Moving further into 1980, here are the ads from May’s issue.
Starting off with a truly unique car-fi:
Yet another audio Masterpiece.
Look for a vintage review of this Turbo Audi further down the week.
Would you pick this base Firebird over the RX-7?
I do believe this is the first Lotus ad appearing in our posts. A rare sight indeed.
Time for a Toyota truck ad, after all the previous Corolla and Supra ads. So the Hilux legend begins…
This ad must have looked so old even back in 1980.
Have you noticed that motorcycle ads have increased dramatically? This is the third one in this issue.
Datsun have invested in a chromo multiple-paged ad for the 10th Anniversary Z. Very impressive- and note the sweepstakes:
And like Toyota, they also have a truck.
Now for the much-loved classifieds:
That’s it for now- look for vintage road tests and articles from this issue during the week.
The Dodge (Mitsubishi) Challenger caught my eye back then. However, I was just out of school with very little money in my pocket. After a few years, I ended up with a slightly used, very pedestrian ’83 Cutlass Supreme (231 V6). At that time, interest rates on car loans ranged from 14% to 17% thanks to Paul Volker.
Brava Abarth!
The Brava Abarth name was probably only used in the SCCA. When they raced in the rest of the world, the grilles just said FIAT ABARTH, and the cars were called 131 Abarths.
I think the car I’d like the most is in the classifieds. A real Fratelli Maserati O.S.C.A. would be neat.
Would you pick this base Firebird over the RX-7?
Yes, absolutely; I wouldn’t even give the RX7 a second thought.
Firebirds were THE car to have back then and theres several reasons they are one of the few cars from that era that are coveted classics today. Van Halen wrote songs about Trans Ams, not Mazdas.
It’s interesting how tastes vary by region. Living in coastal states during that time frame, RX7s were the cars to have. Base Firebirds weren’t sporting cars, and Trans Ams were starting to be seen as anachronisms. They stopped making T/A 400s and 403s in 1979, and the Trans Am was a tape package without a reason in 1980. There were reasons the Turbo 301 didn’t reappear for 1982.
I doubt you’d want that particular Firebird, though. That’s the base price, and in those days they weren’t kidding. Note how they pictured it from the front so you can’t see the dog dishes. Oh did you want a radio? Power steering? All extra.
In 1990, I was a junior in high school and I picked up a base model 1980 Firebird, presumably similar to the car in the ad-V6, TH200, AM radio, hubcaps and not much else. It was white with a red interior with I think 75K on the clock; it ran good, was rust-free and I got it for $250. I found a 455 and TH400 from a wrecked 1973 Safari wagon, stuck a cheap Summit RV cam in it, and swapped it into the Firebird one weekend and did lots of naughty high school things in that car until I wrapped it around a telephone pole. That was a fun car!
Back to the ad comparison though, I’m assuming that since they are doing a virtual comparison of two base model cars at their most basic prices, that they were similarly equipped. If I was on a tight budget and looking for a sporty ride, the lower base price, better gas mileage, proven platform, and the fact that the Firebird has a back seat makes it a better choice. By 1980, GM had worked the bugs out of the F-Bodys and they were pretty well-built cars. Gen1 RX7s were pretty thin on the ground even when they were new and from my recollection, were mostly in the boneyards by 1990, either with dead engines from oiling problems or from being eaten alive by rust. A quick trip to EBay proves their survival rates: only 6 1979-85 RX7s are available, all under $5K, but 18 1979-81 Firebirds are listed, ranging from sub-$1K project cars to $20K+ restored or original Trans Ams, even with the Turbo 301.
Actually, I find it interesting that the ad compares the Firebird to the RX7; I would have thought the 280Z or the Celica would have been more of a sales threat.
They ran a whole series of these types ad and my well have compared it to the 280Z & Celica. I know they advertised the GP this way as well.
A quick check of the ’80 GP brochure shows automatic, power steering & brakes surprisingly standard, along with a notchback seat and a clock, but no radio. I was surprised by the standard auto since in ’79 it was still 3-by-the-knee.
Gosh! I’m not sure which I want more. The Honda, Yamaha or Kawi!
You don’t particularly want any of the pictured bikes, because they’re all the factory “cruiser” (aka, “chopper”) models – this was during the era when the Japanese decided they were going to teach Harley Davidson how to build a motorcycle, and hopefully take their market from them.
Guess what? It didn’t work. Horrible ergonomics (those bars feel good in the showroom, by ten miles down the road your wrists hurt), the entire riding position sucks, and the handling is compromised by the fat, smaller diameter, rear tyre.
Now, if you were looking at the “standard” versions of those bikes (still the traditional sixties/seventies motorcycle styling) . . . . you’d want the Kawasaki KZ750/4. Hell of a motor, will run with a 1000cc bike in everything except top speed, and is a bit nicer in the twisties.
Second choice would be the Honda CX500 over the CB650 (nothing more than a bored out ’73 CB500). The Yamaha is just a 400 commuter bike.
What Chevys had a turbo 3.8 availible?
Monte Carlo
That pandering GM add belonged in Reader’s Digest, not Road & Track.
I’ll take either the Volvo or the BMW…silver paint, black interior.
That Cockpit stereo is cool, unless you have a sunroof or T-tops. You would want a really good installer to put that in, to keep it from falling on your head, and rattling/squeaking if it didn’t fall out. Lots of wiring to run from the dash to the headliner too…
Wonder if you could just leave the factory AM radio in the dashboard and keep that crazy setup on the roof private. Pretty good for parking in the ghetto. Wonder how it sounded.
While I like Firebirds, I was never a fan of the front end treatment on the Firebird pictured. But at least Pontiac put rectangular headlights in rectangular “holes” unlike Chevy who put round headlights in (barely) rounded square holes on the Camaro. So just about ANY other car would be my choice before a base Firebird…..except for the antiquated MGB.
As it was, I bought a Fiesta in 1980.
The motorcycle ads were increasing because the Japanese factories were dumping bikes in the US by the container loads, and lots of unsold brand new leftovers were in the future. This would continue until the 1983 model year when it all fell apart completely.
Also, this was the era when Yamaha publicly stated that they were going to outsell Honda, once and for all. And, if you’re Honda, you don’t just sit back and take it. You rise to the challenge and come damned near close to driving Yamaha into bankruptcy.
The late 70’s/early 80’s were wonderful times to buy a new motorcycle, especially if you weren’t demanding this year’s model.
I bought a 82 Yamaha 650 Seca in 82 for about $2400. In early 84 when some idiot pulled out of a side street into my path, my less than 2 year old bike had a value of $1100-$1200. My insurance company totalled my bike but found a nicer, lower mileage “twin” for that amount about 65 miles away that was for sale by the same dealer who sold me my bike. So no real argument about value.
I still miss that bike.
Ahh, the 1982 Seca 650. The Euro-style bike everyone in the US said they wanted, so Yamaha imported it a few years after its launch and no then one bought them. I remember new ones languishing in the showrooms years later. A few friends did buy them and they were fine bikes.
Thanks again, YOHAI, for these posts and the related excerpt articles.
They really are a lot of fun.
As much as I dislike the 70s-80s cars… well, I like the bikes. I would gladly have that Kawa…
(That Volvo is absolutely hideous!!!)
Wow, that cover brought the memories of my first ever serious model car kit by Tamiya! The “serious” model car kit meant for me the equivalent of LEGO Technic, a big upgrade from simple snap-together kits.
I was 13 when I got my first Tamiya model car kit, featuring this very same Fiat Brava Abarth. It took me a few weeks to assemble the car as well as carefully painting the components. The black-and-white photos in Road & Track didn’t help me with accurate painting at all.
The end result was the most realistic looking model car. That started my brief hobby of assembling and painting model cars from Tamiya or Revell. The Pocher model car kit was the straw that broke the camel’s back with so many poorly moulded components and many confusing instructions or illustrations in the manual. I sort of gave up on model car kits…
There was also a Matchbox version of this very Fiat, in Alitalia livery just like the cover car. I never had one when I was a child (can’t remember if I just never found one, or if something better always seemed to catch my eye) but I have one now thanks to eBay.
In 1980 I was still driving my Fiesta and Vega GT, and riding a Honda CB400F. Mid-year I sold the Vega after the clutch died, and bought a used 1600 Scirocco. So at the time, none of these cars advertised were on my radar. But in early ’81 I traded the troublesome Scirocco on a new ’81 Firebird, albeit a loaded WS6 TransAm, not a V6 stripper. And in late ’83 I bought an ’81 4wd Datsun pickup, complete with those hideous graphics, which were hell to peel off. Looking back now with a 35 year perspective, the Volvo is very appealing, though waiting a few years for the Turbo would be wise. Otherwise, not a great period for cars (including mine mentioned above other than the Fiesta and Vega) and as a motorcyclist, I find all those Japanese customs absolutely hideous visually and functionally. Two wheeled Mustang II Ghias.
My first thought at seeing that Alitalia 131 was Sandro Munari! While he won a lot of races in Lancia Stratos I always associate him with the 131 Abarth.
Ha! After seeing the Datsun ad I just remembered being 12 years old when I saw that Black Gold 280-ZX ad contest to win the car in the magazine. I sent my handwritten ballot in saying my local dealer ran out of forms (totally lying). I kept waiting to hear back that I won. I was going to give the car to my mother. Unfortunately no such luck.