The Volvo 780 was a hand-finished Italian coupe sold through Swedish dealers, and that kind of hidden pedigree is what this list is about. These seven are our picks for coupes worth more than most owners realize.
The verdict is our opinion, not a price guide. Where we quote a value, we name the source and its date.
1. 1987–1990 Volvo 780
Volvo handed the 760’s platform to Bertone, and the Italian firm built every 780 at its plant in Turin. The coupe debuted in Switzerland in 1985 and reached the U.S. for the 1987 model year. Bertone reshaped the roof and lowered the hood and trunk, yet it kept the headroom intact.
At first, U.S. cars used a 2.8-liter V6 with 150 horsepower, according to a Truth About Cars history. Then, for 1988, Volvo added a turbocharged four with 175 horsepower and an independent rear suspension. Volvo’s own legacy page lists 8,518 built through 1990. In our view, that small run and the Turin-built body make a tidy Volvo 780 worth more than its badge suggests.
2. 1981–1991 Isuzu Piazza
Giorgetto Giugiaro first showed this shape as the “Ace of Clubs” concept at the 1979 Tokyo Motor Show. Remarkably, Isuzu put it into production with few changes. Underneath sat a modified rear-drive GM T-body platform, the same basic layout used by the Chevrolet Chevette.
American buyers knew it as the Impulse from 1983. A 140-horsepower turbo four arrived in 1985, as Jalopnik’s history notes, and Lotus later retuned the suspension. By 1988, “Suspension by Lotus” badges were standard, according to The Truth About Cars. Our take: a concept car you could buy off a dealer lot deserves more credit than a typical 1980s economy coupe gets.
3. 1987–1989 Chrysler Conquest
Chrysler sold Mitsubishi’s Starion under its own name from 1987 to 1989, after the Dodge and Plymouth versions ended in 1986, as Autoblog’s model rundown explains. In fact, every car came from Mitsubishi’s Okazaki plant. Meanwhile, the TSi wore wide box flares over a turbocharged, intercooled 2.6-liter four.
Since then, the market has moved. Hagerty’s market article put the #2 (Excellent) Conquest value at $21,700. It also notes that a mint 1988 Conquest sold on Bring a Trailer for $33,365 in May 2021. Before that rise, the best examples sold for well under five figures. In our view, an unmodified TSi with records deserves a price to match.
4. 1975–1988 Opel Manta B
Opel built the Manta B for 13 years and sold 523,000 of them. For most of that run, it fought the Ford Capri for the same buyers. The fuel-injected 2.0-liter GT/E made 110 bhp and could reach 120 mph.
Rust is the catch. Hagerty UK’s buyer’s guide says Mantas began rusting visibly within a few years, so their numbers have been decimated. Even so, the 2025 guide puts a good GT/E at around £12,000 and the best cars near £18,000. That is well short of Capri money. Our take: a rust-free GT/E deserves to close some of that gap.
5. 1982–1986 Toyota Celica Supra
Toyota’s second Celica Supra arrived in 1982 with pop-up headlights and a 2.8-liter twin-cam inline-six. That 5M-GE engine made 150 horsepower. It also came with fully independent suspension and four-wheel disc brakes.
Back then, Car and Driver’s David E. Davis called the 1982 car “a nearly perfect car,” as Hagerty recalls. In that same piece, Hagerty listed #2 (Excellent) values at about $22,100. It was reviewing a 1983 P-type that sold for $24,250 on Bring a Trailer. Our take: a clean P-type with service records is worth far more than a rough listing might suggest.
6. 1981–1990 Mazda Cosmo HB
The HB Cosmo carried one of Mazda’s biggest technical firsts. In 1982, the Cosmo and Luce received what Mazda’s chronology calls the world’s first rotary turbo engine. That 12A turbo made 160 PS, then 165 PS from October 1983.
Mazda offered the car as a two-door hardtop, a four-door hardtop and a four-door saloon. In addition, a 13B Super Injection rotary joined the range in October 1983, according to JDM Buy Sell’s model guide. Two-door sales had started in September 1981. In our view, the car that debuted the turbo rotary is worth more than its low profile suggests.
7. 1989–1999 BMW 8 Series E31
BMW showed the 850i at the 1989 Frankfurt motor show. It then built the coupe at Dingolfing until 1999, with no B-pillars and pop-up headlights in a long nose. Initially, it used a 5.0-liter V12 with 300 horsepower.
Production totaled 30,621, and only 1,510 were the 381-horsepower 850 CSi, according to BMW Group’s 25th-anniversary release. That rarity shows. In 2018, Hagerty reported that average 850CSi quote values rose from $50,000 to nearly $90,000 in a year. By contrast, regular V12 cars averaged around $14,000 then. In our view, a well-kept 850i is the bargain in this family.
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