We can safely say that the 1980s have been the Golden era for the German automotive industry as manufacturers built some of the coolest cars that the streets have ever seen.
The Germans during the 80s mastered the boxy look and created some of the nicest-looking cars ever. On this list, these vehicles are either icons or absurdly fast cars or both. It is quite evident that two brands above everyone else could not get it wrong. Porsche and BMW simply dominated the market and our dreams with the coolest and raddest vehicles that they have ever made.
10 1982 Volkswagen Golf GTI MK1
The GTI is an icon and each of the generations of the Golf has a huge fan base. There are multiple reasons behind it such as the car is not too costly to own and maintain and because they are so incredibly fun to modify and make go very fast.
Nevertheless, the early 80s MK1 will be forever the best one thanks to its amazing boxy design and its fun and exciting 1.8-liter that produced around 90 horsepower. This car even almost 40 years later is still an amazing choice as it is reliable and simply so nice to look at.
9 1985 Audi Sport Quattro
This Audi to put it simply is a beast. The name Quattro refers to the fact the car is an all-wheel drive. It was powered by a turbocharged 2.1-liter inline-five cylinder that produced 197 horsepower and could reach a top speed of 137 mph. This car is the homologated version of one of the meanest and most dominating cars that the legendary Rally Group B has ever seen.
The car was in production from 1980 until 1991. The Quattro was extremely light and quick and thanks to its all-wheel-drive system it was simply unstoppable. This is one of the best cars to ever come out of Ingolstadt.
8 1986 Porsche 911 Carrera 3.2 Cabriolet
This car represents at its best the meaning of 'love at first sight.' A breathtaking design combined with a powerful engine made this 911, one of the most memorable vehicles of the 80s and of the history of the automotive industry.
As the name suggests the 911 was powered by a 3.2-liter flat-six cylinder engine that produced 234 horsepower and could push this beauty to a top speed of 145 mph and was able to go from 0 to 62 mph in just a mere 4 seconds. The name Carrera derives from the commemoration of Porsche's success in the Carrera Panamericana race.
7 1987 BMW M6
BMW in the 80s was without a shadow of doubt the coolest automaker on the market as each and every single one of its models was an authentic home run and M6 is no exception. The exquisite lines of this car were powered by a fantastic 3.5-liter inline-six-cylinder engine that produced 256 horsepower and could push the car to a top speed of 158 mph.
The elongated front and aggressive design of the car gave the M6 an incredible charisma. The car was only in production from 1983 until 1989 and about 6000 units were sold, making it quite rare to find one at a reasonable price.
6 1989 Mercedes-Benz 560 AMG Widebody
This car was pure power as it had a 6.0-liter V8 that produced 386 horsepower and could push the beast to a top speed of 183 mph and could go from 0 to 62 mph in just 6 seconds.
The car was produced before the merger of Mercedes and AMG and it was simply sold under Mercedes warranty as a special edition of the car. However, this AMG had an astronomical price and therefore they are quite rare. It is believed that only 50 units were ever sold.
5 1982 BMW Alpina B7 S Turbo
Alpina, in a very similar fashion to what AMG does at Mercedes, heavily modifies a basic BMW to make it a super-fast rocket. It is quite different from the in-house performance division 'M' as the engine is completely changed and buffed up. The B7 is what dreams are made of as it is powered by a 3.5-liter turbocharged straight-six cylinder engine that produces 325 horsepower that could push the car to a top speed of 165 mph.
The car was such a beast that the engine produced 500 nm of torque, the same amount produced by the E39 M5, a car that would not go into production for another 17 years.
4 1987 RUF CTR Yellowbird
RUF started out simply as a tuner company that loved taking 911 and making them go even faster. In fact, it became famous in the late 70s for giving extra power to the 930 as Porsche only offered a four-speed turbo, while RUF decided to offer a five-speed one.
The Yellowbird was powered by an incredible 3.4-liter twin-turbocharged flat-six cylinder that produced 469 horsepower that could push the car to an incredible top speed of 211 mph. This car was so powerful that insiders believed that the more realistic output of this RUF was around 550 horsepower.
3 1988 BMW E30 M3
The M3 is legendary as it is the ultimate icon of the 1980s and the only reason why it is not higher in this list is that there are a couple of vehicles that are simply above everyone else. This generation of the M3 is the most sought-after vehicle ever made by BMW. This car was special and everyone knew it when it was first unveiled in 1985 at the Frankfurt Motor Show.
The light-weight car was powered by a 2.3-liter four-cylinder engine that produced 200 horsepower and could push the car to a top speed of 146 mph. This car was so beautiful and so fast that BMW sold nearly 19,000 units from 86 until 91.
2 1981 BMW M1
The car has been designed by one of the greatest minds of the 20th century, Giorgetto Giugiaro. This is the first-ever mid-engine mass-produced BMW. The car was powered by a 3.5-liter inline-six-cylinder that produced 273 horsepower and could push this car to a top speed of 162 mph.
This is also one of the rarest cars ever made by BMW as only 453 units were ever made. The car was only in production from 1979 until 1981. One of the peculiar aspects of this car was that Giugiaro wanted to create the car with the lowest drag coefficient possible but his efforts were vain as the car achieved .40 which is worse than a Dodge Durango.
1 1989 Porsche 959
The race to manufacture the fastest production vehicle on the market in the late 80s gave us one of the coolest rivalries ever in the history of the automotive industry, Ferrari vs. Porsche, F40 Vs. 959. This car represents still to this day one of the most highly technological vehicles ever produced. The car was powered by a fantastic 2.8-liter twin-turbo flat-six cylinder engine that produced 444 horsepower and could push the 959 to a top speed of 199 mph.
Only 292 units were made of this spectacular Porsche. One of the coolest aspects of this car was its computer-controlled torque system which could split the torque 50:50 front/rear in slippery conditions or send an incredible 80% to the rear wheels for a blistering acceleration.