Mecum’s annual Indy auction finished on May 21st. In the middle of last year, I gave up trying to chronicle every eighties vehicle sold at any particular auction—there’s often an endless sameness to them. So, I now only write about the cars and trucks that are less seen at auction—and those that sold (a black 1989 Porsche 911 Turbo Cabriolet with 47,000 miles was a no-sale at $180,000). Here are ten that attracted my eye, described in a little more detail than usual.
[J185] 1988 Buick Reatta coupe. Bright Red with tan leather bucket seats. 3800 165 bhp 3.8 liter/231 ci V6 with fuel injection, a four-speed automatic, and 112,000 miles. $4,000 hammer price for this first-year Reatta—one of the more interesting domestic cars of the eighties. Why do I have no Reatta-specific blog entry?
[K17] 1989 Cadillac Fleetwood Coupe. White with a white formal cabriolet top and red Dual-Comfort split front leather seats. HT 155 bhp 4.5 liter/273 ci V8 with fuel injection, a four-speed automatic, and 59,000 miles. $12,000 for this big front-wheel-drive Cadillac that someone kind of saved.
[K142] 1982 AMC Spirit DL Liftback. Olympic White with brown Deluxe Grain vinyl reclining front bucket seats. 110 bhp 4.2 liter/258 ci inline six with a two-barrel carburetor, a three-speed automatic, and 16,000 miles. You see a reasonable number of Eagles of the same era at auction, but not many Spirits. $17,000
[L69] 1980 Lincoln Versailles sedan. Medium Turquoise Metallic with a coach vinyl roof and turquoise leather Twin Comfort Lounge front seats. Windsor 132 bhp 4.9 liter/302 ci V8 with a two-barrel carburetor, a three-speed automatic, and 9,900 miles. $20,000 for this final-year example of Lincoln’s putative Cadillac Seville competitor.
[L112] 1989 Dodge D250 pickup truck. Platinum Silver Metallic/Exotic Red two-tone with an unidentified red interior (the base interior included a vinyl bench seat). LA 145 bhp 5.2 liter/318 ci V8 with fuel injection, a three-speed automatic, and 49,000 miles. $14,500 for an eighties pickup truck that isn’t a Chevy or a Ford.
[G172] 1983 Chevrolet Caprice Classic sedan. Dark Blue Metallic with a dark blue cloth 50/50 split front bench seat. LG4 150 bhp 5.0 liter/305 ci v8 with a four-barrel carburetor, a four-speed automatic, and 74,000 miles. $8,000 for this rather clean looking (no vinyl roof!) Caprice.
[W68] 1984 Subaru BRAT GL pickup truck. Lightning Silver with a stripe and vinyl and cloth front bucket seats (and, of course, those rear-facing vinyl seats in the bed). EA-81 73 bhp 1.8 liter/109 ci flat four with a carburetor, a four-speed manual, and 101,000 miles. $30,000 indicates that at least two bidders didn’t find the mileage that discouraging.
[F89] 1988 Chevrolet Cavalier Z24 convertible. Red with a black convertible top and black/gray cloth front bucket seats. LB6 125 bhp 2.8 liter/173 ci V6 with fuel injection, a three-speed automatic, and 12,000 miles. $19,000 for this loaded J-car lacking only a five-speed manual.
[F200] 1987 Ford Escort GT hatchback coupe. Medium Red Metallic with medium gray cloth front bucket seats. H.O. 115 bhp 1.9 liter/113 ci inline four with fuel injection, a five-speed manual, and unstated mileage. $6,000 buys what has to be one of the nicest 1987 Escort GT examples that remain.
[S213] 1988 Lamborghini Countach LP5000 Quattrovalvole coupe. Black with black leather bucket seats. 420 bhp 5.2 liter/316 ci V12 with fuel injection, a five-speed manual, and 10,000 miles. $545,000 is almost #1/Concours money, according to Hagerty’s Valuation Tools. Remember when you could buy a really nice LP5000 for under $100,000?
Eighties Cars 
Awesome, I love the Chevy Caprice and Cadillacs from the 80s. I was just wondering if you posted today and you just did:)
Thank you for the comment.
The FWD Caddies are something I struggle with.
I actually really like the exteriors. The first ones (I guess 1985-89?) seem a little truncated but I think they carry the Cadillac look well. The subsequent designs looked better, a little more length makes it a bit more ‘Caddy’.
But I am not a fan of the interior, specifically the dash and door treatments. I think it’s the way the upper is set back, and the armrests seem very boxy and chunky. My mom had an 85 Buick Park Avenue, and the dash treatment seemed much more integrated than Cadillac’s or Oldsmobile’s. The doors seemed to flow better also.
Mark,
Thanks, as always, for the comment. Agreed on the clumsiness of the front-wheel-drive Cadillac interiors, especially compared to some other GM products. I don’t think Cadillac got a front-wheel-drive interior right until the 1992 Eldorado/Seville pair.