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.
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.
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.
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!)
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.)
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 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.
@@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!!
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 *RU-vid* video Motor Week.
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 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.
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...
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
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 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”.
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).
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.
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.
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. 😂🤣
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.
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!
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.
"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.
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. 🤔👍
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.
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.
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
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 love these. Mostly because it reminds me of MPT broadcasting and seeing your show in a sea of static because we lived in the sticks of Harford County 😂 keep up the good work folks
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.
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!
Awesome. I think 1985 was the greatest year for GM in the 1980s. They had the newest TPI engines and fantastic new front wheel drive C bodies, the new Astro van, and new N bodies, but still had the X bodies (at least the Citation and Skylark), bigger E and B bodies, and square body trucks and the (improved over 1984) Corvette!
I loved my 1983 Oldsmobile Toronado, 1985 Buick Riviera, my 1987 Chevrolet Celebrity Eurosport and my 1985 Chevrolet Astro Van. They were all good to me, my Dad and mom are GM people.
Donald Thompson my parents were all gm also. We had tons of new cars from the late 70s all the thru to the early 2000s. Astro and full size conversion vans, cutlass supremes, s10s, s10 blazer, full size scottsdale and Cheyenne trucks, k5 blazer, suburban, buick grand national, my parents would trade every couple years and we had sometimes 3 to 4 cars at one time. In 91 we had a gmc syclone, and we had a 93 gmc typhoon. In 90 my dad bought a new black 454ss. He thought it would be a brute to tow our boat. It was except trying to get up a wet boat ramp! Lol. John force burnouts all the up the boat ramp was the norm! Lol
As a Gen Xer, It’s crazy when you look around and realize you haven’t seen ANY of these cars on the streets in like a decade. Cash for clunkers changed the automotive landscape almost overnight. Every once in a great great while you will see one, but it’s extremely rare.
First year for the Isuzu, Suzuki, & Toyota joint ventures, the Astro/Safari, & both the C & N-bodies. 0:59.........the biggest laugh I've had yet this morning!!!!! 1:55.........STILL LOVE the way John pronounced "coupe" back then!!!!!
This brings back alot of great memories for me, I was 8 and turned 9 in July of that year. I remember all these great cars, my cousin had a 1985 Camaro and Celebrity Eurosport and my Aunt had a 1984 Celebrity Wagon, later on she traded it for a 1987 Celebrity Eurosport Wagon. My teacher in middle school bought a brand new Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme, that was a very nice car, it was light blue with a white landau top and matching interior.
As an early 20's young man back then, I can remember being excited about the new cars coming out. All I can say is I'm glad to be living in this era of autos, and appreciating how far all the car companies have come in technology and especially performance.
Buick Riviera with a touch screen in 1985. So ahead of its time. Now GM is slightly behind the times. And I’m big GM fan /purchaser. Vehicles of every different shape and size. Not like now where they offer crossovers & SUV’s. Great video thank you for posting.
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.
I own the Buick Summer Set in '85. Kept till 1990. Not a bad car. GM made a decent car back in the day. Perhaps better today. The big thing for me in '85 I meant my wife. 2018 , and two kids now all grown up. Fun times. Just living life. Thank you
Three years old at this time, but near four. One year shy of uh oh Challenger, and the Bud Dwyer night/first time my mom let me outside by myself to build a snowman while realizing daylight savings as it was dark at 4:00. The realization of four o'clock and it being dark was a moment I still recall very well. Aside from that I was dreaming of all the available wheels the 80's had to offer from the back seats of my parent's late 70's Dodge Ram Charger. The Green Machine.
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.
Skyhawk1987Turbo my dad and I test drove a new sunbird gt convt turbo with a 5spd. 1987 or88? Anyways, when the boost hit it would just smoke the front tires until you let off of it! Haha. My dad loved it but decided not to get it because he knew he would be replacing tires regularly if he did! Lol
Love these older reviews and specials! Brings back a lot of good memories Ahhh the 80s haha Still hard to believe so many ppl loved those digital dashboards back then. Strangely retro cool and oddly satisfying nowadays, but I’d still prefer an actual gauge (but not just a speedometer and fuel gauge like many cars of this era...the era of digital dash and idiot lights instead of real gauges. Oh! And era of dash squeaks! Lol) Kinds makes you wonder if we will be saying the same about all these odd fake gauge screens that a lot of cars are coming out with today.. is that just a trend like digital gauges were? They are cool in some ways, but I still prefer an actual gauge. I guess time will tell on that. Was also surprised on how poor the paint looked on some of the vehicles in here, especially on the Astro vans. Yellow looked like it already had 15 years of fading and the silver looked like a rattle can paint job. But picking aside, I do miss the thick deep carpets, plush velour, and thickly padded headliners of these cars. The headliners and carpets of more modern cars feels so cheap by comparison.
Fake guages in new cars?! What car comes with a fake guage and what information are they faking? My newest car is yellow and black 2017 Dodge Challenger RT classic. I also have a 2012 SS Camaro and neither car has fake readouts.
