My Car of the Year 1960-2019 (Part 3: The 1980s)

Here's this week's continuation of the Car of the Year series.

1980: Audi Quattro

Alex Holyoake (Unsplash)

Despite the presence of the almighty Yugo in this year's list, it was still a very easy choice to pick the Audi Quattro. The car that changed rallying forever, it was also a beast of a car out on the roads, for much the same reasons as the rally car- a brilliant turbocharged engine and a complex, but second-to-none, 4WD system.

1981: BMW 5 Series (E28)

Jeremy (Wikipedia)

Another year with very little competition, the 5 Series easily got the 1981 award. It was a completely competent luxury car for the 1980s. It featured ABS for the first time on a BMW, featured a new style of centre console (yes, riveting) and most importantly of all, the 524d (introduced in 1983) was BMW's first ever diesel. Also, this was the first series with an M5, so that's something.

1982: Ford Sierra

Norbert Schnitzler (Wikipedia)

In a year with several contenders (BMW E30 3 Series, Lancia 037, Merc W201 E-Class, Mitsubishi Starion, Toyota Camry... scratch the Camry), the Sierra was a big enough revolution to the midsize sedan to take the award. It was a bold, aerodynamic design, which gave it a fair share of haters, the Jellymold nickname and the status as a truly revolutionary car. In fact, according to German magazine AMS, it was better than the matching Volkswagen Passat- the last time ever a Ford mid-size sedan beat a Volkswagen counterpart. However, the reason we all remember this today is because of the Sierra Cosworth- the last of the true boy racers.

Vauxford (Wikipedia)

1983: Land Rover Defender

1983 was a good year for civilian cars, Japanese cars and offroaders, as evidenced by honorable mentions: Corvette C4, Fiat Uno, Honda CRX, Jeep Cherokee, Peugeot 205 and Toyota 86. However, I've got to go for the Defender; it outlasted them all by at least double, and was in style doing it. As of 1983, engine options were various diesel and petrol 4-cyl engines and a V8; as well as three wheelbases- 90 (SWB), 110 and 130 (LWB). Defenders are definitely a style icon and are a good choice for an offroader in this list.

1984: Ferrari Testarossa

Pascal Frei (Unsplash)

1984 was a brilliant year for cool cars: Ferrari 288, Ford RS200, Mercedes W124 C-Class, and Pontiac Fiero; as well as two super-innovative cars, the Renault Espace and Toyota 70 Series Landcruiser. However, I've got to go with the car that defines the 1980s- the Ferrari Testarossa. Notorious for two things- 1. Miami Vice and 2. Eurobeat videos- if you have a Testarossa not in white or red, you're doing it wrong. It featured an interesting engine too- a 4.9L flat-12. Over 12 years, it turned into the 512TR, the F512M, the Mythos concept, the FX concept, and the absolutely futuristic Colani.

1985: Honda Legend

1985 was a bit of a let down, compared to the last two. The Legend is a pretty decent choice, though. It featured V6 engines, and was the Japanese 3-Series alternative before Lexus came about. It was a dual project with Rover, which is as close as proper Rover will get to winning this award.

1986: Porsche 959

M93 (Wikipedia)

There are quite a few interesting cars in 1986, but most are rubbish (Jeep YJ Wrangler, Cadillac Allante, uh... Daihatsu Le Mans?). That left the BMW 7-Series, Lambo LM002 and Porsche 959 and I went the latter. The 959 is a true technical masterpiece. With a twin-turbo 2.8L V6, 444 horses and four wheel drive, it was absolutely bonkers. It hit 100kmh in 3.6sec and nearly beat 200mph (which is mad for 1986). While it never rallied, like it was built to, it did feature both at Le Mans and at Dakar.

1987: Ferrari F40

Danilo Capece (Unsplash)

I mean, what would you pick- E34 5 Series, Peugeot 405 or a F40? If the Testarossa and 959 aren't the icons of the 1980s, this is. It's another car strongly associated with 1980's video games and therefore eurobeat music covers, but it definitely isn't all show. With a 2.9L turbocharged V8 that gave nearly 500 horsepower, it was truly something special (and very tricky) to drive. It was significantly slower to 6 (0.6 seconds) than the 959, but it did hit 200mph- just.

1988: Nissan 180SX

Ivan Sean (Unsplash)

In a rather ordinary year for cars, only the BMW Z1 took any resistance to the 180SX. The 180 is a well known car nowadays, but most of that is through the modified scene. It came with three four cylinder engines- two with turbos- and a good chassis. However, it's most noted for the tuned scene, with many tuners offering upgrades.

1989: Mazda MX5

Leung Yattin (Unsplash)

It was a tough decision, this, between the Porsche 964 and Mazda MX5. The 964 is brilliant, but the MX5 was such a revolution that I've picked it. It's performance and reliability were second to none for 1989, completely ruining the somewhat flawed British sports roadster business. It only had a 1.6L 4-cyl engine but that was plenty with such a light car with such a fun chassis. Also, pop up headlamps.