We’re officially into the Eighties, fittingly starting with January.
Starting with Diesel for every-man. Well, every Oldsmobile:
Slick and chic.
Dodge Mirada, anyone?
Shame to think that two years later, there will no longer be a Triumph.
“More Pontiac excitement for the Great ones”… Catchy.
Yes, this Scirocco ad was already here, but in a single-page format. VW are expanding.
If ever was a misuse of the word Spyder.
XK140 for $12,800. And how about that twin-Civic?
That’s it. As ever, particular articles will be uploaded throughout the remainder of the week.
Maserati – if the sticker price doesn’t kill you the maintenance costs will…
That is one ugly car.
My Maserati does 185. I lost my license, now I don’t drive.
Amusing that the Jensen-Healey for sale is located in Eugene, Oregon. Judging by the number of Jensen-Healeys Paul seems to find there (the most recent at the St. Vinnie’s lot, I believe), Eugene must be the J-H capital of the world.
I guess you REALLY had to be a Chevy fan to buy that Spyder instead of the Celica a few pages away.
Had to believe that the Subaru on those pages would eventually “beget” a whole model line of cars of various sizes.
I think the Monza Spyder is much better-looking, personally. (The Ferrari Daytona-inspired styling worked pretty well to my eye). The Celica probably has a better interior and better handling.
I thought that some Monzas were great looking, but the one in the advertisement is pretty tacky, which is perhaps an obsolete concept. An ocean of tape stripes and white wall tires? I do remember that Monzas and their badge engineered siblings were everywhere in 1980 and nowhere in 1990. Those Celicas were still common.
I didn’t even notice the whitewalls, and the tape stripes are pretty bad. The overall shape holds up though, and I like the front air dam.
You’re right that they all disappeared; I can’t remember the last time I saw a Monza on the street. Last H-body I remember in general was a ’77 or ’78 Oldsmobile Starfire GT that was owned by a student at the university I worked at in the late 00’s. Hopefully that one is still with us somewhere, as it had been tastefully modified and was in great shape.
I;m quite sure they are raised white letters that appear as whitewalls due the motion effect.
Agreed. The Celica looked frumpy in this generation, and I’m not saying that as a Toyota hater – I loved it’s predecessor and found many of the successive generations appealing. The Monza was damn good looking, really better looking from a sporty standpoint than the then all new Foxbody Mustang.
Although The Daytona isn’t what it resembles, but rather the 365 GTC/4
The Subaru ad is very funny touting the “Subaru Advantages”. Dual circuit brake system which was required by law, zero scrub steering and rubber suspension mounts are also quite common and had been for decades at that point.
Dual-circuit brakes were introduced in the early ’60s, & Federally mandated by 1967, so you’re right, that was definitely old news.
I can imagine this copyrighter dialogue: “Did you talk up a safety feature?” “Uh, I can’t think of anything unique.” “So mention dual-circuit brakes; most people won’t know the difference.”
Worst. Corvette. Ever.
I remember reading a road test of the ’80 Corvette, think it was in C&D Magazine. They talked a lot about the weight paring GM had done to make it more efficient for the new decade where gas was expected to spike. First time they dropped the gas pedal to see what it could do, a U-joint broke in the driveshaft.
Weight-paring indeed.
Well, it still looked good at least. From 84 until the C7 debuted every Vette in between looked like a 99 cent store Ferrari
The Cutlass that is front and center in that diesel Olds ad is a one-year wonder; in fact I’m not sure that I’ve ever seen one like that on the road. It’s after they ditched the Aeroback roofline on the sedans, but before the quad-lamp restyle. Come to think of it I don’t even know what model that would be–Cutlass Salon like the aerobacks, or Cutlass Supreme like the facelift sedan?
Some of those classifieds are interesting too. Twin Civic? Check. Lagonda Rapide? Check.
I think it was called a Cutlass Salon Brougham.
A 1980 Celica (Supra) was Dad’s first Japanese car, of several Toyota’s he eventually bought. The Cutlass he traded in was his last GM car.
I’d really like to see this airbag article if you can. The last one was rather interesting, in retrospect and I’m guessing this one is too.
Sadly, we have “no openings” for new articles on the matter. However, I’ve updated the original post with this R&T followup, so click this:
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/vintage-reviews/vintage-road-track-report-the-facts-behind-airbags-do-we-need-them/
I would love to see that review of the corolla.
Oldsmobile offered their diesel in 21 models…?!
OK, they did deserve to go out of business after all.
I think I had a subscription to R&T then. I know I had C&D from 1979 to about 1994, and Motor Trend from 1979 to about 1988. What a trip down memory lane. I was 23 in 1980 and vividly remember all these ads. {sigh}