80s cars that didn't rust

[grogee]

I'm forever hearing how much 80s cars liked to rot. BL, Ford, AVAS, Fiat etc etc. 

So I tried to think of some that didn't rust quite so rapidly. 

The best I could come up with was Volvo (240), which seemed to last a bit longer than others. Perhaps the steel was thicker? 

Premium stuff dissolved too - BMWs were frilly. Maybe the tank-like Mercs were better? 

I couldn't really think of much else, but maybe YOU can. Go! 

[MrBiscuits]

Renault - if you discount the 14, they were pretty good in the 80s. If anything they've only got better. Mrs B has an 18 year old Clio, paint completely bollocksed and washed about once a year (usually by me before its MOT) yet I can't find a spot of grot on the thing.

[adw1977]

Reliant?

[D.E]

Certain French cars from the second half of the 80s seem pretty solid in that regard - my 205, even though it's a car that has done lots of kms and spent most of its life outdoors, doesn't have any serious rust, and I have seen other PSA products from that era that withstood rot pretty well.

[sierraman]

Scimitar GTE 😂

Rover 200/400 R8 weren’t too bad.

Mercedes W124

Audi 80/100

Golf Mk2

[Fumbler]

IIRC Ovlovs were built with fairly thick steel in all the right places, but don't quote me on that. My 850, dad's V70 and 850 were all very strong vehicles. My BX was touted to have advanced corrosion protection and galvanised metal in all the brochures but they all still rusted at the lap joints.

I remember watching a 1980s MIRA (I think) film on YouTube showing the torture tests they put cars through and they showed a new Metro being sent through the salt test loop. They then took the door card off and the inside was orange with rust.

VW were proponents of cavity waxing and it drew complaints from Motorweek in the US for marring the paint finish as it dropped out the doors and onto the sills. A couple years later ZDF in Germany was complaining about premature rusting of the door bottoms and wings.

[Mudster]

[Dyslexic Viking]

36 minutes ago, sierraman said:

Audi 80

Not the early ones, the one I had had a lot of welding done.

[Six-cylinder]

Mercedes-Benz W124 lasted better than most.

[Snipes]

S12 Silvias and the FWD Bluebirds were incredibly rust resistant for Nissan.

[SiC]

This is the only one I can think of. Released in 1979 apparently 

 

[chaseracer]

17 minutes ago, Six-cylinder said:

Mercedes-Benz W124 lasted better than most.

Mine must have been the exception.

[inconsistant]

80’s Porsches were pretty good. The 924 was partially galvanised (floorpan  & sills) from launch in 1975 then fully galvanised from about ‘81 (maybe the first mass produced car to be?) then the 911 and 944 followed suit. They do still rust but owning a 40 yr old one doesn’t involve constantly chasing rust. Which is nice. 

[danthecapriman]

Volvo 200’s are pretty good, but they certainly do rust and have known rot spots on both saloon and estates. They’re better than many cars of the time though. Thick metal, good design and built to last.

Volvo 700’s are the same. From 1988 onwards they were galvanised which helped even further. Old age is getting them though, both my 740’s have needed a tickle from the welder but considering most other cars that age are long gone it’s to be expected by now.

[FakeConcern]

I never experienced any rust on 70s and 80s Minis...

 

[jonathan_dyane]

53 minutes ago, SiC said:

This is the only one I can think of. Released in 1979 apparently 

 

My daughter has one and I can confirm it is rust free but the coachwork has faded badly.

[sierraman]

1 hour ago, Dyslexic Viking said:

Not the early ones, the one I had had a lot of welding done.

Later galvanised ones

[Peter C]

9 hours ago, sierraman said:

Mercedes W124

Are you sure?

[EyesWeldedShut]

8 hours ago, inconsistant said:

924 was partially galvanised (floorpan  & sills) from launch in 1975 then fully galvanised from about ‘81

^^ that's the only 1980s car we've owned that was not rusty. 1981/2 924 we bought around 2005 with 100,000 miles on it. Interior plastics (that cracked dash and brittle everything else) were a let down. Only rusty bit was around one of the hatch locking pins and that had been allowed to get out of hand by the previous owner. All paintwork was good and no lacquer peel anywhere (it was red - not Guards Red - some other red)
Worst one in the family was my Dad's Skoda Estelle - bought new around 1984 - he lived by the seaside. The car did not like the marine environment.

[artdjones]

VW , having been terrible up to 1980, discovered the benefits of cavity wax and decent seam sealers. It wasn't impossible for them to rust after that, but they went from being below average to market leaders for corrosion resistance. I know where there's an 82/4 B2 Audi 80 with issues that I could buy. There's almost no corrosion on it. The B3 80 bodies are almost indestructible. There were several MK2 Golfs, Jettas and Polos in our family without corrosion underneath. Just one Jetta had any rust, and that was confined to the door tops, and the drainage channel around the boot, which became holey, making the boot fill with water every time it rained.

[ProgRocker]

1988 Fiat Tipo? The panels were zinc galvanised but perhaps the chassis components rotted.

[Asimo]

Renault Espace.

Proper hot-dip galvanised structure and plastic panels.

 

[spike60]

10 hours ago, inconsistant said:

80’s Porsches were pretty good. The 924 was partially galvanised (floorpan  & sills) from launch in 1975 then fully galvanised from about ‘81 (maybe the first mass produced car to be?) then the 911 and 944 followed suit. They do still rust but owning a 40 yr old one doesn’t involve constantly chasing rust. Which is nice. 

About 10 years ago I owned a cheap Ebay 1980 924 which while it wasn't an oil painting it wasn't rusty  either. About 3 years later I bought a more expensive 1989 944 2.7 which had impressive Hartech history with 13 stickers under the bonnet and large bills for structural welding to inner and outer sills plus floor. IIRC the bill for the panels was £1100. I only tested it once and my tester said " I won't poke but the centre jacking points are very poor"  I wasn't surprised when it failed on underbody corrosion after I sold it.  That 944 didn't get much a galvy dip! 

I owned a 1985 Audi 100 which was well galvanised, the only rust was where the rear had been repaired after an accident.

[Schaefft]

Audi B3, of course you could find rusty examples that might have been crash damaged or severely neglected but I don't think there's a single car out there from that time that would be less prone to rust than these. Ferdinand Piech really made sure of that and he didn't mess around.

Other than a fiberglass C4 Corvette naturally.

[sierraman]

3 hours ago, Peter C said:

Are you sure?

Latterly they rusted but nothing like Granadas, Carlton’s etc

[danthecapriman]

I must admit the W124 was always a good earner for welding if one ever came into our garage for MOT. It was unusual to find one that wasn’t holed somewhere! 
A mate bought one too. Looked great and low miles, one owner. Inner wings were rotten with fist size holes and the sills were awful once we dropped the plastic trims.

Peugeot 205’s seem to be extremely rust resistant. Thinking about it, I can’t remember ever seeing a rotten one. Possibly the odd little bit but nothing severe. Compared to the equivalent aged Fiesta or Nova they all used to look brand new!

[aotb]

The Lotus Excel had a proper hot dipped chassis which was a massive improvement over the earlier Elite/Eclat. 

[N Dentressangle]

1 hour ago, danthecapriman said:

Peugeot 205’s seem to be extremely rust resistant. Thinking about it, I can’t remember ever seeing a rotten one. Possibly the odd little bit but nothing severe. Compared to the equivalent aged Fiesta or Nova they all used to look brand new!

Agreed. The back end of the boot floor and front inner wings can suffer, but the sills etc seem streets ahead of most similar aged stuff.

[bunglebus]

Another vote for MK2 Golf, the wax used to drip out of the tailgate and sills and run down the paint! 

Think they continued this practice for a good while going by all the wax inside everything on my Passat, but the later B5s and Golfs rusted on the front wings where the arch liners rubbed, and there are a few really strange common places like Lupo roofs next to the gutters and silver Polo boot handles. Just the silver ones!

[Simon_punto]

7 hours ago, ProgRocker said:

1988 Fiat Tipo? The panels were zinc galvanised but perhaps the chassis components rotted.

Exactly this, especially around the rear suspension/ arches. The exposed panels were galvanised, but they do rot.