Retro car Review | 1980s Cars | Motoring Show | Cars | Wheels | 1981

Chris Goffey and Tony Bastable take a look at the latest cars that will be on offer in the UK.
First shown: 22/10/1981
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Quote: VT25513

[@JamBar1873]

The Opel Manta still looks good nearly 40 years later.

[@andreiandrosoff1327]

I agree, although the thin A-pillar and boxy top half detract from the excellent bottom half.

[@jareknowak8712]

Classic coupe never gets old!

[@fidelcatsro6948]

very very true!!

[@adriannejulietelson5978]

I had two

[@LogiForce86]

@@andreiandrosoff1327 Give me those pillars for excellent view around me over roll-over protection. On a day to day basis you'll save more lives (and not only your own) by having increased situational awareness and a slightly less safe feeling (inducing a more defensive driving style), than having people and bicyclists on roundabouts disappear in your A-pillars only to pop up in front of your car in the last second... yet you feel safe in your roll-over protected cage and thus drive more aggressively as you move from A to B with haste in our modern hectic world.

[@CutcliffePaul]

Loved seeing the Probe prototype and hearing the reference to “the new Cortina”, or Sierra, as we know it now. 😊

[@HMCarReviews]

That Manta is the real creme of the crop here. Looks as fantastic then as it does now.

[@W42PZ]

“Looks as fantastic now as it did then”.

[@Guerilla_G]

Lancer EX Turbo! Some proper rarities in here.

[@nysun6293]

Beautiful trip down memory lane, some fantastic vehicles there!

[@4thinternational283]

The old granada was a lovely car, we had a 2.0l and later a 2.3lx which was comfortable and smooth as silk. Ah, the good old days !!!

[@jareknowak8712]

Dear Thames TV, more car related content, please! Greetings from Poland.

[@lanehogger1532]

Love retro car reviews! I was 5 when this was made and I loved cars. My dad was a rep and loved the mk2 cavalier and had 2 a GLS and an SRi. Having a digital 4 speaker stereo was great back then 😂

[@wolftmfg]

My father had the Carlton in that colour, steering wheel on the left side since it was a car for the Dutch market. Automatic gearbox, sunroof, electric windows , rev counter(!), powersteering. It was impressive for me as a 6 year old kid in ‘86. The car was 8 years old at the time.

[@Smithy67]

The return of retro car review!!!! Yay!!!!! An early Christmas present!!!

[@eddieconroy212]

That Manta still looks good today!

[@TinLeadHammer]

Not really.

[@01322521959]

That was the last motor show I went to with dad. I remember he and I sitting in the back of the Triumph Aclaim and we both thought it felt small with poor leg room. I was 16 at the time.

[@eitanros]

little did they know how surprisingly close the 1982 Sierra was to the PROBE concept.

[@ianturner6204]

Mk1 XR2 ....had two and loved em !

[@neilhopkins8673]

I had 2, one in sunburst red & the other in caspian blue.

[@thepub245]

Cars of this era were so much more appealing. The times we live in now have become so bland. Most modern cars are about as interesting as watching paint dry.

[@matthewc.419]

The " one " motor company is here Platform sharing .......all parts the same 🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮

[@hondamanvtec2894]

That Lancer Turbo please 😎

[@WelshyM]

My Dad had a Ford Cortina 2.3 Ghia automatic in 1981. He loved it!

[@neilhopkins8673]

My dad had a boring 1.6L!!

[@derin111]

This is the year I began driving. I still think of these cars as being “really good cars”! 😂 It’s great to loom back but also really brings home just how far even ordinary cars have come in the last 40 years!

[@rupedog]

Wow, that probe prototype was exactly the Sierra just with rear wheel arch covers....even had the XR4i double spoiler on it.... if only they knew back then

[@frankdux6930]

The only thing missing here is, Sir Cliff Richard, rollerblading to wired for sound.

[@Dan23_7]

Ron Richter Hahaha brilliant 😂😂

[@ronwhite8503]

I didn't miss him at all.

[@TheAlien1974]

Probe 3 = Sierra

[@TheAlien1974]

The problem was it was out of date when it was launched

[@jareknowak8712]

@@TheAlien1974 interior and rwd? But the looks was quite good.

[@deanoflip7459]

Definitely..

[@Flying_GC]

@@TheAlien1974 the Sierra? Bollocks

[@pureboxofscartcables]

@@TheAlien1974 It was modern looking at the time. Too modern for the market.

[@bobbillnolan7644]

Fiesta xr2, 4 speed, carburettor, 1.6 ... 😍

[@peterbustin2683]

And it had a staggering 84 bhp !

[@geetee7154]

The sIlver XR2 brought back some memories,i had an identical one in 1987 was an absolutely brilliant car,they fetch serious money nowadays

[@benwherlock9869]

That Colt Mitsubishi is the first car that I remember my dad driving. I wish I'd noticed how cool it was at the time.

[@TravelMusicEntertainment1]

Great to see the old cars again. Isn't it about time we had a Motorshow again in the UK. Used to love going to Earls Court or NEC Birmingham every year the shows were fantastic! You can see the shape of the Ford Sierra of the future on the Ford stand there. #TravelMusic

[@mikeb6385]

No point having car shows again, todays cars all look the same, dull as dishwater....

[@karlhurn]

Love the 70's/80's presenting style. Angry and slightly aggressive towards the manufacturers 😂😂😂

[@Banglish123]

The dead wood snipe was epic

[@jakeagusta]

Opel Manta 😍😍😍

[@Thecrazyvaclav]

How old did the cortina look compared to the cavalier? And I'll take the manta please

[@trabali5168]

The mk2 cavalier was a much better car than the sierra, never mind the cortina which was dated. performance wise cavalier 1.6 90bhp 0-60 in 10.5 sec, sierra 1.6 75bhp, 0-60 in 13.0 sec.

[@stevenjoy3537]

@@trabali5168 I'd say if they took reliability OUT of the equation, the Montego was up there too. As was the Bluebird

[@trabali5168]

@@stevenjoy3537 early montego's had a few problems as you stated, but they improved them considerably after F reg 89. The bluebird was a bit boring but a reliable workhorse and well equipped.

[@stevenjoy3537]

@@trabali5168 indeed. I miss those days

[@russcattell955i]

I owned a Manta 2.0 and a Cavalier estate. Both were good cars . Served me well.

[@23hublock1]

Loved the Lancer Turbo best myself.

[@vrossi2596]

Cosworth of the day 😁

[@23hublock1]

@@vrossi2596 Very much so...and an early Evo of course :-)

[@johnstairs]

Love Tony’s stern presentation style

[@jbconno]

And doing a lot of it with his back to the camera 😅

[@andrewclarke8723]

Thames - such an iconic brand.

[@robertmarsh3588]

That Cavalier did indeed go on to dominate the UK market for the next few years. The 1.6 outperformed the equivalent Cortina by some margin though I do remember a very uncomfortable few hours in start-stop traffic on the M25 in a company owned one later in the 80s. Just not as good a driving position as the Cortina or Sierra which I owned shortly after. Both were a more relaxing drive. Great seeing these cars from my youth though.

[@Piotrek4500]

Monza is so good looking car, have one, 3.0 automatic

[@ronmccullock1407]

Tony loves his Ford cars

[@fatlad5090]

Only if they put all them cars in a nice warm garage to be discovered now that be great

[@davejohnson3474]

@Colt Fanboi i was just seeing if there are any for sale but can't find any. Cool cars

[@themadmonz2498]

That Opel Monza was basically the first EB Holden Commodore in Australia

[@davidallen7977]

I dont ever remember cars looking so old.

[@BanjoLuke1]

All fascinating stuff. And a lovely waft of the perfume of nostalgia. One wonders how much more generous Ford were with hospitality than the other marques. Most cars just got a bland description; the Fords almost got a love poem of endless praise. I'm not sure this was just commercial television. It seemed more like Very Commercial Television.

[@johnroberts2905]

They got it a bit wrong about the Cavalier! 😂

[@Cortinaman63]

Ah the lovely Ford Cortina the nations best selling and most loved car for 20 years of production!!, I own 3x Mk3's and am restoring one of them to brand new, full shell rebuild on my channel, which is the only surviving 1974 Ex Ford promotional model, with fully traceable history right back to the factory production line!!!, and a very rare model version too.

[@TheAlien1974]

Granny 117 mph!! Wow

[@TheAlien1974]

It's a beautiful car though

[@wiedietie]

I love this era

[@boerharms2209]

Ill take the Manta 400

[@Grant.G.Simpson]

star of the show was the XR2 for me, i bet loads wish they had one in that condition today

[@hydorah]

Manta in the thumbnail made me click!

[@Saabinseptime]

Thames ! That's the Benny Hill Show !

[@minatormyth]

Fod I do miss the 80s. No war on cars in sight.

[@neildutton8077]

Cavalier was just a great car, a game changer for vauxhall. I used to sell them like hotcakes.

[@alexfletcher5192]

I recall the Sierra making a spread in one of the papers.

[@TitchLDN]

blast from the past i so remember

[@primacasacostruzionicampom1085]

Bello rivedere tutte queste auto di inizi anni '80!

[@liverush24]

That Cavalier looks so good.

[@philhealey449]

Cavalier 1.6 pool car at work in rallying trials had more power than handling with the front wheels bouncing up and down in spirited acceleration. That and the Chevette with its tappety Viva engine were both severe health risks in dry weather with huge electrostatic discharge from the velour seats. You soon learned to hold the metal doorframe when getting out. Further comedy with the raucous much hated Mk III Escort which had a fiendishly hidden manual choke so most victims thought it had an automatic choke meaning much fruitless starter motor action.

[@liverush24]

@@philhealey449 My mate's B-reg Cavalier interior, was green on green on even more green. Green dash, seats, carpets, headliner, door cards & seatbelts. It was overwhelming.

[@philhealey449]

@@liverush24 Must have been the sodium lighting in Luton, or the wrong punchtape in the build sheet computer? We only had hearing aid beige cars and brown interiors.

[@liverush24]

@@philhealey449 It was too much.

[@tomanderson6335]

Annoyingly, we never got a five-door J-body here in the U.S. Two-doors, three-doors, four-doors, wagons and convertibles (some brands offered more body style choices than others), but no five-doors. I guess they figured the wagons were enough (and maybe the X-body Citation and Phoenix hatchbacks, wretched though they were).

[@spagbowlsparmacheese629]

When cars were fun..

[@NathanChisholm041]

The theme opening always reminds me off the Goodies

[@esssexboy]

I certainly preferred the Manta to the later Calibra. Although being a Ford buff i always had V6 Capri's

[@gmain1977]

That Opel Manta, and Tuning kit took it to 240hp

[@rickydoolous4669]

I was at the 1980 NEC Motor show it all seemed very modern at the time"well it would". i seem to remember the other new cars not mentioned here the Triumph Acclaim, BL Metro, Ital etc, oh how we laugh now.

[@roccomcg6910]

That Manta 400 though ! 😍😍

[@4g63_Everything]

Wow! The Colt Lancer EX2000 Turbo behind him! Sadly in my country (Philippines) 🇵🇭 we didn't get the Turbo versions of A175/A176 Lancers of the 1980s, but yet still popular here to this day, you can still see one running on the streets of Manila. I went through 3 of these before, i really like it even this car is way older before i was born (1995) 😂

[@spider_hoss]

THe early ancestor of the Mitsubishi EVO line.

[@adjo82]

The manta 400 😍

[@DoubleDeckerAnton]

This is a classic now...🙂🔝👍

[@TheFunkhouser]

0:24 I used to own one of those. epic. When you could open the bonnet and actually work on your own cars engine. (look out world.. Nissan's GTR is about to show its claws 🐯💪)

[@benwherlock9869]

Alan Partridge would love this video! 😆

[@spankysmp]

Always loved the Monza but there weren't many around. I never know that about the Probe - it was quite a brave move to convert that into the Sierra

[@paulsmith-ib3nx]

Then they used the Probe name on that dodgy disguised Mazda MX6 thing a few years later. I can remember my Cortina-loving Dad turning his nose up at the Probe III and baulking about it becoming the new 'Tina. I was 11 and thought the Sierra was fantastic at the time.

[@spankysmp]

@@paulsmith-ib3nx I wasn't keen on the Sierra at the time it first appeared. However, back in about the early 2000s I bought one for £250 I think, one owner, J reg and under 40K on the clock. it was a 1.8LX Sapphire and I bloody loved it....that was until a 4x4 reversed into the side of it and killed it. I'd love it if I still had it and there's no reason why it wouldn't have survived, I've got a 1992 Panda which is still going and there's a hell of a lot of difference between the two quality wise.

[@ratscoot]

So Mitsubishi was called Colt in the UK? On the continent we had the Colt as a Mitsubishi model, my first car. 1981 model.

[@paulsmith-ib3nx]

The importer here in the UK was independent from Mitsubishi, Colt Cars Ltd. Mitsubishi acquired them not too long after this programme was made and UK cars were then badged as Mitsubishi's.

[@civlyzed]

@@paulsmith-ib3nx Thanks, I was confused with the presenter calling it a Colt, and the badge is Mitsubishi and the license plate showing Lancer Turbo.

[@bender2106]

WAS NE GEILE ZEIT-LIVE ERLEBT! WAS FÜR GEILE AUTOS-HEUTE NOCH BESSER WIE DAMALS

[@jamesmiller3142]

This is a 1980s wet dream

[@highcountrypioneer3025]

I used to have an open manta 400 replica with a c30se engine swap.

[@General.Longstreet]

Happy days!

[@mikemidulster]

My white Mk5 Cortina estate lurking in the background .

[@MicaRayan]

Greetings from Malaysia!

[@sergiodavid5025]

El Opel Manta sigue estando guapo,ojala Opel lo volviera a sacar

[@phil955i]

Shoddy hose shine on that Mitsubishi, they only did the tops, you can see where the shine has dribbled down the sides lol

[@HelloImNik]

Fiesta XR2 😍

[@hamishbrown9778]

all blown away by SAAB

[@markjohn4802]

I was very much into the executive barge, I've always gone for the big car. Royale and the G.

[@LG-kl3co]

Back in 1987 I'd been driving a top of the range SAAB Turbo and had to downsize as a purchased a property. I bought a 1985 Opel GTJ ...I'd flown under the radar with the SAAB and girls but that Opel got me plenty of female attention...I never understood it !

[@seanconnolly8345]

Past my test in a colt lancer had to turn the steering wheel a minute before going around a corner.

[@cloverwheels5987]

Behind the Granada, i have noticed Escort cabrio prototype!

[@chrisdooley6468]

Wow loved the white Opel. That special tuning kit with 240hp was quite something for 1981. Anyone know anything about this car and kit? Never got this stateside

[@carlbentley80]

It was an homolgation model so that they could go rallying with it. Google Opel Manta 400, the manta was also available in less powerful versions without the body kit.

[@Ribeirasacra]

Watch kzbin.info/www/bejne/hKuaXnemgauFhNE

[@brunster64]

Chris Dooley - Had a Manta GTE Special Edition back in the day. Wasn’t particularly quick by modern standards but used to get a lot of attention. My car had a bit of a “final destination” thing going on with me. It tried to incinerate me twice - the high pressure fuel rail which was conveniently mounted over the exhausted manifold came undone spraying fuel all over it - luckily I’d just arrived home when it broke. The other time the output line from the fuel pump - located externally next to the back box (muffler) came undone spraying the hot exhaust with fuel. Sold it not long after that 🥵

[@tomanderson6335]

Think of the Manta/Cavalier Coupe as GM of Europe's Camaro, in the same sense the Capri was Ford of Europe's Mustang.

[@DashDrones]

2:40 The calibra prototype. At least they didn't stick with the 1.3 engine

[@jareknowak8712]

Not Opel Omega?

[@DashDrones]

@@jareknowak8712 it had the face of an old omega, but all the work from the tech one went into making the calibra so aerodynamic. Look at the tech 1 side profile, so calibraesque

[@jamessomying]

Nice and shiny.

[@eudaldguell3004]

These were cars!!

[@kevr4698]

Very underpowered by today's standards but it was all anyone needed, simple motoring

[@pitbullpowersystems8704]

Today's cars suck

[@johnflavin1602]

You've got to think of Power to Weight Ratio as cars were much lighter back then as they didn't have all the compulsory safety tech.

[@jareknowak8712]

👍 Mitsubishi 👍 4G63

[@martynh5410]

In the days when you could pop the hood (er, bonnet) open and actually fix things without having to use a scan tool, or do a software update....

[@robv1139]

Whereas these days you probably don't have to bother in all reality.....

[@martynh5410]

Rob V You are about right. But if the new car ever breaks.... :(

[@robv1139]

@@martynh5410 Then you fix it,simple :) Know what era I'd rather live in.

[@mikemartin2957]

@@robv1139 continental cars will always have ,rust,leak oil, dodgy Bosch electrics playing up & truly awful design , cars from the 60s,70 & for most of the 80s were quite nicer to drive than today's bloated & heavy cars. Hardly any popular cars then had PAS, servo brakes ,ABS or power windows & yet these are the so called useful goodies that when they go wrong , & they do, can write a car off because they are to costly to sort!

[@nunopereira6092]

In newer electric Mercedes you can't even open the hood. Only accessible to certified shop technicians. Ugh...

[@tezzingtonsir28]

2:40 The car that Homer Simpson built!!

[@jamesreed1239]

Great cars, great year.😂

[@bloodyknuckles9181]

What was the tuning kit on the manta that added 100hp to a na engine?

[@JackBandicootsBunker]

The 230hp Manta 400 was the Phase 2. The one on the video is Phase 1. The upgrades were DCOE carburetors and an engine tune (higher compression ratio) with no turbos.

[@bri77uk1]

Didn't Tony Bastable do all of Ford's internal dealer training videos in the early 80s? Just saying...

[@JGA5150]

Ha, that was exactly my thought after seeing one of those videos yesterday. It was a video for Ford from '91, but he spent the whole time passively slagging off the Vauxhall Astra and acting like even being near the car was filling him with depression and disappointment.

[@lce124]

@@JGA5150 saw that video, poor effort from Ford, reeked of desperation. They obviously knew how crap the mk5 escort was.

[@kieranwhite6647]

@@JGA5150 And he wastes a perfectly good apple whilst slagging off the Astra windows

[@karlfontanari2169]

1.53 Lovely car and with 240HP upgrade impressive for the age, I had one with the 1.9l unit in white with black vinyl roof and 15" rostyle wheels was a looked back in the day ;-)

[@1968spikey]

Was a looked back?? What's that mean?

[@wirdy1]

*looker*

[@andyt8216]

Back when Mitsubishi was called "Colt" and we had both Vauxhall and Opel. Wish GM had just left us with Opel tbh. Would have saved us from the awful V grill of the 90s and 2000s.

[@superbracey]

3:50 - as if the new Cortina is going to be all aerodynamic and swoopy. It will never happen!

[@fidelcatsro6948]

all the cars looks like from dinosaur age except for the opel manta..it will still turn cat heads if driven on the street today

[@mikeb6385]

The mk2 Cavalier was streets ahead of the Crusty Cortina and its replacement the Sierra..

[@ValladolidArde]

daaaaang that lancer and Manta

[@robv1139]

The Vauxhall top brass weren't too happy about what you said.......unlucky I say. He then went on to butter them up somewhat in my opinion.

[@Halo.H]

Such a shame, we don't manufacture much anymore... where has modernity brought us to.....

[@pureboxofscartcables]

I'm detecting a slight Ford bias on that one.

[@sutherlandA1]

Seemed like ford could do no wrong in the 70s, then the Sierra came along...