What a garbage day today is! It's Friday, the day after Christmas. There's a good chance you're at work even though you feel like you shouldn't be, and nothing is getting done because there's really nothing to do. Screw that. Watch some vintage tests from television's original automotive magazine instead.
MotorWeek has been in the habit lately of uploading their 1980s videos to YouTube with a level of quality that crushes all the other direct-from-VHS rips out there. (It's amazing how many people taped MotorWeek back in the day. That's hardcore.)
We'll start off with a 1986 test of the Peugeot 505T against the Volkswagen GLI. The Pug cost the modern equivalent of $40,000 and hit 60 mph in a blistering 11 seconds. There's a reason only one of those brands is still sold in America today.
From the same year comes a test of your next Lemons racer, a BMW 325e, as well as a 635CSi, or as I like to call it today, "That thing I really want to buy on Craigslist as a project car but won't be able to take care of because it's full of shitty 1980s electronics."
Then there's a test of one of the greatest unsung heroes of Japanese performance cars, the Isuzu Impulse Turbo. With Italian styling, Lotus suspension tuning and a barnstorming 140 horsepower turbocharged four-cylinder, you'll be too busy running through the slalom at moderate speeds to explain to today's youth what an Isuzu even is.
Here's a test of one of the 1980s' greatest failed experiments and a Jalopnik favorite, the Merkur XR4Ti. With a super-useful hatchback, a double-decker spoiler and luscious turbo power, you'll stand out among the other worker drones who actually know how to pronounce the names of their cars.
We'll close with a car you might actually want to drive today (just kidding, I'd drive any of the aforementioned cars, including the Peugeot): a 1988 Ferrari Testarossa. Between the gated manual shifter, the wonderful flat-12 noise and performance that's still respectable today, this is what I really wanted for Christmas. And didn't get. I didn't even get a Peugeot.
Now, your garbage day is better thanks to MotorWeek and John Davis. Happy Boxing Day!