mid-80s cars...

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cfz2882

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...mostly model years 1985-87 along with late-84 and early'88 offerings :) technology and quality generally improved as the "malaise era"finished up. Yugo and Hyundai were new brands as ford dealers started to sell German Ford Merkurs to have a "european"offering.Ford Taurus was a hit while the 1986 Toronado Was not...Kinda liked certain versions of GMs new FWD midsize cars.
 
I was still pretty car crazy at that time, and liked lots of different makes/models.
I was particularly fond of GM's "G-bodies".
We still have a very dilapidated 1981 Buick Regal coupe that hasn't run in ages, a 1987 Buick Regal Turbo T with WE4 package, and a 1986 Pontiac Grand Prix with the 2+2 package.
 
Merkur

Was just thinking about them the other day. My best friend worked for Ford in Dearborn and he and his brother were able to get Merkur's on the x plan. One had the XR4TI and the other the Scorpio. The XR4TI was an awful piece of junk. Always in the shop and always leaking something. When it did run, it was fun to drive though.
The Scorpio on the other hand, was a very, very nice car. Full of European style and very comfortable seats and a quiet luxurious ride. I remember driving from Detroit to Hilton Head in it and it was a very pleasant experience. He kept it quite a while, over 125K miles and never really had problems with it till then end and traded it for a Mercedes.

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Bought a new 1988 Pontiac Grand Prix. It had the most comfortable seats of any car I've ever known and was fun to drive and great looking as well. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a to be a total lemon, as is said. The ignition switch would often lock up solidly, necessitating a tow to the dealer's. Additionally, the engine would often stop abruptly while driving and the hydraulic clutch actuation varied constantly, and required a person with very long legs to be able to floor the clutch to shit gears. The electronic dashboard was prone to nervous breakdowns, but did become an entire driver entertainment center, showing anything but correct information.
 
In 1986, I was going to buy....

.....a Ford Taurus but, for the same money, I ended up buying a 1985 Continental Mark VII LSC.
It was one year old and had 14k miles on it. I passed by it on the dealers lot every day on the way to work.
This was my "dream car" - I loved it from the moment I first saw the ads for it on T.V.
Despite its size, it could take off with authority when the traffic signal turned green.
The air suspension was very "high tech" at the time and the seats were the best of any car I've ever owned.
I drove it for 6 years and loved every minute of it.
My car previous to this one was a 1980 Honda Accord LX hatchback so the Lincoln was quite a step up!

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1985 continental, reply 7

I think those were the first american cars to have modern "aero" headlamps -I think they were real glass too-not plastic
 
Mark VII Composite Headlights.....

......was indeed the first American car with composite headlights.

"I think those were the first american cars to have modern "aero" headlamps -I think they were real glass too-not plastic."

They were polycarbonate - not glass.
My car was always garaged so the lenses were perfectly clear when I sold it in 1992.

Another interesting fact - This 1985 Mark VII did not have the "Lincoln" name anywhere on it.
It was a "Continental" - harkening back to the days when "Continental" was the luxury brand from Ford.

I love the above "Merkur Scorpio" - I was seriously tempted to buy one but they were priced out of my comfort zone at the time. It would have been a great car for me since I am a Scorpio myself!
 
Merkur XR4TI...

Oddly,though made in Germany,those cars used U.S made 2.3l "Lima"4cyl same as later Pintos,mustangs,Ranger etc. :) Turbo whistle was decently loud. Last saw one about 1995-burnt out at the side of the road...
 
reply 15 85 cutlass, reply 16 Corvette

do you have the v6 or v8 diesel? i have seen some g-bodies with the 4.3 v6 diesel. Aug '81 corvette no doubt one of the very last with a carb :)
 
The only 80s car I bought was an 82 Volvo GL 4 dr. stick. It was probably the most durable and reliable car I ever owned. Other than consumables the only thing that ever failed was the power antenna. It wasn't very powerful but boy it was nimble and could almost literally "turn on a dime" which was in a way fascinating. You could do U turns on the narrowest of streets, it hugged the curves on the mountainous roads of BC and Washington. A joy to drive. I gave it to my niece in 1994 and bought a Camry. My niece and her family drove it for a good 6 or 7 years and took it with them when they moved to the east coast of Canada and back west after a few years there. It was really the rust from being on the east coast that finally did it in and they were really sorry to have to let it go.
 
A little late to the party...

But here I am! I've always loved 80's cars too. My grandma on my dad's side had a 1988 Toyota corolla DX in medium metallic blue. I can still remember the roaring groan of the 90 horsepower 4-AF 1.6 liter 16 valve engine struggling to run the Air Conditioner while simultaneously maintaining speed going up steep hills. I've always wanted another one like it. My other grandma had a 1986 Pontiac Bonneville in grey. It had a GM 3800 under the hood paired to a three on the tree automatic. Unfortunately, it wasn't running by the time I was around, but I spent a LOT of time sitting in the driver's seat, pretending to drive it. I did, however, get the opportunity to ride in it after it was bought by a new owner and repaired. I'll never forget the sweet sound of the 3800 as it elegantly glided through the gears.
Thatwasherguy.

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Thatwasherguy

I'm happy to hear that you have good memories of a GM car with the 3.8 liter V6.
I've owned two, both in Buick Regal coupes. One was a little better than the other, but they were both awful. The only good one we've ever encountered is the fuel injected turbo version in our '87 Regal.
That thing can get up and go! Well...could.
Sadly, due to circumstances beyond our control, it hasn't left the garage in about 13 years. It would need a thorough going over at this point.
 
I've always liked the Celebrity. There's none left around these parts.
Honestly, I've always liked the Chevy Citation. A lot! Same thing though. There's none left here.
The closest thing I ever see any more, albeit very rarely, is the occasional Oldsmobile Ciera or Buick Century from the 1990s. They're a very similar platform to the Celebrity.
 
my sister had a 1987 Celebrity Eurosport-very reliable car except for the cs130 alternator GM started to install with that model year...I almost salvaged and repaired a Citation out of the junkyard about 1998: was one of the earliest ones-"1980"model with 5/79 build date. Had 2.8 v6 and 3spd automatic.
 
No sooner than we got our '78 Nova in early '79, which was a left-over from the previous year, along came Chevy's Citation along with the similarly redesigned Pontiac Phoenix, and Olds & Buick doing something similar with their Omega and Skylark, devoid of a hatchback, but making them FWD...

Which I liked the design of a lot better and wish we'd waited a couple more years before retiring our '69 Rambler American to get...

-- Dave
 
FWD GM A-Body

Yeah, Century, Ciera and 6000 share the same platform of the Celebrity. The X-Body Citation and its siblings was the base for the A-Body.

Here in Venezuela Celebrity was marketed between 1983-1989. Century was offered from 1983 to 1996. I still se many of them on the road over here. Very good cars
 
Engines in Latin American A-bodies

what engines did you get? -in US,~ 1985, there was 2.5 4 with TBI,new port injection 2.8 v6 and 4.3 v6 diesel in it,s last year.For 1987,2.8 got updated with aluminum heads DIC ignition annd more precise assembly :) There was a 3.0 Buick also,but don't know if that was offered after 1985-that 3.0 v6 had a distinctive sound and known for oil pump and timing chain problems when the miles get up on them.
 
My 1980s car

1986 turbo, powered electronic, fuel, injected, luxury.

One of just 38 built this last year of the limousine production, this car was made 84 five and six, a total of about 700 were made over those three years.

It’s fun to drive with the front wheel drive goes straight down the road at 80 miles an hour Handles well and gets reasonable gas mileage in the mid 20s

John

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