Monday, 22 June 2015

Car and Driver Tested: The 13 Quickest Cars of the 1980s

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As with the 1970s, turbocharged Porsches once again crushed the competition in the 0-to-60-mph acceleration metric during the Reagan years. General Motors had a strong—and boosty—showing, too, with three of its brands and one of its properties represented on this list, all of which were quicker than the Ferrari 4.9 Superfast that topped our 1950s rundown. We aimed for a nice, round group of 10 cars, but ties dictated that we include 13.

13. 1986 Ferrari Testarossa — 5.0 seconds (tie)

September 1986

12. 1985 Ferrari 288GTO — 5.0 seconds (tie)

May 1985

11. 1985 Ferrari Testarossa — 5 seconds (tie)

May 1985

Just pulling up to Richard Templer's driveway is enough to send quivers of anticipation up and down this reporter's spine. Ordinary suburban houses don't have wrought-iron gates standing guard against the riffraff. Ferrari dealer Rick Mancuso gives the 400i's urgent horn a toot, and the formidable barrier parts by remote control. READ MORE >>

10. 1981 Ferrari 512BB — 5.0 seconds (tie)

May 1981

9. 1987 Porsche 911 Turbo Cabriolet Slant Nose — 4.9 seconds (tie)

September 1987

The road to Payson. Grand, sweeping arcs through the sagebrush. A fresh Arizona morning, warm and bright, the sun's anger still hours away. The dirty lumps on the horizon are the Mazatzal Mountains, far distant for a normal machine. But at 130 mph, in a tiny white Porsche pellet, time and space are compressed by quan­tum factors. On the road to Payson, nor­mal measurements do not apply. READ MORE >>

8. 1986 Buick Regal Grand National — 4.9 seconds (tie)

April 1986

7. 1989 Lotus Esprit Turbo SE — 4.8 seconds (tie)

December 1989

6. 1989 Porsche 911 Carrera 4 — 4.8 seconds (tie)

February 1989

5. 1987 Buick GNX — 4.7 seconds

May 1987

4. 1989 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am (turbo V-6) — 4.6 seconds (tie)

June 1989

3. 1986 Porsche Turbo 911 Turbo — 4.6 seconds (tie)

January 1986

2. 1989 Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1 — 4.5 seconds

June 1989

The Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1, unless we miss our guess, is going to cost some people at General Motors their jobs. You ask, how can that be? After all, is this not the Corvette from hell? The King of the Hill? The Ferrari-fighting world-class two-seater from the Motor City? A legend-to-be? Yes, it is that and more. But it still may cause heads to roll. READ MORE >>

1. 1987 Porsche 959 — 3.6 seconds

November 1987

We hesitate to call any car perfect. The absence of flaws in any product of human endeavor is extraordinarily rare. But we have just returned from West Germany, where we finally got a chance to drive a Porsche 959 on the street, and the word "perfect" is difficult to avoid. What single word more accurately describes a car that combines race-car performance with luxury-sedan comfort, that is equally adept at commuting through rush-hour traffic, profiling in jet-set locales, negotiating blizzard-swept mountain passes, and outrunning light airplanes? The Porsche 959 can accomplish almost any automotive mission so well that to call it perfect is the mildest of overstatements. READ MORE >>

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