The 80s was a time of great music, quirky fashion and some downright brilliant cars - prepare for a hefty dose of nostalgia...
Big hair, shoulder pads, Ronnie & Maggie… and some amazing cars that often caught the zeitgeist.
This led to the famous mud-throwing Audi Quattro rally car winning 23 world championships, and the road-going Audi Quattro. While the sleek Ferrari 308GTB of the same era could achieve the 0-62mph sprint in 6.5sec, the boxy production Quattro was timed at just 6.3sec.Amidst a generation of Porsche 928s and Jaguar XJR-S, the 205 GTi would still be classed by people today as one of the top cars of the 1980s.
Inside, there were front Recaro seats with blue stitching to match the RS decals on the outside. What then propelled the car’s popularity even more, was that Princess Diana obtained one; her car – the only one ever built in black - sold in 2022 for £722,500.In 1987, Ruf released their promo video of a driver wearing no helmet, or gloves, in the new Ruf CTR Yellow Bird and lapping the Nurburgring in just 8.05mins.
By 1987, Ford wanted to improve the Sierra RS and the rules around racing allowed for this, as long as 500 road cars were built; with this, Ford introduced the more powerful RS500. This was later followed by the more civilized Sapphire Cosworth, which was produced in Genk, Belgium.Fiat would see over 4.5 million Pandas produced in its 1980 to 2003 production stint.
The Mk1 MR2 had a 122bhp 1.6-litre engine that would rev to 7600rpm, engine speeds that only Ferraris had seen. It had Toyota AE86-esque front-end styling with its pop-up headlights, and around the back were Ferrari-like C-Pillars and bonnet vents.Audi’s Quattro was dominating the World Rally with Walter Rohrl at the wheel in 1982. But just one year later, Lancia would snatch back the title with a two-wheel drive car, famously known as the 037.
When previously tested by Autocar, it was said to be “the quickest point-to-point car available”, and thanks to its rigid chassis and minimal roll through the corners, it behaved more like a rear-wheel drive car, minus the unpredictability.While the rally-bred RS200 fell short of success during the WRC, the road cars that Ford had built were looking near-identical to the rally versions. This meant that the large fog lights, air intakes, ducktail spoiler and mid-engine all remained.
Initially, the C4 was launched with a 205bhp 5.7-litre powerplant, this was then updated in 1985 to produce between 230 and 250bhp and in 1990 the desired ZR-1 was released with 375bhp. Those three letters, GTO, stand for Gran Turismo Omologato and have not only been seen on the 288 but also the 250 GTO – a car that was considered one of Ferrari’s greatest cars.
Underneath, it shared the same 4.9-litre flat-12 heart, which produced 390bhp, giving a 180mph top speed. From the pointed nose, fluted side intakes and the mismatched A pillar wing mirror, the Testarossa remains one of the world’s most attractive cars in automotive history.Today, the Ford Capri is one of the most sought-after classic cars with concourse examples fetching as high as £44,000.
What hastened its popularity was when James Bond drove one with vigor around the streets of rural Germany in 1983’s Octopussy.Volvo’s 240 wasn’t fast, nor did it excel at handling, but one thing they did well was survival. Its brick-like physique, large boot and solidity gave those who were looking at a Saab 900 food for thought. Cars that were marketed as the 144 had a four-cylinder engine whereas 164 variants had an extended frontend to accommodate a larger six-cylinder.
The car was defined as “faultless” to many motoring magazines because of its calm ride quality, and Lexus put in the utmost effort to receive positive feedback; the prop shaft was designed to give zero vibration and the wipers could change their angle at higher speeds to reduce noise.
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