1981 in motoring - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

United Kingdom

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...

introduced an all-new range of medium sized family cars to bring its model range up to date for the new 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...

. The British-built version of the car was called the Vauxhall Cavalier

Vauxhall Cavalier

The Vauxhall Cavalier is a large family car sold primarily in the UK by Vauxhall Motors, the British division of General Motors , from 1975 to 1995...

, while its German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

twin were sold as the Opel Ascona

Opel Ascona

The Opel Ascona was a mid-sized car produced by Opel. It had three generations produced from 1970 to 1988. In motorsport, the Ascona 400 rally car driven by Walter Röhrl won the World Rally Championship drivers' title in the 1982 season....

. Both of these nameplates were established and well-known in all of the countries where the car's predecessor was sold. This incarnation of the car had front-wheel drive

Front-wheel drive

Front-wheel drive is a form of engine/transmission layout used in motor vehicles, where the engine drives the front wheels only. Most modern front-wheel drive vehicles feature a transverse engine, rather than the conventional longitudinal engine arrangement generally found in rear-wheel drive and...

and a hatchback

Hatchback

A Hatchback is a car body style incorporating a shared passenger and cargo volume, with rearmost accessibility via a rear third or fifth door, typically a top-hinged liftgate—and features such as fold-down rear seats to enable flexibility within the shared passenger/cargo volume. As a two-box...

bodystyle to run alongside the saloon. The engine line-up included 1.3 L and 1.6 L petrol units as well as a 1.6 L diesel, with larger engined models to go on sale in the near future. The new car was also sold by other branches of General Motors, including Chevrolet

Chevrolet

Chevrolet , also known as Chevy , is a brand of vehicle produced by General Motors Company . Founded by Louis Chevrolet and ousted GM founder William C. Durant on November 3, 1911, General Motors acquired Chevrolet in 1918...

in the USA and Holden

Holden

GM Holden Ltd is an automaker that operates in Australia, based in Port Melbourne, Victoria. The company was founded in 1856 as a saddlery manufacturer. In 1908 it moved into the automotive field, before becoming a subsidiary of the U.S.-based General Motors in 1931...

in Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

.

After 11 years on sale, during which time it was sold as a Hillman

Hillman

Hillman is a British automobile marque created by the Hillman Motor Car Company, founded in 1907. The company was based in Ryton-on-Dunsmore, near Coventry, England. Before 1907 the company had built bicycles...

, Chrysler

Chrysler

Chrysler Group LLC is a multinational automaker headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan, USA. Chrysler was first organized as the Chrysler Corporation in 1925....

and finally a Talbot

Talbot

Talbot was an automobile marque that existed from 1903 to 1986, with a hiatus from 1960 to 1978, under a number of different owners, latterly under Peugeot...

, production of the Avenger

Hillman Avenger

The Hillman Avenger was a rear-wheel drive small family car originally manufactured under the Hillman marque by the Rootes Group from 1970–1976, and made by Chrysler Europe from 1976–1981 as the Chrysler Avenger and finally the Talbot Avenger...

finally ceased. It had gradually declined in popularity following the launch of the more modern Horizon and Alpine models during the late 1970s. Peugeot's takeover

Peugeot

Peugeot is a major French car brand, part of PSA Peugeot Citroën, the second largest carmaker based in Europe.The family business that precedes the current Peugeot company was founded in 1810, and manufactured coffee mills and bicycles. On 20 November 1858, Emile Peugeot applied for the lion...

of the European Chrysler facility in 1979 seemed to spell the end for the car.

Talbot's entry-level model, the Sunbeam

Chrysler Sunbeam

The Chrysler Sunbeam is a small supermini 3-door hatchback manufactured by Chrysler Europe at the former Rootes Group factory in Linwood in Scotland. The Sunbeam's development was funded by a British government grant with the aim to keep the Linwood plant running, and the small car was based on the...

, also ceased production and was succeed by the Talbot Samba

Talbot Samba

The Talbot Samba is a supermini car manufactured by the PSA Group in the former Simca factory in Poissy, France, and marketed under the short-lived modern-day Talbot brand. Based on the Peugeot 104, it was the only Talbot not inherited from Chrysler Europe, engineered by PSA alone. It was also the...

—a compact three-door hatchback which used the same underpinnings and bodyshell as the Peugeot 104

Peugeot 104

The Peugeot 104 is a supermini motor car designed by Paolo Martin and produced by the French car manufacturer Peugeot between 1972 and 1988.- Production history :Saloon launch 1972...

.

British Leyland announced the end of Austin Maxi

Austin Maxi

The Austin Maxi was a medium sized 5-door hatchback car from British Leyland for the 1970s. It was the first British five speed five-door hatchback.-History:...

production, almost 13 years after the car first went on sale. The Maxi's successor – which also replaced the Allegro

Austin Allegro

The Austin Allegro is a small family car manufactured by British Leyland under the Austin name from 1973 until 1983. The same vehicle was built in Italy by Innocenti between 1974 and 1975 and sold as the Innocenti Regent...

– went on sale at the start of 1983. Meanwhile, British Leyland enjoyed great success with its new 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....

compact hatchback.

The Leyland Princess

Leyland Princess

The Princess is a family car that was produced in the United Kingdom by British Leyland from 1975 until 1981. The car inherited a front-wheel drive / transverse engine configuration from its predecessor, the BMC ADO17 range...

ceased production after six years on sale. Its successor, the Ambassador

Austin Ambassador

The Austin Ambassador was a medium-to-large hatchback car model introduced by British Leyland in 1982. The vehicle was a heavily updated version of the Princess, an ageing model that had lacked a hatchback...

, was a facelifted version of the original 1975 car, but the most significant change was the transition from saloon to hatchback body style.

British Leyland's Triumph

Triumph Motor Company

The Triumph Motor Company was a British car and motor manufacturing company. The Triumph marque is owned currently by BMW. The marque had its origins in 1885 when Siegfried Bettmann of Nuremberg initiated S. Bettmann & Co and started importing bicycles from Europe and selling them with his own...

division was undergoing a major transformation for 1982. The outdated, though sporty, Dolomite

Triumph Dolomite

The Triumph Dolomite was a popular small saloon car produced by the Triumph Motor Company division of the British Leyland Corporation in Canley, Coventry between October 1972 and August 1980.-History:...

and TR7

Triumph TR7

The Triumph TR7 is a sports car manufactured from September 1974 to October 1981 by the Triumph Motor Company in the United Kingdom. It was initially produced at the Speke, Liverpool factory, moving to Canley, Coventry in 1978 and then finally to the Rover plant in Solihull in 1980...

ranges would cease production after a collective lifespan of 17 years. The marque would include one single model: the Acclaim

Triumph Acclaim

The Triumph Acclaim was a front-wheel drive medium-sized family car made by British Leyland from 1981 to 1984. It was based on the Honda Ballade and used a Honda-designed engine, but met United Kingdom component-content requirements...

, which was the result of a recent venture with Honda

Honda

is a Japanese public multinational corporation primarily known as a manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles.Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, as well as the world's largest manufacturer of internal combustion engines measured by volume, producing more than...

. The Acclaim was powered by a lively 1.3 L overhead camshaft petrol engine capable of an impressive 97 mph. With Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese input, the Acclaim was hoped to mark a significant rise in quality control standards for British Leyland. Production of the new car, which debuted in 1980 in Japan

Japan

as the Honda Ballade

Honda Ballade

The Honda Ballade was a subcompact automobile built by Honda of Japan. It began as a four-door version of the Civic in 1980. The Ballade was developed at the same time the Honda Vigor appeared, which was a higher content Honda Accord...

, would take place at the Cowley

Cowley, Oxford

Cowley in Oxford, England, is a residential and industrial area that forms a small conurbation within greater Oxford. Cowley's neighbours are central Oxford to the northwest, Rose Hill and Blackbird Leys to the south, New Headington to the north and the villages of Horspath and Garsington across...

plant in Oxford

Oxford

The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...

France

Renault

Renault S.A. is a French automaker producing cars, vans, and in the past, autorail vehicles, trucks, tractors, vans and also buses/coaches. Its alliance with Nissan makes it the world's third largest automaker...

introduced a new front-wheel drive range of saloons – the R9 – at the end of 1981, giving it a direct up-to-date competitor for the new-for-1981 Ford Escort. The initial engine range included 1.1 and 1.4 petrol engines; larger engined models would follow at a later date. The 1.4 version was available with a five-speed manual gearbox, a rarity in comparable cars of the time. The American market also received a version of the 9, known as the Renault Alliance

Renault Alliance

The Renault Alliance is a subcompact automobile manufactured and marketed in North America by American Motors Corporation , with 623,573 examples manufactured for model years 1983-1987, and with a three and five-door hatchback variant, the Renault Encore marketed beginning in 1984.The two models...

, as Renault attempted to gain more popularity at the far side of the Atlantic

Atlantic Ocean

The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...

through its partnership with the American Motors Corporation. The Renault 9 made an impact in Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

, as the continent's motoring journalists voted it Car of the Year

Car of the Year

Car of the Year is a phrase usually considered to have been invented by Motor Trend magazine in the 1950s for their annual award for best American automobile...

for 1981.

Germany

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...

brought its range up to date for the 1980s by launching new versions of its Polo

Volkswagen Polo

The Volkswagen Polo is a supermini car manufactured by Volkswagen. It is sold in Europe and other markets worldwide in hatchback, saloon, coupé and estate variants....

mini-car and Passat

Volkswagen Passat

The Volkswagen Passat is a large family car marketed by Volkswagen Passenger Cars through six design generations since 1973. Between the Volkswagen Golf / Volkswagen Jetta and the Volkswagen Phaeton in the current Volkswagen line-up, the Passat and its derivatives have been badged variously as...

family car. Both cars were a huge success during their original 1970s incarnations. The Passat continued as a hatchback and estate, while the Polo hatchback was joined by a saloon model which (in Europe) no longer wore the Derby

Volkswagen Derby

The Volkswagen Derby is a saloon or booted or three-box version of the Volkswagen Polo supermini, produced by the German automobile maker Volkswagen, between 1977 and 1981....

nameplate which was seen on the booted version of the original Polo.

The ultra-modern Audi Quattro

Audi Quattro

The Audi Quattro is a road and rally car, produced by the German automobile manufacturer Audi, now part of the Volkswagen Group. It was first shown at the 1980 Geneva Motor Show on 3 March.The word quattro is derived from the Italian word for "four"...

was imported to British shores a year after going on sale in its homeland. With a 2.1 L turbo engine and four-wheel drive, this coupé was capable of around 140 mph and enjoyed a successful motorsport

Motorsport

Motorsport or motorsports is the group of sports which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles, whether for racing or non-racing competition...

career.

Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. Mercedes-Benz is a division of its parent company, Daimler AG...

further strengthened its position as one of the world's most desirable brands of car by introducing an all-new version of the acclaim S-Class

Mercedes-Benz S-Class

The Mercedes-Benz S-Class is a series of luxury sedans produced by Mercedes-Benz, a division of Daimler AG. The classification was officially introduced in 1972 with the W116 S-Class, which succeeded previous Mercedes-Benz models dating to the mid-1950s...

luxury saloon. With very high levels of equipment, refinement, quality and comfort, the new car also benefited from a range of impressively powerful engines. The range-topper of the new S-Class range was the 560SEL, which was powered by a 6.9 L V8 petrol engine and had a top speed of approximately 150 mph, making it one of the fastest four-door cars made up to this time.

Italy

After almost a decade on sale in Europe

Europe

, 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...

finally exported the popular X1/9

Fiat X1/9

The Fiat X1/9 is a two-seater mid-engined sports car designed by Bertone and manufactured by Fiat from 1972-1982 and subsequently by Bertone from 1982-1989....

sports car to America.

Spain

Following the split from Fiat, 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....

rebranded its entire Fiat-based model range, with the Panda becoming the Marbella

SEAT Marbella

The SEAT Panda was a badge-engineered Fiat Panda produced by SEAT from 1980 to 1986, in the company's Landaben plant in the Spanish city of Pamplona-Navarra and also in the firm's Zona Franca plant in Barcelona...

, the Ritmo becoming the Ronda

SEAT Ronda

The SEAT Ronda is a small family car produced by the Spanish automaker SEAT from 1982 to 1986, and styled by Rayton Fissore in collaboration with the Technical Centre in Martorell...

and the 127

SEAT 127

The SEAT 127 is a supermini produced by the Spanish automaker SEAT between 1972 and 1982.Due to SEAT design policy, a 4-door variant of the car was produced. SEAT also produced a unique variant of the 127 OHV engine. This had 1,010 cc instead of 903 cc and produced .When their licence...

becoming the Fura

SEAT Fura

The SEAT Fura is a supermini produced by Spanish automaker SEAT from 1981 to 1986. The Fura is a rebadged version of the Fiat 127, available in three and five-door hatchback bodystyles....

Japan

The first generation Accord

Honda Accord

The Honda Accord is a series of compact, mid-size and full-size automobiles manufactured by Honda since 1976, and sold in a majority of automotive markets throughout the world....

was a huge worldwide sales success for Honda, showing that it could build a credible rival for the Ford Cortina

Ford Cortina

As the 1960s dawned, BMC were revelling in the success of their new Mini – the first successful true minicar to be built in Britain in the postwar era...

. The Americans were particularly impressed by the Accord, though its sales success was not quite matched in Europe. The new model had vastly improved fuel economy, despite using the same 1.8 L petrol engine that powered the original Accord.

The Toyota Celica

Toyota Celica

The Toyota Celica name has been applied to a series of coupes made by the Japanese company Toyota. The name is ultimately derived from the Latin word coelica meaning "heavenly" or "celestial"....

entered its third incarnation with a much more modern bodystyle which is primarily aimed at the American market. Power came from swift performing 1.6 L, 1.8 L, 2.0 L and 2.4 L petrol engines which maintained the Toyota traditions of reliability and refinement. There was also a three-door liftback version which had a practical edge over the traditional two-door model. For those who wanted high performance, European buyers finally got the Celica Supra

Toyota Supra

The Toyota Supra is a sports car/grand tourer that was produced by Toyota Motor Company from 1979 to 2002. The styling of the Toyota Supra was derived from the Toyota Celica, but it was both longer and wider. Starting in mid-1986, the Supra became its own model and was no longer based on the Celica...

, which came with a 2.8 L engine and was fast enough to be considered a serious competitor for the likes of the Porsche 924

Porsche 924

The Porsche 924 is an automobile produced by Porsche AG of Germany from 1976 to 1988. A two-door, 2+2 coupé, the 924 replaced the 914 as the company's entry-level model, and was the model that finally retired the 912. In production terms, the 924 was the first Porsche model powered by a...

United Kingdom

France

Germany

Italy

Spain

Japan

See also