In the 1980s car manufacturers remained convinced that the best way to build a luxury car was with a front engine and rear-wheel drive, plus a good deal of weight. Lightweight construction and materials had yet to influence this sector of the market, and fuel...
Peugeot can rightfully claim to be among the oldest car manufacturers still in existence. In business long before the advent of the automobile, Peugeot has been making cars for more than a century. A giant of the industry, it remains one of the world's largest...
The 1980s saw the Sport-Utility Vehicle (SUV) market continue to grow, spawning some powerful 4x4s with exceptional mud-plugging ability, and some comfort-oriented cars with only limited ability on rough terrain. At the same time, a new niche was discovered, for spacious seven-seat Multi-Purpose Vehicles (MPVs),...
It was fitting that the F40 was the final model commissioned by Enzo Ferrari before his death in 1988. Launched in 1987 to commemorate the marque's 40th anniversary, this was a supercar that, true to the spirit of II Commendatore himself, incorporated racetrack technology in...
The 1980s was the decade of young, upwardly mobile professionals, or "yuppies," whose fun cars gave rise to a rich heritage of roadsters and coupes. Each had its own flavor at a time when, in retrospect, their manufacturers were generally untroubled by the demands of...
The poster boy for the 1970s supercar boom, this rare and exotic road machine was first revealed as a prototype in the spring of 1971. The 25th Anniversary edition, to celebrate Lamborghini's dawn in 1962, was fundamentally the same car, but by 1988 it possessed...
Porsche's first sports car, the 356, utilized many components from the Volkswagen, including its flat-four engine. When an all-new power plant was needed for the replacement 911, Porsche kept the horizontally opposed layout and air-cooling but upped the cylinder count to six. The result was...
It is difficult to separate the DeLorean from the financial scandal that engulfed it. Promoted as an "ethical" sports car-safe and durable—it was the brainchild of former General Motors high-flier John Zachary DeLorean, and was bankrolled by the British government, which paid for a brand-new...
Producers of ground-breaking car designs since the 1920s, the Italian styling houses were the single most influential styling force in the motoring world by the 1980s. Italian stylists led not just fashion—wedge shapes or rounded—but whole concepts, such as the hatchback body style, adding glamour...
Through innovation, technical excellence, and competition-led promotion, Audi has become a giant of the motor industry. Yet this now-famous German name was dormant for around 20 years after World War II. Since finding a home under the Volkswagen umbrella, Audi has come to epitomize Germany's...