That Eighties Funk

[Sixty8panther]

Lot of J-body bashing in this thread... as much as the FWD revolution of

the 1980s is IMHO the WORST Automotive trend of all time!!!! I will say

that the J-body, esp. the 1980s Cavalier/Sunbird/Skyhawk/Firenza had

several good things going for them, there was a LOT of variety... 2dr &

4dr sedans, convertibles, fastbacks, wagons, their styling was far better

than most "economy cars" of the era and you therefore did not look like

you bought the absolute cheapest econobox even in a $7000 J2000 or

a $9500 Cavalier Type-10.

And there was the availability of an auto and STICKS, several motors

incl. V6s and turbocharged fours....

[Croc]

My grandmother had a Corsica. I never liked that car much...the Beretta (post-interior refresh) is a lot better looking IMO.

[Oracle of Delphi]

When the L car came out, GM devoted two assembly plants to it's production (that's how popular it was then), both the Wilmington, Delaware and Linden, New Jersey assembly plants built this car, along with the Beretta. Both Linden and Wilmington built the Corsica hatchback, until Wilmington started producing the nearly identical Pontiac Tempest L car (Canada only), and production of the Corsica hatchback was shifted to Linden.

The Tempest had a luggage rack on the trunk and Pontiac wheels, dart on the grille and on the steering wheel, metric dash, and Daytime Running lights way before any US cars had DRL's. The tempest was always a 2 tone car.

Edited March 9, 2008 by Pontiac Custom-S

[gmpartsgirl]

That's cool. My catalog always lists the Canadian versions of everything adn I can look up the parts but I've never gotten to see any of them in real life. What a trip.

[Oracle of Delphi]

Well I like to share what little knowledge of GM I have.

[Blake Noble]

Yechh. That car screams "damaged reputation."

Well, that and this particular "Pontiac ..."

Please, don't get me ranting on the LeMans. I had a friend when I was about six and his mother drove one of those. By far one of the ghastliest-sounding four-pot engines ever made. I don't think Chery could design a car that would look any cheaper than it did.

[Oracle of Delphi]

Yechh. That car screams "damaged reputation."

Well, that and this particular "Pontiac ..."

Please, don't get me ranting on the LeMans. I had a friend when I was about six and his mother drove one of those. By far one of the ghastliest-sounding four-pot engines ever made. I don't think Chery could design a car that would look any cheaper than it did.

Like I said, The L car was so popular at one point in time, GM had two assembly plants devoted to its production, damaged? Nah, not by 80's standards.

[Robert Hall]

Like I said, The L car was so popular at one point in time, GM had two assembly plants devoted to its production, damaged? Nah, not by 80's standards.

Yeah, it was popular at one time..so were the J-cars..they were still mediocre $h!e...

[Olds Guy]

Umm, I got news for ya, I don't exactly see these daily in the Detroit area, in fact I can't remember the last time I saw any of these around here.

That's one sucky thing about living in Southern California......(AAS and I were talking about this yesterday at the car show.)

Because it's been SO import-dominated.....for SO long......you never see any GM cars, say from early-80's to mid-90's....that are in any good kind of condition. Cars like the 6000 STE....or the Skyhawk Sport/Hatch Turbo......or ANY Buick T-Type for that matter......or said Corsica or Beretta.....especially the Beretta GTZ.

[Blake Noble]

Like I said, The L car was so popular at one point in time, GM had two assembly plants devoted to its production, damaged? Nah, not by 80's standards.

How about in terms of today's standards?

[daves87rs]

I always liked the Corsica, it was a tank, you could do anything to it and it still kept going. The 91 interior refresh was a godsend though. It's been what 12 model years after they rolled off the line, and I still see them all over, when I'm in the USA.

So very true.

A neighbor around the corner has a 93, and he beats the crap out of it every day. and with 150k, it keeps starting up every day....

Before my buddy got his beater Taurus, he had a Corsica (94, I believe) He had 218k on the clock, and had not replaced that much on the car (fuel pump, starter...)but the engine and trans are still in pretty good shape.

He gave it to a friend, and last I heard, it's still going.....

[daves87rs]

Lot of J-body bashing in this thread... as much as the FWD revolution of

the 1980s is IMHO the WORST Automotive trend of all time!!!! I will say

that the J-body, esp. the 1980s Cavalier/Sunbird/Skyhawk/Firenza had

several good things going for them, there was a LOT of variety... 2dr &

4dr sedans, convertibles, fastbacks, wagons, their styling was far better

than most "economy cars" of the era and you therefore did not look like

you bought the absolute cheapest econobox even in a $7000 J2000 or

a $9500 Cavalier Type-10.

And there was the availability of an auto and STICKS, several motors

incl. V6s and turbocharged fours....

Amen.

[Oracle of Delphi]

How about in terms of today's standards?

Irrelevant!

[Cory Wolfe]

Amen.

Eh... Though I will admit, if it weren't for $h!ty build quality, reliability issues(I'm many of you will disagree, but my family's track record speaks for itself), and overall being just $h!ty... They weren't bad cars. Driving the Sunfire back to back with the Cutlass and and its like stepping into an Aston Martin by comparison.

Edited March 11, 2008 by blackviper8891

[gmpartsgirl]

That's one sucky thing about living in Southern California......(AAS and I were talking about this yesterday at the car show.)

Because it's been SO import-dominated.....for SO long......you never see any GM cars, say from early-80's to mid-90's....that are in any good kind of condition. Cars like the 6000 STE....or the Skyhawk Sport/Hatch Turbo......or ANY Buick T-Type for that matter......or said Corsica or Beretta.....especially the Beretta GTZ.

At one time, way back when, I had an Olds Achieva SCX W41.......remember that car? Limited production, track-tuned suspension (supposedly...lol) and the 190hp Quad4. I can't remember the last time I saw any Achieva, even a ratted-out Achieva here....much less a nice-condition SCX coupe....

I suppose that's one of the few cool things about Oklahoma, we don't have the salty sea air, and we never get winter weather to speak of, so no salt on the roads really. We do however get a lot of sunshine. There are still alot of older cars running around, and cool cars too. We just put a new motor in a, I think it was an '86 Toronado, the little one. Cool car, today we had a '66 Impala with 34,000 miles on it, in for new oil pan gasket and a few other leaks. I get to see alot of nice cars, thanks to our weather.

Edited March 12, 2008 by gmpartsgirl

[makfu]

Ford Tempo. I had the misfortune of driving that hunk of junk for a while as a work vehicle.

Yeah, I am going to have to go with the Tempo on this as well. Probably the worst car I have ever driven (and that includes my own horrible 1987 Le Baron GTS Turbo). The body structure on the Tempo felt like it was taped together; when you hit a bump or an expansion joint, it didn't vibrate - it wobbled. Scary, scary stuff.

[Blake Noble]

I think I'm going to perhaps start a brief series based on this thread for The Random Car Showcase, since it's all but dead. It'll give us all the chance to reflect on all those horrible, horrible cars we had almost forgotten.

[Robert Hall]

Yeah, I am going to have to go with the Tempo on this as well. Probably the worst car I have ever driven (and that includes my own horrible 1987 Le Baron GTS Turbo). The body structure on the Tempo felt like it was taped together; when you hit a bump or an expansion joint, it didn't vibrate - it wobbled. Scary, scary stuff.

As bad as some of the GM FWDers were, the Tempo/Topaz were worse, I think. I had a good experience w/ a diesel Escort, though. As far as Chrysler, the K-cars seemed to be a mixed bag...I knew kids in my high school in '87/88 that had '83-84 Dodge 400s/LeBarons that were falling apart..

I've never been much of a FWD fan, but as far as the '80s, I've long liked the styling and overall design '79-85 E-bodies (Riviera/Toronado/ElDorado) and the '80-85 Seville...and the later C- and H- body, esp. the coupes (the Electra, slick LeSabre and 88 coupes, etc). Too bad they didn't do an '87-90 Bonneville coupe. It seems that for the most part, in the '70s and '80s, GM was at it's best with larger cars.

Edited March 12, 2008 by moltar

[daves87rs]

Eh... Though I will admit, if it weren't for $h!ty build quality, reliability issues(I'm many of you will disagree, but my family's track record speaks for itself), and overall being just $h!ty... They weren't bad cars. Driving the Sunfire back to back with the Cutlass and and its like stepping into an Aston Martin by comparison.

Well, now that you mention luxury cars....

[daves87rs]

As bad as some of the GM FWDers were, the Tempo/Topaz were worse, I think. I had a good experience w/ a diesel Escort, though. As far as Chrysler, the K-cars seemed to be a mixed bag...I knew kids in my high school in '87/88 that had '83-84 Dodge 400s/LeBarons that were falling apart..

I've never been much of a FWD fan, but as far as the '80s, I've long liked the styling and overall design '79-85 E-bodies (Riviera/Toronado/ElDorado) and the '80-85 Seville...and the later C- and H- body, esp. the coupes (the Electra, slick LeSabre and 88 coupes, etc). Too bad they didn't do an '87-90 Bonneville coupe. It seems that for the most part, in the '70s and '80s, GM was at it's best with larger cars.

Agreed. Anyone I knew who had a K car had issues with it...

Not to go too off topic, but I don't think Chrysler has had a good compact..period.

Breeze, Neon....though I have to say that Shadow (in it's many forms), seems to have broken that mold. I still see quite a few out there...