A trip to the film archives takes us back today to OldMotors’ very own 1981 Fiat Brava, then just an unloved old car from a largely forgotten make. Better known as the 131, Fiat changed…
Posts tagged Cars of the 1980s
Acura Integra Mk1: The Social Climber
It’s fair to say that nobody was quite sure how American customers would react to luxury cars from Japan in January of 1985. In the works since 1981, it was that month that Honda introduced…
Sprezzatura, Swedish Style: Volvo 780 Bertone
At the time of Volvo’s first collaboration with Bertone in 1976, Volvos were still distinctly middle-class cars. By 1991, they were “premium” machines, at least in the U.S. At the very top of the line…
The Cadillac of Minivans: Oldsmobile Silhouette
GM’s first attempt at minivans, the long-lived 1985 Chevy Astro/GMC Safari, were more “van” than “mini.” This wasn’t so surprising since they were designed in a hurry and therefore based mostly on off-the-shelf truck components….
The First 3-Series: BMW E21
It has beautiful, classic BMW lines by Paul Bracq. It has excellent handling, loads of room, and it’s fun to drive like a proper BMW. It’s even historic – the first car to wear the…
A Van By Any Other Name: Mitsubishi “Wagon”
The Mitsubishi Delica name dates back to 1968, but it was in the 1980s that the van became famous as a go-anywhere overlander. Today, 1980s and 1990s JDM AWD Diesel Delicas are popular enough in…
Postmodern Italian: Fiat Ritmo/Strada
Long forgotten by most in America, the Fiat Strada – called the Fiat Ritmo in Europe – was delightfully strange and very familiar at the same time. Sometimes accused of being a copy of the…
The First Peugeot-born Citroën: LN/LNA
No doubt President Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, having eked out an election win over labor favorite Francois Mitterrand only months earlier, breathed a sigh of relief on December 4, 1974. Ailing Citroën, for months in very…
Maserati 228: Building a Better BiTurbo
It looks like a Maserati BiTurbo coupe and in a sense it is – but it’s not like other BiTurbos. It’s a Maserati 228 – also known as Tipo AM334. Until the 1990s and the…
The New Wave Eighties: Renault Fuego
The Renault Fuego was old news by 1985, and definitely *not* a success in the U.S., where survivors are very rare now, but it was a nice car to drive and had a style all…
Modern Vanning: Toyota HiAce 4wD
In its first few years, it was only a Toyota, but the 4th-gen HiAce van has been in production in various countries since the spring of 1989 and is still being churned out in fair…
Raising Arese: Alfa-Romeo Milano
The Alfa-Romeo 75 was the House of Arese’s replacement for the first “Nuova Giulietta,” which ran from 1977 to 1985, but Americans had never seen the wedge-shaped Giuletta, or the AlfaSud, or the Alfa Six,…