1982 Toyota Celica Supra

We've had a second generation Toyota Celica Supra on these pages before, but it was an '83 model. The lack of mud flaps makes me think this (formerly) Gloss Black example is an original 1982 car, the first year of the A60 series.

There weren't a lot of differences. For '82 the 5M-GE 2.8 liter DOHC 12V inline six made 145 SAE net horsepower, which was five less than it did in 1983.

Car and Driver tested the 1982 Celica Supra and got a 9.8 second zero-to-sixty time and an elapsed time of 17.2 seconds in the quarter at 80mph through the traps.

This one was photographed back in October of 2015 in Los Alamos, New Mexico using a Nikon Coolpix P7000.

1982 Alfa Romeo Spider Veloce

While the second generation of Alfa's Spider for North America got SPICA mechanical fuel injection, it got a rep for unreliability and, as emissions controls tightened, power levels plummeted to the point that it barely topped a hundred ponies even when you could get it running.

The third generation of the Spider debuted for the 1982 model, now with Bosch electronic fuel injection. This bumped the motor's output up to 111 SAE net horsepower and dropped zero-to-sixty times back into the mid-high eight second range again.

The model year of the one in the picture is fixed by the presence of the "Spider Veloce" badges on the front fenders and the absence of the black rubber chin and decklid spoilers, as well as the slimmer front bumper without the large center escutcheon that appeared for the 1983 model year.

This now was photographed in August of 2025 using a Sony a700 and a 16-80mm f/3.5-4.5 zoom lens.

1982 Cadillac Eldorado

The 1981 experiment with improving the fuel mileage of the old 6.0L Cadillac V-8 via the means of selective cylinder deactivation had been a debacle.

It had also been something of a stopgap because the 1982 model year saw the introduction of the HT4100 V-8, the first all-new Cadillac engine since the Sixties. The HT4100 had been slated for an '83 rollout, but the V4-6-8 fiasco caused it to be rushed to market.

The "HT" stood for High Technology, and by Caddy standards of the day I guess a throttle body fuel injected 4.1L pushrod V-8 with an aluminum block and cast iron heads was sorta high tech. The little 249 cubic inch motor sent 125 SAE net horsepower to the front wheels through a four-speed automatic. This small herd of ponies was tasked with towing over 3,700 pounds of luxury coupe down the road.

Car and Driver tested one in Touring Coupe trim and recorded a dismal 15.2 second slog to sixty. It needed 20.2 seconds to complete a standing quarter mile, staggering through the traps at 68 miles per hour. Top speed was only 92.

Base price for an '82 Eldo was $18,716, or about sixty-two grand in current dollars.

Cadillac was not officially back in the convertible business yet in 1982, but aftermarket conversions by companies like Hess & Eisenhardt or ASC are not uncommon. The convertible top on this Sable Black Eldorado had not held up well. The mildew smell was noticeable from thirty feet away and was strong enough that it probably prevented tailgating. 

It was photographed in September of 2016 using a Nikon Coolpix P7000.

1982 Jeep Scrambler CJ-8

Long before the Gladiator, Jeep offered a pickup version of their keystone off-roader in the form of the Scrambler.

Essentially a CJ-7 with the wheelbase given a ten inch stretch to 103.5" and a removable fiberglass half-cab fitted, the CJ-8 debuted in 1981 as an '82 model.

Billed as "America's import pickup fighter" by the manufacturer, the 1982 Scrambler could be had in regular, SR Sport, and SL Sport versions. 

The base motor was the 151 cubic inch OHV "Iron Duke" inline four cylinder, sourced from GM, and rated at 84 SAE net horsepower. Buyers could opt for the AMC 258 cube inline six, which bumped power output to 98 horsepower. The standard transmission was a 4-speed manual, with a 5-speed manual or a 3-speed automatic with locking torque converter optional.

The Sun Yellow one in the photos is obviously well-loved and cared for.

The top photo was taken with a Nikon D2X and 24-120mm f/3.5-5.6 VR zoom lens in August of 2021, while the lower photo was snapped in October of the same year, using a Nikon D800 and 24-120mm f/4 VR zoom lens.

1982 Mercedes-Benz 380SL

Probably the low-water mark for the North American import Mercedes-Benz SL-class, performance-wise at least, was the '81-'85 380SL.

It replaced the 4.5L V-8 of the earlier 450SL with a 3.8L SOHC V-8 that was rated at 155 SAE net bhp in U.S. trim, a haircut of 25 horsepower from the preceding model. The '79 Oil Crisis had left a bad taste in the public's mouth for "gas guzzlers". Further, the federally-mandated Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards for imported marques rose from 19.0 miles per gallon for the 1979 model year to 27.5 for the '85s.

MotorWeek tested an '83 380SL, similar enough to the Signal Red example in the photo, and got an 18.5 second quarter of the $42,000 high roller droptop. That's $133,000 in today's dough.

It all seemed pretty par for the course in the early Eighties, which was the peak of "Decal & Ground Effects" performance packages that added very little real performance. You can see how people watching cars get slower and dumber year after year would write books like The Probability Broach. We had no idea how close we were to the Performance Renaissance.

This one was photographed in March of 2023 using a Canon EOS-1D Mark IV and EF 24-105mm f/4L IS zoom lens.

1982 Fiat Spider 2000

The final version of the Fiat 124 Sport Spider was sold as the "Fiat Spider 2000", for its two liter (well, actually 1,995cc) twin-cam motor.

Fiat retired the car in 1981, but Pininfarina, who had originally built the bodies, took over manufacture and continued selling them as the Pininfarina Spider for a few more years.

It only put out roughly a hundred SAE Net horsepower, and reliability was par for the course for a '70s Fiat with kludged-on U.S. emissions, but they sure were fun when they were running, and when they weren't you had something pretty to look at while waiting for the tow truck.

This example was photographed in September of 2021 using a Hasselblad Lunar & Sony Zeiss 16-70mm f/4 zoom lens.

1982 Volkswagen Scirocco

Here's something you don't see every day. For whatever reason...probably a combination of rust and the attrition that afflicts inexpensive sporty cars at the hands of youthful pilots whose courage exceeds their skills and judgment...you just don't see a lot of Sciroccos running around this part of the country.

The Cosmos Silver Metallic one in the photos is a second-generation Scirocco, pre-facelift, which makes it an '82 or '83.

US-market '82 Sciroccos had a 1.7L SOHC fuel-injected inline-four putting 74 SAE net horsepower to the twee little 13" front wheels through a 5-speed manual gearbox. Peak Malaise-era stuff. (The same motor would be used in 68hp carbureted form by Chrysler as the base engine in the Dodge Omni and Plymouth Horizon penalty boxes, for buyers who didn't want to splurge on a 2.2L.)

Built on the same floorpan as the Rabbit (US-market Golfs were still called Rabbits back then because Volkswagen of America wanted a cute and cuddly name for the vehicle replacing the beloved roly poly Beetle), the Scirocco was intended to replace the Karmann Ghia in the same way the Rabbit succeeded the Bug.

The sharply creased disco-era styling is very distinctively Giorgietto Giugiaro. He was big on low-slung wedges for his sporty car designs at the time, as can be attested by his other well known period pieces: The Isuzu Impulse, Lotus Esprit, and of course the DeLorean DMC12.

This one was photographed in May of 2023 using an Olympus E-5 and a Panasonic Leica D Vario-Elmar 14-150mm F3.5-5.6 Asph Mega OIS superzoom lens.