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5 Cars That Perfectly Explain the 80s

The colorful and sometimes delightful 1980s are the decade in which many of us were born - right at the cusp of incredible technological changes but early enough to still grab a feel of classic stuff like stereos and blockbuster movies.
5 Cars That Perfectly Explain the 1980s 7 photos
Photo: Omaze, DeLorean, Jeep, Mazda, Porsche
5 Cars That Perfectly Explain the 1980s5 Cars That Perfectly Explain the 1980s5 Cars That Perfectly Explain the 1980s5 Cars That Perfectly Explain the 1980s5 Cars That Perfectly Explain the 1980s5 Cars That Perfectly Explain the 1980s
Seen as an age of big materialism and typical consumerism, the decade was the epitome of the rise of MTV stars, as well as the introduction to modern pandemics – such as the AIDS crisis. The age is also known for its awkward sense of fashion, as well as the old-school days of rap going hand in hand with breakdance, for example. The political ideology of classic communism was about to crumble, and new computer technologies also emerged to forever change the face of the world, by the way.

But what about the automotive industry, doesn’t it deserve a bit of recognition? Of course, it does, even if we are only supposed to summarize the decade in just five exponential cars – which is a hard, even daunting task, indeed. However, let us kick off with the proceeds, in alphabetical order, so that no fans might feel offended.

Buick GNX – Darth Vader’s Car

5 Cars That Perfectly Explain the 1980s
Photo: Omaze
Look at Buick’s current American roster and you will get bored in five seconds or less. And that perfectly summarizes most of this brand’s history and lifestyle.

Alas, when there are exceptions, they come out as big ‘rock stars.’ Instead of an unremarkable vehicle for old people, this was GM’s way of waving goodbye to the G-body platform with a dark and menacing bang.

It’s not nicknamed ‘Darth Vader’s car’ for nothing, and the Grand National Experimental was also no slouch, at all. Instead, it was made in collaboration with McLaren Performance Technologies and was motivated by a severely underrated ‘276’ hp 3.6-liter turbo V6 that was more like way above the 300-pony threshold, in reality.

DeLorean DMC-12 – Back to the Future’s ‘Biggest’ Star

5 Cars That Perfectly Explain the 1980s
Photo: DeLorean
While the Buick GNX was quicker than a C4 Chevy Corvette, at the time, the DeLorean DMC-12 is proof that we humans are deeply flawed and we sometimes recognize that by making equally flawed things dwelling around us as iconic as possible.

Earnestly, the John DeLorean creation was quite bad and underpowered for the era, packing an unreliable 2.9-liter PRV (Peugeot, plus Renault, and Volvo!) engine of the V6 variety that had just 130 horsepower on tap!

The dreadful tech features were still overshadowed by the outrageous wedge-shaped design with gullwing doors and Giorgetto Giuriaro styling made from brushed 304 stainless steel (save for some 24-karat gold-plated units). And the model became a veritable legend thanks to the Back to the Future trilogy, of course.

Jeep Cherokee (XJ) – Say Hello to Modern SUVs

5 Cars That Perfectly Explain the 1980s
Photo: Jeep
While the automotive Cherokee nameplate was not born during the decade, the second-generation XJ iteration is the one that should remain in automotive history instead of the two-door Wagoneer rebadge, frankly.

Besides, starting with 1984, the XJ Cherokee moved to an all-new platform that was devoid of the traditional body-on-frame chassis and instead adopted the lighter and nimbler unibody structure.

As such, it (along with a horde of imitators) paved the way for the modern sport utility vehicle and its ubiquitous contemporary use as the default family car. Besides, the XJ was also long-lived, as it only retired to car Valhalla back in 2001.

Mazda MX-5 Miata – Yaay, the Roadster (Still) Lives On

5 Cars That Perfectly Explain the 1980s
Photo: Mazda
There are so many sports cars that deserve a place on this list, from the Audi Quattro and R32 Nissan Skyline or Ferrari Testarossa to the C4 Chevy Corvette or E30 BMW M3. So, we feel that we just had to mention them at least once in our discussion. Now that we got that hurdle cleared, let us speak of one pocket-sized roadster that proved size really does not matter.

At least not when talking about your bank account. The original MX-5 Miata was little, nimble, affordable, and even practical – when keeping the focus on wanton sports cars that delivered more back pains than thrills, back in the day. Instead, this Mazda was a whole lot of fun – both for the younger generation as well as for the middle-aged crisis, thanks to RWD, manual transmission, a supreme feel of the road, a little bit of comfort to make longer road trips tolerable, and a simple formula of ‘less is always more.’

Porsche 959 – Are You Crazy, That’s not a 911!

5 Cars That Perfectly Explain the 1980s
Photo: Porsche
While the Miata is a winner even after more than 34 years on the market, the Porsche 959 is a German vision of the future of the sports car that is long gone and almost forgotten by regular folk who only have eyes for the 911 series.

Alas, diehard enthusiasts know very well that supercars were changed forever after the 959 flagship appeared on the scene rocking a ‘small’ 2.8-liter twin-turbo flat-six and outputting 444 hp to the tune of an absurd zero to 60 mph (96 kph) in 3.6 seconds.

Remember, this was 1986 that we are speaking about, and the Porsche 959 may very well be considered the most advanced car of its heyday. To put it simply, if it were not for this, then maybe the 911 Turbo S would not have been just as bonkers today!
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About the author: Aurel Niculescu
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Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution.
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