O.K., yes, technically this photo was taken in 1991. But isn’t it often the case that a decade’s texture only makes itself knowable in the first years of the time that succeeds it?
With that hypothesis in mind, let’s don a set of period-appropriate collapsible Ray-Bans and regard this white-hot nugget of tennis history. After striding to national attention after the 1987 semifinals at Stratton Mountain, Vermont, Andre Agassi became the luxuriously coiffed heir apparent to John McEnroe’s throne, and played with an exuberance that was credited with reviving the sport’s popularity in the U.S. Though he would not move beyond the quarterfinals at Wimbledon in 1991, Agassi and his two-tone locks were well on their way to fame and fortune.
Here, he stands with then-girlfriend Wendi Stewart next to his recently purchased Vector W8, an American supercar with a 650-horsepower twin-turbocharged Chevy V8 and a claimed top speed of 220 mph. An ersatz Lamborghini with a half-million-dollar price tag, the car was doomed to fail, but in 1991, it got by on exuberance and, importantly, one very important celebrity endorsement.
Leaning on the scissor-style door of an American supercar, his white tee tucked in and Wendi’s perm tickling his ear, Andre Agassi was the man. Let the golden sun of his happiness irradiate your heart, and Vector’s radiator ventilate your spirit.