1985 in motoring - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

United Kingdom

Austin Rover Group

The Austin Rover Group was a British motor manufacturer. It was formed in 1981 as the mass-market car manufacturing subsidiary of British Leyland...

had a fairly quiet year in 1985, with the only significant changes being the addition of an MG variant to the Montego

Austin Montego

The Austin Montego is a British mid-size saloon car that was produced by the Austin Rover subsidiary of British Leyland , and its successors, from 1984 until 1994. The Montego was the replacement for the Morris Ital, to give British Leyland a modern competitor for the Ford Sierra and Vauxhall...

range. On the rally scene, however, eyebrows were raised at the arrival of a spectacular new mid-engined supercar - the MG Metro

Rover Metro

The Metro is a supermini car that was produced by the Austin Rover Group division of British Leyland and its successors. It was launched in 1980 as the Austin miniMetro. It was intended to complement the Mini, and was developed under the codename LC8....

6R4, with four-wheel drive and a V6 engine. The MG version of the Maestro was upgraded from a 1.6 to a 2.0, with the twin Weber carburettors making way for electronic fuel injection

Fuel injection

Fuel injection is a system for admitting fuel into an internal combustion engine. It has become the primary fuel delivery system used in automotive petrol engines, having almost completely replaced carburetors in the late 1980s....

.

Ford achieved success with the latest incarnation of its big Granada

Ford Granada (Europe)

The March 1972 released Granada succeeded the British Ford Zephyr, and the German P7-series as Ford's European executive car offering. At first, lower models in the range were called the Ford Consul, but from 1975 on they were all called Granadas. The car soon became popular for taxi, fleet and...

. The new car, which went on sale in May, was a radical hatchback-only design which brought back memories of the Sierra's launch

Ford Sierra

The Ford Sierra is a large family car that was built by Ford Europe from 1982 until 1993. It was designed by Uwe Bahnsen, Robert Lutz and Patrick le Quément. The code used during development was "Project Toni"....

nearly three years ago. Ford has refused to rule out the possibility of saloon and estate versions at a later date, but the current hatchback is proving popular thanks to its high equipment levels, comfortable interior, solid build and (for a car of the size and level of specification) a competitive asking price. On the continent the "Scorpio" name covers the whole range, while Britain and Ireland

Republic of Ireland

Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

only see the new nameplate as an extra on range-topping 2.8 and 2.9 V6 models, which are known as "Granada Scorpio".

A year after its launch, the Vauxhall Astra

Vauxhall Astra

Astra is a model name which has been used by Vauxhall, the British subsidiary of General Motors , on their small family car ranges since 1979. Astras are technically essentially identical with similar vehicles offered by GM's German subsidiary Opel in most other European countries...

hatchback and estate ranges have been joined by a saloon. Rather than adopt the same name as used by the hatchback, Vauxhall has been the latest of several manufacturers to follow a new trend of creating a new name for the saloon version. The saloon version of the Astra is known as the "Belmont", while the continental version shares the Kadett

Opel Kadett

The Opel Kadett is a small family car produced by the German automobile manufacturer Opel between 1937 and 1940, and then again from 1962 until 1991 , when it was replaced by the Opel Astra.-Original model :...

name with the rest of the range.

Italy

The recent revival at Lancia

Lancia

Lancia Automobiles S.p.A. is an Italian automobile manufacturer founded in 1906 by Vincenzo Lancia and which became part of the Fiat Group in 1969. The company has a long history of producing distinctive cars and also has a strong rally heritage. Some modern Lancias are seen as presenting a more...

has been completed with the addition of two new very different cars. The marque's new entry-level model is the Y10 - a three-door compact hatchback which can be seen as an Autobianchi

Autobianchi

Autobianchi was an Italian automobile manufacturer, created jointly by Bianchi, Pirelli and Fiat in 1955. Autobianchi produced only a handful of models during its lifetime, which were almost exclusively small cars, with the biggest being the short-lived Autobianchi A111, a small family car...

on the continent. Power (though not a great deal of it) comes from a 1.0 FIRE

Fully Integrated Robotised Engine

The FIRE is a series of automobile engines from Fiat. It was designed by Italian design firm Rodolfo Bonetto . It is constructed by robot assembly plants to reduce costs....

engine which is very economical, and also from a long-running 1.1 unit which was seen more than a decade ago in the Autobianchi A112 Abarth

Autobianchi A112

The Autobianchi A112 is a supermini produced by the Italian automaker Autobianchi. It was developed using the mechanicals which subsequently underpinned the Fiat 127. It was introduced in 1969, as a replacement for the Bianchina and Primula, and was built until 1986, when it made way for the more...

. This larger unit comes with a turbocharger and pumps out an impressive 76 bhp, making it the far more impressive of the car's two engines.

Also new on the Lancia price list is the Thema

Lancia Thema

The Lancia Thema is an executive car produced by the Italian automaker Lancia between 1984 and 1994, and one of four cars to share the Type Four platform alongside the Alfa Romeo 164, Fiat Croma and Saab 9000...

, a large four-door saloon which is designed to compete with the upmarket likes of the BMW 5 Series

BMW 5 Series

The BMW 5 Series is a mid-size / executive car manufactured by BMW since 1972. The car, now in its sixth generation, is sold in sedan and touring body styles....

. It is designed by Pininfarina

Pininfarina

Pininfarina S.p.A. is an Italian car design firm and coachbuilder in Cambiano, Italy.Founded as Società anonima Carrozzeria Pinin Farina in 1930 by automobile designer and builder Battista "Pinin" Farina, Pininfarina has been employed by a wide variety of high-end automobile manufacturers,...

and few of its competitors can match it for interior space and comfort. Equipment levels, refinement, ride and handling are good too. It is the first of four cars to be spawned from a new platform which is to be shared between Fiat

Fiat

FIAT, an acronym for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino , is an Italian automobile manufacturer, engine manufacturer, financial, and industrial group based in Turin in the Italian region of Piedmont. Fiat was founded in 1899 by a group of investors including Giovanni Agnelli...

and General Motors

General Motors

General Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...

. The second of these cars goes on sale this year - the Saab 9000

Saab 9000

The Saab 9000 is an automobile that was produced by the Swedish company Saab from 1984 to 1997. The 9000 was replaced by the 9-5 in the late 1997....

. The third and fourth cars - from Fiat and Alfa Romeo

Alfa Romeo

Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. is an Italian manufacturer of cars. Founded as A.L.F.A. on June 24, 1910, in Milan, the company has been involved in car racing since 1911, and has a reputation for building expensive sports cars...

respectively - are expected to be on sale within two years. The base engine is a 2.0 unit, which is also available with a turbocharger. The range-topper is a 2.8 V6, and there will soon be an exciting Ferrari-engined

Ferrari

Ferrari S.p.A. is an Italian sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari in 1929, as Scuderia Ferrari, the company sponsored drivers and manufactured race cars before moving into production of street-legal vehicles as Ferrari S.p.A. in 1947...

version which is set to sell in limited numbers.

Sweden

Saab

Saab AB is a Swedish aerospace and defence company, founded in 1937. From 1947 to 1990 it was the parent company of automobile manufacturer Saab Automobile, and between 1968 and 1995 the company was in a merger with commercial vehicle manufacturer Scania, known as Saab-Scania.-History:"Svenska...

has expanded its range with its first competitor in the sector dominated by the BMW 5 Series

BMW 5 Series

The BMW 5 Series is a mid-size / executive car manufactured by BMW since 1972. The car, now in its sixth generation, is sold in sedan and touring body styles....

- the Saab 9000. The new car is a spacious, well-equipped, comfortable and refined five-door hatchback which shares its underpinnings with the new Lancia Thema

Lancia Thema

as well as two forthcoming new big cars from Fiat

Fiat

and Alfa Romeo

Alfa Romeo

. With a practical hatchback bodystyle housing a top-notch luxury interior, the Saab 9000 appears to have all the right ingredients for a successful BMW

BMW

Bayerische Motoren Werke AG is a German automobile, motorcycle and engine manufacturing company founded in 1916. It also owns and produces the Mini marque, and is the parent company of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. BMW produces motorcycles under BMW Motorrad and Husqvarna brands...

rival.

Germany

The Mercedes E-Class

Mercedes-Benz W124

W124 is the Mercedes-Benz internal chassis-designation for the 1985 to 1995 version of the Mercedes-Benz E-Class. The W124 models replaced the W123 models after 1985 and were superseded by the W210 E-Class after 1995.-History:...

is the latest of this year's competitors in the market sector dominated by the BMW 5 Series

BMW 5 Series

The BMW 5 Series is a mid-size / executive car manufactured by BMW since 1972. The car, now in its sixth generation, is sold in sedan and touring body styles....

. The offering from Mercedes is a four-door saloon and five-door estate with the highest levels of specification and quality you can expect on this size of car. The whole estate range and some of the saloons have the option of self-levelling suspension, an innovation which was created by Citroen

Citroën

Citroën is a major French automobile manufacturer, part of the PSA Peugeot Citroën group.Founded in 1919 by French industrialist André-Gustave Citroën , Citroën was the first mass-production car company outside the USA and pioneered the modern concept of creating a sales and services network that...

. The range starts with a moderately powerful 2.3 petrol engine, which like the entire range has fuel injection. Top of the range is a 3.2 V6, though even more fast and powerful V8 engines are rumoured at a later date.

Volkswagen

Volkswagen

Volkswagen is a German automobile manufacturer and is the original and biggest-selling marque of the Volkswagen Group, which now also owns the Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, SEAT, and Škoda marques and the truck manufacturer Scania.Volkswagen means "people's car" in German, where it is...

have expanded the already impressive Golf

Volkswagen Golf

The Volkswagen Golf is a small family car manufactured by Volkswagen since 1974 and marketed worldwide across six generations, in various body configurations and under various nameplates – as the Volkswagen Rabbit in the United States and Canada , and as the Volkswagen Caribe in Mexico .The...

range with a 16-valve version of the GTI. The original 1.8 8-valve GTI was a highly impressive "hot hatchback" which has proved itself even better than the first Golf GTI of 1976, but the new, more powerful GTI is one of the fastest hatchbacks ever produced with a top speed of well over 120 mph. It has the handling, looks and quality to match its high speed, and the Golf is fast becoming one of the fashion icons of the decade

1980s

File:1980s decade montage.png|thumb|400px|From left, clockwise: The first Space Shuttle, Columbia, lifted off in 1981; American President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev eased tensions between the two superpowers, leading to the end of the Cold War; The Fall of the Berlin Wall in...

Spain

With SEAT

SEAT

SEAT, S.A. is a Spanish automobile manufacturer founded on May 9, 1950 by the Instituto Nacional de Industria , a state-owned industrial holding company....

no longer involved with Fiat

Fiat

, the new Ibiza

SEAT Ibiza

The SEAT Ibiza is a car in the European supermini class, constructed by the Spanish car maker SEAT S.A., is SEAT's best-selling car and perhaps the most popular model in the Spanish firm's range....

is the Spanish firm's first design not to have been derived from a Fiat. It was penned by world-famous Italian designer Giorgetto Giugiaro

Giorgetto Giugiaro

Giorgetto Giugiaro is an Italian automobile designer responsible equally for a stable of supercars and several of the most popular everyday vehicles driven today...

, but mysteriously uses the same suspension as the Fiat Strada

Fiat Strada

The Fiat Strada is a supermini coupé utility version of Fiat's "world car" project, the Palio. It is produced in Brazil and exported from Betim, Minas Gerais to the European Union.-History:...

, and is the first SEAT to be imported to the UK. Its engines have been developed in conjunction with Porsche

Porsche

Porsche Automobil Holding SE, usually shortened to Porsche SE a Societas Europaea or European Public Company, is a German based holding company with investments in the automotive industry....

, and as a result its advertising campaign features the slogan "Italian styling and German engines" - which appear to be an impressive combination. The car's price is significantly lower than that of the similarly-sized Ford Escort, which suggests that it is not up to the standards of more mainstream rivals. In this case, the answer is "yes", but the Ibiza isn't far off.

Japan

Nissan is in the process of building a new plant at Sunderland in order to cut the cost of exporting cars to Europe. The new factory is set to open in the summer of next year, and will churn out the Bluebird

Nissan Bluebird

Although Nissan's own materials indicate that the Bluebird name emerged in 1959, some records show that the name first adorned a 988 cc, four-door sedan in 1957, which was part of the company's 210 series...

range. There are future plans for the entry-level Micra to be built at Sunderland.

United Kingdom

Italy

Sweden

Germany

Spain

Japan

See also