This exhibit is all that and a bag of chips.

Totally Awesome! explores the intersection of automobiles and popular culture in the last two decades of the 20th century. As much as ever, motor vehicles of this era were powerful symbols of personal expression, social status, and technological advancement. However, an expanding media landscape and the dawn of the digital age played impactful new roles in shaping vehicle design and the way automobiles were marketed to the public. Cars of all types reflected social and stylistic shifts at a transformative time in history.

The 1980s and ’90s were also a pivotal period of automotive innovation. Computer-aided design became an essential part of the development process, and cars made significant gains in power, safety, and efficiency. Automotive styling was occasionally retro but often futuristic, with the growing popularity of video games and digital technology inspiring components like electronic dashboards. Meanwhile, a new era of racing regulations fostered engineering breakthroughs across motorsports.

This exhibition showcases some of the most spectacular vehicles built between 1980 and 1999—from visionary concepts to iconic production models, legendary screen stars, and high-performance race cars—all set against the backdrop of fashion, media, and music that defined a truly unforgettable era.