Top 10 Sports Cars 1983

The 944’s 2.5 L four made 150 hp in US form, and its rear transaxle gave a nearly even 50.7% front and 49.3% rear weight split. It made Car and Driver’s first 10Best list in 1983 and stayed on it through 1985, and after its first year of sales it accounted for more than 51 per cent of Porsche’s production.

For model years 1981 to 1983 the 911 SC’s 3.0-litre flat-six made 204 PS. 1983 brought the first 911 Cabriolet, the first completely open-top 911 with a fabric roof, and it sold 4,214 in its first year. In 1982 testing it was the only US-market car quicker than the 280ZX Turbo.

The 280ZX Turbo’s L28ET six made 180 bhp and 203 lb⋅ft, and for 1982 and 1983 only it came with a Borg-Warner T-5 five-speed and ran 0-60 mph in 7.4 seconds. Electramotive’s 280ZX Turbo won the 1982 and 1983 IMSA GTO Championships, and 1983 was the S130’s final year before the 300ZX.

For 1983 the Celica Supra’s twin-cam 5M-GE six rose to 150 hp and 159 lb⋅ft, and its new A43DE automatic was the industry’s first electronically controlled transmission. Lotus tuned its four-wheel independent suspension, and it was on Car and Driver’s first 10Best list in 1983.

Ferrari presented the 308 GTS Quattrovalvole at the 1982 Paris Salon, with four-valve heads on its 2926.90 cc V8. US market cars were rated at 235bhp, and Ferrari built 3042 of the targa-top GTS between 1982 and 1985.

For 1983 the GT’s 302 cu in (4.9 L) V8 gained a four-barrel carburetor and a new intake, lifting it to 175 hp, and the T-5 five-speed arrived shortly after the model year started. A restyled nose, new taillights and a returning convertible came too, and the Mustang GT 5.0 made Car and Driver’s first 10Best list.

The FB RX-7’s 12A rotary made 100 hp at 6,000 rpm in North American form, in a car weighing under 1,100 kg with 50:50 weight distribution. The GSL package added four-wheel disc brakes and a limited-slip differential, and in 1983 the RX-7 made Car and Driver’s Ten Best list for the first time.

The 1983 Trans Am got the 190 hp L69 high output 305 V8 midyear, alongside the 165 hp Crossfire-injected LU5. It paced the Daytona 500 again, and Pontiac sold 2,500 Daytona Pace Car replicas; the new Recaro Edition added tan leather Recaro seats.

Mitsubishi began selling the Starion in North America for 1983, in Base and LS trims. Its turbocharged 2.6 L four made 145 hp in the early narrow-body cars, driving the rear wheels of a four-seat fastback.

The GTV6 used a 2492 cc V6 with Bosch L-Jetronic injection, rated at 160 ch (PS) in Europe. On track it won the European Touring Car Championship four years in succession (1982–85) and the 1983 British Touring Car Championship, and Alfa sold it in the US as the GTV-6 from 1981 to 1986.