This wraps up our week of reviewing all the new 1987 cars from America and Japan. So now it’s time to go shopping! What new 1987 car (or cars) would you have bought? For me, one of my favorite cars from 1987 actually came from Germany. I thought the Mercedes 300E was arguably the best all-round car in the world, and yes, I wanted one. The only problem? Privilege did not come cheap: the Benz started at $38,600 ($84,826 adjusted) with no options. That’s where Japan came in, offering a broad array of great choices across a wide variety of price points. As Gordon Gekko famously said in the 1987 movie Wall Street, “greed, for lack of a better word, is good.” So, I’m going to get greedy with my favorites from 1987.
For 40% less than the bare bones Mercedes-Benz 300E, I would have taken home a brand new top-trim Acura Legend sedan. The Legend’s MSRP was $22,348 ($49,111 adjusted) which was a great value for such a sophisticated, comfortable, fun-to-drive and well crafted car. No, it wasn’t a Mercedes, but it wasn’t priced like one either, and the Acura brand was very hot in 1987. I’d have taken mine in Volcanic Gray Metallic with Gray leather inside.
At the other end of the price spectrum, my favorite subcompact was the Acura Integra. Actually, back in 1987 I thought very seriously about getting one for my first car. I loved them! I went on many test drives and spent many hours poring over the Integra brochure. The one I wanted then is the one I’d pick today: a Rio Red 2-door hatchback with black interior and the 5-speed manual.
Another car I really lusted after in 1987 was the Toyota Supra Turbo. In my mind, it was a cross between a sports car and a grand tourer, sort of a “personal luxury” car of the 1980s. I thought the dark gray leather interior was gorgeous, and would have gone perfectly with the Red Metallic exterior. I would have wanted the newly available ABS brakes too.
For a more pragmatic choice, I loved the 1987 Honda Accord. These were amazing compact sedans and a great example of the best of Honda. The low cowl and expansive glass made the car feel very open and airy, the pop-up lights were a neat touch, and the Accord was very nimble and responsive. How do I know? Well, my brother and sister-in-law had an ’86 Accord, and they loved it–and were nice enough to let me drive it. It was also very comfortable, very nicely finished and completely, totally, continually reliable. Great car, and I wanted one. Please make mine an LXi sedan in Graphite Gray with Gray interior and 5-speed stick.
For a larger family car, I was a huge fan of the Ford Taurus. Though I was a committed import car nut by 1987, a well-done domestic (not that there were many) would have been very appealing, then or now. I’d have gone for a fully loaded Taurus LX sedan with the 3.0L V6 and 4-speed automatic, finished in Dark Shadow Blue Clearcoat Metallic with a Regatta Blue interior (yes, something other than gray!).
OK, that’s a lot of 1987 metal for me, now it’s your turn.
Mustang LX convertible – 5.0 &. 5 speed
I once owned an ’89, and it practically
the same car.
Mustang LX convertible – 5.0 &. 5 speed
I once owned an ’89, and it is practically
the same car.
A G-body Cutlass coupe or Grand National
Thunderbird 5.0
On the economy and practicality side, I’d be happy with a Honda Civic
1987 Buick Grand National….
Reality…1981 4dr Dodge Aspen.
Maxima SE, or a loaded up GXE. Loved those lazyboy style seats in the GXE and all of the features that it had. 300ZX turbo or Mustang GT were good options as well.
Like others have said, it’s hard to pick just one. But one of my measures of a good car is one that can take you through several stages of life and automotive needs. In other words — practicality.
So… my 1987 choice would be a Buick LeSabre T Type. In my opinion, these two-door LeSabres were some of the best-looking cars of the 1980s. I still like them today on the rare occasion when I see one. The performance — while not stellar — was very good for the time, and flexible in a lot of situations. Of course, in a perfect world it would have been available with a manual transmission, but overall I wouldn’t complain one bit about a LeSabre.
And I’d probably still have it today.
Chrysler Fifth Avenue!
Camry. Or on the other end of the 4 door spectrum — 5th Avenue.
Let’s see: 1987 model year car? Hmm… I was all in Chrysler back then, and none of the Japanese cars really interested me at the time, save, perhaps the Camry and Accord.
I did like the Sundance, however…
Problem is, I wasn’t in the market, yet, and our 1981 Reliant was still going strong and was MY car, whereas Wifey got the 1984 E-Class.
I guess my answer would be: status quo with my own cars at that point, because I was so heavily involved raising our two children and that was my chief priority.
George, all great choices, which would be on my list too with the possible exception of the Taurus – a good car but not really my style.
As for my own top choices for this model year, I’ll second Michael Douglas’s “Greed is good” mantra. My top choices, in no particular order would be: the Mercedes-Benz 560 SEC, Acura Legend LS coupe, BMW M6, BMW E30 convertible, Saab 9000 CS, and for kicks, the Alfa Romeo 164, because why not.
Gee Brendan, not a gray market Mini? Rover was still churning them out in Olde England. 🙂
Was the 164 available in ’87? I always thought it debuted in ’88 or ’89 for some reason. Must have looked very modern for the day if so…I don’t remember seeing any that early, but I also probably wouldn’t have known what they were so the memory might not have stuck.
Probably a 5-speed Volvo 245.
Well, as with 1977, my real-world purchase was a year off. I had a Datsun 720 pickup at the time, but wanted something a tad plusher and quicker, so test drove the MY ’86 Jeep Comanche (GM 2.8 V6 only, no 4.0 yet), Chevy S10 and the Ford Ranger with the then new 2.9 V6, and bought the Ford. The ’87 Ranger was unchanged from the ’86. While at the Ford dealer I also drove the ’86 Escort GT and 5.0 Mustang. Within a few months, the MY ’87 Mustang got a nice facelift and more HP, and an ’87 5.0 LX hatchback would be welcome in my fantasy fleet today, as would a 4.0 Jeep Comanche. A Buick GN or GNX would be nice too. In the real world, my wife, whom I didn’t meet until 1988, bought a new 1987 Mazda B2200 long bed pickup, 2.2 liter four and 5 speed. Other cars of that era that continue to appeal to me include the 4 cylinder M3, a Quattro coupe and Volvo 740 Turbo wagon. Or, despite or maybe because of my Ranger experience, a Bronco II.
I was only five years old in 1987 – but if I were old enough to be able to purchase a new car that year, the choice would have been undisputed:
I would have bought a Volvo 740 GLE sedan. After owning four 740s, I believe that they were (and are) the best cars Volvo ever made, and their combination of safety, durability, reliability, and practicality is virtually unmatched. Why am I biased towards ’87 Volvo 740s? I own one. And it’s likely the best $300 I ever spent. It has 170k miles on it but I plan to take it to 300k and beyond.
Also, I think the 740s have the best design and interior space utilization of any European cars sold in the U.S. in 1987.
+1. Except I prefer the wagon.
Long term ownership recommends a non turbo, but that flash of energy on take off sure made the turbo way more fun to drive!
Lincoln town car luxury full sized. Whiteover red.
New Yorker fifth avenue m boys fir mid-sized.
Mercury cougar 5.0 person luxury.
Mustang convertible 5,0 pony car.
Truck Ford f 150 300 with 4 speed.
Compact. Acura legend.
Station waggon. Cadillac full sized cartwheels drive hearse
I was wowed with the refreshed Mustang in 1987. So most likely an 87 LX 5.0. I would have had a hard time walking away from an 87 Turbo Coupe though.
All small cars, all known for light weight and conning-tower visibility in contrast to the iron of 30 years later. In order of descending budget;
* BMW M3 (in its’ signature red/black leather)
* regular BMW 3 Series (slate blue with blue cloth)
* Acura Integra 5-door (ice blue metallic/blue cloth but IIRC a choice of color on a new Honda product in the ’80s wasn’t really happening)
* Plymouth Horizon America (there wasn’t a bad color combo on these, I’m partial to ice blue/blue again because that was what Mom’s ’86 had)
Notice I didn’t pick a “mainstream” subcompact between the “bargain” Omnirizon and “premium” Integra; that’s because there were so many good ones.
The only ’87 I owned was a Dodge Colt DL hatchback in the mid-90s, my first non-clunker.
I also test drove the MY 87 5 door Integra in late 86 and loved almost everything except the seats, which were a match to my Accord’s seats. I was just learning that Honda seats + my back = Sciatic nerve problems. I keep trying, we drove a Fit when we bought our Fiesta a couple years ago, but in 15 minutes my back was sore and my right leg was numb.
I would have bought a 1987 Subaru XT Turbo 4wd GL-10 5 speed manual.
For me, if I were buying cars similar to what I own at present:
Family Car: Chevrolet Caprice 4-door, F41 suspension, NO brougham options
Truck: Ford F-150 Ext-Cab 4×4 short box
Fun Car: Mustang GT, 5-speed
I’d have some runner ups though. I’d also consider a Camry for a family car during this time, especially if the fuel prices were high. My wife had an ’88 Camry that treated her well. I really like the 1987 GM trucks too, especially with TBI, but the bodies were TERRIBLE for rust. The Buick GNX is would also be a great fun car too, if I could afford and find one at the time.
Among U.S.-market cars, I would have taken the Legend coupe with a five-speed and ABS or maybe a BMW 325iS two-door.
This was the last year for the rear-drive Corolla GT-S, so there’s something to be said for that, although the Legend was obviously more civilized.
Given a wider choice, I might take a Toyota Soarer 3.0GT (most of the pluses of the Supra, but more luxury-oriented) or a top-spec Toyota Carina ED, which, unfortunate suffix notwithstanding, was essentially a four-door pillarless hardtop version of the T160 Celica platform, with the same chassis and most of the same engine options.
I would have been tempted to pick up one of the last AMC Eagles.
Since I already had a 300E in 1987, maybe something a bit different to compliment it, like a Tatra 613.
+1
Though by ’87, the “chromka” was replaced by the 613-3, which is a bit less appealing. Still more interesting than Detroit’s offerings by a factor of about 100…
Buick Regal GNX.
I bought an almost new 1988 Plymouth Horizon in 1989. It was about the same thing as a 1987 Horizon. Chrysler had simplified the aging Horizon/Omni range and lowered the price to compete with the far crappier cheap Hundai’s and called them the Horizon and Omni America. The only choices were between the base and the high line model, which had the same seats as a deluxe cab Dodge pickup, plus nice door panels with BMW-ish armrests, real carpeting, etc. A/C and automatic trans were about the only options. P/S and P/B were I think standard.
The Chryslers at that point used the 2.2 liter engine that every other Chrysler model used (originally they used a VW 4, then a Peugeot 4), so given the liters it was geared down for low rpm’s at highway speeds even with the three speed automatic unlike the competition. They were nicer cars than the competition (Rabbits, Escorts) while being much cheaper. I would buy one if I was back then again.
I actually saw a perfect looking one of these the other day in traffic in Brooklyn and I thought “that car looks really good”. No stupid period stylistic crap. Just good design.
Chrysler should have spent a few bucks on updating these cars like they did with the Cherokee: integrated bumpers and a restyled hatchback. But they didn’t.
Heck, maybe PSA would’ve let them had the molds for the Euro Horizon’s composite headlights since they stopped making those in ’86. Throw ’em in for free with one of the shipments of PRV engines they’d soon be buying for the Premier.
I bought an almost new 1988 Plymouth Horizon in 1989. It was about the same thing as a 1987 Horizon. Chrysler had simplified the aging Horizon/Omni range and lowered the price to compete with the far crappier cheap Hundai’s and called them the Horizon and Omni America. The only choices were between the base and the high line model, which had the same seats as a deluxe cab Dodge pickup, plus nice door panels with BMW-ish armrests, real carpeting, etc. A/C was about the only option. P/S and P/B were I think standard.
The Chryslers at that point used the 2.2 liter engine that every other Chrysler model used, so it was geared down for low rpm’s at highway speeds even with the three speed automatic unlike the competition. They were nicer cars than the competition (Rabbits, Escorts) while being much cheaper. I would buy one if I was back then again.
I actually saw a perfect looking one of these the other day in traffic in Brooklyn and I thought “that car looks really good”. No stupid period stylistic crap. Just good design.
Chrysler should have spent a few bucks on updating these cars like they did with the Cherokee: integrated bumpers and a restyled hatchback. But they didn’t.
1987 was a landmark year for us – the year I started college, and the year our first child was born. As such, finances didn’t permit the purchase of a new car. I’d had my eye on a Ford Laser (aka Mercury Tracer, Mazda 323-clone), and would eventually buy a very used one when said first child was of age for legal driving lessons.
Not 1987, but when we needed a new family car in late ’89, we bought a new Mitsubishi Magna (a widened Galant) in base trim with the optional injected motor, aircon and a 5-speed.
I like the Mustang, but realistically would be happiest with an Olds 88 or Buick LeSabre.
Mine would have been a custom order Regal T type. I wanted one badly but still in college so no funds. It would be fun to sit down and fill out the order sheet. I always loved the looks of that car and of course the power. I was still a hard core GM guy then, it wasn’t until a decade later that they had pushed me away.
I’m also almost certain I would have added the Chapman lock and Rusty Jones!
I’d take a Turbo Coupe with a 5-speed, medium red. Obvious other choices would be the Grand National and maybe a Firebird GTA. I actually really liked the Beretta GT when it came out, but I remember that being a short-lived infatuation.
In late 1986, I remember the magazines making a big deal about the new Bonneville, and that seemed like a nice car at first, but they seemed to quickly fade into the woodwork. Of course, I was 9 in 1986, so my critical thinking skills may have failed me.
1987 Westfalia Syncro. I’d still love to cruise the coast in this!
Not a rhetorical question:
In 1987, I bought a new Nissan Pickup. It was a base model stripper. I paid $6995 for it.
It was a great truck!
I’ll take a 16V Jetta GLI. I do have an ’87 Jetta GL, but bought it in 2015 for $700.
Top line Thunderbird.
I would have LOVED to have a BMW 528e, dark gray, red leather, automatic. I was in college and assumed that as soon as I graduated in 1989, I would be CEO someplace and be buying big houses and luxury cars one after another…
I was driving an 85 Ford Escort, 4 speed, dealer installed A/C that would only blow right in my face, bright tomato red with gray cloth. Shitty little car that kept falling apart. It got traded on an 89 Toyota Corolla 4 door…silver, gray tweed seats, 5 speed, dealer A/C and no radio…I installed my own.
I *did* buy a 1987 Dodge Lancer ES turbo, in early 1988. It was a leftover car that a buyer’s credit had evaporated. He had to give it back to the dealership, it sat there for a few months until the dealer got motivated enough to mark down the price. I had a good ten years out of that car. Truly, it had some issues, but was versatile enough to get me through the early childhood raising years. We did occasionally borrow my in law’s 1984 Caravan to help with some trips and such.
There are some obvious answers (especially for folks who know me) like a 350 powered Formula Firebird, a 5.0L LX notch, a Shelby Charger or Daytona.
But for real retro flavor I would love to have a Yugo GVX (yes, the “sporty” one). Hook me up with the dealer installed Frigette aircon, the sunroof and luggage rack. I’ll take the factory Cromodora six spoke aluminum wheels, with the fatter 155 section tires. Throw in a nice Pioneer stereo with four speakers (to match the number of forward gears) and I would be happy to bop around town in that little beastie.
Even today, I would love something like this. To that end, if I can manage it, a nice used Fiat 500 would do the trick…
let’s see, i would like to think id have been sensible (cheap) and adventurous enough to take a chance on fords/kia/mazda new subcompact and bought an 88 Festiva late in 87. in LX trim of course and loaded with all (2) options. the 1st of 5.
In 1989, I bought a 1989 Crown Victoria, so I assume that is what I would have bought in 1987 (when I had a 1985 Escort with the 1.9L). However, in 1987 I loved the Taurus, and by 1989 the Taurus was known for having problems.
I definitely would not pick what my dad bought brand new in 1987…………a Sterling 825.
My choice? Dodge Diplomat/Plymouth Gran Fury AHB (police package)…
Late fall ’86 The Renault dealer about 2 miles from home had a new 85 Fuego in the showroom that I was sorely tempted to make a lowball offer on. Being only 7-8 years removed from owning a Citroen it was not that hard to resist another (soon to be) orphan.
Back in the real world the Colt Vista was a realistic possibility. Spring of ’86 my SAAB Sonnett had undergone catastrophic suspension failure and was hurriedly replaced by an Accord that was the generation older then the Accord owned by the woman I met December ’86 later and am now married to. I have since learned she will tolerate my taste in cars but when we did buy a car together in ’91 she rejected the Vista at about first sight.
She says in ’87 she would have bought another Accord
1987 was the year we moved to the US. My father sold his 2nd hand 1976 Peugeot 604 SL and my mother sold her 1984 Opel Kadett during the summer. We got to the States (in DC) in August. The heat was like nothing I had felt before. But then I remember discovering A/C — a revelation! The family had to make do with a rental Camry for a couple months (I was livid! A Toyota? With those stupid automatic seat belts?) while we settled down.
Then we shopped for a car. The ’88s were out by then, I suppose. But a new car wasn’t on the cards. Dad bought a 1986 Pontiac 6000 wagon with the V6. Mom got a friend’s battered 1980 Toyota Corolla wagon (5 speed and with fake wood trim on the sides).
1987 Skoda 120GLS hands down.
Senior year in high school, could probably name dozens of cars that had that appeal. Never will forget the conversation I had with the top girl in her dad’s Audi 5000 sedan. We had our moment long before she became the top girl. She ended-up getting married very young (and still is). But damn that was a very sexy car.
On the rational side, I convinced my dad to buy a slightly-used repo 1987 Accord LX 5-speed sedan that was otherwise loaded. Accords were scarce in those days and late at night, we watched it driven up on a truck while he decided whether to make the down-payment for the waiting list for a new one. The salesman turned it over ten minutes after it hit the pavement. 340,000 miles and many roadtrips and decades later that Accord finally met its end on the back end of a garbage truck. So I would do it defiantly do it again and get the very low-slung, pop-up lights, manual Accord. Make it an LXi the next time.
I assume that in 1987 I would have made the same choice I made in 1986 – an Acura Integra. It was our second car in America , and first ever new car. We had moved to the States at the beginning of 1985 from Japan, and had made an interesting, if ugly, discovery: The banks understand a bad credit history, and they like a good credit history, but no credit history for a 30 year old guy scares the hell out of them. I had been living outside the states for close to 10 years, and thus was invisible to the Banking System. There was even a funny moment in San Antonio where a little local bank refused to cash a Traveller’s Check because I didn’t have a driver’s license yet… the only ID I has was a passport. Hell NO!, stranger -go away!. So our first car was a 240,000 mile 73 Super Beetle, bought from a Methodist Minister, with the infamous almost-automatic transmission. Actually got beaten in a stoplight drag race by a school bus full of jeering kids in that car.
Anyhow, by 1986 our American life became stable enough that we decided to move some of our savings out of Japan, and I was able to finance a car by securing my loan with cash locked up in a CD as a guarantee of payment. I could have just bought the car,but I needed to build the credit.
So, anyhow, I self-financed an Integra. It was a really excellent vehicle, and Honda, er, Acura were falling all over themselves to provide service in those days. I loved that car, especially that little DOHC with the 7,000 rpm redline. It just loved to scream, and I beat it hard, and it took it and liked it. That car led to a string of Integras (four more) until the 1997 disappointed me and I realized that Acura had lost their mojo
I know what you mean about getting established in the US after being abroad. I grew up in another country and my parents had trouble getting credit and car insurance when they moved back to the US even though they had 15 years of impeccably paying off a mortgage and no car accidents — which were invisible to American corporate computer records because they happened overseas.
If I was into passenger cars back then, It would have been a Mercedes 190E. I drove a Supra and, while a great touring car, it was a bit ponderous around town, kind of like an XKE.
I ended up with a Ford Ranger XLT V-6 for my lifestyle. My first EFI and was impressed with no cold starting or high altitude issues.
Oh, I can speculate, but I know I’d have gone down to M.J. Sullivan and picked up a Cadillac Brougham in triple black or triple navy. The last year they were built at Clark Street.
A distant, distant second, at more than twice the cost, would be a Jag XJ6. But based on how troublesome they were even new (friends had an ’88), I’d go with the Cadillac (I did have an ’87, but many years later).
Repeating what has been said… hard to just pick one, especially with hindsight. I think that if I were of the right purchasing power in 1987, I would have walked home with a 1987 Shelby GLHS.
In 87 I wanted a CRX, but I hadn’t managed to wear out or total my Mazda yet.
The CRX had to wait until 89 – and that was a good time to get one.
I was 14 yrs old at the time, but I remember there being some cars that I liked and would’ve loved to have had a chance to drive. Among my favourites at the time were the Toyota Supra Turbo, the Mercury Sable, the Mercury Topaz, the Merkur Scorpio.