1980s

Back in 1983, Nissan challenged itself to look forward to what their cars might look like in the 21st century. The concept car they came up with not only had an unusual design, but an unconventional drivetrain to go with.

There’s no question that the Pontiac Firebird Trans Am is one of the most iconic cars of the 1970s and 1980s. After all, it was the car that Burt Reynolds and Sally Field used to evade the fuzz in Smokey and the Bandit.

Long before Kia put the name to good use, Pontiac took us to the “excitement edge” with its futuristic Stinger. The 1989 Stinger Concept was created as a sporty, recreational vehicle, and revealed just one year after the Pontiac Banshee concept.

The 1980s were an odd decade. While they produced many iconic objects and styles which are still appreciated to this day, they also produced a boatload of bad cars. Sure, there were some needles in the haystack, but for the most part, we got dogs like Cadillac Cimarron, the Mercury Lynx, the Geo Metro, the Pontiac Fiero, and yes, the Yugo.

MMMMM… Mustang! It’s interesting to see how Ford was positioning the Ford Mustang back in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Instead of touting power and masculinity, the car was marketed as having high mileage and economical pricing.

A company out of Indiana called Gruppe5 Motorsports wants to build the craziest BMW 2002 cars ever. The cars start with an original 1968 to 1975 BMW 2002′ steel structure, and get upgraded with an alloy roll cage and bonded carbon fiber body panels. The company wants to build 300 of the widebody 2002s seen in the renderings here. 

Back in 1979, the Ford Mustang was in its third production generation, being built on the popular Fox platform, which was shared with many other less sporty vehicles, and gave the car its first ever sharp-edged design.

All of the car-themed TV shows I watched growing up in the ’80s are part of the reason I am a car guy today. One of the ones I loved the most was Knight Rider. I watched that show each week, and after seeing the first episode where KITT transformed into pursuit mode, I prayed each new episode he would do it again. Sadly, pursuit mode was as rare as Ponch and Jon riding their superbikes in CHiPs.

Ford truck fans in the U.S. have been clamoring for the return of the Bronco for many years. Sadly, we’ve yet to get a new model, or even a concept design to drool over. To tide you over, check out this unusual concept variant of the Bronco, which turned up back in the early 1980s at the Chicago Auto Show. The 1981 Ford Bronco Montana Lobo concept was an updated take on the compact pickup, doing away with the fully-covered bed, and going with an open-air seating area, complete with foam-filled seating benches on the sides of the bed.

The sights and sounds ’80s are having quite a resurgence these days. With movies like Ready Player One, TV shows like Stranger Things, the 8-bit NES Classic Mini console, and countless tunes borrowing from the era, us Gen Xers are reliving our youth like on a daily basis.

The 1980s were a bizarre and badass time for both moviegoers and petrolheads alike. The decade that gave us classic films like ET and Return of the Jedi also birthed cult automotive masterpieces like Steven King’s Christine, Maximum Overdrive, and Cannonball Run II.

Back in the ’80s, you could walk into any kid’s room in the country and the car most likely to be on a poster hanging on the wall was the Lamborghini Countach. That was the exotic car of the decade, and is still the car I think of first when you say the Lambo name.

The Toyota Celica is still remembered by car enthusiasts today. The little coupe went through many iterations during its 45 year run, but all of them were sporty in one way or another. The third generation Celica was offered up in a number of configurations, ranging from a 1.6-liter

Regular Car Reviews reminisces about the car known in most of the world as the Mitsubishi Starion, but sold here in the U.S. as the Chrysler Conquest. Brought in by Chrysler to try and fill in a gap in its business, the Conquest was an attempt to have an “American” sports car in its line-up.

Peugeot drivers Ari Vatanen and Robby Unswer combine to make a glorious film as they zip up the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in 1988 and 1989 respectively, each driving the amazing Peugeot 405 T16 GR in this award-winning short film, Climb Dance.