First cars in the 1980s vs today!

This classic car was launched in 1983 and was available as a two or five door hatchback, as well as a two/four door saloon (but the latter never really took off as much). To compete against the Ford Fiesta and Austin Metro in the 80s, Vauxhall threw the Nova in the ring and it did pretty well – selling nearly 500,000 in the UK alone. Any young drivers reading this may not remember the Vauxhall Nova and that’s ok – because when they released the second generation, Vauxhall decided to drop the Nova name and opt for something we think you may recognise… Corsa!

Launched in 1980 as the Austin Mini Metro, this car was intended to complement and eventually replace the Mini. It quickly became a very popular car for young drivers and was named What Car? Car of The Year in 1983. In total there were over 2 million Metros made before production stopped in 1998 – it didn’t replace the Mini but instead became a great car in its own right.