I have 88 Trans Am. It’s not luxury car but it is 80’s icon, digital dash, T-tops... :-) I really like that car, have it more than 11 years and it’s a keeper! My piece of automotive history. :-)
Same here. The 80s was gold and the color palette on some cars were extravagant and awesome! I love the light mocha beige and other colors that GM has to offer.
Yep, They really did. FoMoCo and Mopar made do with less platforms (often as little as 2) GM had at least 4 platforms (often more) on the road each year since the mid 1930s. Something for everyone.
@@jamesslick4790 I worked for Chrysler, we found out you only need four platforms to do anything with. Ford learned that in the '80s and I don't think the old GM ever did. I remember all the Cadillac ElDorano's they had in the back lot of Hamtramck Assembly. Reminded me of Chrysler when we had Dodge Magnums and Plymouth Volares in every empty fenced lot in Detroit in the late '70s. I don't think they ever sold all those Caddy's.
Remember GM had $$$$$$$$$$$$ then! If they couldn’t fix the problem they buy the problem! 😬 Funny the once owned small Isuzu is almost as big as GM! (Asia & Europe!)
Was top for a decade. Not really surprising. Personal luxury cars became a thing after the 58 Thunderbird, and grew in the 60s (Riviera,Eldorado...) After the muscle car was killed off by high gas prices and insurance rate hikes, people still wanted something different than a standard coupe (but,man it still had to be a coupe!) The "personal luxury coupe" was the answer, So they became the "it" car of the 70s and early 80s. Oldsmobile held considerable prestige then, just enough "better" than a Monte Carlo, (even if related) to impress the neighbors for not much more dough.
The cutlass also had an enormous amount of options. They had both two and four door versions as well as a station wagon. They had a sporty version and a diesel. They were also cheap and had a pretty good reputation for reliability. It checked the right boxes for a lot of people.
Oldsmobile was the go-to brand for people who later saw Honda as the go-to brand. It was the sensible brand before the Japanese substantially took over.
I was just about to type something about the car is screeching around the corner. It was because of all those 185 and 195 width tires. My 85 citation came stock with 185/80/13 ! I thought something was wrong with my suspension or tires when it used to Screech until years later and I realized it was just because the tires were so skinny lol. ( the suspension wasn't that great either but it wasn't too bad.)
What's funny is people say these cars are crappy but yet 33 years later and I still see these cars on the road alot so they obviously weren't junk boxes
You might be seeing newer variants of these same models. GM had a tendency to wring every last dollar out of a platform by continuing to offer it in basically the same form for many model years. Take, for example, the venerable A-body cars: Chevrolet Celebrity, Pontiac 6000, Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera, and Buick Century. They were all introduced in 1982, and the latter two were produced continuously through 1996 with no major changes to the sheetmetal or interior. (The less popular Celebrity died off after 1990, and the 6000 followed suit a year later.)
[deleted] but still to see so many models from a manufacturer that are 25+ years old and still running strong and often being high mileage daily drivers really says alot
[deleted] good example I have a very ugly 98 Lumina I bought for 800 bucks its been my daily driver for two years I've never had to work on it or replace anything it runs like a top everything mechanical and electrical works. Its got rust and body damage which is why I got it so cheap
1985-86 years, GM was starting to get things together. The new N-bodies were good... the J car got the 2.8 V6. Of course, the Cutlass Supreme was a pretty reliable car.
I really wish GM would bring back Pontiac but this time actually go after the sporty segment. They need a new G8 as well as a Firebird but we know they would have to bring in 2 SUVs at least in order to keep up with the SUV madness going on.
Pontiac suffered more than any other division from GM's unwillingness to put in the cost-per-unit to make a car feel *nice*. That being said, they could easily be a one-model niche brand in Buick-GMC dealers which already have plenty of SUVs under those names for volume.
If you notice. ford is about to do away with their SUV/CUV and majority of their car market to focus on their trucks and Mustang. GM is asleep at the wheel again....they would be stupid not to being back Pontiac at the least. That Code 130R and Tru 140S from 2012 would be killer! Make the 130R into a turbo sport coupe from Pontiac wnd you'd sell them by the butt load.
Yup, Pontiac was always branded as the "excitement" division of GM. Unfortunately, GM is getting out of the car biz for the most part. All anyone wants is ugly SUV's now.
Ima fan ikr? What's the deal with all these fwd little suvs and crossovers? They are so ugly looking. I'd have to sneak up on one just to drive it! Lol
I had one, 1985. Zero to sixty in 10.5 seconds. Then in early 1987, I bought a Buick Grand National... night and day performance difference; from then on GM made huge strides in performance and handling. 1998 was a watershed year for GM. C5 and TA Ram Air WS6. The LS 1 was born.
DaftRyosuke I remember when I was 16yrs old in 1992. My uncle had a white trans am ttop he bought new in 86. It was mint!! Garage kept. Had the 5.0ho with a 5spd and posi traction. He offered to sell it to me on payments and my parents wouldn't let me have it! I was so pissed!
@@patrickmike2524 those tpi cars were the shit back in the day. I bought a 89 Formula Firebird ttop 5.7 tpi , very rare a couple of months ago. It had three bad fuel injectors. I put 8 new fuel injectors in and rebuilt the fuel rail and fuel pressure regulator with new diaphragm and o rings. While I had it all apart I cleaned all of the carbon out of the plenum and runners put all new gaskets. Even with 160,000 miles on the car it has me grinning like a possum eating s***. Lol it fells like a 14 . Something sec car. Can't wait to get her at the track to see what she runs in the quarter mile. I can tell you right now, Honda Civics will avoid this car after they get to know her. 😂🤣
Haha, what was the point of that thing? One thought, if only we could experience this model, but without a body, any rigidity, or safety equipment. I guess there were a lot of drugs being used at GM back then.
Not very useful for anything other than showing that the suspension moves lol, and wouldn’t have been accurate anyways as there was hardly any weight on it. But ya gotta admit that was probably fun as hell to drive around!
I disagree. There are some decent vehicles in this line-up, such as the introduction of the Astro/Safari, finally getting fuel injection right for the F-Bodies with the 305 TPI, and further refinements on the S-10/Blazer. What GM should’ve done was simplify the product line by making one brand of each product (instead of 2 or more rebadgings of the same body), and offering all of the option packages they’d normally spread over Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Buick, etc, to the single product. For example: the Oldsmobile Bravada (the S-10 Blazer) had AWD as an option, instead of the traditional vacuum actuated transfer case used in these sub-half ton compact trucks. If they gave that AWD option to the S-10 Blazer, along with a luxury interior option package, more S-10 platform trucks would’ve sold, instead of segregating potential buyers who didn’t want to be labeled as “Oldsmobile drivers”.
The General offered a car or truck for every budget, from basic entry level lines to premium sports minded lines. The 1985 Camaro IROC-Z, and the Pontiac Trans Am were solid winners. And the 1985 Corvette with the tune port injected L98 engine was definitely noteworthy too. Great retro *TH-cam* video Motor Week.
Shit me too I wasn't even born yet! I came in 92 lol but thi ng s were weird in the 90s and late 90s and early 2000s every went down hill for some reason...
@@darkpassenger7064 I was born in very early 80's with teenage sister/brothers. I remember rockstars wore tights and used more hairspray than their groupies, essentially yesteryear drag queens. 80's, they were something else man!!
midnight savannah I never actually thought about that, but yea, back in the day it does seem like most of the Celebritys and 6000s that looked like they spent 2 decades in the desert after a 3 or 4 years in Michigan were silver.
Yeah GM had issues with peeling paint thru the majority of the '80's...it was due to the primer they used & the prep process. It affected pretty much all of their paint colors to some degree but silver, light blue, & white were the worst affected...& nearly every color ended up getting the little crows feet cracks in them after being exposed to sitting outside in the direct sunshine after a few years (they had that same cracking problem on most of the GM's thru the '70's also).
I didn't give a crap about these cars when they were everywhere, but now their looks are starting to grow on me. I also miss the era of compact american coupes that didn't have to be sporty.
Different divisions did pretty much offer the same cars but with different trim packages. Whether you liked Chevys or Oldsmobiles, was just a matter of which look you liked best. Otherwise, they were pretty much interchangeable. It was called having wide choices, Batman.
I think they're referring to a lot of the larger cars (Caprice, 88, Riviera) and models like the Cutlass Supreme/Regal...all designs popular in the late 70's, all except Caprice downsized/reworked for 86. Was really the end of an era at that point.
Even so the full size Caprice soldiered on until 1990 as did FoMoCo's full sizers (1991). Not even mentioning the diplomat/fifth avenue which sold on until 1989. Even the Cutlass Supreme and Monte Carlo were offered until 1988. I'd fairly say by the late 80's most 70's malaise era cars were gone.
The big B body RWD all died in 86 except for the Caprice and 86 was the last chance for a big full frame RWD 2-door. In 87 B bodies became all 4 door only.
If you notice, all the cool looking cars were the 70's holdovers. Caprice, Pontiac Safari wagon, Cutlass Supreme, full size trucks, Riveria(my favorite), Regal, Fleetwood. Also those are the ones that usually gave the best service because they came from before the Rodger Smith, downsized FWD shit era, back when GM actually knew how to design a car.
Ummm no, the best three cars were the Corvette, Camaro, and Trans-Am. Even though they were pathetically slow they still looked the best. Given these vehicles were built with performance in mind they have the best parts from GM at the time.
Sure, the F- and G-body cars. But when it comes to Firebird and Camaro, I prefer the 1974-1978 model years. That's the sweet spot for me for the beauty of the design.
No, the Fiero was nice in '85 when they came out with the GT with the ground effects, big wing and the V6. The iron duke 4-cylinder fire hazard that was the piece of garbage '84 Fiero was junk.
Loved them! ❤️ Always got much better reception on them vs handhelds (bricks) of the day; complete with the trademark “curly-cue” antenna off your back or side glass. ☎️ Actually wish I could find one that you could still use with today’s technology. 🤔👍
The 1985 Grand Am's shortfall was that it didn't come with, or offer an optional tachometer. Something that absolutely would've befit the "Euro" Tech GM was trying to pull off. Well, that's GM.
the buick t-type would be the most valuable of the bunch now. and the cadillac cimmarion was total garbage. the iroc/trans am and montecarlo/grand prix were everywhere . i was 14yrs old then.
My parents bought a Calais new in 85 with the 2.5. My mom drove it for about 4 years and then my sister drove it for about 2 more years before she sold it. I don't think the oil was ever changed in it. lol. I saw a guy driving it around town for a couple of years after that. Still had the wire wheel hubcaps on it!
My '89 Century had the "upgrade" wire covers on the 14" steel wheels. Eventually I found a set of 16" Lumina Z34 wheels and put Buick centercaps in them with a 205/55 tire. They fit perfectly and I couldn't believe how much more modern and sporty they made that otherwise grandpa-car look.
I liked all these vehicles from the 80s. Grew up with a lot of them. My dad had grand national, uncle had corvette, next door neighbor had a z28, my dad's buddy had a 442. I loved all of them.
Would love a G body Olds Cutlass or Monte Carlo SS or Aero coupe...even the downsized Olds 98 Regency Touring or Cadillac Deville were good cars and I would love one....my first car was a 89 Buick Lesabre Custom....got it in 2000 for my high school graduation present....rose good as hell and smooth and fast
In 1985, GM had a dizzying array of unique models. GM was truly at its apex of being the General. My family had a Olds Custom Cruiser and then an Olds Eighty-Eight, Cutlass Supreme. My parents never even considered a Honda/Toyota back then.
I owned a Monte Carlo SS convertible and a Fiero GT - two of the awesome cars shown here. Still, many many years later, that Fiero GT is still the most fun to drive car I've ever owned - you could throw it into corners and the thing just stuck to the ground like a go-kart - and it drove like a go-kart with it having no power steering, which worked well for that car. Anywho in this video I almost threw up as they went from the awesome Monte Carlo SS to some Jap econobox with a Chevy badge on it, what an ugly hideous car.
"General Mhotors" "Pahalm Springs" Gotta love John's pronunciation of words. Ah the 80's. When a little bit wider tires was considered a handling upgrade.
That swiveling radio pod GM put in a few of their cars ensured you had an outdated radio for the life of your GM. I think the Camaro Berlinetta had it too.
Holy crap, GM's product line was SO busy. I understand they were actively working at this time to trim things down, but while GM was carrying on with milquetoast new vehicles and minimally facelifted 70s models, Ford was about to introduce the Taurus, and Chrysler's Lee Iacocca was cleaning their lineup with the K platform, as well as new, more modern product development. But for all the complaining I and others can do, they sold product. They had a customer base that was satisfied, if not at the most basic level, with what they were purchasing - at least for a time. I wonder if Saturn had been able to roll out products by 1986, if GM could have had a more significant impact on market-wide advancements.
At one time GM's Detroit/Hamtramck Assembly employed over 300,000. I worked across town at Chrysler's Jefferson Avenue Assembly(demolished 1990) we had 134,000. Today GM has about 13,000 at that plant.
I grew up on GM brand like the Somerset, Grand AM and Calais but think the Somerset Regal looked better than Calais and somewhat sportier Grand AM the electronic digital dash was cool in Somerset but it suffered some problems not sure about the Calais that was the end of the B-Bodies when starting making front wheel drive cars and horrible motors around 1985. Since old school was born few years later grew up on Buicks and GMs. If was born earlier in the day would had bought the Lesabre you should had seen my mouth dropped when saw the Lesabre that was my favorite big car besides the other ones as Caprice, Parisenne and Delta 88. Well I enjoyed looking at the Somerset Regal, Grand AM, Calais and the last RWD yachts but those other cars like Pontiac 2000, Citation and Cavalier were okay. The Cutlass Ciera, Buick Century and Chevrolet Celebrity were my favorite as well I wish Oldsmobile and Buick could had kept the big bodies Park Avenue/Delta 88 for one more year. The Riviera is a luxury car think liked it better than the Toronado and Eldorado probably because grew up on Buicks the Camaro looked beautiful in that blue car and Trans AM was huge seller in the old days when see this car reminds of David Hasselhoff in Knight Rider and Burt Reynolds in Smokey and The Bandit. Cadillacs were some cool cars but like the Fleetwood better because bigger didn't like the shape of the Seville thought that was the ugliest car how had nasty design now some reason like those cars guess since getting old as these cars...lol. GM made some good cars back in the day most just didn't live up to the reliability as the smaller cars suffered electronic issues and recalls enjoy the video of most of the classic cars.
My grandma had the 1985 Oldsmobile 98 Regency in a beautiful blue color. It was lush, comfortable and a gorgeous car. I remember people stopping and looking. I loved that car. My sister had that exact black Monte Carlo SS, and I had a silver Pontiac Fiero. Wish I had kept that car
Tim Beck I distinctly remember my elementary school upgrading to windows 98. I got a ps1 for my 5th bday. My mom and my sister had twin chrysler lebarons. Times were great.
Nathan Adkins I only remember tiny bits of the 90s. I was 5 in 2000 when I got a PlayStation despite the PS2 being out. I rode around in my dad's 91 Accord and pretty much lived in the back of our families bought new 2000 Odyssey. The early 2000s was my era to grow up in. I miss it
I wasn't born till 1986. I distinctly remember the Sony Walkman, Nintendo Game boy, Oklahoma City Bombing, OJ Simpson and his Bronco Chase, that little girl that got killed in Colorado, a bad school bus accident involving like two big school busses. I remember the PS1 and N64 fondly. Ha! and my mom whining about spending $500 for a PS2. I remember my dad's neighbor having a red 1st gen Lightning, a 454SS and GMC Typhoon. Yup. I rememebr the 90s
Idk, to me the rear ends of the Grand Am and the facelifted 6000 STE look like something Mitsubishi would design in the 80s. Both cars' taillights look awful. And by that I mean they don't match the rest of the design of both cars. Also, the front grille of the Grand Am looks a bit like that of the '89 Galant.
It's great to see the gm line from the year I was born. My parents had a 85 Skylark when I was little. I remember the back seat piping riped and exposed the wire which reaked havak on my leg a few times.
Please upload AMC + Chrysler full line retro reviews for 85 too! In fact as many retro full line uploads as possible! Love all the retro reviews thank you!
So very many turds... Olds, Pontiac... Etc. Many going the way of the wedge tv shape. Interiors that stained and tore, and simply fell apart if looked at too long. Oh yea, that v6 GM engine from God knows when - is still running, it ain't running the wheels of much. Headliners falling across the country, and zero resale within months of purchase. Comical at best. Yet - GM, is all my dumb ass has ever owned. Fool.
I had the 1985 Buick Electra. It had the normal GM steering problem. I traded it on a 1988 Cadillac Sedan DeVille. Guess what? Same power steering rack problem. That was the last GM car I ever bought.
Hard to believe these cars are almost 40 years ago now 😳 now all they build is junk high dollar junk that is scrap in only 15 years usually if even that long . sad case. Now a new truck cost what a house did in 1985 . no thanks . but if pepole wouldn't buy them they wouldn't build them like that . can't just buy a basic no option daily driver any more either.
So many of these cars were clearly pieces of junk (and have gone extinct from the roads as a result). And yet John was much much more critical of every Volvo from that era, examples of which you still see every day in 2018. Love the kitch of this old gem, but don’t like the sycophantic bias towards the lousy American cars.
I earned my drivers license in Mom's '87 Grand Am. Those 1980s GM vehicles were the biggest pieces of garbage ever built in the history of automobiles. Electrical gremlins, hard plastic interiors that cracked and fell apart, knobs that would come off in your hand, lettering that rubbed off controls, engines that failed, doors that creaked and moaned, suspension that was worn completely out at 50,000 miles, etc. Just utter garbage. The only reason the Japanese brands got such a foothold in the U.S. was because of this era of GM vehicles.
OFFRD This man has never drove a dodge omni or Ford Festiva. GM always gets the worst of it but the vast majority of US cars from the late '70s to mid '90s where total piles of shit. Even today I would be hesitant to buy a cheap FWD car from Ford of Chevy. Dodge doesn't even make the list. You get what you pay for. Even the old imports where cheap as hell on the inside they where just reliable. Check on eBay for an uncracked 240sx dash to see how much their worth. All the manufacturers used such thin metal as well so the cars rust very quickly. Some cars in the '80s were good but not many.
Actually 80's cars used much thicker steel than today's cars. The common rusting problems were entirely due to poor rustproofing measures. Also, 80's American economy cars had plusher interiors. Typically the doors were fully upholstered and the seats were upholstered in some type of plush velour type fabric, unlike the cheap looking, scratchy fabric they put in cheap cars today. Mechanically though, many of them were unreliable garbage, like most American cars of that decade.
what an unnecessary assload of models that all looked fairly similar and many had vastly overlapping roles in the market. GM, competing with no one but themselves.
the only thing about them is the head rests are usually a little bit far back, so if you drive them and use the head rest you're nearly cross eyed it feels looking down at the road with your head slightly upward more so. But they're couch on wheels types. Pillow seats on mine.
We had a Cutlass Calais for many years, ran great but claimed by rust. When I was a teenager Mom and I test drove a Somerset. Thermostat was stuck closed, it overheated so bad it had rod knock as we brought it back to the dealer. No idea if it survived to be sold but I feel for whoever bought it.
ok, I;ll take either one of those Iroc Z's the yellow or the Blue ...... your choice, , just make sure it has less than 3k on the odometer though, ok Thanx. - I love these videos. They take me right back to that time & I usually get a second opinion compared to what my opinion was back then.
GM: Design a car, sell it 3 times.
Or 8
Re badge engineering GM specialty
borrow from australia
The big three all do.
Badge engineering. One of the ingredients for needing taxpayer bailouts.
I love these retro lineup reviews
I like everything about 80's so I like all these cars too!
I have 88 Trans Am. It’s not luxury car but it is 80’s icon, digital dash, T-tops... :-) I really like that car, have it more than 11 years and it’s a keeper! My piece of automotive history. :-)
Same here. The 80s was gold and the color palette on some cars were extravagant and awesome! I love the light mocha beige and other colors that GM has to offer.
I can't stop watching these videos, it's like watching my childhood all over again.
So many makes, dozens of models, and often more than one bodystyle. GM really did make (or at least tried to) a car for every market.
Yep, They really did. FoMoCo and Mopar made do with less platforms (often as little as 2) GM had at least 4 platforms (often more) on the road each year since the mid 1930s. Something for everyone.
@@jamesslick4790 I worked for Chrysler, we found out you only need four platforms to do anything with. Ford learned that in the '80s and I don't think the old GM ever did. I remember all the Cadillac ElDorano's they had in the back lot of Hamtramck Assembly. Reminded me of Chrysler when we had Dodge Magnums and Plymouth Volares in every empty fenced lot in Detroit in the late '70s. I don't think they ever sold all those Caddy's.
Remember GM had $$$$$$$$$$$$ then!
If they couldn’t fix the problem they buy the problem! 😬
Funny the once owned small Isuzu is almost as big as GM! (Asia & Europe!)
Sadly many were not competitive
It's mind boggling that the Olds Cutlass was the top selling car in the country.
Was top for a decade. Not really surprising. Personal luxury cars became a thing after the 58 Thunderbird, and grew in the 60s (Riviera,Eldorado...) After the muscle car was killed off by high gas prices and insurance rate hikes, people still wanted something different than a standard coupe (but,man it still had to be a coupe!) The "personal luxury coupe" was the answer, So they became the "it" car of the 70s and early 80s. Oldsmobile held considerable prestige then, just enough "better" than a Monte Carlo, (even if related) to impress the neighbors for not much more dough.
The cutlass also had an enormous amount of options. They had both two and four door versions as well as a station wagon. They had a sporty version and a diesel. They were also cheap and had a pretty good reputation for reliability. It checked the right boxes for a lot of people.
Everyone had an olds back in the days. Even the Asian kids had the olds
Oldsmobile was the go-to brand for people who later saw Honda as the go-to brand. It was the sensible brand before the Japanese substantially took over.
Americans had no taste whatsoever
That Pontiac Grand am lifted it's rear wheel off of the ground during that turn 😦
Grandpa was having the fun he had 45 years ago.
@@albear972
Grandpa never learned to not drink & drive. 483 students perished that day 🔥 Thanks motor week.
Trademark sound of 80s cars: SCREEEEEEECH lol..
That was funny
I was just about to type something about the car is screeching around the corner. It was because of all those 185 and 195 width tires. My 85 citation came stock with 185/80/13 ! I thought something was wrong with my suspension or tires when it used to Screech until years later and I realized it was just because the tires were so skinny lol. ( the suspension wasn't that great either but it wasn't too bad.)
You mean 80s tires...
What's funny is people say these cars are crappy but yet 33 years later and I still see these cars on the road alot so they obviously weren't junk boxes
You might be seeing newer variants of these same models. GM had a tendency to wring every last dollar out of a platform by continuing to offer it in basically the same form for many model years. Take, for example, the venerable A-body cars: Chevrolet Celebrity, Pontiac 6000, Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera, and Buick Century. They were all introduced in 1982, and the latter two were produced continuously through 1996 with no major changes to the sheetmetal or interior. (The less popular Celebrity died off after 1990, and the 6000 followed suit a year later.)
[deleted] but still to see so many models from a manufacturer that are 25+ years old and still running strong and often being high mileage daily drivers really says alot
[deleted] good example I have a very ugly 98 Lumina I bought for 800 bucks its been my daily driver for two years I've never had to work on it or replace anything it runs like a top everything mechanical and electrical works. Its got rust and body damage which is why I got it so cheap
1985-86 years, GM was starting to get things together. The new N-bodies were good... the J car got the 2.8 V6. Of course, the Cutlass Supreme was a pretty reliable car.
There was a saying to the effect that GM cars of this era run forever, very badly, but forever.
"Hey guys, remember to leave the hazard lights on when you show the cars."
I always watch these retro reviews and i love them. I watch them till i fall asleep. Keep going!
Love from The Netherlands
I really wish GM would bring back Pontiac but this time actually go after the sporty segment. They need a new G8 as well as a Firebird but we know they would have to bring in 2 SUVs at least in order to keep up with the SUV madness going on.
Pontiac suffered more than any other division from GM's unwillingness to put in the cost-per-unit to make a car feel *nice*. That being said, they could easily be a one-model niche brand in Buick-GMC dealers which already have plenty of SUVs under those names for volume.
If you notice. ford is about to do away with their SUV/CUV and majority of their car market to focus on their trucks and Mustang. GM is asleep at the wheel again....they would be stupid not to being back Pontiac at the least. That Code 130R and Tru 140S from 2012 would be killer! Make the 130R into a turbo sport coupe from Pontiac wnd you'd sell them by the butt load.
Yup, Pontiac was always branded as the "excitement" division of GM. Unfortunately, GM is getting out of the car biz for the most part. All anyone wants is ugly SUV's now.
If Pontiac were to come back they would definitely give Dodge a run for their money and make something to compete against the Hellcat and the Demon
Ima fan ikr? What's the deal with all these fwd little suvs and crossovers? They are so ugly looking. I'd have to sneak up on one just to drive it! Lol
That Monty SS was one of the sexiest cars ever built
My Dad has an 86 Monte Carlo SS. First year of the "Euro" Interior pieces.
The Monty SS and Gran National are the exception, not a fan of 80s American cars.
I had one, 1985. Zero to sixty in 10.5 seconds. Then in early 1987, I bought a Buick Grand National... night and day performance difference; from then on GM made huge strides in performance and handling. 1998 was a watershed year for GM. C5 and TA Ram Air WS6. The LS 1 was born.
Every teenager back then would have sold their families for one. It was amazing when it came out !
GM was a monster back then so many models
True, a lot of redundancy though..
chad harmon i saw all of these into the 90s and early 2000s
Alex Youngberg me too Alex I'm 43 lol
Too many models. Most of them absolutely awful
They were losing market share like drunks.
They should have to watch this at GM every day they come to work as it is a classic example of what not to build.
That speedometer on the Calais looked more like 1965 than 1985!
I'm still a little nuts for an '85 Trans Am.
DaftRyosuke I remember when I was 16yrs old in 1992. My uncle had a white trans am ttop he bought new in 86. It was mint!! Garage kept. Had the 5.0ho with a 5spd and posi traction. He offered to sell it to me on payments and my parents wouldn't let me have it! I was so pissed!
@@TusuperbisI can imagine how you felt...
My high school ride was a blue with gray 1985 Trans Am. I loved that car! Oh the memories.
Gabriel Gonzalez mine too. 5.0L Tune port. She was damn fun
@@patrickmike2524 those tpi cars were the shit back in the day. I bought a 89 Formula Firebird ttop 5.7 tpi , very rare a couple of months ago. It had three bad fuel injectors. I put 8 new fuel injectors in and rebuilt the fuel rail and fuel pressure regulator with new diaphragm and o rings. While I had it all apart I cleaned all of the carbon out of the plenum and runners put all new gaskets. Even with 160,000 miles on the car it has me grinning like a possum eating s***. Lol it fells like a 14 . Something sec car. Can't wait to get her at the track to see what she runs in the quarter mile. I can tell you right now, Honda Civics will avoid this car after they get to know her. 😂🤣
Homie didn’t wear a seatbelt on that deathcart lol
Haha, what was the point of that thing? One thought, if only we could experience this model, but without a body, any rigidity, or safety equipment. I guess there were a lot of drugs being used at GM back then.
JxBANE rumor has it hes still alive too..
What's the point? He would be better off jumping out than staying in it if he were to crash.
Not very useful for anything other than showing that the suspension moves lol, and wouldn’t have been accurate anyways as there was hardly any weight on it. But ya gotta admit that was probably fun as hell to drive around!
It was the actual "J" derived "N" platform without exterior sheet metal.
Here we see the seedlings that would eventually grow into General Motors' forest of self-destruction.
And you will witness it again when gas prices go back into orbit.
I disagree. There are some decent vehicles in this line-up, such as the introduction of the Astro/Safari, finally getting fuel injection right for the F-Bodies with the 305 TPI, and further refinements on the S-10/Blazer.
What GM should’ve done was simplify the product line by making one brand of each product (instead of 2 or more rebadgings of the same body), and offering all of the option packages they’d normally spread over Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Buick, etc, to the single product.
For example: the Oldsmobile Bravada (the S-10 Blazer) had AWD as an option, instead of the traditional vacuum actuated transfer case used in these sub-half ton compact trucks.
If they gave that AWD option to the S-10 Blazer, along with a luxury interior option package, more S-10 platform trucks would’ve sold, instead of segregating potential buyers who didn’t want to be labeled as “Oldsmobile drivers”.
The General offered a car or truck for every budget, from basic entry level lines to premium sports minded lines. The 1985 Camaro IROC-Z, and the Pontiac Trans Am were solid winners. And the 1985 Corvette with the tune port injected L98 engine was definitely noteworthy too. Great retro *TH-cam* video Motor Week.
Camaro Iroc Z 1985, 1986, 1987 and 1988, Camaro Berlinetta 1985, Pontiac Firebird 1985, 1986, 1987 and 1988, i want this cars
It's amazing how many models GM had back in '85. I remember seeing IROC Z's all over the place in the 80's now they're just a memory.
I rock Z!!
Because GM does not care about its products ( vehicles). It invested in financial companies... anything but cars.
That's because GM, like Ford and Chrystler, didnt make cars in the 80s or 90s to last.
I own a 1986. It’s still in great shape too. Only 65k on it.
Tesla’s are now the rage
Damn how I'd like to go back to 1985 again...….
Me too! The year I graduated High School!!!
Shit me too I wasn't even born yet! I came in 92 lol but thi ng s were weird in the 90s and late 90s and early 2000s every went down hill for some reason...
Born that year
Only if I could inhabit the body I had back then with my knowledge of the future
@Take the red pill haha yeah baby....Damn shape shifters
This video makes the '80s sound amazing. Great jazzy, soulful music, and cars built to look and make you feel royal.
The '80s sucked.
Depends on how old you are. I was a teenager in the 80s. Music was great, cars were real and the girls used way too much makeup and hairspray.
@@darkpassenger7064 I was born in very early 80's with teenage sister/brothers. I remember rockstars wore tights and used more hairspray than their groupies, essentially yesteryear drag queens. 80's, they were something else man!!
I loved the 80s. The music was amazing. We had no idea how good we had it. The beginning of the end was vanilla ice. In 89.
1985, the year the paint on my dad's 1983 Pontiac 6000 went bad.
Must have been silver. GM silver paint sucked.
midnight savannah I never actually thought about that, but yea, back in the day it does seem like most of the Celebritys and 6000s that looked like they spent 2 decades in the desert after a 3 or 4 years in Michigan were silver.
Yeah GM had issues with peeling paint thru the majority of the '80's...it was due to the primer they used & the prep process. It affected pretty much all of their paint colors to some degree but silver, light blue, & white were the worst affected...& nearly every color ended up getting the little crows feet cracks in them after being exposed to sitting outside in the direct sunshine after a few years (they had that same cracking problem on most of the GM's thru the '70's also).
I wish that GM had more love of their cars from the 80's. Being born in the 80's and raised in the 90's, there is a certain affection for these cars.
Hotlog. Yay! I'm not the only one!
I smiled throughout this whole video
Tacks holding the headliner up is what comes to my mind.
I remember most of this lineup in my high school parking lot in the early 2000's.
I didn't give a crap about these cars when they were everywhere, but now their looks are starting to grow on me. I also miss the era of compact american coupes that didn't have to be sporty.
I like the Grand Am N Body the best. It still looks good 33 years later.
Most of them were butt-ugly 4-Doors, though.
I loved the Oldsmobile Cutlass supreme
Me too
Seeing touchscreen controls on a car from over 30 years ago blew my mind! Talk about being ahead of its time!
Ken Sheppard people think all this stuff new
Holy overlap and redundancy Batman☺
Different divisions did pretty much offer the same cars but with different trim packages. Whether you liked Chevys or Oldsmobiles, was just a matter of which look you liked best. Otherwise, they were pretty much interchangeable. It was called having wide choices, Batman.
@@efandmk3382 YETH
These motorweek videos are making me nostalgic for ‘87 & ‘86 Celebrities. 😁
1986: end of the 1970s
I thought it was 1982 that marked the end of the '70s.
Dude most of these cars carried over years after 1986.
I think they're referring to a lot of the larger cars (Caprice, 88, Riviera) and models like the Cutlass Supreme/Regal...all designs popular in the late 70's, all except Caprice downsized/reworked for 86. Was really the end of an era at that point.
Even so the full size Caprice soldiered on until 1990 as did FoMoCo's full sizers (1991). Not even mentioning the diplomat/fifth avenue which sold on until 1989. Even the Cutlass Supreme and Monte Carlo were offered until 1988. I'd fairly say by the late 80's most 70's malaise era cars were gone.
The big B body RWD all died in 86 except for the Caprice and 86 was the last chance for a big full frame RWD 2-door. In 87 B bodies became all 4 door only.
GOOD OL 80'S CLASSICS NEVER GETS OLD...
I really liked the 1985 Buick LeSabre a lot and wished they've kept the old body style around for at least 1989.
I noticed they used the hazard lights to show case models lol . Maybe they were hinting at something .
These retro reviews are exciting to watch! Thank you, MotorWeek! 😀🎸🎸🎸💞💞
Me too but not for most of these junk cars!
If you notice, all the cool looking cars were the 70's holdovers. Caprice, Pontiac Safari wagon, Cutlass Supreme, full size trucks, Riveria(my favorite), Regal, Fleetwood. Also those are the ones that usually gave the best service because they came from before the Rodger Smith, downsized FWD shit era, back when GM actually knew how to design a car.
Ummm no, the best three cars were the Corvette, Camaro, and Trans-Am. Even though they were pathetically slow they still looked the best. Given these vehicles were built with performance in mind they have the best parts from GM at the time.
The Eldorado and Riviera are beautiful. And so is the Corvette, of course. Fiero was nice in 1984.
Sure, the F- and G-body cars. But when it comes to Firebird and Camaro, I prefer the 1974-1978 model years. That's the sweet spot for me for the beauty of the design.
The Corvette was such a brick. I never did like those cars and that model cemented it for me.
Everything but the Fiero
No, the Fiero was nice in '85 when they came out with the GT with the ground effects, big wing and the V6. The iron duke 4-cylinder fire hazard that was the piece of garbage '84 Fiero was junk.
Ooo, a factory cellular phone, for the busy business man on the go! A brick with a cord to another brick with buttons. The good ol days...
I actually came across that option only a couple of times while servicing these cars. When they were new. God I'm old.
Loved them! ❤️ Always got much better reception on them vs handhelds (bricks) of the day; complete with the trademark “curly-cue” antenna off your back or side glass. ☎️ Actually wish I could find one that you could still use with today’s technology. 🤔👍
True, also as a weapon too!
I was 17 working as lot guy at the dealer. I had to deliver one to a customer. Stuck in traffic I would pretend to talk on the phone to look cool.
The 1985 Grand Am's shortfall was that it didn't come with, or offer an optional tachometer. Something that absolutely would've befit the "Euro" Tech GM was trying to pull off.
Well, that's GM.
I WANT TO COLLECT THEM ALL!
These aren't the Pokemon you're looking for.
Why??😂
Wow! I forgot about a lot of the junk cars that GM put out!
I had a '87 Grand Am 5 speed 2.5 and it ran forever. I finally sold it to a friend with 263,000 miles.
I had an '84 T-Type Regal and my Dad had a new '85 . They were pretty speedy back in the day.
the buick t-type would be the most valuable of the bunch now. and the cadillac cimmarion was total garbage. the iroc/trans am and montecarlo/grand prix were everywhere . i was 14yrs old then.
I wonder if that cutaway model still exists somewhere
Got an '88 Iroc in the driveway. Love the 80's cars. Especially a G Body like the Regals, Montes, Grand Prix and Cutlass.
It's the Cadillac cimmaron days!!! But let's pretend GM was doing everything right!!!!
My parents bought a Calais new in 85 with the 2.5. My mom drove it for about 4 years and then my sister drove it for about 2 more years before she sold it. I don't think the oil was ever changed in it. lol. I saw a guy driving it around town for a couple of years after that. Still had the wire wheel hubcaps on it!
The Iron Duke was a bulletproof turd. The 3 speed th125 trans flat out sucked.
My '89 Century had the "upgrade" wire covers on the 14" steel wheels. Eventually I found a set of 16" Lumina Z34 wheels and put Buick centercaps in them with a 205/55 tire. They fit perfectly and I couldn't believe how much more modern and sporty they made that otherwise grandpa-car look.
Good ole Mark. Always rambling about history.
I liked all these vehicles from the 80s. Grew up with a lot of them. My dad had grand national, uncle had corvette, next door neighbor had a z28, my dad's buddy had a 442. I loved all of them.
Would love a G body Olds Cutlass or Monte Carlo SS or Aero coupe...even the downsized Olds 98 Regency Touring or Cadillac Deville were good cars and I would love one....my first car was a 89 Buick Lesabre Custom....got it in 2000 for my high school graduation present....rose good as hell and smooth and fast
In 1985, GM had a dizzying array of unique models. GM was truly at its apex of being the General. My family had a Olds Custom Cruiser and then an Olds Eighty-Eight, Cutlass Supreme. My parents never even considered a Honda/Toyota back then.
I owned a Monte Carlo SS convertible and a Fiero GT - two of the awesome cars shown here. Still, many many years later, that Fiero GT is still the most fun to drive car I've ever owned - you could throw it into corners and the thing just stuck to the ground like a go-kart - and it drove like a go-kart with it having no power steering, which worked well for that car. Anywho in this video I almost threw up as they went from the awesome Monte Carlo SS to some Jap econobox with a Chevy badge on it, what an ugly hideous car.
"General Mhotors" "Pahalm Springs" Gotta love John's pronunciation of words.
Ah the 80's. When a little bit wider tires was considered a handling upgrade.
Camry and Accord name still going strong.... Nevermind GM.
Can you say Suburban, Corvette, Tahoe, Escalade, etc.
That swiveling radio pod GM put in a few of their cars ensured you had an outdated radio for the life of your GM. I think the Camaro Berlinetta had it too.
Now i understand how the japanese gained the market, american made cars of the 80s were dinosaurs
Holy crap, GM's product line was SO busy. I understand they were actively working at this time to trim things down, but while GM was carrying on with milquetoast new vehicles and minimally facelifted 70s models, Ford was about to introduce the Taurus, and Chrysler's Lee Iacocca was cleaning their lineup with the K platform, as well as new, more modern product development.
But for all the complaining I and others can do, they sold product. They had a customer base that was satisfied, if not at the most basic level, with what they were purchasing - at least for a time. I wonder if Saturn had been able to roll out products by 1986, if GM could have had a more significant impact on market-wide advancements.
It's possible
At one time GM's Detroit/Hamtramck Assembly employed over 300,000. I worked across town at Chrysler's Jefferson Avenue Assembly(demolished 1990) we had 134,000. Today GM has about 13,000 at that plant.
I grew up on GM brand like the Somerset, Grand AM and Calais but think the Somerset Regal looked better than Calais and somewhat sportier Grand AM the electronic digital dash was cool in Somerset but it suffered some problems not sure about the Calais that was the end of the B-Bodies when starting making front wheel drive cars and horrible motors around 1985. Since old school was born few years later grew up on Buicks and GMs. If was born earlier in the day would had bought the Lesabre you should had seen my mouth dropped when saw the Lesabre that was my favorite big car besides the other ones as Caprice, Parisenne and Delta 88. Well I enjoyed looking at the Somerset Regal, Grand AM, Calais and the last RWD yachts but those other cars like Pontiac 2000, Citation and Cavalier were okay. The Cutlass Ciera, Buick Century and Chevrolet Celebrity were my favorite as well I wish Oldsmobile and Buick could had kept the big bodies Park Avenue/Delta 88 for one more year.
The Riviera is a luxury car think liked it better than the Toronado and Eldorado probably because grew up on Buicks the Camaro looked beautiful in that blue car and Trans AM was huge seller in the old days when see this car reminds of David Hasselhoff in Knight Rider and Burt Reynolds in Smokey and The Bandit.
Cadillacs were some cool cars but like the Fleetwood better because bigger didn't like the shape of the Seville thought that was the ugliest car how had nasty design now some reason like those cars guess since getting old as these cars...lol. GM made some good cars back in the day most just didn't live up to the reliability as the smaller cars suffered electronic issues and recalls enjoy the video of most of the classic cars.
Could you please upload the 1987 DNCP's? They were the first ones I saw after I started watching the show religiously in the spring of 1986.
My grandma had the 1985 Oldsmobile 98 Regency in a beautiful blue color. It was lush, comfortable and a gorgeous car. I remember people stopping and looking. I loved that car. My sister had that exact black Monte Carlo SS, and I had a silver Pontiac Fiero. Wish I had kept that car
The best selling car in America, the Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme.
The cars from this era were a nightmare. Piles of absolute sheeit.
The 80s was pretty cool.
I did not grow up in other eras, but the 80s warmed my heart.
Maybe that is what nostalgia is all about. ......
What was I doing in 85? Not existing for another 10 years
Tim Beck i was -5
Nathan Adkins So you're 28? You probably remember the 90s way better than me
Tim Beck I distinctly remember my elementary school upgrading to windows 98. I got a ps1 for my 5th bday. My mom and my sister had twin chrysler lebarons. Times were great.
Nathan Adkins I only remember tiny bits of the 90s. I was 5 in 2000 when I got a PlayStation despite the PS2 being out. I rode around in my dad's 91 Accord and pretty much lived in the back of our families bought new 2000 Odyssey. The early 2000s was my era to grow up in. I miss it
I wasn't born till 1986. I distinctly remember the Sony Walkman, Nintendo Game boy, Oklahoma City Bombing, OJ Simpson and his Bronco Chase, that little girl that got killed in Colorado, a bad school bus accident involving like two big school busses. I remember the PS1 and N64 fondly. Ha! and my mom whining about spending $500 for a PS2. I remember my dad's neighbor having a red 1st gen Lightning, a 454SS and GMC Typhoon. Yup. I rememebr the 90s
Idk, to me the rear ends of the Grand Am and the facelifted 6000 STE look like something Mitsubishi would design in the 80s. Both cars' taillights look awful. And by that I mean they don't match the rest of the design of both cars. Also, the front grille of the Grand Am looks a bit like that of the '89 Galant.
It's great to see the gm line from the year I was born. My parents had a 85 Skylark when I was little. I remember the back seat piping riped and exposed the wire which reaked havak on my leg a few times.
God those interiors were just atrocious, good old GM.
Gm had flavors for everyone got to love gm products and killing part everything is interchangeable
What a line of junk. Terrible time for cars.
Couldn't predict that 3.8 SFI would take over everything.
Very true. The 3.8 would drive the 4.3 from cars into trucks only by the end of the decade.
Love that background music! Lol
Please upload AMC + Chrysler full line retro reviews for 85 too!
In fact as many retro full line uploads as possible!
Love all the retro reviews thank you!
Being born in 70s & growing up watching American programs & films, makes big of American car fan. Love a good 'Yank Tank'
So very many turds... Olds, Pontiac... Etc. Many going the way of the wedge tv shape. Interiors that stained and tore, and simply fell apart if looked at too long. Oh yea, that v6 GM engine from God knows when - is still running, it ain't running the wheels of much. Headliners falling across the country, and zero resale within months of purchase. Comical at best. Yet - GM, is all my dumb ass has ever owned. Fool.
I had the 1985 Buick Electra. It had the normal GM steering problem. I traded it on a 1988 Cadillac Sedan DeVille. Guess what? Same power steering rack problem. That was the last GM car I ever bought.
Hard to believe these cars are almost 40 years ago now 😳 now all they build is junk high dollar junk that is scrap in only 15 years usually if even that long . sad case. Now a new truck cost what a house did in 1985 . no thanks . but if pepole wouldn't buy them they wouldn't build them like that . can't just buy a basic no option daily driver any more either.
So many of these cars were clearly pieces of junk (and have gone extinct from the roads as a result). And yet John was much much more critical of every Volvo from that era, examples of which you still see every day in 2018. Love the kitch of this old gem, but don’t like the sycophantic bias towards the lousy American cars.
I was feeling nostalgic until I saw them running on the grass on the inside of the corners and remembered they were that weak.
It was fun to beat them
I earned my drivers license in Mom's '87 Grand Am. Those 1980s GM vehicles were the biggest pieces of garbage ever built in the history of automobiles. Electrical gremlins, hard plastic interiors that cracked and fell apart, knobs that would come off in your hand, lettering that rubbed off controls, engines that failed, doors that creaked and moaned, suspension that was worn completely out at 50,000 miles, etc. Just utter garbage. The only reason the Japanese brands got such a foothold in the U.S. was because of this era of GM vehicles.
better than russian cars
OFFRD This man has never drove a dodge omni or Ford Festiva. GM always gets the worst of it but the vast majority of US cars from the late '70s to mid '90s where total piles of shit. Even today I would be hesitant to buy a cheap FWD car from Ford of Chevy. Dodge doesn't even make the list. You get what you pay for. Even the old imports where cheap as hell on the inside they where just reliable. Check on eBay for an uncracked 240sx dash to see how much their worth. All the manufacturers used such thin metal as well so the cars rust very quickly. Some cars in the '80s were good but not many.
Actually 80's cars used much thicker steel than today's cars. The common rusting problems were entirely due to poor rustproofing measures. Also, 80's American economy cars had plusher interiors. Typically the doors were fully upholstered and the seats were upholstered in some type of plush velour type fabric, unlike the cheap looking, scratchy fabric they put in cheap cars today. Mechanically though, many of them were unreliable garbage, like most American cars of that decade.
Reminds me of the Chevrolet Beretta. The first and last GM car I ever drove. Same exact problems.
Agreed had a '88 self destructed at 90,000 miles
i had the calais. one thing died after another
The Grand Am 1985.…. Marketed to attract the young ,slick imported buyer .... Huh!!!
what an unnecessary assload of models that all looked fairly similar and many had vastly overlapping roles in the market. GM, competing with no one but themselves.
In '85 I was a senior in high school and remember vividly when the IROC came out. That was THE car to have. Thanks for these retro reviews!
I'd have loved to drive that stripped down car. Maybe someday I'll find an old beater and make one!
Fancy seeing someone I have been watching since the old start cold start days lingering here
Cant believe this was luxury back then
Glo'd Up these cars are beyond comfy
Rocket Grunt Never been in one but i bet it probably is, nice and roomy
the only thing about them is the head rests are usually a little bit far back, so if you drive them and use the head rest you're nearly cross eyed it feels looking down at the road with your head slightly upward more so. But they're couch on wheels types. Pillow seats on mine.
"burnt Sienna..they put the 'tru coat ' ON RIGHT IN THE FACTORY !
Stock ‘85 Corvette 230HP. Stock ‘20 Corvette 490HP. It’s a great time to be alive.
MOTORWEEK PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE put up your review of the 2000-2005 buick lesabre. Thank you so much!
We had a Cutlass Calais for many years, ran great but claimed by rust. When I was a teenager Mom and I test drove a Somerset. Thermostat was stuck closed, it overheated so bad it had rod knock as we brought it back to the dealer. No idea if it survived to be sold but I feel for whoever bought it.
ok, I;ll take either one of those Iroc Z's the yellow or the Blue ...... your choice, , just make sure it has less than 3k on the odometer though, ok Thanx. - I love these videos. They take me right back to that time & I usually get a second opinion compared to what my opinion was back then.
Holy cow! It's hard to believe that GM had this many variations for sale concurrently.
A lot of GM crap cars are still on the road and holding up better than the oh-so-great Toyotas from that time.
5.0 mustangs were great cars back then.... irocs/firebirds were JUNK.
That Riviera looks so good
It sure does
The Cutlass Supreme was the best selling car in America for years. Let that sink in.
Look at the body roll on these fucking cars!! Holy shit we have come a long way since then!
Ask any Real GM guy in 1985 and Now, All will tell you straight up, 1980's GM Front Wheel Drives are JUNK
I mostly hate 80's American cars... There are few keepers though
Compare any 2019 car to those beautiful machines. What a bull shit we've become.
I was 3 years old. So I wasn't doing much.
I was between 2-6 months depending on when this came out
I was around 1 lol
12:49 Give me that GMC Safari
lol if i was a young guy in the 80's i would see all these cars as old peoples car and get 240z instead.