Neon Rides, Cars and Culture of the ’80s and ’90s

Neon Rides, Cars and Culture of the ’80s and ’90s
Authors: gestalten & Petersen Automotive Museum

Neon Rides is a striking coffee table book that re-explores the 80s and 90s as a golden age of automotive culture, where daring, excess, and imagination were central. Cars from this period were long underestimated but finally receive the recognition they deserve as cultural icons of a changing world.

With their sharp wedge shapes, turbocharged ambitions, and distinctive design, these vehicles reflect an era at the intersection of analog rawness and digital promise. From eccentric outsiders to cult classics, the cars in Neon Rides tell the story of technological progress, changing identities, and a new vision of speed, status, and style.

In collaboration with the world-renowned Petersen Automotive Museum, this photo book combines rich archival material with sharp cultural analysis. Images and text show how car design was closely intertwined with fashion, media, pop culture, and societal shifts. The result is a visually powerful and thematically layered book for enthusiasts of cars, design, retro aesthetics, and cultural history.

What to expect

• A carefully curated selection of iconic, quirky, and era-defining cars from the 80s and 90s
• Visual storytelling with archival photography, ephemera, and pop culture references from the "Rad Era"
• Cultural context that connects car design with fashion, technology, media, and identity
• An inspiring coffee table book for car enthusiasts, collectors, and design fans
• A tribute to a long undervalued but influential era

About the authors

gestalten is an internationally renowned publisher from Berlin, specializing in high-quality books on architecture, design, lifestyle, and contemporary culture. Gestalten's publications are known for their strong visual identity and in-depth content.

The Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles is one of the world's leading museums in automotive history and culture. With an impressive collection and groundbreaking exhibitions, the museum explores the car as an object of innovation, design, and cultural significance, influencing the global conversation about mobility, past, and future.