Were 1980s cars really that bad?
 

Read this ad, and ask if you remember it the way it was written! I do remember the show more than the go back then when the 80s hit. I do remember how girls dug my brothers T top transam when I borrowed it when he was traveling out of the country (mom looked the other way). How good your stereo sounded would be more impressive than how fast the car was to some passengers.

A fast 1980 camaro? That would mess with my memories...

https://milwaukee.craigslist.org/cto...212007097.html

The hey day for Fantastic plastic on cars & high hair on us.

If you call all show and no go "that bad" then the answer is . . . yes

80's? That bad? Yes, emphatically yes! The cars were lousy, the times (what we got away with) was great!!!

Best car from the 80's
Grand National or GNX
They were fast enough!

Great ad.

I still own my bought new in July, 1978 Z28. I loved it then and still love it now. It was a great handling car for that time. I think it was "Car and Driver" that did a comparison test back in 1978 and rated the 1978 Camaro Z28 ahead of the same year Corvette and Trans-Am for driving pleasure. When you floor the accelerator it will still throw you back in the seat; it just runs out of oomph at about 85 mph. A great cruising car. I wasn't very successful picking up chicks with it back in the day. I actually think it gets more attention now than it did back in the late 70's and thru the 80's. Ahh the memories.

danachevroletfor1967, got any pics of your '78?

I agree with all. With the exception of the turbo Buicks, the Mustang GT and the late 80's turbo Trans Am the cars were generally crap. But, the decade was a whole lot of fun (of what I remember).

That ad was hilarious! My mom bought a near new bright blue 81 Z28 in the fall of 83 when I was 11 years old, I thought it was the coolest car I'd ever seen at that time..lol.. The car was pretty quick back then for what it was and handled like it was on rails but compared to the 60's and 70's muscle cars I've owned since then(70 Chevelle SS 396, 71 Monte SS 454, 71 &72 Ta's, 69 COPO Camaro) it was a slug. Looking back I find it ironic how similar the 80-81 Z28's were to the 70-72 TA's(functional hood scoop, fender vents and spoilers everywhere), to bad they didn't run them though.

I've owned Mom's Z28 for 19 years now and am in the process of having the car restored for her 70th birthday later this year so she can see it looking like new and drive it again while she's still healthy and know I'll keep it as long as I live. It's the slowest, least desirable, highest production car I've ever owned but every time I look at it, it reminds me of my Mom and Dad and I consider the car to be a dear family member, I'm sure most of the people on this site understand.

I graduated high school in 81, college in 85 and ordered my first new car - an IROC in February of 1987.

With Apatite for Destruction playing on the Kenwood pullout I was living large. :D

I had a new 84 trans am with the H.O. engine. What a joke. The 86 GN was a good car with bad paint. I got mine used with a few miles on it and it had already been repainted. I later traded it off and the guy that bought it blew it up

Not an 80 -- but I bought a new 79' Z28 and it was nothing but problems. It was high optioned with everything except cruise control and the alum wheels. The t-top seals were replaced twice, the carpet was replaced (turned a green color), the carb was replaced, the hood was repainted (you could see primer under the paint), etc. etc. etc. The local Chevy dealership had a key to the car -- I just dropped it off when crap went bad. Sold it with 21K on it ... :no:

answer is yes,,,,yes,,,yes,,,

Yes!!!!

I believe the low water mark was 1976. Yes, most bread and butter cars into the 80's were crap. Computer controlled carbs? What a joke. Like trying to put wheels on a horse. One technology did not go well with the other. Pontiac gave it a go for as long as they could. At least they kept the Trans Am name afloat, trying to get some performance out of the smogger motor. Chevy made some progress starting with the 77 Z/28, but both of them were really fighting an uphill battle. Apparently Ford and Mopar had given up on muscle by 76-77.

Road & Track ran an article on the fastest cars (as in observed top speed) in America, 1976. They hinted that it might be a pick up (454 Chevy, as the truck was the only vehicle available with a big block in 1976). I will dig up the article to make sure I get the numbers correct, but I believe it went something like this:

Corvette 126 mph
Chevy Truck with 454 121 mph
Mopar with a 360 dual exhaust (can't remember if it was a Duster, or what, but midsize car) 112 mph.
And the "mighty" Ford Mustang II with the "high performance" 302 topped out at 105 mph. (crap, I had a 70 Opel Rallye with a 1.9 4 banger that would top 105!!!)
Seems there was a 5th car in there, but can't remember what it was.
What a bunch of slugs. I probably should not have listed mph numbers, as my fuzzy memory surely got some of them (maybe all of them) incorrect. If anyone is intersted, I can dig out the old rag and look it up.

Mind you, this bunch of turds is what fueled the first muscle car craze, and is reason that as early as 1977 guys were craving a bit of nostalgia in the form of a car with real power. That is when a lot of our cars started being cared for.... many for the first time.

A CCC Q-jet worked very well and required minimal maintenance. The "dancing needle" concept they incorporated was pretty ingenious, given the technology of the time (in development in the late 1970s, released in 1980-1981).

It's easy to bash the 1980s cars looking through a 2017 window, but many of the 60s muscle cars weren't all that great either.

Don't forget that the 325hp 396 was a slug with the little 198 deg @ 0.050 cam and .398 lift, stock, as-delivered 302 Camaros weren't exactly fast, etc. The 1984 HO 305 in the ad above could give either one of these cars a good run. A '79 Z28 responds to typical heads / cam / exhaust bolt-ons just like the 2 examples above.

In 1983,I bought a brand new 1984 Z-28 H.O.305 with the stereo equalizer,thought it was fast as hell with a good sound.
Then soon traded it in for an 1986 Iroc Tuned Port 305.Thought it was much,much faster and sounded a lot better.
Then traded it in for a 1989 Iroc 5.7 Tuned Port w/4 wheel disc and what an incredible world of difference that car was.
Made the other two feel like pedal cars,and it's BOSE stereo w/Amp had a crisp clear sound that could reach the moon.

I understand completely.

I do have some. I purchased the car new in July, 1978. It was probably one of the last '78 Camaros made as it is a 06E car, assembled in Van Nuys. It is pretty much all original, but I did have an IROC style front air dam installed in Jan., 1979.

Nice car. Had a 77 z and stilll have a 85 z, these cars get a bad wrap they were not neck breakers in a standing start but good on the highway and pretty dependable. I have had a lot of 60's on up mostly camaro vette nova and Monte's exception a GTO.
All had there good and bad. Old ones were fast newer ones were quick is what I like say.lol.

Nice, love the color of your 1978 Z.

We may just have to agree to disagree on that. Yes, the dancing needle was ingenious, and it worked well... for about 18 months. The it turned to crap. I owned a small four bay independent shop in the 80's. I rebuilt one or two A DAY for several years. Most shops at the time wouldn't touch them. I don't understand why they didn't just bite the bullet and go to computer controlled fuel injection. The cost difference wasn't that huge. The computer (first c in ccc) was the biggest cost involved. They were just clinging to the old technology

You are absolutley correct about late 70's Z and espcially into the 80's. No doubt, they could keep up with most of the 60's muscle as delivered with bias ply tires.

I worked at a large GM dealership in 1983 and drove a lot of the new cars that year. Of the Vette's, Camaro's, Monte's and Hurst Olds that came out in 83, the Monte was my second favorite car to drive...right next to the Old's Tornado which was a wicked car.

I drove a few buick's including the GNX and drove the owners Vette quite a lot. I was an 18 year old car jockey at the time.

not all 80's cars were bad!

Once the fuel crises hit driving the Radical Big Block Camaro as a daily driver was a bad idea so that was put in the garage and I brought my 77 TA with leaky T-Tops, Then I went through a bunch of different musclecars cause you could buy them all day long for 500-$1000. Then I found a Loaded White 80 T-top Z28 and I enjoyed the hell out of driving it. It wasn't a race car it was just a daily driver and that I enjoyed driving. Then I went out one morning and it was gone.. I found this one about 9 months ago and I had to have it, I dig driving it with the AC on and the T-Tops off. I was thinking about doing a LS swap but the car is so original I feel bad about doing it.. Frank thats a nice GN.. I had a GNX for a while and what a blast that was to drive.
Mark
https://s5.postimg.org/7mcrfxmfr/81_Z28-2.jpg

That your son's GN Frank? Nice car!

I had a 77 Formula that I bought in the spring of 1984 and promptly blew the motor. That summer the 69 YS out of my neighbor's GTO went into it and it was a proper car then. That got totaled in September of 86 and I ordered my IROC in February. Thanks to a couple of the guys on this board, I have it again! :D

Mark - darned near twins.

I bought this 80Z a little over a year ago. Stupid original with 77k original miles and still wearing most of its' original paint. Th350 w/ 3.42 rear and very low options. I also have two 70 Zs and just wanted a "cushy cruiser. Well, it is very nice and comfy to drive and does handle quite well. Eric did the Rochester which made big difference in drivability and it scoots along well, but fast or quick it ain't. Still, I'm happy with it and is now my go-to local cruise in driver. I had a guy approach me a couple months ago at a local show...wanted to buy it bad. We didn't even talk price, I just told him I was having too much fun with it right now and not interested in selling.

Beautiful car. I still like those late 2nd gen Z28s.

One of the most notable '79 camaro scenes.

a little detour on this thread. I had some of the BEST street racing in the 80's with the IROC's, 5.0 Mustangs an GNs squaring off all over the place here on LI. The races were usually pretty close and not stupid fast that you got into that much trouble. I had a brand new 88 5.0 stripper that was a rip to race, wish I still had it. It is now their turn in the collector spotlight, prices are climbing quickly for nice ones

Outside owning a 1970 SS 396 I had a boat load of fun owning a 1981 Citation X-11 with an High output V6 and 4 speed trans, this thing boogied and I drove it all year round, with the front wheel drive it got by the snow just fine.
I ended up driving it to the scrap yard with nearly 300,000 KM on the odometer.
Lots of memories in this little hatchback that was a pocket rocket.

I had a '70 Nova SS clone daily driver back around 1990-1995 when I was in my late teens / early 20s. That was back in the day when kids still cruised the local hangouts, and we had a few places in Pittsburgh we'd go to street race. The Nova had a budget mild 350 that ran mid-14s. Lots of 5.0 and thirdgen F-bodies at the street races back in those days, and my Nova could easily beat up on the mostly stock ones.

It always made me happy to beat a rich kid in a new car with my home built junk that cost maybe $3k total (bought the Nova for $500 w/ a stock 230 ci). Of course I lost to some of the mildly modded 5.0L Mustangs too.

I had a '95 Mustang GT 5.0L in 2001-2005. Fun car.

Nah, the 80s had some fun iron after some tweaking...

80 Grand Prix that I put a 400 in with Keystones. Comfortable driver that sounded great. I wouldn't consider it fast though lol

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5695/...89ff84e33d.jpg

My '84 Z28. Loved that car.

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5450/...49fb2a45_z.jpg

And my favorite late 70s, almost 80s car. We still have it.

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5493/...217fa854_z.jpg

Great thread. I graduated in 1984 and had a slug '78 Trans Am that I used to mess around with a couple of my buddies' rides which were a 1979 Capri 5.0 and 1979 Mustang GT. Stupid choices but lots of fun. Mine looked like this one but with Hurst Hatch T-tops.
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/n6mehHlgcwE/maxresdefault.jpg

Funny you say that about your 78 trans am. I thought my brother's car was the fastest thing when I was 18. And it handled like sticky glue. Maybe that is what really changed was for the first time, the cars started to handle way better, got a little flashier (velour interior was the sh-t back then), while getting slower. So thus, people were happy in the end with these other improvements distracting them. Maybe the early 80s were actually a - ok. Slow cars, but the other stuff made up for it.

Thank god, the 80s did come, to fix the 78 mustang nightmare body design. Ford will always have a hard time covering up that tattoo.

Agree, 2nd gen F-bodies handled really well, esp the WS6 TA's (a old buddy is restoring a 1979 black 400/4spd WS6) with the beautiful snowflake 15x8 rimes, but they (mine at least) was slow as molasses. Sounded good, looked good, but not fast compared to the hot stuff that was owned by the older guys around Pittsburgh at that time.

I had two new 5.0 LX Mustangs, an '87 and a '90. Great bang for the buck.