Best 1980's dream cars named

Street surveys could be dull at the best of times. Fact. No one ever thought that having clipboards thrust in their face was in any way jocular. Fact. This was a common occurrence in the 1980's. Fact. What was also played out on many streets back in the Rubik's Cube era were face-offs between Ford Sierra RS Cosworths and Audi Quattros. Fact.

So, on the back of BBC1's current fictitious drama - 'Ashes to Ashes' - industry vehicle check specialists HPI have conducted a spot of personal space invading all of their own.

The lines of retrospective inquiry they put to the unwary centered around their favorite 1980's dream cars, and which transient models they recalled most favorably.

1980s dream cars

You remember them all surely? From the Ferrari Testarossa heavily petted by the sleeve-rolled-up-ready-for-action Sonny Crockett in Miami Vice, through to the unforgettable DeLorean DMC12 piloted by the Doc and Marty McFly in the iconic Back to the Future trilogies.

Top of the Motoring Icon pops from the 80's was the Porsche 911, which was pretty in any colour. The 911 racked up 29% of the vote, assuming the mantle of the decade's Most Desirable car.

One percent behind the whale-tailed 80's trend-setter was the seminal Audi Quattro, garnering 28% of the ticks 

A considerable way behind, was the Cosworth-engineered Ford Sierra RS, you might recall they had what appeared to be part of a picnic table stabilising its rear-end, like a Fisher Price version of the 911. Every local DJ's favorite way to run girls home from the Ritzy, the Cossie still managed to pull 3% more of the vote than the BMW M5 - on 15% and 12% respectively.

Similar to a Ford Model T in as much as it only ever appeared in black, the original 1980's Essex boy gangsta ride Cosworth had knuckle-dusters, a pit bull terrier and a packet of Henna tattoos on the options list.

Most fondly regarded

Those vehicles listed as the most fondly regarded peaked with the Ford Capri SLE 71R, immortalised by Terry McCann in Minder, polling 30% of the votes.

The Ferrari Testarossa, the not-so reluctant star of Miami based cool-cop-capers, the 'Vice, received 26% of the vote. The DeLorean that out-acted Michael J. Fox' in time-traveling-trilogy Back to the Future might not have scored so highly in the sales charts due to its surprising lethargic acceleration, but it did gain 23% of the vote.

The prancing horse gets another airing, this time the Hawaiian-shirt-housing Ferrari 308 that transported the mightily-mustachioed Magnum P.I around town, scooping 21%.

Aside from these on screen performers, the seemingly less fashionable Reliant Regal van belonging to a certain Mr. Derek 'Del Boy' Trotter of Peckham was also coveted by some 19% of quizzed, nostalgia-addled members of the public.

The point to all of this? HPI offers car history check from £19.99 a pop.