It’s the summer of 1985, and you have a cool $15,000 burning a hole in your pocket. You’ve just been blown away by the band Queen’s performance at Live Aid, sitting there on your couch drinking a wine cooler as the whole concert event plays out on your 17-inch Sony Trinitron TV. Sure, the Led Zepplin set kind of sucked with Jimmy all strung out on something, but in general the whole show has been so good that you’re considering giving your own money to the cause.
Why not? You’re rich. You were smart enough to buy stock in a company owned by two California guys who built a computer in their garage, and now they’ve launched this new product with a cigarette box on a string attached to it called a “mouse.”
With a big commercial push after the Superbowl, it’s been a big success and now you’re able to share in some that go-go eighties goodness.
As much as you want to help Bob Geldof’s cause, you decide that you’re going to do the right thing and buy a brand new car to replace your dying hand-me-down green slant six Dodge Dart from Grandma instead. What will you get?
I was not old enough in 1985 to live out this hypothetical situation, but if I were my choice would be pretty easy. You see, I’d want something to be as reliable as that horrible Dodge Dart, and considering that I’ve had essentially three cars in the last thirty years and put about 18,000 miles on them every 12 months it’s got to a rock-solid machine. After suffering through owning a Dart I’d want something sporty and capable to make up for those lost years, but the thing would still have to be practical.
What malaise-era machine could check the boxes on such an expansive wish list? That’s easy: a 1985 Toyota Supra “sport” model with a five-speed.
I’d want this purplish-grey leather interior, though obviously with a row-your-own gearbox between the seats with the blood pressure gauge-style lumbar pump-ups:
I loved the looks of this thing, and the fact that Dan Gurney said such glowing things about it (well, was paid to) convinced me that this was The Car to have. Notice that Dan was too cool to jump:
In some ways it’s probably good I wasn’t in this situation back then, since I’d still be driving that same damn Supra to this day with like 670,000 miles on the clock.
How about you? So many good choices out there from hot hatches to sport coupes and even fun sedans. Put on your Members Only jacket, roll up the sleeves, grab that $15,000 in cash, and head out the door. What dealership’s lot are you going to drive into, and with what rad car will you drive out?
I’d get a Mustang SVO, although I believe it’s MSRP was a tad over $15K.
Either that or a Toyota 4Runner
Too many choices! Was a senior in HS in ’85.
Would have upgrade the 77 v8 Maverick to a 85 Mustang GT, although I always like the looks of boss’s Z28.
Per google the 1985 K5 Blazer started at 11K, so for 15 I’d propbably be able to get a decently optioned one. I’m taking two-tone paint, AC, and the 5.7L.
I do love that gen Supra, and 3rd gen F-Bodies as well, but I’ve ALWAYS wanted a K5. My dad had a ’78 when I was a little kid, and since then I’ve loved them. I came close with a shortbed squarebody pickup as a highschooler in the 90’s, but the K5 always eluded me.
I should probably just say “EFF it” and use my house downpayment fund to buy one. The longer I try to save, the more inadequate the amount becomes. K5 value is probably only going UP.
My great-aunt had a beautiful burgundy 2wd Blazer back in the early ’80s, fully loaded with power everything, and burgundy crushed velour interior. I would have wanted the same thing in 4wd, but what a beautiful rig it was.
That second gen Supra is indeed a beauty and still my favorite Supra.
Nonetheless I’m pretty sure I would have bought something from Honda. I still have fond memories of my ’86 Accord.
My ’86 Accord 4D LXi was an incredible car after all the other ones I had owned or driven at the time. Stylish (I thought), roomy, comfy, handled great and efficient. Perhaps my favorite of all I’ve owned.
I purchased a new 1986 Celica GTS back in the day. Would definitely buy it again – the Supra got all bloated around 1986.
Prior to that, I bought my first new car, a 1983 Mustang GT. I looked at the Mustang SVO before I bought the Celica but was underwhelmed.
Wait until the very end of the year and get an ’86 Accord hatchback with every option I could check on the list except automatic transmission, and put the rest in savings.
My mom did just that, and I drove it 10 years later as my first car. I beat the snot out of it, burned out the clutch, took it up to 200k miles before buying my own car.
Grand National. Looks like they came in under 13k. Could use the left over money for rear tires.
I hate to be the one to say this, but Grand Nationals started at $18K in 1985. May I suggest a nice T-Type Regal instead?
There’s only one answer to this question for me: A Buick Grand National. If it was 2 years later, I would opt for the GNX.
If any were left over, a 1984 Rampage.
If not, likely either an Omni GLH or a Shelby Charger tbh.
I was 16 in 1985. cars I liked then were the Comanchee cherokee, wagoneer, 4runner, monte carlo, Starion, MR2, rs200(over the $15K for sure), Fiero, Bronco,
I was on the swim team with a guy whose parents got him a Supra, circa 1985. Such a cool car, used to always try to snag a lift to/from practice with him…
Of course, the other two options were the Mustang Convertibles with the 5.0, or even the Trans Am. I went to high school in suburban Detroit, so plenty of kids had parents who worked for the big 3; there were rows of the damn Mustang convertibles at my school. A good friend of mine was screwing around in his Mustang convertible on a dirt road, and flipped the car. Walked away without a scratch.
What kind of stung my teenage car-loving self was then showing up in my 1980 Oldsmobile Diesel Custom Cruiser wagon With The Fake Wood Trim (TM). Other painful/realistic cars the other kids were driving were my buddy’s pea green 1977 Chevy Caprice (aka “the flying booger”), another buddy had an Escort Pony, Dan actually had a mid-1970’s Beetle, and used to leave the keys in the ignition all the time – starting it and being able to drive it were both not guaranteed. Another had a 1977 Mercury Marquis; like driving your granny’s doily to school. Another kid had a VW Dasher. I remember him driving into a ditch by the school, and thinking to myself “Damn, it’d be one thing if he lost control in a Mustang, but a Dasher?”
Another kid had one of the first VW GTIs. He loved it, and then I remember one day it was gone. He claimed that it was at the shop, and fell of a lift, and it was totaled. Hmmm….
I’d get the one that I had in ’85 all over again – Mustang GT in jalapeno red, but with more options. Mine was straight-up stripped; manual windows, no AC, no cruise, no cassette (added a dealer installed factory unit). I used to tell myself there was something earnest and throwback-y about having a car that was basically lighter and tighter without all that extra stuff, but a friend had one that was optioned up and I was a bit envious.
That Supra is so choice.
Well, if I could time travel back to 1985, I would of course go for a DeLorean! 😀
This, on many levels.
Gen 3 Accord coupe, with as many options and cams as possible, although the ubiquitous ADM of the era might have limited my ability to completely load it up.
GMC Sierra Grande Stepside with Balloon Tires or a GMC Desert Fox truck…those are timeless classics…
Holy shit. I was going to say a Renault Espace MK1, but apparently a top of the line Espace 2000-1 cost a cool $23K back in 1985. Not entirely sure there was a sub-$15K model at the time.
I guess I’d just buy 6-7 Quatrelles.
As one who emerged to life precisely in the midst of summer ’85, I’d have to go with an Alfa GTV6.
Ok, so I answered with my heart before looking up price. Turns out MSRP in ’85 was 16,500, so considering they sold dozens annually, I’m sure I could have test driven it in the summer, then lingered till autumn to get a negotiated price to 15k.
In any case, I stand by my answer: GTV6
My initial impulse is a VW GTI for about $9000 and spend the rest on a motorcycle.
I’d buy $15k of Apple stock in the year they fired Steve Jobs and hang on to it until today…. and just take the bus.
Sounds like 40 boring-ass years.
Pretty sure the first 12 years would’ve been anything but boring 😀
Well, my assumption on our hypothetical was that we go back to 1985, do whatever the hell, and then come back to 2024, at which point, I’m enormously wealthy (ish). If the terms of the deal are go back to 1985, buy a used car and then live in 1985 moving forward, I don’t want to do that shit at all…. Why the fuck would I want to go back in time to the Reagan years permanently, lol…?
Since it’s the summer of 1985, I’m waiting as long as possible for the ’86 model year 4Runners to hit the showroom, and if need be, put a 100% deposit down in an attempt to exploit a loophole to get my hands on a 4Runner Turbo. But I’ll happily drive off in a loaded SR5 edition with fuel injection as it is the final year of the live axle. Since I’m likely to have a couple thousand left over (maybe not for the turbo), the service department is installing a lift kit and some 35 inch tires.
I can get gushing over the Supra. My brother had a fully loaded Celica w/ 5 speed manual which I’m sure is common knowledge was the Supra’s platform mate (I believe the Supra sat on a longer chassis). That thing was nice inside, and looked pretty much the same as the photo, minus the leather, rear wing, and a different bumper. And being the final year of RWD Celicas, it had sporting potential.
Those lumbar pump ups were way cool cand worked really well with the release button letting you get just the right amount of support. The seats were also highly adjustable if I recall properly.
If we’re talking Aussie Dollarydoos, there are a few choices that skate under $15k back in ’85 Down Under:
– Subaru Brumby: right on $15k
– A Lada Niva and $2,000 worth of vodka to recover with
– Ford KB Laser Turbo
– Nissan N12 Pulsar Turbo
– Daihatsu Charade Turbo
– Toyota AE86 Sprinter
– Two Suzuki Mighty Boys!
Will you judge me if it was actually the Niva that I was a bit keen on at the time? I did eventually buy one too. It replaced my first (of two) new cars – a 1993 Daihatsu Charade.
Dodge Omni GLH
Wish I’d bought one of those, or a Colt GTS turbo or a CRX, instead of the Beemer or Merc and invested the rest in Microsoft Stock.
Hard to resist the twin-stick colt
Great fun to drive as the CRX. The GLH was bad handling with nasty torque steer.
1985, hmm, let’s see, right, that’s the year I spent 3 times that amount on a new BMW 325is. Biiiiggg mistake, big big mistake. What a monumental POS that car was. One year of ownership and over half of that year spent in the shop having brakes, instrument panel (fire), differential and driveshaft replaced. It was a great car when it wasn’t broken. Traded it on an 86 Mercedes 190e 2.6. Marginally better but still had the built quality of any 70’s British or 80’s big three car. The dealer was an especially great experience. Sold it after 9 months of occasional driving between dealer visits. I graduated, moved to Eastern Canada and gave up on car ownership for several years.
At first I went through every 4×4 I could have thought of – K5 Blazer, 4Runner, CJ7, CJ8, and so forth. However, that Supra is just incredible. Mine would be in the same spec!