The 1980’s was a great time to be a driver…
During a time when muscle cars and performance were starting to become old hats, there were still a number of amazing cars produced. Drivers in the 1980’s, if they were lucky enough, may have owned some of these gems.
Very few cars can be produced with the image of a future classic. Many advertise themselves as such, but it’s a select few that will eventually become icons. Although they may not live up to the glory years of the 60′ and 70’s, the 80’s generation had a seriously strong offering.
Honorable Mention For The DMC-12 DeLorean
Look past the box-shaped futuristic wannabes and you’ll find a group of cars that still receive huge price tags and/or praise among car fanatics.
Part of what made this list so hard to compile was the sheer number of great and memorable cars from the 1980’s. Here’s our selection:
E30 M3 (1985-1992)
Before racing cars were crossing over to production lines regularly, there was the BMW E30 M3. Arguably the most successful homologation car ever, the E30 was a huge hit with car fans.
The performance was insane, handling with the European-styled rear-wheel drive. What was even more nuts was the engine they used was a naturally aspirated 2.3 or 2.5L straight 4-cylinder.
In full race trim, the naturally aspirated 2.3 L S14 engine produced approximately 300 hp (224 kW; 304 PS). With the introduction of the 2.5 L evolution engine into racing in 1990, power increased to approximately 380 hp (283 kW; 385 PS).
The E30 M3 would pave the future of racing-to-production vehicles, especially for BMW, with the E36 proving a smash hit as the successor to the E30 M3. If you are lucky enough to own the only sports evo convertible E30, you’ll probably die very rich indeed.
Finding an E30 in mint condition is tough, but even the standards are going for big money now.