The malaise that was the 1970s dribbled over into the 1980s, with ads touting Corvettes that made all of 190 horsepower, gussied-up econoboxes parading as Cadillacs, and dubious technology such as the Moleculetor promising improvements in fuel economy of up to 23 percent—yours for just $214 (plus $5 shipping)! And there’s John Z. DeLorean hawking Cutty Sark scotch, with nary a kilo of coke in sight. With apologies to Mr. Dickens, it was the worst of times, it was the worster of times.
A few bright spots managed to punch holes through the darkness. Turbocharged engines began to appear under the hoods of a number of cars, including the Datsun Turbo ZX, the Mazda 323 GTX, the Porsche 944 Turbo, the Volvo Turbo, and even the Subaru XT Turbo.
Nascent technologies also made some of their earliest appearances in these pages, with ads for Apple’s Macintosh desktop computer, Panasonic’s TV with a 1.5-inch screen, and the Maxwell Portable Cellular Phone with one hour of talk time for $695. And if the Maxwell was too pricey, you could order a fake “Cellular Fun Phone” and “enjoy the status of owning a car phone for just the fraction of the regular cost.” Cost: $49.95.
The decade couldn’t end soon enough.
(Note: Click or tap an ad to enlarge.)
Pontiac Grand Prix – April 1980
The Sharper Image Xernus – June 1980
International Harvester Scout – June 1980
Energy Efficiencies Inc. Moleculetor – September 1980
Panasonic TravelVision – October 1980
Chevrolet Corvette – December 1980
READ MORE: Our Original 1980 Chevrolet Corvette Road Test
Chevrolet Citation X-11 – August 1981
Ronrico Rum Sweepstakes – September 1981
READ MORE: A History of Jeep Pickups: The Lineage Is Longer than You Think
Chevrolet Corvette Collector Edition – January 1982
READ MORE: 1982 vs. 1962: Last-of-Their-Kind Corvettes
Jeep CJ – February 1982
READ MORE: Our Original 1982 Jeep CJ-7 Limited Test
K40 Radar Detector – February 1982
De Lorean Motor Company – February 1982
READ MORE: De Lorean DMC-12 vs. Corvette, 280ZX, 308GTS, and Porsche 911
Volkswagen Scirocco – March 1982
Cutty Sark Scotch – April 1982
Alpine Car Audio Systems – June 1982
READ MORE: Our Original 1983 Lamborghini Countach 5000S Road Test
Ford Motor Company – June 1982
Datsun Turbo-ZX 5-speed – September 1982
Cadillac Cimarron – October 1982
Callaway Turbosystems – March 1983
Cadillac Cimarron – March 1983
Chrysler Laser XE – October 1983
READ MORE: Awesome to the Max: C/D‘s Coolest Cars of the 1980s
Apple Macintosh – December 1984
Ford Motor Company – November 1985
Chevrolet Corvette – July 1986
READ MORE: Our Original 1986 Chevrolet Corvette Road Test
READ MORE: Battle of the Winter Beaters: Subaru XT6 vs. Camaro RS, Renault Fuego Turbo
Pioneer DEX-77 – December 1986
General Motors Parts – March 1987
Daihatsu Charade – February 1988
BMW Motorsport Division M-Cars – April 1988
READ MORE: Original Tests of the 1987 BMW M6 | 1987 BMW M5 | 1988 BMW M3
Cellular Fun Phone – April 1988
READ MORE: Our Original 1989 Ford Taurus SHO Road Test
Maxwell Portable Cellular Phone – April 1989
Isuzu Amigo – June 1989
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