The Coolest Cars Of The 1980s

The Coolest Cars Of The 1980s

The 1980s were an era of fundamental international change. The car industry was changing, too. It was an era of power and poise, all-wheel-drive, scissors doors, and—of course—the CD player made its introduction. Between fuel injectors and those hard angular designs, here are some of the coolest cars that defined the decade.

1984 AMC Eagle

The AMC Eagle was the car that walked so the Subaru Outback could run. It had a lifted suspension (which looked very strange when the coupe and sedan versions were released), 4-wheel drive, and 15-inch wheels. It ran a 4.2L 6-cylinder engine that produced 115 horsepower. Imagine driving to the store in something that looked like it could manage the Sahara Desert without issue.

Greg Gjerdingen, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

1986 Acura Integra

The 1986 Acura Integra was the OG Integra—before the famed Type R of the mid-'90s. The rare engine of the Integra made it cool, with a 16-valve, 1.6L, 4-cylinder setup that provided 118 horsepower and a top speed of 117 mph. It was also under $10,000 MSRP. Relatively affordable and fast? That's cool, right?

TKOIII, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

1986 AMG Hammer

Before AMG became Daimler and then BMW, it was a small German accessories and tuning shop. They released the AMG Hammer in 1986, which placed a really big engine in a smaller car. They put a 5.5L V8 engine in a Mercedes 355E—a mid-sized sedan—and swapped cylinder heads to produce 60 more horsepower, bringing the total up to 355 horses. Oh, yes and it could do 178 mph, you know, for funsies.

Adrian Kot, Flickr

1983 Audi Quattro

Audi's 1983 Quattro was a beast of a vehicle with a body to match. Its all-wheel drive body (hence the name "Quattro") was stacked with five turbocharged cylinders making it capable of doing 137 mph. Regrettably, less than 700 were sold in the United States.

harry_nl, Flickr

1988 BMW M3

The late '80s BMW M3 was built to comply with racing rules, as BMW was looking to get into the racing world. To do that, BMW was required to build a street-legal M3—and boy, did they. The BMW M3 sported a rear spoiler, a windshield, and a rear window that were built flush to the car's body. It's top speed? 155 mph.

Matt, Flickr

1987 Buick Grand National

The 1987 Buick Grand National X made a brief appearance in The Fast And The Furious (2001), but before that, it had spent 24 years just looking cool. The Grand National X could put out between 276 and 300 horsepower with its Buick 3.6L V6 engine. The top speed? 124 mph. Oh, and it was only available in black and had a hood scoop. 

Greg Gjerdingen, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

1985 Chevrolet Camaro I-ROC

Aesthetically, the I-ROC rivals the Mustang's Foxbody for the title of the most '80s-lookin' thing ever. Those angles, though. The sharp corners and angular design of the body, along with the small headlights and long hood, hid a Chevy 5.7L V8 engine that produced 220 horsepower. Because looking fast wasn't enough.

M62, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

1980 Datsun 280ZX

Nicknamed "Black Gold", the Datsun kicked off the 1980s with the 280ZX 10th Anniversary Edition. It was nicknamed "Black Gold" because that was the only available color scheme for the thing—gold side panels and a black hood, trunk, and roof. The 280ZX delivered 135 horsepower from its 2.8L inline 6-cylinder engine, and was able to hit a top speed of around 120 mph.

dave_7, Flickr

1981 DeLorean DMC-12

We have to thank Back To The Future for so many things in our lives. One of those things is definitely the DeLorean DMC-12. The main cool thing about the DMC-12 is the gull-wing doors. Unfortunately, John DeLorean, the car's inventor destroyed his reputation with (unproven) allegations of drug trafficking. Still, the DeLorean was (and remains) iconic thanks to BTTF. Thanks, Marty!

Sicnag, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

1984 Dodge Omni Shelby GLHS

I mean, it doesn't look very cool. But the boxy Dodge Omni Shelby GLHS (the acronym for "Goes Like Hell Some-More") was created to rival the Volkswagen Golf. This 2.2L turbocharged 4-cylinder engine produced 175 horsepower and gave you a top speed of 130 mph. 

Greg Gjerdingen, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

1987 Ferrari F40

The Ferrari F40 is one of the last Ferraris to not be influenced by F1 success. It didn't need it. It was a 2.9L V-8 engine screaming out 478 horsepower. It was light as a feather—the body paint was so thin that you could see the Kevlar weaves underneath, that's how badly Ferrari wanted to save weight on this thing. It had a top speed of over 200 mph and a huge spoiler before spoilers were even a popular thing.

Stefano Bertolotti, Flickr

1984 Ferrari Testarossa

The 1984 Ferrari Testarossa was a mid-engine car stacked with a 4.9-liter, V12 engine delivering a top speed of 180 mph from its staggering 380 horsepower. It was the fastest production car money could buy in the United States in 1984, making it an automatic entrant onto our list of cool 1980s cars.

Blood Destructor, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

1987 Ford Mustang GT 5.0

The 1987 Ford Mustang GT 5.0 wasn't actually a 5-cylinder anything—it was a 4.9-cylinder V8 engine with fuel injection, which came along in the 1980s, making the Ford Mustang GT capable of producing 225 horsepower. It adopted the same "Foxbody" look most Mustangs of the era did. It had a top speed of 137 mph and was available as a coupe, sedan, or convertible. Oh, and it was the cop car of choice for many departments across the US.

Duke53, CC BY 2.5, Wikimedia Commons

1985 Honda CRX Si

Honda's first fuel-injected entrant into the CRX lineup came in the 1985 CRX Si. It was a small, two-seater motor capable of getting you from A to B (and back again), and despite only producing 91 (seriously) horsepower, the lightweight CRX Si was a family vehicle with excellent handling.

Rikita, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

1984 Jeep Cherokee XJ

The 1984 Jeep Cherokee could do everything. It was a family vehicle that could hit the trails on the weekend, too. The Cherokee XJ was a second-generation of the original Cherokee, first released in 1974. The XJ was the first of Jeep's Cherokee line to feature a unibody design, instead of the traditional method of fixing the body to the frame. The versatility of the 1984 Jeep Cherokee XJ made it one of the coolest SUVs of the 1980s.

Rudolf Stricker, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

1984 Lamborghini Countach LP5000 QV

The Lamborghini Countach LP5000 Quattrovalvole was equipped with Lamborghini's V12 engine that produced a staggering 450 horsepower through a 5-speed manual transmission. Its scissor doors alone were cool enough for this list.

Jeremy, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

1988 Mazda 323 GTX

This all-wheel-drive hatchback was slightly overpowered for its size—featuring a 16-valve, 4-cylinder, turbocharged engine that produced 132 horsepower. It could easily have been mistaken for a typical runabout car if it weren't for the not one but two spoilers on the rear hatch. It could also do 119 mph and went from 0 to 60 in 8.7 seconds.

Jim Culp, Flickr

1987 Mazda RX-7 Turbo II

The 1987 Mazda RX-7 Turbo is widely viewed as a poor man's Porsche. It's angular body shape and hood scoop allowed it to look cool while producing 185 horsepower through a 5-speed manual transmission. The versatile Mazda RX-7 wouldn't look out of place zipping around town, or speeding down the highway, topping out at 142 mph.

Charles, Flickr

1980 Mercedes G-Wagen

The 1980 Mercedes G-Wagen wasn't officially released in the United States by Mercedes until 2002. However, gray market importers brought the G-Wagen to the country in the mid-1980s, and Americans were impressed, despite having access to a very small number of the "G-460" G-Wagens. The vehicle's rarity made them 'cool' in the United States.

Rutger van der Maar, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

1985 Merkur XR4Ti

The 1985 Merkur XR4Ti was rear-wheel drive, 2.3-liter, 4-cylinder turbocharged manual transmission car. It had a two-tone finish and a spoiler, similar to the Ford rally cars of the European RS variety. While its design was cool, Ford had to import additional parts to make it road-legal in the United States, driving up the cost and driving sales downward.

Dellegatto: In Color, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

1983 Mitsubishi Starion

The Mitsubishi Starion was a 2.6-liter turbocharged, 4-cylinder engine with technology so cool, that Porsche licensed it for their use. It even featured the 1980s-(and '90s) era pop-up headlamps. The Starion was marketed in North America as the Mitsubishi Conquest and was one of the first Japanese performance cars to feature electronic fuel injection, available in either a 5-speed manual or 4-speed automatic transmission. The car was even featured in the 1984 Burt Reynolds' action-comedy, Cannonball Run II.

Riley, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

1988 Nissan Pulsar NX

The Nissan Pulsar NX may just top this list for one of the coolest cars of the 1980s, as it featured a reconfigurable rear-end. The Pulsar NX also had a 4-cylinder, 16-valve DOHC engine capable of producing 125 horsepower. Aesthetically, it was typical '80s—pop-up headlights and a hard, angular design—except for the back. You see, the back part was removable, turning the NX into a sort of micro-truck. Or, owners could remove the T-top roof bars and have a convertible hatchback. Versatile? Absolutely? Attractive? Absolutely not.

JOHN LLOYD, Flickr

1982 Porsche 944 Turbo

The Porsche 944 Turbo was made for Porsche lovers: it was equipped with a 2.5-liter, 4-cylinder engine, generating 217 horsepower, or 247 horsepower in the 944 Turbo S. The top speed of the 944 Turbo was 162 mph and it went from 0 to 60 in 5.5 seconds. Despite the power behind the 944 Turbo, it still adopted much of the aesthetics of 1980s cars—pop-up headlights, angular shapes, and a spoiler, for good measure.

Niels de Wit, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

1986 Porsche 959

The Porsche 959 was one of the coolest cars of the decade because of its use of computing. It was one of the first international cars to introduce Americans to the concept of programmable drive systems. The 1986 Porsche 959 was sleek and slender, compared to the hard angles that Americans had become accustomed to. Unfortunately, the 959 was never officially released in the United States, but grey market importers did manage to get their hands on a few.

Valder137, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

1985 Saab 900 Turbo

When it was introduced in 1985, the Saab 900 Turbo was a 16-valve, turbocharged 2.0 liter, 4-cylinder hot rod that produced 160 horsepower. It went from 0 to 60 in 8.5 seconds. The high-performance Swedish Saab didn't have pop-up headlights that were typical of the era but did still follow the angular, boxy designs of most 1980s cars.

order_242, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

1985 Subaru XT

The 1985 Subaru looked like something from the future. The XT adopted a wedge-shape design, thin taillights, and pop-up headlights, while the door handles didn't jut out from the car, and its rear glazing wrapped around the back of the car. Under the hood, it had an AWD manual transmission and could be fitted with adjustable air suspension.

Milkmandan, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

1982 Toyota Celica Supra

The 1982 Toyota Celica Supra was one of the consummate 1980s vehicles. Flip-up headlights? Check. Flared fenders? Check. And a funky spoiler-like window shade that was mounted to the top of the rear window? Well, that's not typical—but it was cool. Underneath all that '80s glitz and glam, the Celica Supra produced 145 horsepower with a 2.8-liter inline 6-cylinder engine.

_morgado, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

1985 Toyota MR2

The 1985 Toyota MR2 was a great joy to drive in the 1980s. It was a two-seater that had it all going on under the hood. It generated 112 horsepower at 6600 RPM and went from 0 to 60 in 8.1 seconds. The top speed of the 1985 MR2 was 119 mph and you could feel every mile through its ultra-wide windscreen. That large windscreen became thematic of mid-to-late '80s cars. The MR2, of course, had pop-up headlights, as per form.

Riley, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

1983 Volkswagen Rabbit GTI Mk 1

The 1983 VW Rabbit GTI was built in Pennsylvania and laid the groundwork for all VW GTI models that have come since. It was a low-riding car with tiny wheels and two doors, and flat rear seats that meant plenty of legroom. It went from 0 to 60 in 9.7 seconds and had a surprising top speed of 104moh. The VW Rabbit GTI is on our list for being cool enough to set the stage for the GTI models that have followed it for over four decades.

Makizox, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

1984 Volvo 740 Turbo Wagon

The 1984 Volvo 740 Turbo Wagon is one of the coolest cars of the 1980s because it put unexpected power into a rear-wheel drive wagon. The thing could (and did) tow small yachts and had 160 horsepower! It was three rows deep as a family vehicle but rivaled the Lamborghini Countach in terms of power.

Terabass, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

The Great 1980 Ford Recall

We can't talk about cars in the 1980s without talking about Ford's massive vehicle recall. Although there was one a decade prior with the Ford Pinto's exploding fuel tank, many Ford models throughout the 1980s were affected by a defective parking brake. This caused the parking brake to slip off, causing thousands of injuries and 80 deaths!

Do you agree with our list of the coolest 80s cars? What car did you have in the 1980s? Head to the comments below and share your 1980s vehicular masterpieces.

Vauxford, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons