You'd be hard pressed to find one that won't stand out hugely with that much of a gap. The body lines, the innovations in headlights... and most noticeably, the center rear break light all make it difficult to take a '97 back to '80. Best bet would probably be a hatchback of some variety, with normal halogen bulbs for headlights, the center brake light disabled. It might then pass for a hatchback of that era.

A Mini Cooper would pass itself off as a novelty concept car, but draw a heck of a lot of attention.

Maybe a Honda Civic from '97. Just off a quick look at images and comparing to my memory of the 80s.