This question comes from my YouTube channel (
http://www.youtube.com/davidinark) as asked by Seth Jackson:
"What is your favorite car from the 80's?"
Wow. What a great question! The answer is not a simple one. I don't have a one-car, single favorite from the 80's. Rather, I have several that stand out to me that I would consider my "favorites" from the cars produced during that decade.
Mid-80's Corvette:
Being a Corvette fan, I have to say that the mid-80's Vettes certainly had their problems, but the body style was so completely different from what we had seen before, they rank very high on my list. The cars went from curvy, wavy lines to the straight-edge, hard-lined vehicles that define the basic shape of the Vette for decades afterward.
Buick Grand National (GNX):
Holy smokes. This car is the epitome of American Muscle in the 80's. Automobile fans can spot one of these on the road from a great distance away and it will turn heads as it races by. Sleek, all black, pure 80's muscle.
Monte Carlo SS:
The Monte Carlo was basically the little brother to the Grand National - if not in terms of production, then certainly in terms of look, feel, and desirability. From my memory, it's basically what people might call "the poor man's GNX." I'm sure you can see the resemblance between them.
Porsche 944:
I know. a lot of people are going to say, "What!? You mean the 911, don't you!?" While the 911 is certainly iconic, I always preferred the style of the 944 Turbo. Of course, I have to admit a large fascination with the little guy comes from the hidden/flip-up headlights and the SS-style spoiler on the back.
Ferrari Testarossa:
Holy Heaven Help Us, Batman. This was the beast that set hearts racing everywhere. Kids had posters, it was featured in driving games of the day, and it was the stuff of dreams for teens and growns alike. Sitting still, it looked like it was going 100 mph.
Lamborghini Countach:
You cannot possibly think of the 80's and totally tubular transportation without thinking of the Countach. It was the first super sportscar that me and many of my friends had seen with the crazy flip-up doors. It looked so futuristic and so fast and, well, so freaking cool.
1984 Cadillac Seville:
You may be thinking, "Why in the HECK did you pick that!?" First of all, this is *MY* favorites list, so I will pick what I liked. Second, I absolutely loved the look of this car with the chopped back end. It was unlike any other Caddy that had come before, so far as I knew. This car had the big, long nose and the short, stubby rear that made it stand out to me. I also loved the two-tone paint job that most of these seemed to have at the time. To me, as a teen, this screamed elegance and modernity.
Others worth noting:
Delorean - Yes, we all know this one from the "Back to the Future" series of movies in the 80's. Though iconic in its own right, it is not really one of my "favorites" from that decade.
Lotus Esprit - This was "James Bond's Car" to most folks in the 80's. It was sleek and wedged like the Countach and the Ferrari. Of course, we all wanted the cool gizmos and gadgets it had on it.
Ford Mustang - Definitely NOT one of my favorites. I hated the design and that horrible idea to come up with the Mustang-II just seemed to amplify everything I did not like about the 80's Mustangs.
Camaro - The only Camaros I liked in the 80's were the IROC-Z versions. At least they had skirts, spoilers, and louvers. And if you don't know, louvers were everything in the 80's. Though, I preferred to spell it "Louvres" instead.
Yugo 45 - There were a LOT of crap cars that came out in 80's. But, the Yugo is one I would put on my "favorite cars that sucked" list. Holy cow. These things were awful. So much so, the street slogan became "Yugo: You Go Faster If You Walk!"
