80s cars · 80s culture · 80s nostalgia · poster cars · synthwave ·Oct 02, 2026

80s Dream Cars, Ranked by How Impractical They Really Were

by Newretro.Net

Nobody hung a poster of a sensible car. The whole point of the 80s bedroom wall was a machine you couldn't afford and, in the 959's case, couldn't even legally drive in the US. The Countach was the king of that wall, and an Irish Times writer put it simply: if you were car-mad in the 80s, you probably had the poster.

Forty years later, some of the kids who had those posters can afford the cars. In 1986 nobody asked how bad these things would have been to actually own. The ranking below starts with the one you could drive to the grocery store and ends with the one that would bankrupt you at the gas station.

10. Buick GNX (1987)

The most practical car on the list, and the most terrifying one to see in your rearview mirror. Buick built 547 GNXs in 1987, finished by McLaren Performance Technologies and ASC from all-black Grand Nationals. Officially the turbo V6 made 276 hp. In reality it was closer to 300. The sticker price was $29,900, it had a back seat, and it got called "Darth Vader's car." In 2024 it ended up on the cover of Kendrick Lamar's album GNX. Practicality score: high. It's a Buick.

9. Pontiac Trans Am, a.k.a. KITT (1982)

Knight Rider ran on NBC from 1982 to 1986, and KITT was a modified black 1982 Firebird Trans Am. On the show it could do 0 to 60 in two seconds and pass 200 mph on turbo boost. In real life the 1982 Trans Am's V8 made 145 hp, or 165 with fuel injection. The production built 23 KITT cars, and only about five survive. The only practical problem was explaining to your friends that yours didn't talk.

8. Ferrari 308 GTS (Magnum, P.I.)

Tom Selleck drove a 308 GTS around Oahu for all eight seasons of Magnum, P.I., from 1980 to 1988, with the plate ROBIN 1. Ferrari North America refused to supply cars, so the show bought them. It's a small two-seat mid-engine car with a removable roof, and of every Ferrari on this list, it's the one you could most reasonably drive to work. The mustache is sold separately.

7. DeLorean DMC-12 (1981 to 1982)

Illustration of a stainless steel sports car with gull-wing doors open in a suburban garage

Stainless steel panels, gull-wing doors and a Giorgetto Giugiaro design. It cost $25,000 in 1981, and about 9,000 were built in Northern Ireland before the company collapsed in late 1982. The trouble was underneath. The V6 made 130 hp. DeLorean claimed 0 to 60 in 8.8 seconds and a 130 mph top speed. Road and Track measured 10.5 seconds and about 110 mph. Early cars could need up to 200 hours of dealer work.

Then Back to the Future came out in 1985, three years after the last one was built, and the car got famous anyway. The movie used six DeLoreans plus a fiberglass one for flying shots, and the engine sound in the first film came from a Porsche 928. If you want one on your screen instead of in your garage, our Midnight Velocity 1982 ($60.00) is a one-of-one digital artwork of a stainless wedge under city lights that looks very familiar.

6. Porsche 911 Turbo, the 930

The 930 earned a nickname nobody wants on a car: the Widowmaker. Short wheelbase, engine in the back and heavy turbo lag meant that lifting off the throttle mid-corner could send the rear end around. Porsche pulled it from the US market in the early 80s and brought it back for 1986. Porsche still makes employees who drive Turbo models take special training.

5. Ferrari Testarossa (1984)

The Testarossa debuted at the 1984 Paris Motor Show with a flat-12, side strakes and a body almost two meters wide, about half a foot wider than the car it replaced. Parking it in a mall garage was a mistake.

Its most famous job came with a lawsuit attached. For the first two seasons of Miami Vice, Crockett drove a black "Ferrari Daytona Spyder" that was really a fiberglass replica on a Corvette chassis. Ferrari sued the replica builders, and the show ended up with two free Testarossas on the condition that the fake be destroyed. It was blown up on screen, and the Testarossas, originally black, were painted white for season three. The car also starred in Sega's 1986 arcade game Out Run, which put a Testarossa in front of a lot of kids who would never see one in a showroom.

4. Porsche 959 (1986)

The most advanced car of the decade, with all-wheel drive, sequential twin turbos and a measured top speed around 197 mph. Porsche sold them for about $225,000, which was less than half of what each one cost to build. The catch: Porsche never certified it for the US, so you couldn't buy one there. Bill Gates bought one anyway in 1988, and US Customs held it for years until a 1999 law finally let it on the road, with a limit on how many miles he could drive each year. Practicality score: you can't practically drive a car that's in federal storage.

3. Ferrari F40 (1987)

The last Ferrari approved by Enzo Ferrari himself, built for the company's 40th anniversary. Twin-turbo V8, around 471 hp, Kevlar and carbon fiber body, and a list price of about $400,000 in 1987. Magazine tests put it at 196 to 199 mph.

What it didn't have: a sound system, a glove box, carpets, door handles or door panels. The first 50 cars had sliding plastic windows. Car and Driver said rear visibility turned lane changes into a leap of faith. Speculators loved it anyway. In 1990 Nigel Mansell's F40 sold for a then-record one million pounds, and one estimate at the time said only about 10 percent of delivered F40s were actually being driven.

2. Lamborghini Countach 5000 QV (1985)

Illustration of a low wedge-shaped supercar with its scissor doors raised, parked at night

The poster. Scissor doors, a V12 behind your head and the shape every kid drew in the margins of their notebook. Lamborghini built 1,983 Countachs from 1974 to 1990, and more than half came in the last five years, including 610 of the 5000 QV. The 1985 QV was the first Countach built to US specs at the factory. Earlier ones arrived through grey-market importers.

The impracticality was built in. The QV's raised engine cover, needed for carburetors that moved to the top of the engine, cut rear visibility to almost nothing. Lamborghini revived the name in 2021 as a limited run of 112 hybrids, built for the kid who had the poster.

1. Lamborghini LM002 (1986)

The Countach's V12, but in a military-style off-roader that weighed about 6,000 lb, got around 8 mpg and carried a 76-gallon fuel tank. It was unveiled at the 1986 Brussels show and immediately nicknamed the "Rambo Lambo." Pirelli made custom run-flat tires for it. Only 301 were built. It's the least practical car of the decade because it looks like it should be practical and absolutely isn't. Every trip to the gas station was a small financial event.

Honorable mention: Vector W8

An American supercar that started assembly in 1989 and sold as a 1990 to 1993 model. Vector promised a top speed over 240 mph. Car and Driver couldn't finish its test because all three cars broke. It had no power steering, no ABS and, for one famous owner, a rear carpet that burned from exhaust heat.

Still want the poster?

The poster was always the better deal. It didn't need a mechanic, and it looked great at 2 a.m. For a modern version, our Starlit Drive 1984 ($30.00) is a one-of-one digital artwork of a white convertible under a synthwave sky, made for a phone or desktop background, and the Retro Drive T-Shirt ($34.99) puts a sunset drive on your chest. For more on why these cars hit so hard, see why old cars had more personality and why car posters made walls feel faster.

Questions we get

What was the most popular poster car of the 80s? The Lamborghini Countach. Nobody has survey numbers, but it's the car that shows up first in almost every memory of an 80s bedroom wall.

What was the fastest car of the 80s? Among road cars, the Porsche 959 and Ferrari F40 were the top of the class, both tested in the high 190s mph. A few specials like the Porsche 959 S went faster.

Was the Miami Vice Ferrari real? Not at first. The black Daytona Spyder in seasons one and two was a replica on a Corvette chassis. Ferrari then supplied two real Testarossas, which were painted white for season three.

How much did a DeLorean cost new? $25,000 in 1981, rising to $29,825 for 1982 cars.

Why couldn't you buy a Porsche 959 in the US? Porsche built it to European rules and never certified it for the US. Cars that came over sat in storage until a 1999 law allowed limited road use.

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