We tend to live a bit in the past here at CC, so the question today is which car from 1985 would you pick to drive for the next thirty years? Given how late it is in the year, either 1985 or 1986 model years are available at your disposal. And since I didn’t want to prejudice your pick, I’m not showing you any cars from 1985. You know them well enough….now you get to re-write history, pick your favorite, and have to drive it daily for thirty years. Rust magically doesn’t exist, but you do have to maintain it.
I would have to say my 1985 BMW 745i (E23) which I have owned for 15 years.
I also wouldn’t mind an ’86 Buick Grand National since I had one for a number of years but sold it to pay off some bills. Others I would gladly have are ta Porsche 930 and a Suburban 2500.
1985 Buick Park Avenue or Olds Ninety Eight – the FWD C-Body. Really spacious inside, low beltline with lots of visibility (unlike today’s gunslit window sedans).
The first thing that comes to mind is an A2 VW GTI, followed by an Audi 4000 Quattro
AFAIK, I can’t have a 300CE or a 300TE, so that narrows it down to the 300E.
On the sporty side, I’d go with a 911 or a Supra.
What would I have bought in 85, that is easy an HO 5.0 ‘Stang.
What would I have bought had I known that I would have to keep it as my only car for 30 years? A Family Truckster, I mean Crown Victoria Station Wagon.
I would have to go for either the Chevy Caprice or Monte Carlo. A Monte Carlo SS, in white, without the T-top would be great, though the standard version with a landau roof would also nice. If I needed a family car it would be either the Caprice sedan or the wagon in the the woodgrain version. These are great RWD American cars with available V8 engines and proven reliability.
Proven LACK of reliability, that is. That was standard at GM.
If I had been old enough to drive in 1985, I probably would have picked some kind of expensive Italian exotic and ended up regretting it. If a time travel accident landed me in 1985, maybe a Honda Prelude Si. If the E30 BMW 325i had been available at that point, I might take that instead, although I think in the States in ’85 a six-cylinder E30 still meant the 325e. (Which is not without its merits, but the 325i would likely be more fun.)
One of my lifelong dream cars, an 85 (or 86) Mercury Capri with 5.0 V8, stick shift and T-tops. Something along these lines would do nicely.
I had a 1985 RS and a 1986 Sport Coupe 5.0L. I loved them both at the time. But, the 1985 disintegrated about year two. The 1986 ran flawlessly for three years. I traded the 85 for the aforementioned Dodge Lancer ES turbo and sold the 1986 to a broker when my first daughter came along.
Hmmm, decisions decisions. Mine, by type.
Truck: Toyota pickup
Family hauler: Mopar minivan or Caprice wagon
Wagon/sedan: Taurus (kinda surprised I haven’t seen this on here very much as they were causing quite the stir this time in ’85)
Coupe: Supra or Grand National (very different I know, but both are appealing to me)
I owned a 1985 300ZX Turbo and it was in many ways a very fine car – but 30 years, no. A good friend bought his first Mercedes in 1985 – a new 190E. We loved that little car and were it not for the great improvements in auto safety, I could see myself driving one even today. There a quite a few on the roads here in SoCal. Sufficient if not great power, right sized, classic styling and interior, big car feel and solidity. Long term maintenance would be a challenge but you’d still have a car that would make you proud.
Purely from an economic point of view, one should choose a 1985 Ferrari Testarossa, and then watch it go up in value. However, the rules are that you must drive it daily. It is not specified how much you must drive it each day. What if I drive it from my garage to the end of my driveway and back? Or tow it with a rope around the block once per day?
If I must use it as my primary means of transportation to and from work etc, then the Testarossa is out.
Now 3 vehicles come to mind:
1. Jeep cherokee 2door 2WD stickshift
2. Dodge Ramcharger 2WD stickshift
and the third is a little bit cheating:
3. an unsold 1984 VAM American DL wagon (with the VAM 282 six, 2WD, stickshift) still sitting on the dealer lot in Mexico in 1985
If the question is what is the ONE AND ONLY car you can have for 30 years beginning in late 1985, there are only two options for me – a full size van or a Suburban. I don’t think I’d want the van, so that leaves the ‘Burb. Over the next thirty years I’ll have to haul a large family, support two businesses, and tow a number of large items.
Given the weak chested nature of large cars in 1985, I’m surprised I’m may be only the second one to pick a Suburban after over 150 comments. The U.S. jag for Suburbans was well under way by that year.
If I can pick a 1985 car that gets to hang around for 30 years, alongside a variety of garage companions, I’d have to decide between a Mustang convertible or Buick Riviera convertible.
The Mustang would likely be easier to maintain, but the Riv remains a rare beauty thirty years later. I guess I’d really rather have the Buick.
You are actually more like the 4th or 5th person to answer Suburban. Since you also mentioned a fullsize van, I will say I have experience with that. In my family, we have owned a 1984 fullsize GM van and a 1988 Suburban, both RWD with the 6.2L diesel and 700R4 automatic. The van was my DD for a little over 3 years after my dad replaced it with the Suburban. The van was a full-windowed passenger van with 3 rows of seats. I chose the Suburban in my answer, but they were both good vehicles and similar in many respects. Both were equally competent at towing, and both had good traction in the snow with just all-season tires too.
The van was slightly easier to maneuver than the Suburban because of the short nose and better visibility. It also had more interior room because it was taller and because longer items could be stored under the seats on the long, flat floor. Downside to larger interior volume was it took a long time for the heat or A/C to have any effect. I think I would have preferred barn doors on the side instead of the slider. Cruise control mandatory for long trips, because your right leg would start to hurt from leaning against the doghouse for a long time. Sometimes frustrating working on the engine in the van due to lack of room with it tucked up under the firewall. However, there’s something to be said for removing the doghouse and changing the air filter, fuel filter or a burned out glowplug out of the weather, in relative comfort sitting in one of the front seat captain’s chairs.
Although I’m a sedan guy, I think over a 30 year haul I’d want something that could do pretty much anything…cruise, tow, haul, etc. so I would never have to look elsewhere for a resource when I needed it. Thus, depending on how I felt about height the day I went to the dealership:
Ford Country Squire with towing package or C10 Suburban.
My Vanagon is an ’84. I’ve never owned a newer vehicle. It keeps going! Doesn’t quite qualify tho.
I’d get the same car the Maddie and David drove in the TV show Moonlighting (which debuted in 1985), which, coincidentally, catalyzed my affair with the BMW 635CSi.
I waited 23 years for the car to depreciate to “affordable” (read: ‘cheap’ as a collector car, but expensive for many of us) and own one today.
Below is Cybill Shepherd (or, more likely a double) behind the wheel.
Excellent choice sir! I LOVED that show, and Maddie’s car.
1985 BMW 635CSi 5 speed manual
1985 Jaguar XJ-12 Series 3 sedan
1985 BMW 745 turbo
1985 Mercedes Benz 500SEL
1985 Toyota Supra Turbo
1985 Lincoln Mark VII LSC
1985 Porsche 911 Targa
1985 Cadillac Cimarron 2.8L ‘D’Oro(just joking !!!!)
Toyota MR2. I’m surprised nobody’s mentioned this one yet.
Or the hachiroku
Mine was the 1985 Corolla GT-S, the MR2’s predecessor, described in detail below…you are not alone.
The Corolla GTS was NOT the MR2’s predecessor… The aren’t even in the same lineage.
How can one be a predecessor if they were both introduced for 1985?
The only thing they share, is the twin cam 4AgE engine.
The AE85/86 chassis were introduced in 1984, in carbureted SR5 trim… The fuel injected GTS form, in 1985.
For 30 years is the catch. There are several I like but almost none of them would go 30 years without major work everywhere. So I would limit myself to a 5 speed RWD Toyota Celica Liftback or the Mazda 626. Engines and transmissions are bullet proof.
Those 2nd gen 1983-87 Mazda 626s are great cars…. Manual 5spds are bulletproof, automatics from 1986-87, not so much.
The 83-85 automatics are great… Owned an 84 and two 85 auto 626LXs, with no auto tranny issues.
The 1986 auto tranny is a ONE year only transmission, so try finding parts for that odd duck. Good luck.
The 1987 Mazda auto tranny was somewhat problematic, some were used from 1987-94, and have had complaints.
I love the Mazda 626, owned two 1st gen RWD coupes… 1979 and 1982. I’ve owned six 2nd gen FWD 626s, among them a rare 1986 626GT Turbo… Would love to find and own another, very FAST car.
A sleeper with plenty of electronic gadgets and luxury, without the ricer exterior add-ons. 🙂
My bro had an ’86 626GT coupe, charcoal grey with gorgeous red velour interior, sweet turbo engine that was quite powerful for its day. Terrific interior loaded with distinctive features. The manual reclining seat had both a latch to quickly drop or raise it to the general position you want and a fine-tuning lever to get the angle just right. The center dash vents could be set to oscillate back and forth. Both the exterior and interior keyholes lit up to make finding them easier in the era before remote key fobs.
But the turbo (or even fuel injection) wasn’t available yet in ’85 at least in the US. On the other hand, I prefer the interior on the ’83-’85 models whose dash and center console were much more handsome and distinctive, especially on 2- and 5-door models which had a somewhat different dash setup. I’d have a real hard time deciding on which of the three body styles to buy on this car – each has something big to recommend it, and something to make me prefer the others.
The real oddball rarity was the ’84-only diesel, which IIRC was available only on the LX 4-door. I think I saw one on a dealer lot once but never saw one again.
Ford Capri 2.8 i Super Injection
If I can include foriegn market models, I would ditto the Capri III. Make mine LHD, built in Germany and in that popular orange color.
If it had to be box-stock, no modifications…1986 Ford Taurus wagon, V6. But they were only available for a few days in 1985, due to production delays. I actually had one and drove it daily until 1998 or so, trading it, even though it was still running just fine, for what was a newer version of the same thing so I could have power windows and door locks!
But if modifications are allowed…a Chrysler Fifth Avenue. Swap in a 360 and the beefed-up TorqueFlite that came in the police package Dodge Diplomat; and the police car suspension and power steering box.
928
560 SEL or a Ford Laser.
I was going to say NONE, but then I read the suggestions…
Mercedes 560SEL or W124 300E
Caprice, sans fluff. On 30 years of ownership it would already have an 89 front clip, a transplanted LS 5.3 or 4.8 and some other goodies.
Corvette. After 30 yrs, we can also ditch the TPI for some LS love
K5 Blazer or long box C10 pickup
3rd Gen Camaro Iroc Z or TransAm
Fiat Uno Turbo
Fiat Panda
Renault Fuego 2000GTX
Ford Sierra XR4i, double wing… we can swap the Cologne V6 with some Ecoboost
Ferrari Testarrosa
Range Rover
Citröen CX
What, no love for the 1985 Donkervoort S7/S8?
I’d probably snap up one of the last V8 UPP Toronados or Rivieras, or conversely maybe one of the first FWD Park Avenues, maybe a coupe to be interesting, carefully optioned of course. I also like the Mazda 626 and Nissan Maxima from this year.
The Toro would have been my choice
It depends whether I lived in the US or Europe… If it were the US, a US-made vehicle with the capacity to be regularly updated / modified like a Chevy Caprice or Ford Granada wagon (it would need to multitask if that were the car I’d drive for such a long time). By now of course it would be highly modified (hp, fuel consumption, handling, braking etc.). If in Europe, it would be the Audi 200 Avant Quatro. Again, by now it would have a 20V motor and a 6sp box, Porsche 911 brakes etc. etc.
Here are a few from 1985-86 (30 years ago) that I like:
Nissan Maxima. The Maxima went to front wheel drive and a V6 (same engine as the 300ZX) in 1985.
Toyota Pickups from that same time frame had the indestructible 22R engine. I’d take mine with fuel injection.
The 1986 Mazda pickup was introduced during the 1985 model year. I still see some on the road even today.
BMW E30 325e. I read that the E30 was one of the most reliable BMWs ever.
Any Camaro, Firebird or Mustang with a 5 liter V8.
That Mazda Pick up! Nice size, but it’s hare-brained carburetor and vacuum lines! Oy, you can’t keep them up and running once the rubber hoses and servos start degrading!
Jeep XJ (Probably a Wagoneer with the choice leather seats they made back then).
Mercedes E-Class would be my second choice (Gas I6).
I had two XJ Cherokees, a 1987 1/2 Limited and a 1989 Laredo which I really liked, but I’d stay away from the pre-1987 models which were mostly powered by Chevy 2.8V6 engines! I had too many bad experiences with 2.8 engines! A friend had a 1986 Wagoneer and another had a 1984 Cherokee and neither lasted very long (my friend who had the Cherokee had it’s 2.8 engine replaced by the engine from a Camaro V6). Apparently, some 2.8 engines lasted but not those in cars I have driven! The 4 litre I6 models from 1987 and later were better and also got a better Aisin Warner AW4 automatic transmission instead of the 3 speed Torque Flite of the earlier models.
Considering that today it would have over 400,000 miles, AND that I’d have to be able to afford the initial purchase price and insurance as a junior at LSU, working part-time as a bank teller, here goes:
1. Toyota Corolla or Chevrolet Nova five-door hatchback (not sure a wagon was available that year)
2. Jeep Cherokee (probably could only afford a 2wd stripped one, which was okay in Baton Rouge)
3. Volvo 240 (probably a stretch for me to buy, and the only local dealer – Prevost Volvo-Volkswagen – was awful, pretentious, and soon to go bankrupt)
4. Nissan Maxima wagon with the voice commands disabled (definitely a stretch, given the demand for the new FWD model with the 300ZX’s engine; we had two in my family, and my brother drove his for 12 years)
Of the above, the NUMMI-built Corolla or Nova would probably have worked best for my wallet and how I live and drive, and would have accommodated my eventual move to a place that gets snow and ice a few times per year. It’s also likely the one that would have cost the least to own, although that might be offset by the fact that the Cherokee would be worth more today.
I had a Japan-built 1984 FWD Corolla and a friend had a Nummi-built 1986 Nova and both were really good cars, I gave my 84 Corolla to friends and the car lasted until 2010 (it was built in Sept 1983).
As I just said in the post above, I’d stay away from pre-1987 Cherokees but I really liked the two newer ones I got. The ’89 (a Laredo 4×4) was a $75 purchase which I enjoyed driving for a few years and that I sold for $1000!
Tough choice here, it’s hard to decide.
-Caprice/Parisienne, LTD Crown Vic/Grand Marquis or some “Dippy” 5th Avenue/Diplomat/Gran Fury/Canadian Caravelle.
-Shelby Charger/Omni GLH
-Camaro/Firebird, Mustang/Capri
-2 door GM G-body Monte Carlo/Cutlass/Regal/Grand Prix or 4-door Cutlass Supreme.
-Pontiac 6000 STE
-pre 1986 GM E-body Eldorado/Riviera/Toronado
-aero Thunderbird/Cougar
-“small” Fox-body Ford LTD LX with the 5.0
-Toyota Corolla GTS/pre-86 Celica
-Nissan 300ZX or its little sibling 200SX
-Honda Prelude
If I was in Brazil, a Chevrolet Opala or in Argentina, a Ford Falcon still made in 1985 with the 1960s body.
Oh… If it were Israel, Subaru Legacy wagon (4X2!) with the 1800cc engine and 5sp. For no other reason other than that it’s indestructible and parts were and are available.
K-Car, perhaps, but I wouldn’t want to drive the same anything for 30 years if I had a choice!
Unless you live in a state where cars don’t rust, I doubt if you can drive anything from the 1980’s as a daily driver for that long – imagine what it would look like – unless you don’t care about your dignity!
Zackman, as per Paul’s article criteria… Rust isn’t a problem, so no worries there.
Anybody, remember THIS guy from the later 70’s to mid 80’s?
Welcome back, Rusty Jones. Lol
Ok, since the question said ’85, I think we should be limited to ’85 model year cars so all the folks who picked Tauruses and intercooled Grand Nationals . . . NO CAR FOR YOU.
Can I pick two? I will take an ’85 Turbo Riviera Convertible (The Grand National Engine was available, pre intercooling, in the Riviera.) 49 Turbo Riviera Convertibles were built for 85. And I would also love an Olds Custom Cruiser/Buick Estate Wagon, Dark blue, wood grain, with the fiber optic turn signal repeaters please. I also love the Cutlass/Regals.
Other intriguing choices are the Lancer mentioned before and the Turbo Skyhawk, although I would pick the much shapelier hatch. Dunno would the Skyhawk make it 30 years though.
Mustangs/Panthers/Foxes are probably good second choices in terms of desirability and longevity.
I, personally, feel like trying to own anything German for 30 years would result in sums of expenditure equivalent to a mortgage.
If you read what Paul actually wrote, he specifically said that 1986 models are fair game too. 😛
Upon a closer read, . . . I was too excited about the possibility of buying a new ’85 model to read beyond the headline.
30 years ago this fall was the beginning of 1986 model year. Time to adjust the clocks; Jan ’16 is less than 2 months away.
85 Prelude or 85 1/2 Prelude Si (pictured). Fun, relatively fast, fairly inexpensive, and dead reliable. Had an 87 Prelude and LOVED it. Best car I ever had. Kept it seven years, then got a 94 Prelude Si. Loved that car too, until it got totaled by a Ford Expedition turning left on red as I was going thru an intersection.
Well, I am letting myself be influenced by others here, and I’ll first limit myself to cars I actually drove in ’85 or ’86, that left lasting impressions:
– 5.0 Mustang LX. But would prefer to wait a year for the 1987 power bump.
– 5.0 LTD LX
– Honda Civic or CRX Si
– 2.9 V6 Ford Ranger. I owned an ’86 for nearly ten years, from new, and I think it would still be a fine and useful vehicle.
A car I’ve never driven, but always liked is the Porsche 944.
Two cars I drove in ’86 that I don’t think have stood the test of time so well were two more Fords, the Escort GT and Taurus.
I think the winner would be a CRX Si. Modern enough, and there’s really nothing like it available new now.
Well, I probably would have been a successful rock/metal guitarist in 1985 so that opens up a broad spectrum of more exotic cars for my choosing, and I think for the long term the Porsche 928 would be the one I’d hang on to. I like their earlier iterations better, like the opart seats and phone dial wheels the late 70s ones had, but I could always retrofit that stuff to it later, especially as my career dwindled with the coming grunge movement, plenty of free time after that to tinker with it. lol
A Lincoln Mark VII LSC, loaded sans cellphone and the delete option cloth seats; red on red. Definitely an 86′, too, I believe that was the first year the LSC got SEFI and the HO engine.
Not many cars from back then I’d have kept all these years but a 911 would have been one of them. After reading the article about the Kia Rondo I got to thinking of the tall wagons available in the mid 80’s–The Civic Wagovan and the Nissan Multi (Stanza Wagon in the USA)
Give me a diamond blue Thunderbird with the 302 and the pepper pot style wheels. I almost bought one in ’84 and regret not taking the plunge.
Crown Victoria – Buick Riviera – Century T-Type (American)
Honda Accord – Honda Prelude – Toyota Cressida (Japanese)
Mercedes 190 – BMW 3 series – Volkswagen Golf (German)
A part of me misses the 1982 Toyota SR5 pickup I had for 14 years. Reliable as all but rusted out from underneath me. I can’t see why a 1985 would be any less a vehicle in a rust-free fantasy land. I just passed 15 years on my 2001 Nissan Frontier and can’t see why I won’t drive it another 15 years, so long as I own a house. But I’m opting for practical over flashy (most anything on Miami Vice?). Another would be a Cadillac Fleetwood, when a big Cadillac still looked like a real Cadillac.
I’d say a navy blue metallic Colony Park, loaded with red leather. Lots of room, nice interior, decent mileage. And, as was pointed out here, durable as an anvil.
The car I wish I’d bought in 1985 to begin with:
+1. A classic beauty.
I had a 1986 6000-STE, I’d drive the 85 version. It was reasonably quick and had a good speed, but I’d get one with the 5 speed manual instead of the 3 speed automatic. Roomy thing too, and super quiet at triple digit speeds. GM got the A-bodies reasonably right.
All these goofy American car choices from the lackluster at best quality of the big 3?! You must be kidding! I guess you all like to tinker with your cars all the time. The reason for my choice is because I got really tired of knowing all the people at the GM dealership and the Firestone service center by first name and considering them almost close friends…I traded my worst ever car, a new (when bought) 1982 Trans Am, on a new, first one in my city, very early production, bright red Toyota Corolla GT-S Twin-Cam 16 hatchback. I have never looked back, to an American POS that is. I loved it then for its 92,000 hellish miles I roughly put on it, with it always coming back for more revving close to or at its 7500-rpm redline and never needing anything but routine maintenance. I would kill to have that bulletproof little guided missile in my hands right now with its leather steering wheel and leather 5-speed shifter with a leather boot to boot, and its ‘better than’ Recaro fabric seats with the driver’s seat having adjustable side bolsters, rotating knob operated cushion height and rake, and air-bulb operated lumbar support, and of course reclining backs. IN A COROLLA. This while having better acceleration and handling than the FAKE, FEEBLE ‘muscle car’ I got rid of to have it. That was an amazing little car, and it singlehandedly ushered in the pocket rocket era, while it took even Honda and Nissan at least three years to catch up! It was the first Twin-Cam 16-valve engine to come to these shores, and it took the big three by storm and they NEVER caught up, and still haven’t. And never will, especially with the bankruptcy and the onslaught of Fiat ruining Chrysler, who never had a faint hope of survival. I made a lot, and I mean a lot of Camaros and Firebirds eat my dust, and I could see the wide open mouths and eyes of their drivers, showing their disbelief, just getting smaller in my rear-view mirror! You asked, and this is the car I would most like to have.
I had one of those Corolla GT-S, an 86… It was a pretty quick car, it took a few Mustang GTs and Irocs off the line.
I am an old school RWD Toyota and Datsun fan… But my 86 Mazda 626GT would EAT the Corolla GTS, in every way.
A lot more advanced in a tuned suspension and better driver ergonomics, where as the GTS’s were primitive.
Other than preferring the AE86’s RWD, the 626GT would leave it in the rear view mirror.
Your looking at the Toyota through rose colored glasses.
Probably either the 86 Grand Prix L E or 2 + 2 Parked in my storage shed
Since the article stipulates that I’m paying for the maintenance myself, I think the winner would be the Buick Grand National. Runner-up would be Lincoln Mark VII LSC. I’d go for the ’86 model in both cases, as both got a power boost for that year (a significant one in the VII’s case).
If I had a “rich uncle” paying for maintenance, the choice would be between the BMW M635CSi and the Mercedes 560SEC. But if I was paying for my own maintenance…both would eat you alive as a DD for 30+ years!
1985 Cadillac Brougham with the 307. If not, a Chevrolet Caprice.
Why, an ’85 Mercury Marquis LTS, of course 😉 !
Simple… AW11 MR2 – 5 speed manual, no sunroof ?. Shame you didn’t choose 1986 as the cutoff as then I could have had made it an SC. Of course, either way the kids will have to walk…
I’ll fade you two more years and go with my 1983 Rabbit (American) GTi. Drove the piss out of it and it never complained. After my first daughter was born we got tired of two doors and got a four door Jetta. I later purchased a nearly identical ’83 although the later models no longer had the 85mph speedometer or the protruding front bumpers.
Also, my then wife had a 1983 Mazda RX-7. Not very practical, especially on snow, but fun.