The Eighties was a transformative decade for the automotive business, particularly because it was recovering from the Malaise Period of the ’70s. With engine energy rising again to affordable ranges and automobile design shifting away from the tendencies that gave us a few of the worst-looking automobiles from the Seventies, automobile producers began releasing fashions that had been as soon as once more able to proudly owning the quarter mile.
And whereas there have been fairly just a few choices from that decade that had been comparatively fast, there have been solely a handful that achieved actually iconic standing. These automobiles mixed energy, efficiency, and appears — a refreshing change from the anemic engines and dreadful aesthetics of the earlier decade — and that also maintain as much as today. This was additionally the time when turbocharged engines began gaining reputation, permitting automobiles just like the Buick GNX and Ford Mustang SVO to beat bigger V8 engines with their smaller V6 and I4 motors.
We can’t have the ability to checklist all of the autos that each teenager from the Eighties swooned over, so that you could be disillusioned to search out that your favourite is not listed beneath. However, these are a few of the most legendary muscle automobiles to grace the drag strips of the Eighties that stay legendary greater than 40 years later.
Buick GNX
The Buick GNX was the automobile maker’s parting present for the Regal Grand Nationwide. The GNX, which stands for Grand Nationwide eXperimental, was the highest trim for the 1987 mannequin yr. This automobile was initially meant to be restricted to only 500 items (all painted black), however a complete of 547 had been finally produced, making it one of many rarest muscle automobiles to enter serial manufacturing. It is primarily based on the Buick Grand Nationwide (itself a higher-performance model of the Buick Regal), which featured an already highly effective 245 hp turbo V6 that helped it beat Lamborghini in sure exams.
As an alternative of engaged on it instantly, Buick despatched the Grand Nationwide to the Car Specialty Firm and McLaren Engines in Michigan, which upped the ability output to 300 hp. They did this by changing the inventory turbo with a bigger one which had a ceramic turbine wheel, utilizing ported and polished heads for higher airflow, and including a recalibrated chip to the automobile’s ECU. Additionally they modified the automated transmission to make it extra aggressive and used a brief torque arm and a Panhard rod to ship energy from the engine to the rear axle.
All this energy and efficiency meant that the GNX might go from zero to 60 in 4.7 seconds and run the quarter mile in 13.5 seconds with a entice pace of 102 mph. This made it a legend in straight-line efficiency, with Automotive and Driver saying that the one different automobile obtainable within the U.S. that might beat its zero-to-60 time was the Porsche 911 Turbo’s 4.6 seconds. However greater than its pace and acceleration, the opposite factor that makes the GNX so iconic is its mysterious all-black colour scheme and squared-off physique traces, which gave it the Darth Vader nickname.
Chevrolet Camaro IROC-Z
The third-generation Chevrolet Camaro got here out in 1982 and spent ten years on the showroom ground earlier than it was changed by the catfish technology. And though it was launched just a few years after the worst of the ’70s gas crises, this technology Camaro nonetheless had a few of the weakest engine choices obtainable (beginning at 90 hp). However it was additionally on this technology that Chevrolet launched the IROC-Z — the mannequin’s high trim that was impressed by the Worldwide Race of Champions.
The IROC-Z fastened the low horsepower problem in 1985 by giving it a fuel-injected 305-cubic-inch V8 that put out 215 hp and 275 pound-feet of torque, permitting the automobile to go from zero to 60 in 6.9 seconds (versus the just about 10 seconds it wanted earlier than the IROC-Z arrived). This was then elevated to a 350-cubic-inch small-block V8, growing its output to 245 hp and 345 pound-feet. The brand new engine allowed it to hit 60 mph in 5.8 seconds and run a 14.4-second quarter-mile entice pace of 97.8 mph.
The Camaro was nothing however a reasonably face when GM launched it for the primary time in 1982. However the arrival of the IROC-Z reworked it from a magnificence queen into an actual thoroughbred, permitting it to compete with different muscle automobiles of its time. And by the latter a part of the last decade, you’d now not be ashamed to drive a Chevrolet Camaro — so long as it had the IROC-Z badge, that’s.
Dodge Shelby Charger GLHS
Many automobile fans overlook the fifth-generation Dodge Charger, which some take into account an underwhelming comeback from the Malaise-ridden fourth-generation mannequin. This automobile is predicated on Dodge’s Omni, which was Chrysler’s economy-car reply to the inflow of inexpensive Japanese automobiles. However what made it worse was that it was wrong-wheel drive, with energy going from the engine to the street through the entrance axle. That’s till the legendary Carroll Shelby bought his fingers on it.
The Dodge Shelby Charger arrived in 1983, the place he squeezed 107 hp from its 2.2-liter four-banger — some 13 hp greater than the usual configuration. This allowed drivers to go from zero to 60 in 9 seconds and end the quarter mile in 16.8 seconds at 82 mph. Not a lot, however that is already a number of enjoyable for a automobile that value below $8,300 at the moment. Nonetheless, this automobile reached true muscle automobile standing when Shelby gave it the GLHS remedy in 1987.
The Dodge Shelby Charger GLHS — which suggests “Goes Like Hell S’extra” — retained the identical 2.2-liter displacement of the Shelby Charger however gained a turbo. This pushed its output to 175 hp, permitting it to go from zero to 60 in 6.7 seconds and beat the quarter mile in 14.9 seconds at 95 mph. This beat the Ford Mustang SVO’s zero-to-60 time and even put it inside spitting distance of the IROC-Z’s quarter-mile time, all with a $12,995 beginning value, making it an inexpensive automobile you may carry to the drag strip. That is why it is on our checklist of the perfect Dodge Chargers ever made.
Ford Mustang SVO
The Mustang has all the time been certainly one of Ford’s most iconic fashions, even with its “missteps” with the Ford Mustang II. The Fox Physique Mustang is the third-generation Ford pony automobile, constructed from 1979 to 1993, and it is also the primary mannequin that went below the microscope of Ford’s Particular Car Operations group, or SVO. Many purists would take into account the Ford Mustang SVO a scandalous selection, particularly given the truth that it did not also have a V6 below the hood. As an alternative, the Ford SVO crew put a turbocharged 2.3-liter four-cylinder engine that put out 176 hp mated to a five-speed handbook. This might sound minuscule immediately, however that’s nearly the identical energy output because the 4.9-liter V8 discovered within the 1983 Mustang GT.
Other than extracting a lot extra energy from a smaller engine, the engineering crew additionally labored on the suspension. This resulted in new suspension bits, together with solid decrease management arms from the Lincoln Continental mated to adjustable Koni low-pressure shock absorbers, and tuned springs, bushings, and an anti-roll bar. Additionally they gave it ventilated disc brakes to match the rise in engine efficiency with higher stopping energy.
The Ford Mustang SVO has a zero-to-60 time of seven.5 seconds, and it finishes the quarter mile in 15.5 seconds with a entice pace of 90 mph. It isn’t fairly the identical uncooked efficiency because the Buick GNX, nevertheless it does provide comparatively good dealing with and wonderful journey high quality, making it ultimate as a day by day driver. Extra importantly, even with its restricted 10,000-unit run, it had a a lot cheaper price tag that saved it inside attain of most drivers within the Eighties.
Pontiac Firebird twentieth Anniversary Turbo Trans Am
The Firebird and the Camaro had been typically mistaken for being the identical automobile, particularly through the ’80s. And whereas each fashions had extra similarities than ever again then, the 1989 Pontiac Firebird twentieth Anniversary Trans Am Turbo was a novel mannequin in that it was the one one which had an engine that the Camaro did not get — the three.8-liter turbo V6 additionally used on the legendary Buick GNX. Pontiac claimed that this engine put out 250 hp at 4,400 rpm and 340 pound-feet of torque at 2,800 rpm, however some argue that it delivered excess of that.
One would anticipate related efficiency between the GNX and Trans Am, on condition that they use the identical engine, however the Trans Am’s extra aerodynamic physique and fashionable design meant that GM’s engineers might push the automobile to its limits. This made it the quickest drag racing icon on our checklist, able to hitting 60 mph in 4.6 seconds and ending the quarter-mile run in simply 13.4 seconds, with a entice pace of 101 mph, even with an automated transmission. In truth, if you happen to hold your heel planted on the ground, the Trans Am can break 130 mph in a bit over half a minute — one thing inconceivable with the GNX’s electronically restricted 124 mph high pace.
This efficiency, alongside its restricted run of 1,500 items, made it one of the sought-after muscle automobiles of its time. You may anticipate this automobile’s value to have gone down over the many years, however due to its heritage, it is fairly costly for its age. If you wish to get one in your storage, you have to be able to spend someplace between $35,000 to $48,000, making it one of many pricier basic Pontiac automobiles from the Eighties.
