The Iconic British Cars of the 80's Most Families Had - Page 3 of 6

These cars took us to the supermarket, took us to school and were packed to the rafters on trips across the UK. Here are some of the classic family cars of the 80's that took us all places. They may not be the most exotic cars of the 80s or the cars we wanted to have from our favourite 80's TV shows are sure to evoke some fuzzy feel-good memories of happy days growing up. Whilst being mass produced these 80's cars are sadly getting rarer to see on the roads as each year goes by. Let's invoke some happy nostalgia filled memories and see if you're family had one of these classic family cars of the 80's. Let's go... Austin Metro Made famous by Princess Diana who had one. The Metro was the 80’s alternative to the long-running Mini. Sportier models include the MG Metro Turbo which had a bit more poke to it. Renault 5 The boxy Renault 5 was a Mum’s school run favorite. Every kid wanted their parents to get GT Turbo though because they are awesome. It was replaced by the Renault Clio in the mid 90's after a long production run starting in the 70's. Ford Cortina The early 80’s family car. The Cortina had been in production in various forms since the 1960’s. Even after their replacement came out they were still on the roads in big numbers until the late 80’s, especially in that browny gold colour. Ford Granada A more executive version of the Cortina. A more mid-management level version anyway. Slightly bigger than the Cortina. Ford Fiesta A school-run regular alongside the Metro. The fiesta is still in production today after its late 70’s debut. The XR2 was the sporty version and was a firm favourite with boy racers a few years later with attached cherry bomb exhaust and 6x9's blasting out the tunes. Vauxhall Nova Vauxhall’s rival to the Fiesta. A popular car for the school and supermarket runs as well. The 1.3 SR was the sporty alternative to the MG Metro and Fiesta XR2. It was later replaced by the Vauxhall Corsa. Rover 3500 (SD1) A honking great 3.5 lite V8 adorned the Rover 3500. Big and definitely one for executives. A favorite for the Police in the early 80’s too. Volvo 740 Safety came first with this classic Swedish car. A very middle-class car to be in. Your family were doing alright if you had one of these. You probably had an estate version too… which leads on to… Saab 900 A bit of yuppie family car. Expensive and tad rarer and mysterious on the school run but you were probably quite well off if you had one these to take you to school in. Vauxhall Astra The Astra was a mid-sized favourite with families all across the UK and Europe. Pretty curvy too and a rival to the… Austin Maestro The Brit contender to the mid-sized throne. Austin Maestro’s were quite popular back in the day. There's hardly any about now as well. If we've featured the Meastro then we should feature the... Austin Montego The Montego was in the same category as the Cavalier and Sierra but wasn’t a great car overall compared to these two. Even rarer to see one nowadays than its siblings the Metro and Maestro. Ford Escort Ahh the Ford Escort. There were so many of these about back in the day. The mid-sized classic and rival to the Astra. If your parents had the XR3i you were really cool. If you had the cabriolet then even more so. Peugeot 205 If you had the hot hatch GTi version then well done you. You were probably the envy of your playground peers. If your mum had the convertible CTi version then everyone wanted to come round your house after school for a ride in it. Vauxhall Cavalier The family saloon car market was pretty much taken by Vauxhall and Ford in the 80's. There were loads these about in the 80's but not many left nowadays which leads to our final car and its main rival…. Ford Sierra The Cortina replacement came out in 1983 and took the market by storm. The car was curvy and was the fleet car and therefore the family car of choice for many people. If you were one of the rare kids whose parents had an RS Cosworth version that didn’t end up being stolen and used for ram raiding the local Dixons then you were automatically the coolest kid in school. Feeling Nostalgic? Which classic family cars of the 80's did your family have? Was it on this list? If not what did you have? Share your memories of the cars your family had in the comments below.