What was the best road car of the early eighties?

My friend was arguing that it was the 928 today and I started to disagree but was at a loss as to what was even in the ballpark. Help!

M5! Does 1985 count as early 80s?

Otherwise 911, E24 635csi

I think the German performance cars would rank either at the top or very near the top of any given decade. The 80s were in general not stellar years for any manufacturer.

S class?

At that time in The 80's you would find these wonderful and highly desirable cars listed in the back of The Robb Report magazine.

Lot of Testerossa and AMG inspired designs.
Something like a Lister Jaguar.

Maybe a Ferrari 400

Also the rare and beautiful Jag XJC

what do you mean by "road car" if you are talking Grand Tourer.. the 928 would be high on the list. If you mean something more sporty, I would think an E30 which came out in 82. The Saab 900 came out even earlier in 78

For long, long, straight roads, I'm going to go with this. Room for 6, great gas mileage, trunk big enough for a family of Syrian refugees...

I saw one very similar to this on CL a few years ago for $5k, running, but couldn't pass inspection in VA or MD, I forgot which it was. Anyway, it was white, and had a Euro XJS nose, but looked just like this one otherwise.

I'm pretty sure the Miami Vice soundtrack was the only thing the radio could play, and it wouldn't start unless you were wearing a slik suit and loafers without socks.

The Ferrari 512 was in production until 81. Does that count?

Oh, wait, you said best...

I see those Lister Jags all over CL.

Totally biased because I want one:

Early 80's was a rough period for 'good' cars. They seemed good at the time, only due to the proximity to the 70's. When you hit ~85 there seemed to be a rapid increase in quality. That was the beginning of the good old days for Japanese stuff with Denso FI and galvanization. Motronic for the Euro stuff. 'Modern' Fuel injection is good. I'll have to go with the 1984 3.2 Carrera as my choice.

HappyAndy wrote: I saw one very similar to this on CL a few years ago for $5k, running, but couldn't pass inspection in VA or MD, I forgot which it was. Anyway, it was white, and had a Euro XJS nose, but looked just like this one otherwise. I'm pretty sure the Miami Vice soundtrack was the only thing the radio could play, and it wouldn't start unless you were wearing a slik suit and loafers without socks.

That is awesome. Is this modded to look like this or did they come like this in some trim?

If they came looking like this with the straight 6 that would me on my list.

sesto elemento wrote: My friend was arguing that it was the 928 today and I started to disagree but was at a loss as to what was even in the ballpark. Help!

450SEL.

What a great thread that's absolutely impossible to give a definitive answer for.

Some of my favorites. Note, to count as early 80's to me they can't have been in production prior to 1975, must have been in production sometime between 190 and 1985 hence some obvious ones such as the Sierra Cosworth don't make the cut (introduced in 1986).

Everything on this list had some form of motorsport heritage that hit my buttons as a kid.

Audi Quattro and Sport Quattro

288 GTO

037

Renault 5 Turbo (inc the later Turbo II)

6R4

And it's baby baby borther the MG Metro 1300 and MG Metro Turbo

RS200

XJs

205 GTi

and the T16

Capri 2.8injection

Fiesta XR2 Mk II Fiesta XR2

Escort Mk III XR3/RS1600i/RS Turbo (This is a 1600i)

Rover SD1 Vitesse

kanaric wrote: That is awesome. Is this modded to look like this or did they come like this in some trim? If they came looking like this with the straight 6 that would me on my list.

Not a 6cyl

Tuner company who would gladly take your '80's cocaine money and return you a Jag over the top with a near, F1 engine.

In reply to Streetwiseguy:

Very close:

With a 350 and cop car suspension it will probably run with many of the cars on this page and be comfortable and reliable while doing it.

Depends on your definition of best. Certainly any of the Mercedes would be a good choice for highway mile eaters, and they were far above most of the other cars in terms of quality at the time, but there were also cars like the 528i and 928.

For performance cars, I'd say the 911, 944, and maybe GTV6. For mere mortals, the MR2 came out in late '84, and you also had the Scirocco and GTI.

In terms of driving dynamics, there were plenty to choose from, they just weren't horsepower enriched like we have today.

JohnRW1621 wrote:

kanaric wrote: That is awesome. Is this modded to look like this or did they come like this in some trim? If they came looking like this with the straight 6 that would me on my list.

Not a 6cyl Tuner company who would gladly take your '80's cocaine money and return you a Jag over the top with a near, F1 engine.

Not an F1 style engine, but the V12 was used in the Group 44 and TWR IMSA and Group C cars winning LeMans in 88 with a 7.0L production based V12 block and heads