Fun Cars In The Late 1980's

Big hair, neon lights, Jordache shorts, and fast cars. The 1980’s were loose, wild, and rock and roll were the perfect matches to the powerful machines rolling out of Detroit. Although the late 1970’s were the start of the Malaise era of cars, the late 1980’s saw a real resurgence in fun cars with power. Automakers had learned to cope with emissions regulations and with technological advances engines became more powerful, more efficient, and thanks to computers had some impressive dashboards.

This was also the decade that turbocharging really began to take hold. Two of our cars came equipped with the spinning shells, and almost all of them had factory experiments done to determine if they would be a smart fit. Regardless, speed was back baby
The turbo lag was a bit fierce, but as soon as it hit, it hit hard. 276 horsepower is a respectable number, but we all know what turbos are indeed about - consistent torque. The Buick boasted 360 lb-ft of it spinning to the rear wheels.

What genuinely makes the Grand National cool is that it was a joint operation between Buick and McLaren. They designed the porting, engine mapping, precise Garrett turbocharger, and then enhanced the transmission. 60 mph (100 kph) came in just 4.7 seconds, and you looked great getting there because of all the individual trim, badges, and all-black styling. The only real downside to the GNX was that they only came with an automatic transmission and only 547 of them were built.

4) 1987 Ford Mustang GT 5.0 - 225 horsepower - $12,106

If you saw our piece on the best American cars of the 1970’s, then you already know the Boss 302 made the list. The 1987 Ford Mustang GT has the same engine mill, so it was bound to make this list also. Although it looked similar to the Mustangs that Ford had been rolling out for the last ten years, the ‘87 models were refreshed with a much-needed aero kit. Other new features were fuel injection (1984) and new cylinder
The notchback look and two-tone paint won’t let you forget that this car was current when Madonna was new, but competitors won’t forget that a car that old beat them either.

3) 1985 Chevrolet Camaro IROC-Z - 220 horsepower - $11,719
No car on this list embodies the zeitgeist of the 1980’s than the IROC-Z Camaro. Heavily angled blocks make up the styling, roof panels can be removed to spell out a T, large swaths of plastic coat the interior, and there is an 8-track player in the center console. But the Camaro was not all about boulevard cruising, in fact, it was for the opposite, the International Race of Champions.

That is right, this is probably the best handling car on the list, pulling off a 0.84g result on the skidpad. The Camaro was light and could be precisely placed all over a track. It was also faster to 60 than its Mustang rival by a tenth of a second (6.1 seconds). When you hit the finish line in a quarter mile, you would see figures around 14.5 seconds posted on the board. The IROC was a track-star no matter what track it was.

2) 1986 Dodge Omni Shelby GLHS - 175 horsepower -