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Story by David S. Wallens and J.G. Pasterjak • Photos Courtesy of Respective Manufacturers
MTV.
Madonna.
Miami Vice.
So what if we lived under constant threat of nuclear winter, Terminators and hairspray fires? The ’80s gave …
The E30 couple put each other's belts on.
Including the Fiero but overlooking the ‘87-‘88 Thunderbird Turbocoupe. Hmm
Ooooohhh, love this. The '80s were my "formative" years and when I really got into cars. I literally covered my bedroom walls with pictures of cars I cut out of magazines. Lots of great stuff on this list. A few others I loved, for no other reason than I thought they were "cool"....
I love my 80's rides. Got 2 AE86 and a 280zx. So fantastic.
Loved my '87 CRX Si...but life got in the way and I didn't have any mechanical friends...sold it.
I've got an 85 and an 88 XR4Ti now...and am now more mechanically inclined, which apparently is a prequalifier for owning these cars.
The Regal T type, Grand National and the GNX need to be in this list
Then there was the original GTI and the GLH.
The whole hot hatch thing started int he 80's. I got to drive an original GTI not long ago and I had forgotten what a fun car that was.
What about an 87 M6?
My personal bias is that the 80's (mostly the 2nd half) were basically the best years for the type of cars i've learned to like. Cars were light and reasonably simple and were 'modern enough' in the sense that if in proper shape they'd start and run perfectly and could be driven anywhere, many times with exceptional economy. Fuel injection, the prevalance of boxes and wedges, and manuals weren't even becoming rare yet!
The fox chassis is my favorite platform so I'm glad it made the list. I prefer the g body over the f body but I can see how the f body is a much sportier platform.
I would have thrown the Saab 900 SPG (or aero) in there. FWD. Turbo, room for 5, funky looking body. What is there not to like about the troubled swede?
Vigo said:'modern enough' in the sense that if in proper shape they'd start and run perfectly and could be driven anywhere, many times with exceptional economy
And were not too modern so a backyard mechanic can work on them. As a 3 pointed star fanboy the 80s were great!
Spot on, though I'd take off one of the CRX's and replace it with the the Acura Integra (so as not to have Honda overkill)....or maybe even the Prelude Si.. When I was a teenager in the 80s, those were the two cars I longed after. I always thought he CRX was more of a "chick car." even though it was very good.
Also surprised the DSM triplets (particularly the Eclipse GSX) aren't on there. I remember when my best friend got an Eclipse GSX...turbo, awd, that cool bulge on the hood...man, it was something special and looked so cool...
EDIT: Brain Fart....yes the DSMs were 90s not 80s.
Bitrouble!
In reply to irish44j :
The DSMs didn’t arrive in the 80’s. They were 90’s babies.
KyAllroad (Jeremy) said:In reply to irish44j :
The DSMs didn’t arrive in the 80’s. They were 90’s babies.
IDK why but for some reason I read the title of the article as "Best Cars of the 80s-90s"......ugh. good thing it's Friday, clearly I am burned out.
Instead of the DSM triplets how about the Evo 0?
As a hired wrench in through most of the '80s, the best cars I recall were about 20 years old at the time.
good to see my 80s rides made the list though :)
well, the 924S is really a 944 underneath....
People I take for rides seem to be shocked that my Supra is an 87. I mean, it performs like few, if any cars of that era that had a license plate, but it still looks very much of the era. It's quite the hoot, one which at the moment appears to have developed a power steering leak. Lovely!
Still makes me happy to see cars of the 80's that are driven and or loved. Not terribly common where I live, unfortunately.
1984. Chrysler introduced the minivan.
my biggest issue with the article, and it seems a lazy way to write it.. was to include two seperate listings for the same car under a different generation. Did the GTI or CRX need to be listed twice when they were not significantly different cars except in sheetmetal?
OK, that was an easy one. How about Best Cars of the 1970s? That should take more work.
In reply to DWNSHFT :
The last of the American muscle cars, Volvo 200, Mercedes w123, Saab 900, Mazda RX series.... The 70s were a great era for cars.
I think 80s cars are in the perfect storm of auto enthusiasm right now. People who learned to drive during the era have the expendable income to pursue that inner 16 yr olds dream car. At the same time the cars that had their hay day during the 80s/90s are mostly too expensive to really enjoy for most. Add in the small minority of new enthusiasts are finding that a 25 year old hot hatch is way more interesting than a 15 year old Camry, and you'll start to see why some cars of the era are starting to go for real money, while events like Radwood are starting to get a real following.
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