Was 1980/81 the worst year for cars?

81 was the launch of the mighty Delorean DMC12. I rest my case 😀

Depends which hat you have on?

Jeremy Clarkson would argue the MGB was at that point. I guess in US form, he was right:

-65BHP from a Smog-spec 1.8 B series
-Suspension updates on the later rubber bumper cars were too little too late.
-Rumour had it MG were losing a decent amount of cash on each car sold.

For me? I've always thought it was the early 90s. Out went the pizzaz and madness of the 80s, and in came the cost cutting and safe playing of design. For me, I'm thinking

-Escort Mk5
-Vauxhall Cavaliar
-VW Golf Mk3

You had those who pursued the old guard which seemed like a better way to do it, but then maybe that's what compromised the companies later on in developing cars later on in the case of some brands. Maybe they cost too much to keep having an old idea going. Cars I'm thinking of are

-Porsche 968
-Jaguar XJ-S
-Jaguar XJ40/X300
-Lotus Esprit

Now, don't get me wrong, I'd happily have a late model Allegro in a bright colour on the outside and/or inside, but it also embodies everything that was bad about 80/1. Designs that were progressive and interesting from the 70s getting facelifted to keep up with trends until it ended up with a somewhat confused identity.

Citroen were still selling the 2CV, a design that was barely changed since the car first entered production decades earlier.  The rest of their range like the CX, and the GSA (formerly the GS), had their chrome replaced with blocky plastic, and of course you still had the Visa that had a face only its mother (and me) could love.


On the other hand you had companies like Fiat who had really good cohesive designs like the Panda and the Strada/Ritmo, cars that looked relevant for the era and even stylish in their way. Although both of these would stay in production and be facelifted beyond their design lifespan, especially so for the Panda which became an iconic car much like the 500 before it.




I couldn't say 80/1 was a particularly bad year for cars though. Some bad cars were out there, undoubtedly, and some were bad because they were so out of date with hasty cosmetic upgrades. We'd have to wait a few more years for more really interesting and new vehicles to appear, like the Ford Sierra. Mind you, we'd also get the Maestro which was a car of the late 70s, released in the early 80s and looked dated when new, and which managed to remain in some form of production into the 21st century.

As usual, that’s written by an American that thinks America is the centre of the universe. It’s that attitude that got American car manufacturers into the huge trouble they got into in that period.

Granted, American products at the time were more than a bit sh1t, as the article details quite well. What it fails to mention is what Americans were buying instead and why. The passing mention of VWs and Datsun as small cars that Americans bought because of the fuel crisis is just plain wrong. If you’re that hard up you’re worried about running costs, you’re not in the position to rush out and buy a new car, so the idea that people were buying foreign compacts instead of full-size American models is rather stupid.

Where American manufacturers were really losing ground was with mid-to-large European saloons/wagons. What we would call executive models, like Volvo 2 and 7 series, bmw 5 series, mercedes e class, jaguar saloons, etc.
These cars were not small or cheap, but offered things that the American full-size or even midsize sector didn’t- quality, refinement, and a much stronger mix of economy and performance due to smooth straight 6 engines with efi. They had ‘conventional’ FERWD drivetrain packages, but with many technological refinements under the skin. Body and interior styling was muted and unfussy. They ticked so many boxes for conservative middle class America, and the European brands mentioned made huge gains in America during that period, even though the cars in question where generally much more expensive than their American counterparts.

So yeah, a bad time for the US manufacturers, but to think they’re the be-all and end-all of global car manufacturing at the period is incredibly naive.

Mk3 escort. Quite a significant change from the mk2. As was the mk2 Cavalier, both going from rear to front wheel drive.

One car released in 1980 was an absolute game changer
The Audi Quattro.
Also the Austin Metro was a pretty significant car.

The European Car of the Years:

1980 Lancia Delta:



1981 Ford Escort III:



US Best Selling Car of 1980: Oldsmobile Cutlass:



I do agree with Dez, I think during the 80's the US was going through the "Malaise Era", and the Europeans & Japanese could offer Ecomony, Reliablity, Refinement etc...

link

An interesting topic and oddly I was playing a "classifieds" game with a couple of mates yesterday.

We had to find 3 cars for sale in different brackets (0-5k , 5-20k, Unlimited) from the year of our birth. The years were 92, 89 and 81 for me.

I had the worst options by a long way tbh. In the unlimited bracket I may have found the best car of the bunch but that is surely a massive outlier. RUF BTR 2

It got better the following year when the Sierra landed and broke the mould. I can remember seeing them as a 12 year old and thinking how amazing they were.

I had an 85/86 orion built in Dagenham during the many strikes/walkouts and apparently a few fords of this year suffered more than other years with rust as the bodies were left outside during the strike with only primer on them.