WHERE WERE YOU IN ’82?

As the Ford Sierra and the MG Metro are just some of the cars celebrating their 40^th birthdays this year, we ask the vital question –

WHERE WERE YOU IN ’82?

• Prices – Petrol was £1.64 per gallon, a loaf of sliced white bread was £0.37, a pint of milk was £0.20, a Mars Bar was £0.16, eggs were £0.73 per dozen, and the average yearly salary was £7,117.
• For the house, a 22-inch Sony colour television was £297; a Hoover washing machine was £230 while, for the very affluent, a video recorder might set you back nearly £500.
• Anyone wishing to engage in the IT revolution in the comfort of their own living room needed to invest £125 in a ZX Spectrum.
• Some of the other new cars of the year; the Audi 100 C3, the Austin Ambassador, the BMW E30, the Citroën CX, the Mercedes-Benz W201, the Nissan Micra and Prairie, the Porsche 944, the Reliant Rialto, the Rover SD1 Vitesse, and the Volvo 760.
• GM also introduced the Opel Corsa, but UK imports - badged as the Vauxhall Nova - would not commence until 1983.
• British motorists were introduced to the first South Korean vehicle sold in the UK, the Hyundai Pony. The starting price was £3,177 for the 1200T 3-Door.
• Keke Rosberg became F1 World Champion.
• Films of the year - T. the Extra-Terrestrial, An Officer and a Gentleman, Poltergiest, 48 Hours, and, for those with limited enjoyment expectations, Porky’s.
• The pop video of the year is undoubtedly Alexei Sayle with Ullo John, Gotta New Motor?

• On 19^th February, De Lorean went into receivership.
• Some new British television programmes for 1982 – Wogan, The Young Ones (with a customised Ford Anglia 105E De Luxe), and Smiley’s People.
• The major television event of the year was the start of Channel Four on 2^nd The first show was Countdown, transmitted at 1645hrs and hosted by Richard Whiteley. A highlight of the evening was The Comic Strip Presents…Five Go Mad in Dorset. “Secret agents, blah, blah, blah”, Alvis TC 21-100 Drophead Coupes, Rover P4 75s, Wolseleys 6/90s, and, of course, lashings of ginger beer.
• The prize for the most frightening programme of the year: Sapphire & Steel – Series Four, with an 1800 Town & Country Saloon and a very strange transport café.
• The first Number One record of the year was Don’t You Want Me by The Human League (with a Rover 2600 SD1 and a Saab 99 Turbo in the video). The last was Save Your Love by Renée and Renato.
• British Leyland established their Austin-Rover division.
• Further A-R publicity was via The Boys in Blue. The one and only cinema comedy to star Cannon & Ball may have been dreadful, but it did feature some PR-fleet Metros and SD1s.
• 1982 also saw the end of the Post Office telegram service, the Ford Cortina, the Mini Clubman Estate, the Reliant Kitten, the Austin Allegro, Not The Nine O’Clock News, The Goodies, and Tiswa
• The cost of a new car – Mini City E - £2,465, Morris Ital 1.3SL - £3,998, Honda Civic Sport - £4,495, MG Metro Turbo - £4,799, Triumph Acclaim HLS - £4,988, Vauxhall Cavalier 1.6 GL - £6,477, Ford Sierra 2.3 Ghia - £8,567, Jaguar XJ12 HE - £18,939, and Bentley Mulsanne Turbo - £61, 744.
• A few highlights of the 1982 NEC Motor Show- Audi Quattro in RHD for the first time, the Ford Sierra XR4, the Lotus Excel, and the Volvo 360
• The seventh Top Gear series commenced at 2030hrs on 13^th April on BBC2; William Woolard, Sue Barker and Chris Goffey were your hosts. Sadly, the entire season is believed ‘lost’.