What were SA's favourite cars 40 years ago?

The March 1984 cover of (South African) Car magazine shows a Mitsubishi Tredia Turbo as its main subject. A comical amount of body-roll indicates the sedan was being driven with zeal, snapped  while tackling a corner for maximum dynamic effect.

Back then, the topic of turbocharging was a novelty. In 2024 almost every passenger car relies on the principle of boost. We have electric cars too, as well as the prospect of hydrogen-powered vehicles, previewed last month with our exclusive local drive of a special BMW prototype.

Cruises down motoring memory lane are customary at least once a year. Through the musty, yellowing pages of aged print, contrasting the motoring landscape in 2024 with the scene 40 years ago makes for some interesting and amusing insights.

Cigarette manufacturers spent quite a bit to punt their wares, while scantily-clad women with permed hairdos were deployed liberally, gracing everything from aftershave promotions to aftermarket sound system advertisements.

What cars were South Africans buying? A feature in the issue taking stock of 1983 sales in entirety, cites the Toyota Corolla as the best-selling passenger car in the country, followed by the Cressida, Mazda 323, Volkswagen Golf-Jetta duo and Ford Escort.

Fast-forward to 2024 and the top spots see a similar composition. The Corolla Cross is the passenger car sales leader, with the Volkswagen Polo and Polo Vivo hot on its heels. Today, Ford relies almost entirely on the Ranger for the bulk of its volumes. Back then (as it remains today) the Toyota Hilux reigned as the top-selling pick-up in the land.

In 2024 we certainly have a lot more variety than could have ever been imagined. The emergence of new marques hailing from China, as well as more affordable Indian-made imports, have provided consumers with options beyond long-standing, traditional brands.

On the subject of pricing, the cheapest car in the country listed at that point was the Leyland Mini 1275 E, costing R5,995. A Toyota Corolla GLS Sprinter cost almost double, at R9,990.

You would have paid R23,450 for a BMW 728i and R22,776 for the 280E derivative of the ever-popular Mercedes-Benz W123.

But those were budget options compared to the league in which real big spenders were playing. A whopping R93,000 got you into the Porsche 911 (930) Turbo, the most expensive passenger vehicle at the time.

Now before you lament the price of goods with a “back in my day” fist-shake for emphasis, we should not forget about that little force known as inflation.

According to a useful online calculator, R1 in March 1984 would be equivalent to R20.50 in 2024 money.

That new Mercedes-Benz 280E for just over R22,000 works out to around R466,000 in contemporary cash. Still some bucks short of the cheapest Mercedes-Benz passenger car currently on sale, the A200 Progressive hatchback, costing R820,859. Studying the features columns of the model information pages in the old magazine, it strikes me as miraculous that people managed to survive without equipment taken for granted today.

Stuff like air-conditioning, electric windows, power steering and a radio were the preserve of executive offerings.

Be thankful that nowadays, you get all that, plus colour infotainment, airbags and anti-lock brakes even in the cheapest passenger vehicle in Mzansi, the Suzuki S-Presso. A four-page DIY feature on straightening your car body panels at home reveals how hands-on certain aspects of car ownership used to be.

The accompanying image is of a goofy-looking chap trying to bend the door of an Isuzu KB with a broomstick. Most appreciate the uncomplicated nature of custodianship over a modern car, with advanced designs and technologies limiting the need for ongoing tinkering.

Four decades from now when someone stumbles across our fossilised Motoring pages (and digital links), they may also look back, enlightened and bemused.

“Old-fashioned electric power trains were the order of the day,” they might quip.