Toyota Camry in the US.
- Best-selling car in the world: Opel Corsa.
Performance: the fast ones
1. Chevrolet Corvette C5
The C5 arrived for 1997, but 1998 is the year it filled out. The convertible joined the coupe, and a convertible paced the Indianapolis 500. Underneath was the all-new 5.7-liter LS1 V8 with 345 hp, a rear-mounted transaxle for near-even weight balance, and a hydroformed frame that made the car far stiffer than the C4 it replaced. It hit 60 mph in under five seconds.
The coupe started at roughly $37,500. That bought performance a Porsche couldn’t match at twice the price.
Buy it today: The best performance-per-dollar car on this list. Clean examples generally trade somewhere between $15,000 and $25,000. Check the optispark distributor and the steering column lock for known failures.
2. Porsche 911 (996)
The 996 is the car purists hated and everyone else quietly started buying. It was the first water-cooled 911, unveiled in 1997 and on sale in Europe for 1998, with a 3.4-liter flat-six making 296 PS (about 300 hp). The US got it a model year later. The fried-egg headlights split opinion, but the car was faster, roomier and far easier to live with than the 993.
It cost around $60,000 in the US.
Buy it today: The cheapest way into a 911, often starting around $20,000. The catch is the intermediate shaft (IMS) bearing, which can fail and wreck the engine. Buy one with documented bearing replacement or a pre-purchase inspection from a Porsche specialist, not a general mechanic.
3. Subaru Impreza 22B STi
Built to mark Subaru’s third straight World Rally Championship manufacturers’ title, the 22B is a two-door Impreza with fender flares you can see from the next county. The 2.2-liter turbocharged flat-four was officially rated at 280 PS, the Japanese manufacturers’ informal power cap. Subaru built 400 for customers, all sold in Japan, at around 5 million yen. For more of the road cars Subaru built that people can still buy, see old Subaru models worth knowing and buying.
Buy it today: Priced well into six figures, and the cheap ones are gone. The 25-year rule means a 1998 car can legally be imported into the US, but you’re paying collector money for a car that was never sold here.
4. Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution V
The Evo V arrived in January 1998 with a wider body and track, bigger Brembo brakes and a 280 PS turbocharged 4G63 engine. It was the first Evo that looked as angry as it drove, and it was a good deal in Japan at about 3 million yen.
Buy it today: The Evo V is now US-legal, and prices are climbing. Expect five figures at minimum. Walk away from any car with a modified engine and no paperwork, because tuning was the default for these cars.
5. Ford SVT Contour
The Contour SVT is the American pick nobody expected. For 1998 Ford’s Special Vehicle Team took a front-drive family sedan and gave it a 195 hp 2.5-liter Duratec V6, a five-speed manual, wider tires, bigger brakes and firmer suspension. It cost about $24,000 and was available only as a manual, which meant almost nobody bought one.
Buy it today: Rare, cheap and fun, but trim and suspension parts are hard to find. Prices usually sit from a few thousand dollars to the low five figures for a clean car.
6. Mazda MX-5 (NB)
The second-generation MX-5 launched in 1998 and reached the US as the 1999 Miata. Fixed headlights replaced the pop-ups, but the formula didn’t change: a front-mid 1.8-liter four-cylinder with 140 hp, rear-wheel drive, and a curb weight near 2,300 pounds. Original price was around $20,000 in the US.
Buy it today: Among the cheapest fun cars you can buy, with good ones often under $12,000. Rust in the rocker panels and front frame rails is what kills them. Skip any car with a cracked or stiff soft top you can’t replace cheaply.
Design and culture: the ones people remember
7. Audi TT
The TT was a concept car that made it to production almost unchanged, and that was the trick. Production started in autumn 1998. The first cars used a 1.8-liter turbo four with 180 PS, or 225 PS with quattro all-wheel drive, on the same platform as the Golf Mk4. The Bauhaus-influenced shape, with aluminum-look interior trim and a cabin that wrapped around you, still looks fresh.
UK launch prices landed in the mid-£20,000s.
Buy it today: The first TTs were recalled after high-speed stability accidents. Audi added a rear spoiler and electronic stability control, so check that the work was done. Good ones are cheap, from a few thousand pounds or dollars.
8. Volkswagen New Beetle
The New Beetle was a Golf Mk4 wearing a costume, and it worked. The production car reached US showrooms in spring 1998, built in Puebla, Mexico, with a 2.0-liter 115 hp gas engine or a 1.9 TDI diesel making 90 hp. The dashboard had a flower vase. The base price was around $15,000, and dealers were charging over sticker anyway.
Buy it today: The TDI is the one to find, and the gas model is the one you’ll actually see. Electrical gremlins and window regulators are the usual complaints. Values are low, so a good one costs little to try.
9. Fiat Multipla
The Multipla is a monovolume with two rows of three seats, a wide, odd body, and a second set of lights at the base of the windscreen. Fiat designer Roberto Giolito pushed it out in 1998, and it was a deliberate break from beige minivans. Engines started with a 1.6-liter 16-valve petrol making about 103 PS, with a 1.9 JTD diesel alongside it.
It cost roughly £12,000 to £15,000 in the UK.
Buy it today: Looks aside, the Multipla is among the most space-efficient cars of its era, with real room for six. Parts and rust are the issues. Pick the later facelift only if the first one offends you too much.
10. Alfa Romeo 156
The 156 won European Car of the Year for 1998, which is the best argument that style and sales aren’t opposites. Walter de Silva’s design hid the rear door handles in the pillar, and the 2.0-liter Twin Spark engine made 155 PS. The 1.9 JTD diesel was among the first to use common-rail injection.
Launch prices ranged from roughly £16,000 to £24,000 depending on the engine.
Buy it today: The 156 is a good-looking Alfa for under £3,000, but timing belts, suspension bushings and rust all demand attention. Look for service history, not mileage.
Everyday value: the ones people bought
11. Ford Focus (Mk1)
The Focus went on sale in Europe in autumn 1998 and took European Car of the Year for 1999. The “New Edge” styling split opinion, but the independent Control Blade rear suspension was a real gain over everything in its class, and most owners noticed in the first corner. Petrol engines ran from a 1.4 to a 2.0 making up to 130 PS, with a 1.8 diesel on top.
Prices started at around £11,000 in the UK. The US didn’t get the car until 2000.
Buy it today: Rust and worn rear suspension are the weak points, but Zetec engines run forever. A good Focus is one of the best budget classics.
12. Peugeot 206
The 206 launched in August 1998 and replaced the old 205, but it wasn’t a nostalgic car. It was bigger, safer and cheaper to build. Engines ranged from a 1.1 to a 1.9 diesel, with the 1.4 petrol making 75 PS. More than eight million were built over its life, and you still see them everywhere across Europe.
UK prices started at roughly £7,500.
Buy it today: The 206 CC (coupe-cabriolet) came later, and the GTi arrived in 2000. For a 1998 car, find a clean pre-2003 model without electrical faults.
13. Toyota Camry
The Camry wasn’t new in 1998. It was a 1997 redesign that had settled in, and it was the best-selling car in the US that year. Two engines, a 133 hp 2.2-liter four and a 194 hp 3.0-liter V6, did exactly what you asked. It cost from the high teens in dollars.
Buy it today: It’s boring, and that’s the selling point. The 3.0 V6 can develop oil sludge if oil changes were skipped, so ask for the service record. Run the VIN on the NHTSA recall database before you buy.
14. Honda Civic (sixth generation)
The sixth-generation Civic ran from 1996 to 2000, so 1998 wasn’t a launch year. It earned its place by being the benchmark compact: a 106 hp 1.6-liter four, a light body, double-wishbone suspension front and rear, and a price from roughly $12,000. The sporty Si didn’t arrive until 1999, and tuners were already modifying 1998 hatchbacks.
Buy it today: Unmodified ones are getting scarce. Look for rust in the rear arches and an engine that hasn’t been abused. A clean stock example is now rarer than a modified one.
The sales winners of 1998
If you came here asking what people actually bought, the answer is less exciting than the cars above. According to BestSellingCarsBlog’s global ranking, the Opel Corsa (sold as the Vauxhall Corsa in the UK) was the best-selling car in the world in 1998. The Toyota Corolla and Volkswagen Golf sat near the top. For a side-by-side of best-sellers against the icons people remember, the split is clear.
In the US, the Toyota Camry was the best-selling car, though the Ford F-Series pickup outsold everything with wheels. The Golf Mk4 had launched in 1997, so it was the youngest of the three.
Sales don’t equal quality, and the winners here were so ordinary that nobody remembers them. They put a lot of people to work, though.
Quick-reference table
| Car | 1998 status | Engine | Power | Original price (approx.) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chevrolet Corvette C5 | On sale; convertible added | 5.7L V8 | 345 hp | $37,500 |
| Porsche 911 (996) | Europe launch; US 1999 | 3.4L flat-six | 296 PS | ~$60,000 (US) |
| Subaru Impreza 22B | 1998 launch, Japan only | 2.2L turbo flat-four | 280 PS | ¥5 million |
| Mitsubishi Lancer Evo V | 1998 launch | 2.0L turbo four | 280 PS | ~¥3 million |
| Ford SVT Contour | 1998 launch | 2.5L V6 | 195 hp | ~$24,000 |
| Mazda MX-5 (NB) | 1998 launch | 1.8L four | 140 hp | ~$20,000 (US) |
| Audi TT | Autumn 1998 launch, Europe | 1.8L turbo four | 180 / 225 PS | Mid-£20,000s |
| VW New Beetle | 1998 US launch | 2.0L four / 1.9 TDI | 115 hp / 90 hp | ~$15,000 |
| Fiat Multipla | 1998 launch | 1.6L four | ~103 PS | £12,000-£15,000 |
| Alfa Romeo 156 | Late 1997 launch; 1998 car of the year | 2.0L Twin Spark | 155 PS | £16,000-£24,000 |
| Ford Focus | Autumn 1998 launch, Europe | 1.4L-2.0L four | Up to 130 PS | From ~£11,000 |
| Peugeot 206 | 1998 launch | 1.1L-1.9L diesel | 75 PS (1.4) | From ~£7,500 |
| Toyota Camry | On sale; best-selling US car | 2.2L four / 3.0L V6 | 133 / 194 hp | High teens ($) |
| Honda Civic | On sale | 1.6L four | 106 hp | From ~$12,000 |
Buying one of the best cars of 1998 today
A 1998 car is 28 years old in 2026. That matters for imports. The US 25-year rule means any 1998 model made for another market is now eligible to bring in, including the Japan-only cars on this list. The NHTSA import rules spell out the paperwork. Canada uses a 15-year rule, so Canadian buyers have had access longer. The UK has no equivalent barrier.
A few things apply to every car here.
- Rust and wiring first. Age usually kills these cars before mileage does. Bring a flashlight and check the sills, floor pans and fuse boxes.
- Pay for history. A documented car costs more because it saves you more. Rubber hoses, belts and bushings have all perished by now.
- Prices move. The numbers here are rough guides. Check recent sales on auction sites before you buy.
- Check running costs. Fuel economy varies widely between a V8 Corvette and a Civic. You can compare ratings for any model on fueleconomy.gov.
Of all the best cars of 1998, the safest buy today is the Miata, the Focus, or a Camry with receipts. The best investment is a 22B or Evo V if your budget allows it. The one you’ll enjoy most for the least money is the Corvette.
Marco Delantero
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This article was researched against manufacturer records and editorially reviewed before publishing. We accept no payment for coverage. Some guides contain affiliate links; see our affiliate disclosure.
