Iconic Cars of the 80s: The Sportsters

Where would the '80s be without those high end dream cars, those Sportsters that caught our eye along the roadways or perhaps on the interstates. Although there are many sports cars that fit into the category, this article will focus on the high end sports cars, those more expensive cars that we truly dreamed about.

The Ferrari 308GTSi made famous by the television series Magnum P.I. was that beautiful yet racy car we would often see Tom Selleck racing around to save someone from the bad guy. These cars were powered by a V-8 with a varied model and from the GTB, GTS, and the i versions (fuel injected) of each from 1977 until 1983. These impressive cars packed serious punch in the small 2.0 and 2.9 litre V-8s cranked out a maximum 252 bhp!

The Lamborghini Contach was a unique sports car with it's vertical opening (scissor) doors and the V-12 engine. This impressive import cranked out 414 horses in the American market with the 25th Anniversary edition in 1988 reaching a top speed of 183 MPH!

(5 Vintage Porsche Models for Sale - Autotrader)

And that Porsche (it's Por-sha!) that raced by very infrequently yet we still saw these spectacular sports cars zooming past and easily depict these as iconic 80s cars. The 928 and the 911, shown above, were impressive machines including: the 928 enjoyed a production run from 1977 - 1995 with 4 available V-8s yet there were multiple modifications made to each of those V-8s making each car a nearly unique build with 222 - 310 HP available. Equally, the 911 had various versions itself with the 911, 930 (turbo versioned 911), Targa, and the Carrera. These car's looks remained nearly unchanged from 1973 - 1989 making them a true staple for the wealthy owners. Their unique engine being only 4-cylinders gave them another unique niche in that although a compact engine, the mighty engines were able to achieve upwards of 260 HP with the Carrera receiving a flat 6 upgrade allowing it to crank out 300 HP.

What was your dream Sportster? Continue to follow our series as we move into the Iconic Trucks of the 80s.