GM had as real sales winner. Here at Bogotà Colombia, I had a 1984 V6 2.8 liter carburated model, with a 4 speed manual gear box, the CL trim edition. very fun to drive, nice milage, making in an open road 25 miles per gallon, despite the high altitude we`ve got in this country, cities over 2000 feet, but was a true performer, hill climbing conditions reachin`more than 65 mph steady in fourth and thirth gear. I had to sell it because a real need for fast cash, but I miss this one. I`m myself a big american family car fan. Thanks, GM, forever.
There were very very few 4 speed manual cars produced in the United States. Actually i've NEVER seen a manual transmission Celebrity in my whole life. And for yours to have the upscale CL trim but 4 speed manual is a unicorn for Celebrities.
My dad bought one of these in 1988. We went with his retired ww2 vet friend and he walked out of the dealership twice until he got power windows and a fm cassette stereo
Yes my Dad had a grey on grey 86 base model with the 2.8V6 and metal chevy hubcaps. Had AC the better am/fm radio and front bench seating . was a nice car for its day in the early 90s. A friend of our family the Fazios which we went to Catholic school with and we carpooled with at the time also had a Celebrity think theirs was an 85 like in this video because theirs had that same maroon cloth interior with bucket seats, theirs was a cherry black exterior color and was also a nice car. They also had theirs for a long time too before rust got both cars throughout the years living in northeast OH. Even the 1990 Aerostar van my Dad bought in fall of 93 which was 3 yrs old had slight rusting then which he had body work done but later by 97 it was falling apart badly. But seeing this and cars in general from this era bring back childhood memories.
I owned the 84 with 2.8 v6 CL package it was a pleasant car. I once drove it from Galveston Texas to Winnipeg Manitoba in one stretch. Back then the speed limit was 55 mph, the I-29 interstate is definitely uneventful, if you see another car every two or three miles you are getting excited.
Tow up to 5400 lb?!?! My '90 Celeb wagon had the fleet package with heavy duty suspension, heavy duty brakes, trans cooler, and the 2nd gen 3.1 that thing clearly stated 1500lb in the owners manual. I once loaded that car with about 800lb of scrap batteries and it handled the load quite well, but I can't imagine towing the full 1500lb and expect to safely keep up with traffic
The spokesman "The base powerteam continues with the 2.5 liter 4 cylinder engine with with electronic fuel injection and manual 4 speed with overdrive transaxle" He goes to a CL model and pops the hood to show you the optional 2.8 V6 with carburetor and automatic. Whoops!
I have always called the Celebrity, along with its Buick Century, Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera, & Pontiac 6000 stablemates, GM's "Redemption Cars" as I feel that when they were first introduced in January of 1982, they fixed everything that was wrong with the X-cars which had been introduced in April of 1979. No, they were NOT perfect cars, but in terms of build quality & durability, they were orders of magnitude better than the X-cars.
You hit the nail on the head. It's really an X car at the wheels. They enlarged the engine bay some. Same basic mechanicals. I'd say the best one, as far as A bodies go, was the 6000STE
@@landyachtfan79 Thanks. I corrected the typo. Have driven the Celebrity for 14 years. Paid $800 for it in 2007. Paid $500 for the 95 Cierra and so far have put 12,000 miles on it. Recently found a pristine 96 Crown Vic with 57k on it. Got it for $1,900.
My parents bought a new 1985 Celebrity from Ferman Chevrolet in Tampa FL. It was a white wagon with blue interior. It was easy to drive but kinda boring compared to our 1980 Camaro we still had. Dad was a sports car fan but with him making more trips to WVa for genealogy or really biology cheating on my mother he loved the added space for luggage and his golf clubs in the back.
You really can't hide the resentment you have for your father's cheating that you have to share it on a car video? I know people are fucked up with traumas but what you're doing is not normal. Do you ever think of anything else?
@@624radicalham No resentment at all..My normal is not defined by a comment on RU-vid but apparently this has hit a nerve with you...I would dare to bet that you probably cheated on your wife or husband if you go that way, and your child does not care for you either..as it is not normal to make a stupid comment like this but oh well maybe you missed your dose of Lithium today! Cheers!!!
Point out to your prospects how the fire-breathing 112 horsepower gives them the same acceleration experience as bicycle. They did sell a ton of these, although the 6000 STE was really the one to get, albeit from Pontiac.
Acceleration is not impressive, but adequate. What is impressive to me is that I still drive an 85 Celebrity to work everyday when it is 38 years old. I bought it for $800 bucks 15 years ago.
Who would want this model year Celebrity when 1986 got the newer look along with a all new modern competitor from rival Ford in being the all new modern 86 Ford Taurus. 1985 cars were ancient compared to 86 and newer.
Ford was probably blowing Chevy away, with their Taurus. Would explain why Chevy added power options and trunk release with Fuel Injection finally for this year. Fords 3.0 V6 was a powerhouse over any of these.
There's still plenty of Celebritys on the road today. You can't kill the old 2.5 iron duke. The Taurus, unfortunately had major rust, head gasket and transmission issues in their first few years of production. I can't remember the last time I saw one rust got em all!
@@milfordcivic6755 true 👍 The Celebrity's were a true American mid size family car from the early 1980s , rust got these bad too but then again Rust in general will kill anything really! I hardly see many 1st Gen Fusions either from 06 to 2012 that are nice anymore most are sagging in the rear end or have rusted out rockers and dogleg areas with yellowed headlights
It's interesting that when Ford was testing the Vulcan V6 for the 86 Taurus. They installed some in the foxbody LTD and for later transaxle and engine testing they bought a fleet of 84/85 Celebrities and put Vulcan/4sp Auto transaxles for testing as the Taurus chassis wasn't ready yet... they piss-pounded the Celebrities and saw what NOT to build...Though I feel Ford left plenty of sales with not building a Taurus 2 door Coupe/Convertible...But that would have cut Foxbody T-bird and Mustang sales...they learned their lesson from the late 70s... 77-79 LTD II and T-bird were nearly identical cars (interior and powertrain) T-Bird got the ugly stick treatment. XR7 Mercury and Ford LTD II were nicer looking. Stupid Round Hideaway Headlights on T-Bird.
1:40 - note the brightwork strip above the bumper...this sort of shoddy fit and finish was a uniform problem for GM all over the globe in that era. Vauxhalls and Holdens were exactly the same.
In addition, I laughed when they're bragging about Computer Command Control at about 3:10 and clearly show some added components over the top of the integrated circuit chips which screams band-aid to fix some bugs...
Yikes. That is an absolutely ridiculous rating I wonder how they came up with tow ratings back in those days. You might be able to squeeze 5k lb onto the hitch of a Caprice with a 4bbl 350 but even that would be pushing it safety-wise.
@@303nitzubishi4 there was a time when cars were used for towing and they did quite well. The changes only came due to legal issues and worries of lawsuits. The Caprice was rated to two 5,000lbs if I remember right. I don’t see a Celebrity towing that high but they were ambitious I guess haha
That 5400lbs was listed in the recreation guide for 25MPH! And maximum trip of 20mi... Speeds over 45mph with NO Grades were 4000lb and 3200lbs with grades... I think 4000lb behind a Celebrity at 45+ would be fricking scary. 2000lbs would be my limit.
