In the latest issue of Grassroots Motorsports, we picked the 16 greatest sports cars conceived in the '80s. Now it's your turn to choose the greatest of them all. Vote for your favorites as the top contenders face off until only the champion remains.
Round one just started. Click here to cast your votes.
Well, except for a technicality, (1990 model year) the game would be over because the Miata was available in 1989.
I completed the poll, then the fact that you have to enter an email address to submit it became clear. You guys already have my email address, so I wasn't too concerned, but not putting that up front might irritate some people.
80's j-tin ftw
Wow, some tough voting there. So many good cars. 911 vs C4. Love the Fiero vs. Ferrari...what about a Ferrari kit for a Fiero, best of both worlds.
The Starquest should be in the game too.
In reply to Klayfish:
I agree, I was wondering where the Starquest was. Definitely more of a sports car than the Fiero, at least.
Klayfish wrote: Wow, some tough voting there. So many good cars. 911 vs C4. Love the Fiero vs. Ferrari...what about a Ferrari kit for a Fiero, best of both worlds. The Starquest should be in the game too.
Also aw11 mr2.... That makes me a sad panda.
What? The MR2 was against the E30. Wasn't it? It was also one of the few on the right side that I chose.
Obviously not a "scientific" poll, but MR2 vs 3 Series is a bit of a weird pairing (very different types of cars).
Can't be helped with the playoff style of voting though.
RossD wrote: What? The MR2 was against the E30. Wasn't it? It was also one of the few on the right side that I chose.
Correct. MR2 vs. E30 should have been the last matchup you saw.
Ahhhh.... That's what I get for doing the poll at a stoplight.....
WTF! No S130? No Z31? You got 2 generations of crx, 2 generations of rabbit but no Z31? The best selling Z car of all time. What could be more 80's than a talking car with a digital dash, pop up headlights and T tops? Also No Supra?
so many vw rabbits/gtis and CRXs
The Starquest, Celica, Supra and Z cars were all hotly debated. Eventually we decided that we couldn't drop anything off the list for any of those. The Z's glory days were in the 1970s, and the 80s models—yes, despite the talking dash—were sort of meandering around between sporty and weird. Supras were just beginning to peak, as were celiac, and Starquests were just too obscure to displace anything on the list.
Or that's what we decided in the meetings, anyway. It was no easy task.
So how many of your group are even old enough to remember the cars when they were new? If you can't produce a picture of them with a mullet, then they clearly weren't there. 
I was still sporting a mullet in 2000
Yes, I remember these as new cars, and owned several as used ones.
Fiero Vs. Ferrari? Doensn't seem right. Should have been against the MR2 and let the 911 go against the Ferrari.
Yeah! What's the criteria for a vote? I voted based on a performance duel.
First gen RX7 over the much better 2nd gen?
DaveEstey wrote: First gen RX7 over the much better 2nd gen?
You know that's not correct. The 1st gen is better. Well in my opinion at least. Not that I have ever been right about anything. I do think the choice is odd, but I am okay with it as I love the 1st gen the best.
JG Pasterjak wrote: The Starquest, Celica, Supra and Z cars were all hotly debated. Eventually we decided that we couldn't drop anything off the list for any of those. The Z's glory days were in the 1970s, and the 80s models—yes, despite the talking dash—were sort of meandering around between sporty and weird. Supras were just beginning to peak, as were celiac, and Starquests were just too obscure to displace anything on the list. Or that's what we decided in the meetings, anyway. It was no easy task.
I would still take those kinds of meetings over mine...the seemingly never ending debate with vendors on why they need to keep raising their rates.
You need to add this sticker to the news article somehow:
I can get a close up if you want.
DaveEstey wrote: First gen RX7 over the much better 2nd gen?
Second gen is probably a better car, but the first gen is more of an icon. That was another tough call.
And the MR2 and E30 are currently tied. Also, the Rabbit GTI is beating the first-gem CRX, which I do not understand at all.
The "glory days" for the mustang and camaro were the 60's, their 80's counterparts are far more similar to their original than the Z31 is to the 240z despite the greater age difference. The 240Z was a true raw sports car, the Z31 was a true 80's glam. I know there has to be a line in the sand somewhere but the Z31 was the best selling Z car, selling as many units in it's first 2 years as the 240z did in 4 while oozing 80's kitsch.
The broad title of "best 80's" leaves a lot of room for interpretation, one could argue that the caravan deserves a spot as it truly launched it's own segment, or the samurai but being a sports car magazine the list is very much centered around performance 2 door cars. I am happy to see in retrospect so many choices even if today's standards for performance are light years beyond the 80's the number of performance cars with only 2 doors is far fewer. Unless you spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on a car then the options open up.
evildky wrote: The "glory days" for the mustang and camaro were the 60's, their 80's counterparts are far more similar to their original than the Z31 is to the 240z despite the greater age difference. The 240Z was a true raw sports car, the Z31 was a true 80's glam. I know there has to be a line in the sand somewhere but the Z31 was the best selling Z car, selling as many units in it's first 2 years as the 240z did in 4 while oozing 80's kitsch. The broad title of "best 80's" leaves a lot of room for interpretation, one could argue that the caravan deserves a spot as it truly launched it's own segment, or the samurai but being a sports car magazine the list is very much centered around performance 2 door cars. I am happy to see in retrospect so many choices even if today's standards for performance are light years beyond the 80's the number of performance cars with only 2 doors is far fewer. Unless you spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on a car then the options open up.
There were some tense discussions. The F150 was mentioned more than a few times as well, as was the Caravan.
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