The most iconic car adverts ever published

Audi Quattro (1985)

One of the reasons for the rise in popularity of four-wheel drive was the incredible impact of Audi’s quattro technology, which, as Audi promoted here, was soon to be available across its entire range.

Ford Granada (1986)

Anti-lock brakes have been mandatory on all new cars for years, but when the third-generation Granada was introduced in Europe back in 1985, they were still a rarity. So the fact that all versions of the Granny came with an anti-lock braking system as standard was worth advertising.

Jaguar V12 (1986)

Not many car makers offered a V12 engine in the mid-1980s, so Jaguar played on that by shouting about its 12-cylinder XJS. Although, sadly, it was less keen to promote its sublime XJ12 limousine.

BMW six-cylinder engines (1986)

British advertising mogul Robin Wight asked a BMW engineer in Munich the difference between a four-cylinder and a six-cylinder engine, the latter favoured by BMW for 2-litre engines at the time. “He picked up a glass of water," Wight said recently. "He said he could put it on the engine block of a four-cylinder two-litre engine, as in a Mercedes – the water would bounce up and down. If he took the glass and put it on a six-cylinder two-litre BMW engine, the water wouldn’t move because the engine was smooth and perfectly balanced.”Wight returned to London, procured a Mercedes and a BMW side by side, proved to himself that this was true and this is the awesome result. Our sister title Campaign – the ad industry bible – hailed this as one of the best ads of the 20th century.

Peugeot 205 GTi (1986)

Peugeot came up with a string of brilliant adverts for its equally brilliant 205 GTi hot hatchback. This is our favourite, we think…

Peugeot 205 GTi (1987)

…although this one is pretty good, too, not least because the payoff is a sly dig at the Ford Fiesta XR2i. Look very closely at the third picture.

Citroën BX 16 Valve (1987)

This BX campaign took drawing parallels between your product and that of a far more costly alternative to new extremes. We don't think Signor Gandini still drives this car.

Nissan Patrol (1988)

Frankly, we found this series of Nissan ads rather annoying, but you can’t deny their impact. There were loads of them and that earworm strapline is something that we can all remember even now.

Peugeot 405 (1988)

While the 205 GTi might be Peugeot’s all-time great, the advertising campaign for the 405 is surely its most memorable. It all starts with the car driving through a field that’s on fire…

Peugeot 405 (1988)

…and if you’re watching it on the TV, you get to hear the dulcet tones of Berlin's Take My Breath Away, which famously featured in Top Gun.

Volkswagen Golf GTi (1989)

Volkswagen was at it again. The brand’s confidence in its product was already at a level that it could advertise the fact that its hot hatch wasn’t the fastest on the market – but that there was plenty to make up for that.

Vauxhall Cavalier 4x4 (1990)

As the 1980s became the 1990s, four-wheel drive suddenly became fashionable for mainstream family cars. Vauxhall’s Cavalier creative was perhaps the most memorable of the breed.

Ford Fiesta (1990)

Another trend around that time was to offer a hot version of everything – or, in the case of Ford, offer a choice of hot versions.

Vauxhall Corsa (1993)

As the Corsa replaced the Nova, Vauxhall promoted its new baby as “the supermodel”, which is why it ran a series of adverts featuring some of the most high-profile models of the time, including Naomi Campbell.