1980s supercars

I always thought that was in response to Chrysler messing about with his design for the Diablo (my understanding of the story)

That was the Top Trump in my set as a kid.

yep, that’s where I know it from 😆 I didn’t think they really existed.

Seeing some of the cars posted on here makes me think of super models and readers wives
But these exotic Italian supercars expensive, high maintenance , rust the same and look dated, give me a Datsun 260z from the seventies still good looking

I’m sorry, you’ve what now??

The benefits of a wealthy former car dealing uncle. Over the years I’ve had the pleasure of trying out his Countach, Diablo SV, Continental GT, 358, Phantom, Chrysler 300 SRT8.. shall I go on? 🙂

All great experiences (despite barely being able to squeeze into the GT cockpit), although, one that I possibly enjoyed most was the JCW Mini (!) – that thing was a real world ballistic go-kart, utterly driveable and totally grin inducing.

I’ve got a Lambo/Ferarri track day coming up next summer – can’t wait to to thrash one in open space!

P-Jay – Member

And makes everything else look slow, old fashioned and a bit boring.

Bloody boring to look at though. I’m sure it’s a great car, but it looks a bit bland, IMO.

Bloody boring to look at though. I’m sure it’s a great car, but it looks a bit bland, IMO.

Well, if Sir prefers something a bit more lively

They did make a bright orange one with a massive wing and lots of little wings and stuff.

The dad of a mate of mine has a Pantera, it’s barely moved in thirty years and is quite an ugly thing but it does sound nice.
He also has a Lotus Carlton in entirely factory spec which up until recently was his daily driver!

And definitely F40 for the absolute win here, 959 2nd, but a distant 2nd.

I was always very fond of the 512 Berlinetta Boxer.

Just so cool.

Check out Harry’s Garage on youtube for some Countach goodness.

Infact have a look at his youtube channel,
lots of interesting cars on there.

LS – Member

The dad of a mate of mine has a Pantera, it’s barely moved in thirty years and is quite an ugly thing but it does sound nice.

Yeah but it’s brilliantly ugly. Unlike that Ferrari, which is uglily ugly.

I’d like the Aston please.

Saw a Countach on the M25 tonight. It looked tired. It looked old. Nobody really paid it much attention. My 11 year old remains unimpressed by them.

288 GTO for me, please. 🙂

Jay Leno’s Garage has an interesting online episode about his Countach and living with them, it was his every day car back in the day. 🙂

Got to be the Testarossa for me.

Wasn’t totally sold on the styling BITD (preferred the 308 and 328) but it’s aged very well and, of course there was…

Harry’s Garage You Tube channel also has a couple of episodes on the Testarossa including driving one to North Africa (which I thought was great).

1980’s supercars for me were either the Testarossa or a 911Turbo. It has turned me into a bit of Porsche fan!

He also has a Lotus Carlton in entirely factory spec which up until recently was his daily driver!

Does anyone remember the media kicking up a huge fuss about this car? Four doors and HOW fast – cars like this should be banned! 😆

newrobdob – Member

THE Supercar.

It might be the ultimate Ferrari, amazing handling and power etc etc. It might be an amazing car I would agree, but at being a supercar, vehicles which shock and amaze and are coveted by all, the Countach will remain king forever. [/quote]

By almost every metric you could use to judge them the F40 (or the 288 GTO) is superior. Faster, rarer, more valuable, better handling, racing heritage, first production car to do 200mph, last car signed off by Enzo Ferrari, one of the first production cars to use carbon fibre body panels, the fastest accelerating and fastest top speed car of the decade. If you were to buy one as an investment you’d buy the Ferrari, if you were to buy one to drive you’d buy the Ferrari. It was actually faster and more powerful than claimed as opposed to grossly exaggerated figures and under performing.

You could argue that the Countach sounds better and looks better, that’s it. Both are entirely subjective though so not great grounds, and seeing as the best looking Countach’s are the first gen mid 70s one it would be hard to argue it’s an 80s supercar at all 😉

muddyground – Member
Saw a Countach on the M25 tonight. It looked tired. It looked old. Nobody really paid it much attention. My 11 year old remains unimpressed by them.

I’d bet it was a kit car, I saw one a few weeks back, it looks tired and a bit ‘off’ the spoiler looked a bit warped, the paint rough and a bit tatty – Regchecked it and it was a kit with a rover V8.

Thanks to the current classic car bubble the cheap ones are £250k and the older ones are £1m. They’re all tucked away in airconed garages or those bubble things too valuable to drive.

Does anyone remember the media kicking up a huge fuss about this car? Four doors and HOW fast – cars like this should be banned!

That’s why he bought it! At the time he was driving a Sapphire Cossie, which he mothballed for a few years before giving it to his son (my mate) when he was 21. We had some fun in that 😯

 We had some fun in that 

Well, no-one here will judge you for that. 🙂

That red one a Vector W8?

Countach, Diablo SV, Continental GT, 358, Phantom, Chrysler 300 SRT8

It was going so well…

I’m afraid Binners is right.
That Pantera really is a thing of beauty.

jimjam – Member

By almost every metric you could use to judge them the F40 (or the 288 GTO) is superior.

And that’s why the Countach in my opinion is a better supercar.
Metrics….measuring stuff…testing…values…blah blah. It’s just very, erm….Pistonheads.

Most people won’t own or experience these cars, so metrics are irrelevant.
But as something to lust after and have as a poster on your bedroom wall. Something to dream about owning and getting properly excited to actually see one….it’s the Countach for me.

It was going so well…

Dodge Viper engined, was ‘treated’ to 150mph experience in that one.

Love the history of the F40. But yeah, the romance and daftness of the Countach wins it for me.
My dream car is ‘slightly’ more humble though, I’d pick the bag o’shite DeLorean. Like Stumpy says, it’s about fulfilling your kid dreams. Flux capacitors and all.

Three pages in and nobody has brought up the Reliant RS200?

Even 30 years later they are stil competing. I’d take one of those or a 038 over anything mentioned so far.

Or a twin turbo Delorean.

The tesstarossa should only have one mirror,

How about a Porsche 924 that sold for half million quid? A bit faster than the base model that I had….

https://www.silverstoneauctions.com/porsche-924-carrera-gtr

By almost every metric you could use to judge them the F40 (or the 288 GTO) is superior. Faster, rarer, more valuable, better handling, racing heritage, first production car to do 200mph, last car signed off by Enzo Ferrari, one of the first production cars to use carbon fibre body panels, the fastest accelerating and fastest top speed car of the decade. If you were to buy one as an investment you’d buy the Ferrari, if you were to buy one to drive you’d buy the Ferrari. It was actually faster and more powerful than claimed as opposed to grossly exaggerated figures and under performing.

You can say all that but if I was given the option of any supercar for free (and I couldn’t sell it) I’d have the Lambo.

I simple couldn’t pretend I was in the Cannonball Run in the F40.

Harry Mercalf has one and he’s had a custom power steering unit fitted to it which apparently transforms the driving experience.

Slightly out of the era and completely in Japanese but this is fun (sort of)

I simple couldn’t pretend I was in the Cannonball Run in the F40.

Are you pretending to be the red head or the blonde?

I agree the Lambo Contact is the ultimate supercar full stop. Of any decade. However not sure i’d have one if I could because they are supposed to be truly horrible to drive and what’s the point if the thing is a pig to drive?

I think for me the 959 is the ultimate ‘real world’ supercar. Supercar performance and enough of a supercar bonkers thing about it, but will be capable enough ,and reliable enough, to be driven on real roads.

Hate this thread, was offered a ferrari gts turbo (basically a 2 litre turbo intercooler 328) for 55k euro, missus said no… Just need to convince her it will be a better investment than a house

jimjam – Member

By almost every metric you could use to judge them the F40 (or the 288 GTO) is superior. Faster, rarer, more valuable, better handling, racing heritage, first production car to do 200mph, last car signed off by Enzo Ferrari, one of the first production cars to use carbon fibre body panels, the fastest accelerating and fastest top speed car of the decade. If you were to buy one as an investment you’d buy the Ferrari, if you were to buy one to drive you’d buy the Ferrari. It was actually faster and more powerful than claimed as opposed to grossly exaggerated figures and under performing.

Spot the tales of the fanboy! 😆

The F40 never did 200mph, it famously topped out at 199mph.
The various Porsches of the era were quicker, faster and actually won races.
Dry yer eyes! 😛

supposed to be truly horrible to drive

It’s often quoted by people who step out of their new modern luxo barges and drive one for the first time. No they aren’t easy to drive but they aren’t as bad as people make out.

They aren’t, and never were, designed to be driven slowly which is what most people do in them. Apparently at higher speeds everything lightens up and they handle very well indeed.

As I mentioned before Harry Metcalf had power steering fitted to his – he has a video on YouTube about what they are like to drive which is worth watching.

They are designed for Italians so tall and far people don’t fit very well but I think I’d be great in one as I’m small!

sbob – Member

Spot the tales of the fanboy!

The F40 never did 200mph, it famously topped out at 199mph.
The various Porsches of the era were quicker, faster and actually won races.
Dry yer eyes!

Oh yes, admittedly I was a huge Ferrari fan boy growing up. I’ve bimbled about in a Testarossa and had a full bore passenger run in an F40 on a closed motorway. The only Porsches of the era that were faster were limited run, modified or race homologation versions. Not production cars.

The F40 was raced extensively in Competizione trim and did very well against the other GT class cars of that era. An Italian magazine timed the car at 202.6 mph. An F40 with aero wheels (due to local regs) but otherwise stock did 229mph at Bonneville. It’s probably harder for non VAG manufacterers to achieve max speed runs without a facility like VW’s test track.

Also this.

The 512BB remains absolutely gorgeous, especially in that un-Ferrari shade of metallic blue. Far, far prettier than the Testarossa that replaced it IMHO of course.

The Lotus Carlton amused me. In the words of Jasper Carrott “What sort of family needs a 170mph saloon car, the Fittipaldis?”

I’d bet it was a kit car, I saw one a few weeks back, it looks tired and a bit ‘off’ the spoiler looked a bit warped, the paint rough and a bit tatty – Regchecked it and it was a kit with a rover V8.

Exactly this. I’ve seen a couple of very ropey looking Countaches, complete with terrible metallic paintwork and wonky interiors. A mate almost bought one that was apparently powered by a 1.3 litre Ford engine. Unfortunately, the existence of the counterfeit Countach means that genuine examples are judged with the suspicion usually reserved for that dodgy bloke in the pub who keeps showing off the Rolex they bought for a tenner on holiday.

Depending on your definition of production car, it could have been the Jaguar XJ220 which was the first production car to hit 200mph.
Unfair to compare the Jag and the Ferrari though, what with the F40 being not much more than a street legal track car, whereas the XJ220 is a fully finished supercar that is equally at home on the road and track, not suffering from the horrendous turbo lag or lack of basic functionality of the F40, as well as being quicker, faster, faster around the ‘Ring and much rarer if that sort of thing is important to you.

not suffering from the horrendous turbo lag

Really? Watched this last night, and they paint a different picture…

Not production cars

Depends on your definition.

The F40 was raced extensively in Competizione trim

How extensively can you race eight cars? 😉

did very well lost against the other GT class cars of that era

😆

An Italian magazine timed the car at 202.6 mph

‘Course they did, and my Mum tells me I’m handsome. 😆

An F40 with aero wheels (due to local regs) but otherwise stock did 229mph at Bonneville

No it didn’t, and it wasn’t stock.

I wonder what would happen if Jaguar ever visited Bonneville? 😕

Local regs must have changed as standard tyres were used. 😉

The XJ220 tends to get a bit of bad press for the controversy surrounding its development and the fact it was overshadowed by the Mclaren F1, but it was an astonishingly quick car for the 1990s