Classic Cars From the ’70s and ’80s We Mocked That Are Cool Now

To quote Piper Laurie as Carrie’s mother in the 1976 classic Carrie: “They’re all going to laugh at you!”

Okay, fine, strange way to start an article about cars. But if that phrase had been uttered even once to the design teams at the big automakers in the ’70s and ’80s, probably half the cars I’m about to present to you would never have had a chance. And that would have been a shame.

And this one is personal. I was recently loading groceries into the trunk of my unremarkable Subaru when a family exited the store. There was a mom, a dad, and three kids of assorted ages. Their hair was perfectly tousled, they wore perfectly styled thrift-store flannels, and they looked like they were having the best day of their lives. In my mind, they were heading out to pick apples at a local orchard or dropping in at the local library to listen to a talk about invasive plants.

They all piled into a vintage Volvo 240 wagon.

Volvo 240 Wagon in Parking Lot — 1980 Volvo 240 Wagon (Getty Images)

Yes, a Volvo 240. The boxy, sensible, famously “safe” car that, when I was a kid, you hoped your parents wouldn’t show up in at school pickup.

Then I realized something: Now, at my age, I was looking at the coolest, most beautiful car I had ever seen. The Volvo 240 wagon hadn’t changed, but I had.

Look at any parking lot today, and it’s a sea of bland gray crossovers with touchscreens. The 240 was huge, substantial, and oddly cozy — like the Home Alone house — with its dashboard of real buttons, enough room to play hide-and-seek in, and 300,000 miles on the odometer. It was a home away from home.

This got me thinking about the cars of our childhood that were a running joke, whether it was late-night talk show hosts or your chatty neighbor leaning on a rake doing the joking.

Start your engines. This list will bring back some serious memories, and it might even show you how much you’ve changed.

LOOK: We Laughed at These 17 ’70s and ’80s Cars. Who’s Laughing Now?

The AMC Pacer, the El Camino, the Volvo 240: these ’70s and ’80s cars were once total punchlines. Here’s why they’re suddenly cool now.

Gallery Credit: Stephen Lenz

MORE CLASSIC CARS: These Are the 20 Most Iconic Cars & Trucks of the 1980s From Movies, TV, and Music

These weren't the cars people drove to work — they were the ones that showed up on bedroom walls, Saturday morning cartoons, and the big screen.

Gallery Credit: Stephen Lenz

Source: 17 Ridiculed ’70s and ’80s Cars That Unexpectedly Became Modern Cool Classics

Filed Under: UCR, Pop Culture