1986 is best remembered for the Chernobyl disaster and Maradonna’s ‘Hand of God’. At the cinema, Top Gun was the year’s highest grossing film, while the biggest single was Falco’s Rock Me Amadeus.
A vintage year it was not (fortunately, I was only two years old, so I had no idea). That was largely true in the car world, too, but there were still a number of significant launches. This was, after all, the year that gave us the legendary BMW M3 and iconic Ford Sierra Cosworth. And the Porsche 959, still one of the greatest supercars there has ever been.
Click through the gallery below to see every car that was launched 30 years ago.
Audi 80 – An advanced design in its day, with handsome, aero-honed styling and fully-galvanized body. Not especially spacious, dull to drive and stingily equipped, but very dependable. Brilliant diesels were popular with fleets
BMW 3-Series Convertible – The first factory-built 3-Series drop-top. Had 4 proper seats and typical BMW quality and handling. Always the best in class and sold by the boat-load
BMW 7-Series – The car that proved BMW could build as good a luxury car as Mercedes. Unlike the S-Class, it was almost sporty to drive, too. Styling hasn’t really dated, either
BMW M3 – Built for touring car racing, which it dominated into the 90s. Road car was just epic, with a searing 2.3 4-cyl engine and pin-point handling. It became a legend in its own lifetime and is now highly prized
Cadillac Allante – General Motors’ attempt to take on the Mercedes SL. A handsome thing, styled and built by Pininfarina, but FWD chassis saddled it with less than inspiring handling
Citroen AX – Fiesta rival based on the vaunted Peugeot 205. Tinny and basic, but fun to drive and surprisingly tough. Hot GT/GTi an absolute riot
Fiat Croma – One of the first ‘shared platform’ cars, being closely related to the Alfa 164, Lancia Thema and Saab 9000. Blockily stylish looks by Giugiaro and very spacious, but little reason to buy one over a Granada. Turbo was fast, though
Ford Escort – Heavily updated version of the Mk3, introduced in ’80. Utterly conventional and not at all interesting, but that didn’t stop it being a best-seller. Still a common sight into this century, but non-XR/RS cars almost extinct now
Ford Sierra RS Cosworth – The iconic Cossie was born to win in Group A touring car racing, which it did. A lot. Road-going version was relatively affordable and became a working class hero until joy riders spoiled the fun. Many were then ruined by tuners. Unmolested ones now fetch big money
Honda Integra – Pricey and with a surprisingly basic spec in the UK and never that popular as result. Very practical, easy to drive and endlessly reliable, though. And it had pop-up headlights. Massively popular in America where it was badged as an Acura
Honda Legend – Designed and developed in co-operation with Rover, who produced the 800 from the same platform. Perfectly competent as a near-Jaguar rival, but never made much impact in the UK. Hugely popular in the US, though
Isuzu Piazza – Turbocharged wedge with styling by Giugiaro and chassis by Lotus. Live rear axle always a problem, but it was happy to slide about. And it was quick. Never caught on in the UK thanks to a thin dealer network, where its only stablemate was the Trooper 4×4
Jaguar XJ – The first all-new XJ since ’68. Fundamentally a good car with excellent handling, powerful engines and a lavish interior. But quality was never quite up to the mark. Still sold well enough to keep Jaguar afloat during difficult times
Nissan Bluebird – Hugely important, being the first Japanese car built in the UK. Deathly dull but good value, strong and ultra-reliable, making it popular with OAPs, minicabbers and banger racers. Never caught on with the all-important fleet buyers, though
Nissan Sunny – Like every previous Sunny it was spacious, well-equipped, dependable and good value. But quite incredibly boring
Peugeot 309 – Talented contender against the Escort/Astra/Golf. Revisionist history says the GTi version was better than the 205 GTi thanks to more stable handling. Diesels were exceptional for the day
Porsche 959 – Techfest powerhouse with 4WD, advanced aero and a 2.8 twin-turbo flat-6 making 444bhp. Top speed of 197mph briefly made it the fastest car in the world
Renault 5 GT Turbo – Pocket-rocket rival to the 205 GTi had massive turbo lag and a too-stiff ride, but was a thrillingly feisty thing to drive. The Max Power brigade ruined it, though, and killed off most of them
Renault 21 – Replacement for the ageing 18 brought a certain joie de vivre to the otherwise deeply dull repmobile class, thanks to its good looks and entertaining handling. Diesels notably powerful and refined for the time, too
Rover 800 – A hugely important car for beleaguered Austin Rover. Had the right ingredients to be great, but a lack of development and constant quality issues held it back. Still sold reasonably well and was popular with the police
SEAT Malaga – Saloon version of the Ibiza hatchback from a time when such things were actually relevant. Decent to drive and quite good value, but never a big seller in the UK. Seems to be just 1 left
Toyota Camry – Propelled the Camry name to the top of the sales charts in the US, but largely ignored over here. A worthy contender against the Granada but limited range and high price counted against it. Deeply boring, too
Toyota Supra – The big coupe got a bit lardy with this generation, but it was very well-equipped, handled well and was hugely fast with a turbo engine. It’s never been cool, though, despite the pop-up headlights
TVR S-Series – 70s design revived and updated with Ford V6/Rover V8 engines as a lower-cost alternative to increasingly expensive ‘Wedge’ cars. Fast enough, fun to drive and even reasonably well made
Vauxhall Belmont – Saloon version of the Astra hatchback. Popular with company car drivers and traditionalist private buyers. Catastrophic survival rates; well over 30k on the road at the turn of the century, now just 102
Vauxhall Carlton/Opel Omega – Granada rival that sold in huge numbers to middle managers across Europe. Hardly interesting and probably didn’t deserve Car of The Year award, but very spacious and reliable. Very fast with 6-cyl engines, too. Rust was a big killer
Volvo 480 – Odd-looking, Dutch-built coupe offered four proper seats and a usefully large boot. Not all that fun to drive and questionable quality, though. At least it had pop-up headlights
By Only Motors
