Those vehicles didn't work out in the desert, so VW from Brazil sold thousands of Passats with minimal alterations to Iraq. Saddam paid with petroleum which went straight to Petrobras (Brazilian petroleum company owned by government) that paid VW.
@s.a.6444 Around 220,000 Brazilian VW Passat LSE were exported. From those, 170,000 alone to Iraq, in 5 years. In Brazil, they are called Passat Iraque and are loved by collectors, for some reasons: being rarer than most versions, AC from factory, red interior in some cases, better gearbox and the fact that they had four doors while most of the ones sold in Brazil had two doors. Back then, the VW taxis and "corporate" cars used to be 4-door Santana. Some people say the "Iraqi" Passat also had an improved radiator, but I don't know if this is true. It wasn't the most loved or expensive Passat in that era (it was probably the Passat Pointer GTS), but no doubt it is special for collectors nowadays.
They probably made tons of mods and just said they didn’t . Europe insists on being in a competition with America that America has no clue about, but still almost always wins 😂 Iraq just didn’t want to pay as the idea of a euro car being more reliable than an American car is nonsensical
@PenskePC17 It wasn't tons of mods. And even though this specific Passat was a VW with Audi roots, back then, Volkswagen do Brasil (Volkswagen of Brazil - the first VW factory out of Germany is in Brazil) had a lot of independence from Wolfsburg to do whatever they wanted to. The car was released in Europe in 1973 (I think) and started to be made in Brazil, specifically for the domestic market, in '74 or '75. When they started to be exported to Iraq (mid 80s), it had already evolved a lot in Brazil, entirely apart from the European VWs. The proof that the car was effectively "better" than the exported GMs is the fact that they can still be found everywhere in the Middle Eastern country until today. And don't get me wrong: I have nothing against GM, but they were just trying to sell unreliable junk that they were not able to sell domestically to the Iraqi government, with not enough care. There's no Europe in the deal, it was between the governments of Brazil and Iraq. Brazil wanted oil, Iraq wanted cars. The local Passat LSE (with some adequacies, like a different gearbox, a more conservative engine option, the addition of AC from factory, different interior colors...) ended up being the best match for the Iraqi expectations the Brazilian government managed to find. With the recent release of the VW Santana in the South American country, it was certainly a good deal for VW too, since it was probably cannibalizing the older model. And please keep in mind that these GMs were not Corvettes, and these VWs were not Audi Quattros. They were reasonably priced cars, meant to be daily driven by heads of families, government officials, taxi drivers... No intent to start an American vs. "European" (more Brazilian than anything, in fact) automotive schools war, or something like that.
Reagan made the army buy tens or hundreds of thousands of Chrysler K cars. They were all over the place, and they were pieces of junk. They even had a warning sticker on the rear bumper to not park over leaves or other combustible materials due to risk of fire. They were too cheap to bolt a heat shield over the catalytic converter.
We called them Iraqi taxis. The standard 3 speed manual transmissions and bell housings had the same bolt patterns as the small block V8s. With body on frame, rear wheel drive configuration, they made great hobby class stock cars in the 90s. I built one. Several buddies did the same.
I did a lot of work on these at an independent shop. I could be wrong but I think it had a really low gear in the rear end. Like a 411 or something like that. They were a great car. Sure, the frame rails would rot off the back end. You could buy repair sections right from GM. I couldn't even count the number of those I welded new rails in. They had horrible carburetors on them. That I do remember.
Same bolt pattern because the 3.8 V6 was just a 305 V8 with 2 cylinders cut off. The 4.3L V6 was a 350 V8 with 2 cylinders chopped off. On the opposite end the OG Viper V10 was just a dodge magnum (5.2/5.9) with 2 cylinders added.
Almost bought a malibu in the early 90's, it had a 350 and stick that was made by using Iraqi taxi parts, it may have even had the 3 speed. Car was a coupe. It burned oil and had been driven in the winter so I passed
l knew one of the GM mechanics who went to lraq for a year to help keep these cars running.The biggest issue was sand clogging air filters,Unfortunately,the lraqis would pull clogged filters out,dropped to the ground,and off they drove with no filters.So sand ruined the cyl bores in days.They also pulled off the bellhousing dust covers,ruining clutch discs.
Thanks for that info. Complicating this GM cars problem is the CarterFlation presidency of 1977 - 1981 when new car prices TRIPLED over only a 4 year period! These basic Malibus in USA were prolly priced about $4K in late 1976 and about $12K in 1981 !!! So no wonder Americans wanted this NEW CAR at $6.5K in 1981 !
I owned one for a year, bought in 82 for $6120.00 This was the 1st new car I bought and was pissed when I found out there was a $700.00 tax from the feds on the A/C [never have seen better A/C]. Put on 20,000 Km or so and hated the 3 speed. If you shift slowly it works fine. If you pushed the car in anyway it was annoying; the gearing of the 3 speed and the power band of the V6 made for a very pokey car. Sold it after a year for $6100.00. Best deal on a car ever!
GM really did and does have the best AC they were an early investor in and then owner of Frigidaire. To this day, GM has the institutional knowledge of that company to make AC that blows so cold your nipples will cut glass.
If this happened today, and a manufacturer sold a car for 16k, every dealer in the country would mark it up to 45k and ruin any hype associated with “value” and it wouldn’t have sold out or become a cult favorite. First politician who runs on removing laws set up to protect dealers wins my vote! May have to wait another 37 years though, if ever haha
My car was 34,000 in 1997 or 66,000 in today's money. This is due to inflation not due to the company itself. If anyone's to blame it's the poor leadership we've had in the western world for recent decades 😢
@@TrashMutt not true you can find new trucks etc by ford starting at 89k thats not inflation entirely companies have gotten used to just jackin up prices at first whim when panic mark ups happen during inflation spikes
@@neilbrown82yep! The more sensors, computers, and airbags they add, the more the price goes up! And all these 8+ speed transmissions they’re having to build to meet epa standards! Crazy
I worked at the shipping port in Nova Scotia there's so many stories there that would suit this channel, just about every major automotive event in North America went through that port, vw dieselgate the lesser known Mercedes dieselgate (at one point there were so many sprinter vans they just gave up on shipping them and had them crushed) a ship filled with 800 Audi and VW's once hit rough sea's and totalled every car onboard, when Lada went out of business hundreds of cars got left in limbo at the port, they weren't allowed to be scrapped so the port just buried them and paved over it 😂
Such a shame that usable cars went unused. That's a disgrace. The Lada's were inexpensive but those cars could have been give those those that needed cheap transportation to get to work.
@@driveThe Malibu would get into an accident and absolutely destroy the other car. While the Malibu driver would simply pull the bumper back away from the body and his car would be almost damage free.
The nickname in Canada was actually ‘Iraqi Pace Cars’. My neighbour in Toronto was one of the GM engineers sent over to see what the hell was going on with these cars. What he found was zero maintenance and stupid driving. There was no concept of understanding you require oil changes - plus they tried to drive these 3 speeds as if they were Russian army trucks. It wasn’t the throw out bearing at fault - it was riding the clutch pedal mainly. He told me they ran out of pressure plates at one point and most of the flywheels they pulled out were glazed over and had friction damage. If you’ve ever seen videos of their driving in that era you’ll understand why they even broke Russian T-54 tanks! Most of these cars that were removed from Halifax went on to years of good service in Canada and were hell of a good grocery getter or 2nd car. Many had the 3 speed replaced with a 4 and later 5 speed gearbox. Drivability really improved with the better gearbox. The only reason GM put the 3 speed in was the theory of fewer shifts would be less wear. Wrong! The traffic jams were legendary in Baghdad so the lack of torque from the engine and stop and go traffic (and sand) just wore them out three times as fast. In hindsight they should have gone with a 3 speed auto. The idea that Saddam ran out of funds is probably correct as he ended up spending over $600B on the eight year war with Iran from 1980 to 1988. The deal for these 25000 cars was negotiated just as the war started and he had anticipated a quick win over Iran. Then lunch bag let down - the war is lasting too long. I know, let’s screw the Canadian’s. It ended up ok, GM sold the remaining cars at a slight profit. 🤷♂️
I call bs with due respect, first your call on Iraqis not maintaining their cars the about the Toyota's and the VW Passat from the very same era still around in Baghdad now? If the car was so good howcome the ones stays in Canada had to replace their gearbox anyway? Despite Canada having a colder weather than Iraq. The gearbox was shit and you have to admit it. Second you have no idea how much is a $600b. Iraq had a surplus or 30b in 1980 and by the end of the war was in debt of 30b, if the number spent is around another 30b (though it might be much much lesser with all the limited export of oil due to the blokade of the gulf of Basrah) then it'll add to up 90b, not 600b if Iraq had 600b (or the ability to obtain 600b in 1980) iraq whould have bought iran cash-on-table
When I was deployed to Saudi Arabia in August of 90 for Operation Desert Shield, later becoming Operation Desert Storm which I participated in by invading Southern Iraq with the 1st Brigade, 24th Infantry Division, Mechanized (Heavy) I saw something that surprised me. There were basically 3 motor vehicles that were literally everywhere you looked and almost without exception they were the only ones we saw in everyday use, the Toyota Hilux 4wd pickup for people who had a need for off road capability, Chevrolet 1/2 ton two wheel drive pickup trucks for on road hauling, and Chevrolet Caprice/Caprice Classic 4 door sedans. In the 2 days I spent in Damam (the port city where our military equipment and vehicles were unloaded off ships) there was a bit more variety but even there these were the most common by far. Out of those 3 the Caprice (late 70s to mid 80s models) was by far the most common. There were so many of them that when I got a chance to speak to a Saudi national I asked him why they were so common. His answer, "They are comfortable to drive at whatever speed you want to go, even 120 KPH all day long, the air conditioning works great, they will run with little care or maintenance for over 150k Kilometers, they can carry a couple wives and children, and they are cheap enough that when they do finally quit you just walk away and go buy another." Later on I noticed the same vehicle preferences seemed to be common in Iraq. Years after coming home when reading some books about the Italian Mafia I learned another detail about these cars in the middle east. Many of them, if not most of them were stolen from cities all up and down the east coast. It was a huge ring of car thieves, many stolen by Mafia crews, many more sold to the Mafia guys (Roy Demeo was a big part of this racket) and the Italians were selling multiple shipping containers at a time filled with Caprices to brokers in a number of middle eastern nations. Also, a side note, when I was in Iraq, (Feb 91) they had a lot of really nice roads and some nice modern hiways, at least until we wrre finished with them.
@@TheKing-id8gr unfortunately there is no Translate to English option to click on so my curiosity about what your reply says is going to drive me crazy.
@@oldhillbillybuckkowalski He said, "You will be held accountable before God because you destroyed the country". Don't shoot the messenger I'm just letting you know what he said.
@@Matt-yn8dv Thanks for being my "Terp". I could see where someone might think that but in Desert Storm we mostly concentrated on destroying Tanks, other assorted armored vehicles, artillery, military attack helicopters, jet fighters scud missile systems, and munitions stockpiles, all the stuff that might keep Sadam Hussein from invading his neighbors again... like when he sent his Army to rape, rob, pillage, and slaughter thousands of Kuwaitis all to try and get out of paying back loans he got to fight a genocidal war against Iran for 8 years of what was one of the highest cost in human lives of any war in the middle east all to gain nothing. Of course while we were destroying that equipment and weaponry there were Iraqi soldiers who chose to ignore the leaflets telling them we were coming and the could live if they surrendered and those that chose to fight chose to die. Not ideal but that's how it be sometimes. But we didn't launch Spuds at Israel, we didn't send in an Armored Division to Kanji signaling they wished to surrender and then at close range begin an attack, and we did not set the Rumalia Oil Fields on fire and start pumping oil from off shore rigs into the Persian Gulf in a temper tantrum over loosing, to create an environmental disaster that took decades to complete the cleanup thus really destroying the country. If I will have to answer for what I did in Desert Storm I'm ok with that, but if so I'll be in line to do it behind all the brutal middle eastern dictators that slaughter people for fun and all the terrorists, the largest industry in the middle east that doesn't involve the petroleum industry. Now if I knew how to translate this into squiggle I'd be all set.
My family owned one of these in the early 80's to 90's. Didn't need a new car for a few years, so it was garage stored until another car headed off to the wreckers. My frugal Accountant Dad regretted not having bought two at the time, hindsight being 20/20. I learned to drive using it, as well as manual transmission. It took PLENTY of abuse from the two teenage drivers in the family in the latter '80s. It towed trailers for long distances with hobby tree-farm stuff on a regular basis. I don't think the clutch was ever replaced. As far as my memory goes - that car was mechanically/reliability trouble free - it was deer-wrecked x2, rebuilt x2, and sold off with high miles. My Dad was overweight, and as such the HD suspension came in handy. It got replaced by my Grandpa's hand-me-down Chevy Caprice of the same year. Performance was relative in the late '70's to late '80s.. we didn't really know much better, at the time. We also owned a mid '80s Camaro powered by the same engine. Anemic today, was normal yesterday. Iraq's loss, was our family's 1980's gain. This stuff makes me feel old.
I knew guys who built them here in Oshawa (home of the Camaro for a few years). The story I heard was that quality problems were caused by Iraqis removing the air filters to improve performance (bad idea in the desert). I also saw tons of them in the Toronto area. I seem to recall that some of them were three on the tree shifters, anybody remember that? Great story, thanks for that!
Sister bought one new in Toronto. Three on the floor but the shifting was more like that found in a pick up truck than a car. You moved it slowly to give it a chance to engage. Bare, bare bones interior. Great budget car for it's size.
I'm from Canada and I owned one in the late 90's. It still is one of my favourite cars I ever owned. It was built like a tank. Of course I threw out that crappy V6 and swapped that for a 305 very early on.
My best friend in high school owned one of these cars. He got a great deal on it, and it was one of the better cars we had access to at the time. We had a great time with that thing and the car's back story was always a source of humour. Eventually it was destroyed when hit by a large truck in a parking lot. Memories!
A car with an engine physically smaller than what the chassis was designed to accommodate is almost always easy to maintain compared to cars that received the biggest engines they were designed for. I was helping a friend revive a 3rd gen F-body Camaro with the 5.7 EFI engine, it was an '87 equippes with a smog pump and those aspirator tubes into each individual exhaust runner. It was clear that the F-body was designed for nothing larger than a small block, it was so tight that we did not even bother with plugs. In contrast, my '95 Impala's basic chassis goes all of the way back to 1977, and the platform makes extensive use of the parts-bin on the former mid-sized cars (1970s Chevelle, mid-70s Camaro) along with outer dimensions similar to those older mid-size cars, which were designed to hold big-blocks. There's so much more room to work in the Impala's engine bay compared to that 3rd gen Camaro. The small V6 (comparatively speaking) and simple drivetrain in these Iraqi Malibus made them a lot easier to service regardless of training, so something that was beneficial to export to a country without a dealer network to fall back on for service also made them beneficial to consumers that might normally not be able to afford new cars and likely couldn't afford to pay for repairs after the laughably short warranties expired. Sure they were underpowered compared to even the mainstream vehicles of the late malaise era, but for buyers that just wanted something to get around in that wasn't already rusting away or expensive to repair this might not have been that big of a deal.
I owned one of these. Silver exterior and dark blue interior. I swapped out the 3.8 and installed a 350 in it with the 3 speed gearbox . It was a lot of fun. Great memories
In late 90's I worked at a factory with a retired GM worker from Oshawa where these were built, they did really long runs of them being all the same color, he worked on the paint line and made note of that "can't we change the damn color!" Most were light blue from my recollection
As a Canadian i loved finding these more doors in junk yards and remove all of the parts for a clutch conversion of any auto trans G. body to a manual car. I still own a 400 with 350 Vortec heads 4 speed 2 door Malibu Landau with a flipped around T/A shaker as a ram air scoop painted gold with crab claw flames and black interior and a more door station wagon 4 headlight front end . I always heard the term Iraqi taxi but the term Iraq-a-bu is a new one for me.
I live in Halifax, Nova Scotia. These things were incredibly popular. A 3-speed, taxi-built mid size American sedan really spoke to the market here at that time. Add in a low price, and there you have it. Worthy of note, the lot where these cars were stored still exists today, it's called Autoport in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, and massive vessels from Europe drop their cars here for shipment all across North America by rail.
My grand father bought one new and later sold it to my parents, my mom learned to drive stick with it and my dad said it would struggle to go up a hill. Still find them at car shows here in canada
In 1985 my father was a base commander of an Army logistics depot. There were 300 tan, white and drab colored Chrysler K cars scattered around the base. As the commanding officer my father was driven around in a tan one with unit flags and the colonel eagle insignia on the bumpers. As some part of some taxpayer bailoyt, Reagan forced the Pentagon and a bunch of other large federal agencies to buy them. On the bumper there was a warning sticker about not parking over leaves or other combustible materials due to risk of fire. The catalytic converter didn't even have a heat shield, so it was apparently a common thing for someone to park a I car over some dried leaves or trash and come back later to a burned out charred steel frame where their car used to be. (I believe one of the car rental companies rediscovered this when parking a bunch of excess unused cars in a field near Tampa or Miami airport during the covid lockdown, too.)
My Grandfather worked for GM at this time and purchased 2 of the Iraqi Taxis off the port of Halifax and they were trouble free for many many years. Awesome little machines.
For as popular as these cars were, GM had some funny problems selling them. Another story is about the Pontiac LeMans (basically same car from 78-81). Pontiac sold a bunch of them to a car rental company but someone had made the mistake of not ordering them with air conditioning. And they were supposed to be used in Arizona. Eventually the cars ended up being dressed up as police cars - and of course, mostly destroyed - at the end of Smokey and the Bandit II.
Ha...you're right! I'm 50 years old and I have watch all the Bandit movies a bunch of times. I remember thinking it must have cost a fortune to make this movie with them destroying so many cars. It was the desert scene where Bandit drover over all the rigs like a bridge right? And the Bandit movies certainly had some deal with Pontiac as nearly every car was a Pontiac.
@@ScarabChris I remember that aspect of the movie too! All those family box Pontiac cars....it stuck out immediately when I saw the movie for the first time back then!
Hay everyone, I'm from Baghdad and I remember this car very well as 2 of my uncles had one. It was not a bad vehicle after they worked out the bugs. We actually liked it. Iraqi people and all people in the gulf countries in general loved gm cars, especially the 1960 to the 1990. I'm surprised you called them Iraqi taxi as they were never used as a taxi. They were sold by the government to the public (specially veterans) with very affordable price. They were subsidies by the government like every thing else. The competition from Japan is what ended the deal. Toyota sent a team to study the streets in Baghdad. They designed what called crown with ac freezer cold and a bench seat in the front like a sofa. That car was a huge success and extremely reliable. It was the official taxi in Iraq for many years. Love the Malibu 1980...so many memories.
The problem was that GM showed Iraq loaded Malibu Classics, then shipped them stripped basic Malibus. The clutch issue was that the input shaft for the transmission didn't get any grease on them at the factory, hence hard to shift. My dad owned one and worked on many at the dealership he works at. They were good cars.
Wow that was a great video, hope to see more like it on your channel. My relatives up in Canada actually had one of these said Malibus. Back in the day they were looking to buy a new car and stumbled onto a Chevy dealer's lot in the greater Toronto aera where these cars were sold for a really low price, the dealer did state that these cars were part of shipment to some "place" in the middle east that fell through...lol. You talked about shoddy workmanship, but my relatives kept that car for almost ten years with no problems that's until the rust finally got a hold of it.🙂
My uncle bought one of these cars here in Canada. He had it for years and years with no problems. I drove it many times and there wasn’t much difference between it and my from it 1978 Pontiac, not considering the three on the floor. We understood these cars were supposed to be gifted to the families of dead and severely wounded veterans of the Iran-Iraq war, but for that to be true, they would have needed a lot more cars.
I never could figure out why a petroleum-rich country worried about fuel economy of anything. Spec those cars with the 350 (if available at that time) and 4-speed autos.
@@aaronshipley5594 The cooling problems. The used an underpowered engine with required less cooling capacity. Because, with the big engine the cooling problems where only bigger....
When I was stationed at Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, TX, in the 80s a local Chevy dealer got about 12 short wheelbase Chevy pickups originally meant for Brazil. A friend got one. It was a nice truck, the only downside was the three-on-the-tree transmission.
I owned one of these cars. To date was my favourite of the GM's I did own. That 3 speed was bulletproof. It was desired by many dirt oval racers. In fact, many times, guys would swap you a Muncie 4 speed for free just to get the 3 speed. We swapped in V8's many times, but for myself, I built a V6 monster of a motor that rivaled any small block at the time.
Iraq had its own American car culture heck it almost started to assemble Oldsmobiles in the late 80s, if it wasn't for the Kuwait issue Iraq would have been a greater market for US than it is now
I drove one of these on a 2500-mile trip and it worked quite well. It was a typical 6-cylinder, G-body of the day. The only issue was the gearing, which was set up for the flat roads of Iraq, but once changed, they worked well.
My dad bought one new for $5000 CAD, it made it to 275,000kms, still started...drove it to the wrecking yard. My family and all of our teenage friends learned to drive standard on this. Never replaced a clutch, never needed major repairs, although most gasket surfaces were leaking oil by the end. What finally killed the car was piston wobble which eventual wore the cylinder and coolant leaked into the engine...We replaced it with a Corsica, what a piece a junk that was!
My grandmother had 1980 Malibu 4 door, but the late 70’s style. She had it for most of our child hood but my dad put plenty of work into it through the years but it was as a SOLID car. The most annoying thing about the car was the back windows didn’t not roll down only the little windows that opened on a slant in the rear were not enough for air on hot summer days if anyone remembers that?!🌻
Checking in from Nova Scotia - ive had the pleasure of going for a ride in one of these back in the day.. can confirm the A/C was really really really good lol. Every time i see an old G Body Malibu i try to get up close to see if it has the 3 speed on the floor.
I know. In 1993 I special ordered a Ford Ranger extended cab 4x4. It was $15,800. 4.0, manual transfer case, manual 5 speed, manual hubs, block heater, no a/c, no power windows, no power mirrors, no cruise control, no tilt steering window. Cayman green color. When I ordered it ford said 4-6 weeks, it took 12 weeks. I just rebuilt the engine last fall & still drive it today although it’s not my primary vehicle. Had cracked cylinder heads & lots of oil leaks. No rust since I live in MT where they don’t salt the roads and low humidity.
I'm happy to see a video on the Iraqibu. I used to own a 1980 El Camino with the same drivetrain, and enjoyed driving it. The 229 V6 wasn't powerful, but it was reasonably peppy, and it worked well with the 3 speed manual transmission. It was finally sold so that I could fit my 1979 Malibu wagon in the garage. An Iraqibu would have been a nice car to have had.
Yep. Family bought one. We're Canadian, in Brampton specifically, and the thing lasted for many, many years with no real problem. Other than the fact that it wasn't made for Canadian winters.
Two of my cousins owned one of these, they drove it for almost 20 years. Simple, basic and cheap, theirs turned out to be very reliable, but rust finally did it in.
As a teenager in the 1980s in Winnipeg, yes these cars were around. I never got to drive one, but I remember them and parts of their story. The way I remember the story, they were sent without air conditioning to Iraq. (That would make sense they not wanting them.) I guess my memory has been corrected. I think we can learn a lesson here about having cheap cars to sell. It seems all the manufacturers want to sell us an over the top of the line SUV, b7t I think there still is a market for brand new cheap basic transportation.
First time hearing about the "IraqiBu" aka the Malibu destined for Iraq. I like the simple no fuss design of the Malibu, simple and easy to work on, as long as the transmission would work reliability. I wish more car companies would create "pure base model spec" trimmed vehicles that cost an inflation adjusted $16,000 these days. Great story, thanks for sharing :)
This, there IS a definite market for base model stripper cars today even in the USA but the mfrs refuse to give us what we want. I saw do not buy new cars and keep what you have until they fall apart.
All this hate for GM at this time is a joke the G body Malibu is desired today . We had GM family cars all went over 200k miles , and then we owned taxis Caprice's and some went 500k miles. And in those days government regulations and coming out of the 70's emissions standard regulations they weren't perfect at all but for the time are not as bad as people now go on about.
I worked in the Middle East in 1991. Even before the first Gulf War was won, Ford and GM had freighters packed with new cars ready to be shipped to Kuwait. They knew that the Iraqis had looted Kuwait of cars. Kuwaitis were anxious to replace their stolen cars. Never stand between a Detroit factory and a Kuwaiti Dinar.
I had an Iraqibu, changed out the V-6 for a 350 4bbl and put a 4 speed into it. It was reliable and I never had anything go wrong with it and found it was as good as anything else Gm made. Yes it also moved and handled well, but rust the ever enemy of all GM cars caught up with it otherwise I would have kept it.
My father in law worked at Borg Warner and bought one of these straight from work...cheap too. I was impressed by the power and speed of these V6 motors with the floor mounted 3 speed. The car was VERY dependable! I have some great memories of this Malibu!
Poor craftsmanship? I have owned a few late 70s early 80s GM vehicles i do not think they were low quality at all. They held up well and lasted into the 250 plus thousand miles.
@@frankdeboer1347 i had a 77 Olds Ninety Eight and a 85 half ton Chevy pickup. I cant say anything bad about either. And if i had something bad to say i would.
Back then people junked cars because something simple like the distributor went out or a new model came out. I mean people still do but a lot of people have gotten wise to that.
I've talked with people like you. Later it always comes out that "held up well" actually means only having to rebuild the engine once or twice and that it's on its third transmission. Same with Mopar fan boys. Some people seem to think "reliable" and "easy to work on" mean the same thing.
@@drive many of us did, they were cheap here in Saskatchewan.. My friend and I put a 350 in mine with a Muncie 4 speed and embarrassed a few 5 liter Mustangs
@@drive yes i had two. Not at the same time but two in a row here in central Ontario in the 90's. I think they where both the same ugly brown. No options i don't even think they had carpet. Noisy and dusty as hell inside on the back roads
I live in Canada. My dad had one of these Malibus when I was a kid. It was known as the Iraqi Malibu. The 3 speed manual was finicky and made the cars distinctive.
1981 it was still an "A" body. 1982 GM came out with the front wheel drive cars - Chevy Celebrity, Olds Cutlass Cierra, Pontiac 6000, Buick Century - these were designated "A" body. The Malibu, Monte Carlo, Grand Prix, Regal, and Cutlass rear wheel drive then became the "G" body - they had been the "A" body from 1973 thru 1981. Also the first "G" body was the 1969 Grand Prix - then 1970 Monte Carlo, both up thru 1972.
I went to college in North Dakota...close to the Canadian border. I recall seeing one of these Malibus parked by the student union. I thought it was a former police car but it certainly looked like one of these Malibus...because of the 3 speed on the floor and the tweed interior.
I knew a GM dealer in the Toronto area, long retired but was GM of a store when this all went down, yes, he said he could have sold hundreds of them but each dealer only got so many of them.
PSA: Carisma will be back next week! Going forward we'll be alternating weeks with that and these new storytelling episodes. I hope you like it-and if not, let me know how we can make better videos for you. -- KC
@The Drive, Why do you show AUSTRALIAN Chrysler Valiants and Ford (XC) Falcons when talking about selling GM cars to Iraq for use as Taxis ??? 🤔 Is there really no other footage of a GM period- correct vehicle being used as a Taxi out on the internet??
Complicating this GM cars problem is the CarterFlation presidency of 1977 - 1981 when new car prices TRIPLED over only a 4 year period! These basic Malibus in USA were prolly priced about $4K in late 1976 and about $12K in 1981 !!! So no wonder Americans wanted this NEW CAR at $6.5K in 1981 !
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This is before my time. I currently work at the Halifax facility where these were stored and shipped from. In the 90's, there was also a export program for Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciara and Chevy S10 pickups. They provided good work for us at the port.
I'm old and clearly remember when they rejected the Iraqi taxis. I personally remember friends buying them. They were mostly trouble free most going hundreds of thousands of miles. Several were modified and drag raced. But lemons... Hardly.
That's correct... BUT. Did you ever hear of the Iran-Iraq war (1980-1988)? Saddam ordering Paykan cars in these days would be like buying cars fromm, let's say, North Korea, or Cuba. As an US guy 😅
These vehicles have a complete GM engineered manual transmission clutch assembly & all small parts necessary to swap a monty- Carlo . Cutlass , Grand-Prix. All in one neat package. Clutch linkage ,pedal, driveshaft shifter mount for floor Camaro 4 speed in a cutlass anyone ? They are getting harder to find as complete cars look carefully before buying
It happened in a similar way in Brazil! Iraq bought thousands of Volkswagen Passats, which were paid for in oil, which was sold to Petrobrás in Brazil! They were known as "Iraqi Passat"! Eventually Saddam stopped paying VW, which stopped exporting the cars and started selling the remaining units in Brazil itself, giving rise to a car that is very rare to see!
GM does this today in Mexico. They send over all there Lemons to Mexico. Here in Mexico 2023 Yukon Denali I got the engine seized not even 500 Kms on it.
@morstyrannis1951 No, they definitely do I've worked for a different manufacturer and it's part of the procedure and kind of a running joke to send out the junk.
I owned one of these. I also owned a '81 El Camino at the same time. Both fantastic cars. Bullet proof. rear glass did not roll down. No rear defrost, Only thing that every failed was the shift fork for shimano trans. easy fix. One of the BEST cars I ever owned, wish I still had it . True "sleeper"
The "Great Iraqi Taxi"! In the late '80's I bought a '81 Pontiac Safari wagon powered with a 267 small block. It had a "miss" in it attributed to an exhaust lobe worn off the camshaft. Shortly after the repair I got a deal on a 350 4 BBL which I saw as a better repair. At the same time a friend with an "Iraqi Taxi" with a V6 which was done. So we swapped in the 267 which was a simple bolt in project which made the "Iraqibu" a peppy little toy!
You guys do understand that the truth of the matter is that the cars were largely fine. Saddam just did not have the money to pay for the rest of the order.
