What did you drive in the 80s?

[Prolex-UK]

Fun days

No speed cameras just Police hiding in bushes !

Datsun Cherry 100A (janspeed tuned)
Mazda 323 SP Turbo (janspeed)
Renault 5 Gordini MK1
Fiat Uno 60 s
Citroën AX GT MK1

In 1978 I had a Hillman Avenger Tiger as well................ended up upside down in a field though

[LuS1fer]

Viva 1800
Honda CB250RS
Honda GL1000 Gold Wing
Cortina Mk 1 1200
Alfasud 1200 Ti
Alfetta 2000 SL plus Alfasud 1300 and Cortina 1600E
Saab 900 plus Chevette saloon
Citroen Visa 17D
Scirocco GTI Mk II
Renault Fuego 2.0 GTX
Mini 1000 (and/or Hillman Imp/VW Variant)
Renault 5 GT Turbo and Nissan Sunny 1.3LX

[Turbobanana]

Started the 80s on a Sun GT10 bike
Ford Escort Mk1 (before I passed my test)
Morris Marina 1.3 (passed test in it)
Morris Marina 1.8
Hillman Avenger
Then got a job as a car valeter and was on the company insurance (at 17 - imagine that now!) so drove whatever had MoT / Tax / Petrol including an SD1 V8, Capri 2.8 Janspeed Turbo, various Range Rovers, Triumph Spitfires and XR3i's, Rolls Royce Silver Shadow and one of the first Sierra Cosworths (this was 1986-7)
I left there with a Fiesta 1.1 and got a proper job
Alfasud 1.5Ti
Then company cars so by the end of the 80s I was in a Mk3 Escort 1.3 and the first Mk3 Fiesta in the company

[RizzoTheRat]

I turned 17 in 1990, but did my driving test in 1989 in one of these

[abzmike]

Morris Ital - It was OK actually, and never let me down
Alfa 33
Another Alfa 33
Vauxhall Astra - Slid into the cosy, carefree world of the dull company car
MG Midget for the weekends - Not my best purchase

[Mk_berks]

This, in gold, was my dad’s, kept for 6y thru Uni until about 1995....

[Castrol for a knave]

MkIV Sptifire, which was fun, but not so much on the M180 to work. Back then it was like the testing ground at Millbrook - almost shook my eyeballs out.

[52classic]

For me the 80's meant a succession of Volvo 245's (Green wellies and a Barbour jacket) and then an XJ6 Avon estate.

Rest of the family fleet included several Metros, An MG Maestro EFi and for playtime a '54 Standard Vanguard PHII and a BMW 2002 Targa.
I still have that one and it has become my lockdown project - Well past the half way mark, last welding to be done before we get our freedom.

[john2443]

Mine -
Escort Mk1 1300XL
Spitfire Mk 4
Chrysler Sunbeam 1300
Talbot Sunbeam 1600Ti
Talbot Sunbeam 1600 GLS
Vauxhall Cavalier 1300
Morris Ital 1300 Estate (I know :getmecoat : I needed something to use as a builders van when working on the house!)
Triumph GT6 Mk3

For work - mix of hired, pool, managers cars
Renault 18
Cortina Mk4 1600
Sierra 1600
Cavalier Mk1 1600
Cavalier Mk 2 SRI
Cavalier Mk 2 CD
Orion 1.6i Ghia
Fiesta Mk1 1300
Fiesta Mk2 957
Transit Mk1
Granada 2.9 Ghia (the one before the bug eyed slug)
Nova 1.0
Metro 1.0

[moffspeed]

Hillman Imp Sport.
Escort Mk 1 Mexico.
Lotus Elan S4
Escort RS2000 X Pack.
Talbot Sunbeam Lotus.
Morris Minor 1000>1275>1340.
Saab 900T.


..by the end of that decade a new chapter had begun, an NHS Hearing-aid beige Volvo 240DL Estate festooned with child seats, empty bags of crisps and the odd plastic dinosaur/Thunderbird 2.

Edited by moffspeed on Tuesday 23 February 12:28

[mike9009]

I had

Raleigh Sprint
Raleigh Mustang

My Dad's 1986 Austin Maestro 1.6L on BlackRock Sands in N Wales aged 15.

[baconsarney]

3.0 Granada
XR3
Range Rover
Sierra XR4x4
Sierra RS Cosworth
Kawasaki ZX10

Would own any of them again apart from the escort

[fourfoldroot]

Fiat Uno was my wifes car. Rover was daily driver and TR4a was weekend toy. There is an austin 7 hiding behind the TR as well .

[Cylon2007]

1968 Singer Chamois (posh Imp) - Great car learned to drive in it (all legally) and as I'd been on the roads for 5 years on Bikes I took 4 lessons including the test and passed first time :-)
1975 Hillman Imp - Bag of Sh*t thou ht it would be better than the older one it wasn't
Fiat Miafioir i131S - great to drive scrapped due to rust
Fiat Miafiori 131S - also scrapped due to rust, I did learn after that, not had another Fiat since.
1987 Vauxhall Cavalier 1.6L - the only vauxhall I've ever owned.

[DBSV8]

first car just after i passed my test in 1984 , Ford Capri 3 litre cologne ....which i still own



then a year later my mate upgraded his 3 litre to an x reg 2.8i so i bought his .3 litre GXL for £450 .....i had to rent a local garage to store her ...that garage was an Aladdin's cave , for a capri enthusiast , note pre facelift bonnet without power bulge .. ERU 845L is still on the road .


then in 1987 , I bought a nimbus grey 2,8i special ..similar to this one ....it ended up with my cologne stored in Dads garage , with the 2,8 sharing the drive with Dads Rover 3500 SD1



car was involved in a very heavy shunt .. when a couple of toe rags nicked it and parked it between two beech trees !!

[ian2144]

From early 1980 to 1990

Suzuki Whiz Kid new
MG midget 1275
Citroen 2CV new
Fiat Strada 105TC
Volvo 66 estate
2CV “ for your eyes only “ Bond edition
Fiat Panda daily hack
Talbot Samba S/Rallye
Fiat Strada 130TC Abarth
Imp Sport road rally spec weekend toy
Fiat 126BIS daily hack
Daihatsu Charade GTti new
Zastava 311 daily hack

[Lotusgone]

Avenger 1600GLS
Capri 2.0GL (orange, black vinyl roof)
Scirocco mk1

then company Astra & Sierra.

Also a Capri 1.3 that I bought from a bloke at work, couldn't sell it on, Mum & Dad took it off me in pity.

[Dapster]

Start of the 80's I spent all my time learning to drift and jump with one of these:




Then passed my test at 17 in 1987 and inherited this from my mother (it was already 11 years old). Base model, toy free zone



Then 2 more more tragic hand me down Polo's from my mother and sister before I bought my first car in 1992 when I got a 5 year old....




Here's a chronological list of family cars we had through the decade:

1979 VW Passat


1979 Audi 100 Avant


1980 Audi 100 GL5E


1982 Mercedes W123 200


1984 and 1987 190E


1988 300E


There was one of these knocking about as well

1980 Scirocco GLi


Bit of a German love in chez Dapster!!

[OldGermanHeaps]

I had a 1976 TY80.

[Leftfootwonder]

I was punching through the gears in this bad boy...