Let me jump right in and say that everyone is free to interpret “quintessential” as you like, never mind that a dictionary will tell you it means (in our context) the “most typical” or “best example of” a 1980s car. It would be easy to go by best-sellers, and that’s certainly a way to do it, but hardly the only way. Cases in point, the choices from Antii and The Bishop:
Antii Kautonen
Giugiaro’s folded-paper styling was one of the most recognizably ’80s designs, something he used on a variety of cars but never in such an iconic way as on the DeLorean. Partially thanks to that one movie franchise, partially because of the movie star life John Z. DeLorean himself lived, the DMC-12 embodies both ’80s excess and ’80s nostalgia. The car might not be the supercar it wants to look like, but not all lasting automotive phenomenons are about straight-line speed
The Bishop
Most Americans have forgotten about the Galant Sigma sedan that Mitsubishi brought over to compete (unsuccessfully) with the likes of the Camry and Accord. Still, every square inch of this thing screams “eighties” even if you don’t know anything about cars. That angular wedge profile, “upscale” chrome-framed grille, and checkerboard taillights? Yes! The fact that the optional V6 was advertised as a magical powerhouse is also perfect for the time.
Ah, but inside the Sigma was where the eighties flag flew high. Flippers and identical rectangular buttons on “satellite pods,” a fluorescent HVAC pictogram and equalizer-looking sliders on the stereo are symbolic of the time. Plus you could get a very-eighties “adaptive” suspension that I’m sure you couldn’t tell “firm” from “soft” apart except for the changes on the cool Millennium Falcon dash lights.
Pete
I went with a much more popular car for my choice, but popularity isn’t why I chose it. Instead, I just went with what hit me first, and that was the original Ford Taurus. My memories of the 1980s are only getting fuzzier, but I feel like that the “futuristic” Taurus, staid as it looks now, really shook things up in a decade-defining way. In an era when the still-very-70s Oldsmobile Cutlass was a top seller (true, incredibly) the Taurus really gave me a “the 80s have truly arrived” feeling. And I still like the blanked-out grille with the floating oval.
Your turn:
What Is The Quintessential 1980s Car?
Top graphic image: RM Sotheby’s
Taurus is a great choice or Chrysler minivans as new ideas and ubiquitous. For emblematic exotics, most have their genesis in the previous decades—the two Lamborghini sports cars (Jalpa was derived from Silhouette and Urraco, not that I’d nominate the Jalpa … I think one was in Rocky 3 and Phil Collins drives one in an episode of MV, IIRC); 288/328 were derived from the 308 and looked it; Porsche 911, 924/944, 928 all pre-’80s; Lotus Esprit, though it did get a great facelift near the end of the decade, I don’t see it as an icon of the decade; DeTomaso, Aston Martin, RR, Bentley, nothing really new there; Maserati Biturbo, nobody would call that quintessential. The Testarossa is probably the best example as it came out early mid decade and set a styling tone for cheesy tuners, shitty kit cars, and body kit manufacturers that made for a visual assault that was all but impossible to avoid. Maybe the 959 as a portend of the future, but that was derived from the 911 to some extent and maintained a visual resemblance. The Ferrari might have had a fair amount of similarity with the BB, but looked very distinct and was on more posters than the Porsche because it was more outrageous looking and it was a hero car in Miami Vice, which was itself emblematic of the ’80s, so that’s my vote.
Subaru XT
Came here to say this
Bruno Sacco Mercedes
IMO it was the BMW 3 series. My generation was moving fast into the lower and mid tier work place and the 3 series ticked perfectly our status and budget checkboxes. Our cohort had other example including Audi, Mercedes 190, Acura. Beyond the minivan family crowd, there were few big three representatives. The big three were shunned because they didn’t have the status or utility we needed. The were also for the most part garbage. Toyota, Honda, Mazda we’re also represented. But the 3 series meant something, that you were making it and climbing the ladder.
BMW’s later huge success was built on these cars.
I vote for the Camaro Z28 with T-tops and the Volkswagen Cabriolet.
Simon & Simon and Remington Steele can’t be wrong.
I enjoy Chevy’s attempt try to counteract the whole Camaro stereotype by having it be college-educated, 80s-refined AJ’s car, instead of Rick’s.
The car every movie government agent drove: Ford Fairmont.
My father worked for the government in the 80s… I’m pretty sure anyone who ever worked for the government in those times who had to drive a GSA-issued car got a Fairmont at one time or another.
Of all the government cars he ever had to drive, the Fairmont was also one of the most reliable. It replaced an AMC Concord that I’m pretty sure he didn’t like just because he had some sort of weird personal disdain for it. I also think K-cars entered the mix at some point, too, and were perfectly cromulent as well.
Any of the prior 70s fleet-spec malaise barges had been objectively bad and prone to problems and breakdowns, so largely bulletproof simple 80s cars like the Fairmont and K-cars were basically the stuff of dreams to fleet maintenance and drivers alike. For the first time since probably the late 60s, there were cars that could simply eat up mileage and the daily grind without complaints. Sometime boring is very, very good.
My dad worked for the Federal Government from 74-88. Yes to all of this. I remember him coming home in a Concord with blue bench seats, am radio and….thats it.
It definitely wasn’t the DeLorean in the 1980s, but as Back to the Future has continued to have an outsized impact of how the decade is perceived in the past decade moreso than most contemporary media has I feel that it has morphed into it.
It’s a fair point, but even before the movie, they were striking when you’d come across them on the road and seemed to scream exotic just like the Countach did. And for most of us, you’d never actually see a Countach in the wild but you might a DMC-12.
Based solely on what was seen on most young car nerds’ walls, I’d have to say the Testarossa…
You misspelled Countach.
That poster was on the opposite wall… 🙂
The Golf II is my choice.
Probably a late 70s (HZ or earlier) Holden station wagon; people in Australia probably kept cars a bit longer than elsewhere so they were a common sight until the 90s, and high import taxes meant locally-built cars had the lion’s share of the market
https://cdn.justauto.com.au/ad-assets%2F2023-03%2F1678949417_20230316_160821.jpg
On my (old) neck of the woods (Brazil) we only had four “proper” companies, VW, Fiat, Ford and Chevrolet – all of whom Brough us the cars from decades past, I suppose the metal tooling/stamping retired to Brazil once they were worn out enough.
I can try to enumerate the most iconic 80’s cars from each, that are the same elsewhere in the world:
* VW Passat – in our 80’s we got the 70’s version. We also got the B2 version more or less up to date, but it persisted essentially the same till the 2000’s (!)
* Fiat 147 – the Italian 127 from the seventies, was “our” Lada Laika of sorts, prone to rust and with a reputation of a penalty box (it has come around in the years since). We also got the Uno as a “up do date” version, but was a bit different from the international version, as I found out when I emigrated.
* Chevrolet Chevette – the Opel Kadett C from the early seventies, heavily restyle, well past it’s prime. And this time I have no “up to date” version to add, GM kept the Brazilian line old throughout the decade, only to shake things up bringing the Corsa after the country’s economy improved in the 90′. Then every other automaker scrambled to ditch boxy old styling and “round up” their lineup, often with questionable results.
* Ford DNQ – no, this is not a local name, Ford didn’t qualify because it’s entire 80’s lineup was based on 60’s and 70’s cars, and not even true Fords at that – their Corcel lineup was based on the Renault 12 derivative that Willy’s was working on when Ford acquired their local operations (yes, it was convoluted).
I could cite the specials too, we had some iconic ones, but I was too poor to see them in any meaningful way, and the Internet wasn’t a thing there yet. But the Gurgel lineup was both low end and as 80’s as they get!
It’s a shame that Brazil gets treated like a second-class country by the automakers, getting their out-of-date leftovers. Were Japanese cars available? They would have been head and shoulders above the Chevettes, Fiats and Corcels.
We had a de facto closed marked for imports during the 70s and 80s, so the cars of the companies with factories there evolved without competition or predators.
During the 90s our first elected president after the military junta opened the market, and it was a slaughter. Some oddball like the Kombi and the Santana survived, but for the older dinosaurs like the Corcel, it was the end.
The market started to become insular again around the time I left, and I kind of stopped caring after, but there will always be the “second rate” treatment to an extent, at least while purchasing parity stays as low as it is right now.
Not to be a dick to Brazil, but it’s still barely out of the “developing country” category and in the 1980s it was barely out of the “third world” category, and that’s where old models and leftovers go. See: Iran, Egypt, South Africa, and the like.
Gurgels are super cool und ultra boxy. There’s one that looks like a Lambo LM002 body kit on a bug. Jason did a piece on a proto-Cybertruck model that was like a cross between a VW van and a Citroen Mehari:
https://www.theautopian.com/cold-start-the-original-cybertruck/
Oh, the G-15! Gurgels had a bad rep by the time I was aware of the, but I always loved the styling, ateast! I never driven or even sat in one, so I can’t say for myself.
I always had a love-hate relationship with our weird cars. On one hand I grew up with them and saw them as “normal” for most of my life, but OTOH, I know for a fact that they sucked, from the metallurgy itself down to parts and even consumables.
But the SP2 is the most awesome design ever to grace this anet, and one day I’ll have a fiberglass one (or even carbon fiber)!. I just need to become a billionaire first.
Generation 3 Camaro/Firebird.
One of the gm square sedans or wagons. Celebrity, cutless, etc. Maybe a Toyota Tercel. Fiero is up there maybe an iroc or fire turd.
Ferrari Testarossa.
And one regular people can buy:
Citroen BX
The BX clearly screams 80s, especially the “digit” version
The coolest one!
But also, still mechanic odometer – and carburettor, how “digital” was it? 😀
The blocky fuel gauge was pretty visionary. My 2011 Aygo had that also 😉
Taurus is a strong entry, but I’ll go with the Pontiac Fiero or Honda Prelude.
As someone who drove nothing but Preludes in the ‘80’s (first and second generation), they get my vote
My cousin had the ‘88.5 (IIRC) version with four wheel steering.
Any wagon
Foxbody Mustang / IROC Camaro
K Cars
GM G body anything
Definetly the stripper 2 door hatchback on tiny 12″ or 13″ steel wheels. The Dodge Omni, Honda Civic, Chevy Sprint, Toyota Tercel, Ford Festiva, whatever Mitsubishi was selling as a Dodge or later under its own name when it entered the market under its own name in the early 80s.
By the mid 90s all of these were gone except the Honda and Geo Metro. Sucks cause they were a much more useful package than something like a Corolla sedan. I think the body style got the stink of “cheapskate/poor person” by being the cheapest thing on the dealer lot and it really hurt its image
Don’t forget the stripper-est of all: the Yugo
And Korea started making cars, the miserable Hyundia Excel and even worse Pontiac LeMans(nee Daewoo)
And there is the mutt Ford Festiva, designed by Mazda and made by Kia. But also made by Mazda, I think. Not sure where the US spec cars were made, they were sold all over the world. That was by far the best one of the Korean tin cans, they had a good suspension setup, weighed 1500lbs and were a hoot to drive with a manual. Just dont get in a wreck
I definitely thought of the Excel as one of my friend’s mom had one and Korean cars had such a bad reputation then. They started with the whole 10 year warranty just to try to remove the stain of their reputation for falling apart after leaving the lot. The Yugo has to the pinnacle (nadir?) of those 80s boxes, though. There’s a fun book out there about it, The Yugo: Rise and Fall of the Worst Car Ever Made I read about 10 years ago and highly recommend. ????
As for the Ford, like the Aspire, the car that succeeded it, it was designed by Mazda (sold as the 121) and built by Kia and had a name that people rightly mocked. Matthew Broderick’s pathetic character in the movie Election drives one and it’s just about spot on.
No wonder Americans still thing of small hatchbacks as cheap penalty boxes..
The CRX -especially with that Honda blue velour interior. Too sleek and sporty for the 70s, too unsafe for the 90s. A CRX could not belong to any other decade
It’s the effing Countach. Hear me out:
At its best: a ’70s car.
At its worst: a ’90s car.
But it was the quintessential ’80s car in all its hot, red over-bespoilered glory.
Don’t even gimme that Testarossa crap, either. That thing’s not even as good looking as a 328.
Also a lot of kids were introduced to it by Cannonball Run (1981) and Adrienne Barbeau.
That car is white in my mind.
Vehicle that I would see on a daily basis?
Sports Car – Fox Body Mustang
Family Hauler – Conversion vans. There were dozens of companies done in South Bend cranking them out and in the mid to late 80’s they were the hot thing to haul around your 2-3 kids and a dog.
I’m not sure why people are talking about foreign cars like Hondas and Toyotas – they didn’t exist in the 80’s. At least not in SE Michigan. The odd college professor might have a Volvo wagon, the hippy kid a VW bug and a banker a Mercedes….. but Japanese cars – no bueno. Japan was viewed the same as China today – the evil empire out to destroy America.
Ha, I’m from Bay City. We were so rock solid GM but they effed my dad on his pension anyway. The good old days.
My wife and I grew up in Saginaw. Both my father and father-in-law were die hard Ford guys.
My FIL is 82 and has exclusively owned Fords his whole life. My father traded his last Ford on a Toyota Prius with the cash of clunkers incentive. Now he has a Silverado and RAV4 Hybrid.
It’s an evening in 1985. I am barely still a single-digit age. My mom just plopped a pound of hamburger and a can of Soup Starter on the boil so I’m ignoring my hunger pangs for the next hour by watching cars out the window. Most of what I see are three-box American cars, especially G-bodies from the local GM dealer. These are best typified by…
An Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme. Red on red on red, from the vinyl on the roof to the velour inside. That’s what the 80s were like where I lived.
The velour citation is a great one! Unless you bought a bare bones econo-mobile, sporty car, or a truck, you were getting it. We mock it now, but the late 80s turn toward medium gray smooth cloth and interiors felt so futuristic and cool.
I think velour might have been popular because the fuzziness helped make cigarette burns less noticeable.
It was also a lot less likely than vinyl to give burns when you sat on it after the car was parked in the sun for a few hours.
Honestly, good velour seat material is super comfortable on long road trips. I’m still partial to 90s-era GM velour upholstery.
Let’s not forget the absolutely batshit Subaru XT.
Most feared ’80s car – Ford Crown Victoria
Most cliche’ – KITT
The most feared 80’s car was really a Ford Mustang LX 5.0 notchback coupe with a roof rack.
As I’m a European, it’s got to be a hot hatchback.
Quintessentially 80s, it replaced the British Sports Car and pre-dated the SUV, and the 80s were the prime years.
VW Golf GTi (mk1 and mk2), Peugeot 205 GTi, Ford Escort XR3i, and more.
I like your thinking. Here in the States that type was still a tough sell back then sadly. Did Ford ever do a hot Fiesta?
They did!
The Mk1 and Mk2 had the XR2 (carb 1.6). These are 80s cars so fit the theme of the question. But as they are smaller and less powerful than the cars I mentioned above (and don’t have fuel injection) I left them out.
The Mk3 had the XR2i (injected 1.6) and RS Turbo, but they are 90s cars
Later versions of the Fiesta had the ST, the Mk7 and Mk8 ST are superb.
Back in the 80s, I had some British friends who were very vocally adamant that the U.S. market Festiva was nothing like a proper Fiesta. I had no idea there was even a difference!
I don’t care if they’re 70’s holdovers, and I don’t care if it’s Panther or B-Body, but the full-sized wood paneled wagons are the second half of the “No, I grew up in the 80’s” meme, and have been pop culture’s default 80’s middle-class suburban transport since the Wagon Queen Family Truckster.
1980-1987 Chevrolet El Camino
https://hips.hearstapps.com/mtg-prod/uploads/2023/07/982-1500-94-1/image3.jpg?w=768&width=768&q=75&format=webp
https://images.classic.com/vehicles/28143827dcad7cabe37b1f67d814c085f076a00f.jpg?w=1200&h=676&fit=crop
Does it get any more ’80s than these?
Also, if you’re interested, go to Elcofest 2026 in Elkhart, Indiana August 1st this year!