You mean the Citation with crooked rear bumper didn't take the number one spot? It actually made me feel better knowing that thing was never on straight from day one. We owned an 83 Citation and the rear bumper swayed and pitched with the vehicle. Almost like an automatically deployed rear spoiler. Every time you got out, it was leaning a different way.
Martin Espinoza The x-11 lol Remember the one that was 2 front halves welded back to back and could be driven at either end? That was a bucket of chuckles there.
Wow, it was an entirely different scene in '83! Pontiac and Oldsmobile were still around, and absolutely NOBODY thought they would be discontinued! Those small cars were nothing compared to the ones we have today! There was no Bluetooth, no cell phone plug ins (or cell phones, period!) and no touch screens or back-up cameras! It's also amazing how the compact pickups changed. Today, the Chevy Colorado and GMC Canyon come in Crew Cab models that hold up to five full-grown men, and they're as large as a full-size '83 Chevy pickup! I remember the Eldorado/Riviera/Toronado trio, and it was hard to believe they were still being made. A Riviera convertible was pace car at the 1983 Indy 500. GM was still pretty much "old GM" even in '83! Now look at GM in 2017! Times really have changed!
I was a proud owner of a 83 s10 blazer with the powerful 2.8l v6. It was such a powerhouse that cruising on flat interstate at 65, it would have to downshift to maintain speed. It was totally gutless. I don't know which set GM back farther, the 2.8L v6 or the 5.7 diesel made from the 350 block. Then there is the Cadillac Cimarron. You too can have the European luxury of an early 80's cavalier. You know that car had Mercedes, BMW and the rest quaking in fear. What a sad time for the US carmakers.
The Cavalier, Skyhawk, 2000/Sunbird and the Cimarron were all re-badgings on the same J body. My mom bought a Sunbird brand new in '84 and it was fun to drive. Wish I could find one now and restore it.
I have no idea why, but I find a lot of these late 70's/early 80's cars fascinating. It's something about how gimmicky they are, with stuff like the "econo-minder" or the digital gauges, and for some of them I love the looks alone. I guess I'm just weird.
Tony, is too many options a bad thing? All we have now is 4 doors. Remember when all compact cars had 2 door, 4 door, wagon and hatch options like the Cavalier? The A bodies? Even the land yachts came in 2 door, 4 door and wagon trim. I miss the days of variety and think that option is a good thing. Remember when the camry/Corolla came in a 2 door and a wagon? Now It's only 4 doors. The Civic used to have a wagon, hatch, and a 4 door. Now it's just a 4 door jellybean.
I remember my dad had 2 Olds 98 COUPES. Them was some big heavy doors! How 'bout Coupe DeVille? Remember when cars had engine options? In the '70s I was exposed to so many configs of the same '60s cars. You could get a Nova with an I6 or V8s from 283 to 396 (COPO 427, like Yenko) In 1982, when I bought my first NEW car, I had such a long list of options to customize my Z/28. Mine had manual windows & locks, but power mirrors and 4-wheel disks. You might think 1983 cars were crap, but the F-bodies were a big improvement over the '82s, which were the first year of 4rd gen.
GM was a mess in the 80s. WAY too many car lines and variants all chasing the same customers. Chevy, Pontiac, Buick, and Olds all with the same platforms with multiple body styles. 2 door sedans, 4 door sedans, 2 door hatchbacks, 4 door wagons.. Did we really need 16+ J body variants? And that’s just one platform! There were still another 9 or 10 to go.
Chris C. Plenty of 86-89 Camry's and Corolla's exist. My 89 crx exists. And my friends 88 Civic, 85 AE86. Another friend of mine has a 79 Datsun, 86 280Z and two 88 300ZX's. One 87 MR2 and an 89 MR2. Additionally, one other friend, for no reason at all, owns 5 Mazda RX-7's from 87 - 90. Also my 1990 Acura Legend exists.
blaknoizee sorry dude but i drive a hundred miles a day around the phoenix metro area and i notice cars. I never see those cars but i see tons of ford and gm cars and trucks from 80s and 90s. We have a huge amount of people from mexico here and all they drive are old cars but never see any Japanese. I think its interesting how many friends you have with cars of that vintage. What are you part of a 80s Japanese car club? Japanese car lovers i found tend to stretch the truth.
Chris C. Are you part of an 80's GM club? Why is that question relevant? You metro does not have a high concentration of those types of cars. Go somewhere else. I'm on Ohio and happen to own an old Japanese car. There are plenty if u look. There are plenty of every manufacture really, except euro it seems. Probably due to expense of ownership. It is like you took offense to me just stating what is around my area. Head south to "southern fresh" and you will again find a high concentration of Japanese cars in the southern strip of our country. Or in Washington State and NO California. Arizona may just not have it. So u won't see it.
Chris C. Also, on craigslist you can clearly find many older cars available for sale in that era. Nearly rust free. Rust kills our cars here so it is even rarer to find these older machines. Japanese cars at that time were built to prove to America that they were reliable and reputable. Which is why the market share changed in Japans favor. The motors were quality built, the chassis were built well. My crx and legend still have their original engine and transmissions. My CRX even has its factory front rotors with 171k on them and wheel bearings. Same for my Legend.
Scott K True, but remember that Japan was also producing some junk at this time also. (And didn't have competing vehicles for each class) It wasn't until the late 80's that the US caught up though, and in alot of ways, it was just too late since Japan had by then introduced cars like the Legend and Cressida.
it didn't really feel like I was watching a video from the distant past, until he said "write us" at the end. When was the last time you wrote someone a letter?
Bradford Hart I received a letter just 6 months ago. I myself wrote several letters also, while i was locked up for breaking my fuckin nosy neighbors jaw!
+Push Back For the trucks with the 350 diesel V8, a late-1980s 4.3 V6 was likely an upgrade, LOL. And the 6.2 diesel V8 has roughly the same amount of torque as the late-1980s 4.3 gasoline V6! The N/A diesels suck...
I owned an 1983 Suburban with the 6.2 diesel. It's truly incredible how slow it was. 130 horsepower trying to move a 7000 pound truck will straight axles and leaf springs at all four corners. It was so bad that it couldn't maintain overdrive on the highway on a windy day. It would literally have to shift down into 3rd gear to maintain highway speed. It was certainly reliable though; I had 550K on mine before I rebuilt it.
Ward413 growing up a buddy's dad had an 86 Ford diesel. Idk I was young, but it was extended cab bla bla ... slow as all heck, but put a 30' airstream behind it and it didn't get much slower , it was odd.
The 2.8L in the Blazer wouldn't out run a fat man walking. The 4.3L was a life saver later on. I'm not a gm fan, but can't argue against the 4.3L. Great motor with the TBI
I find it funny that MotorWeek had nice words for the Cadillac Cimarron, while consumers pretty much universally took one look at it and said "nope, nothing but an overpriced and rebadged Cavalier".
i remember. my parents. bought. a 91gmc Jimmy. with. a 4.3.v6 i loved. that. little. truck... it had a digital. dash display. and would. light. up the tires. so easy.
It is so weird to see car reviews talk about front wheel drive like that. You can sense that it seemed new and special at the time where as now the goal of many car guys are to find cars with rear wheel drive. Fasinating.
Thank you for sharing the retro videos. I have enjoyed seeing the Oldsmobiles and Pontiacs and other GM brands. I would like to see more Oldsmobiles( Ninety Eight, Eighty Eight, Toronado) and again thank you for posting the retro videos from not just GM too.
the cimmiron: (and a lot of other gm products at the time but by no means the only guilty party) should be hung on a wall at corporate for an example of why badge engineering is WRONG on so many levels.
My dad had a 82 Toronado diesel when I was in high school. When he would let me borrow it that car would cruise all weekend on 10 bucks of fuel in 1986. It was a nice car too.
Watching this video made me think. At this time, GM was already dealing with the Olds Diesel fiasco, and chose to add the Cadillac HT4100 to their list. They must have had their hands full dealing with problems and warranty repairs. Dark days for GM indeed. I would not want to have been a car buyer at that time. Think I would have just given up and bought something older.
This is when GM began taking platform sharing to a really extreme degree. And it didn't turn out too well. And that Hurst/Olds made my tongue hard in 83 and it's hard now...and I'm Ford guy...
I love these MW Retro Reviews -- the good, bad, and ugly. That was a 15 minute encapsulation of the worst cars America has ever produced. What on earth was GM doing, let alone thinking, back then. Every single one of those cars -- with the possible exception of the forthcoming re-designed Corvette -- was a monstrosity in engineering, craftsmanship, and reliability. Every brand under the GM badge was basically selling the same car with a different name. Why do you need 10 versions of a Chevy Celebrity? What kind of ridiculous financial sense did that make? That last clip of one of those land yachts spewing black Diesel exhaust out of the tailpipe when the driver was flooring it around a turn was the perfect ending and summed up the 1980s for GM rather perfectly.
The 83 lineup stood the test of time: buick century, regals, rivieras were everywhere. The Camaro, Monte Carlo and El Dorado were prized vehicles. Some evolved some went the way of the dodo but those cars marked an era and back in the day they were the most popular cars. they dominated the 80's.
We owned an 83 Malibu sedan growing up. Ran well, but the sheet metal was made out of cheapest metal. The front doors and trunked had rust holes in them within 2 years from new. However, I do remember loving the appearance of that Hurst Cutlass Olds. I had a poster of it in my room that I got from a car magazine.
Torque Effect I see many of them. In barns, behind farm houses without any paint left, I see plenty with trees under the hoods instead of engines. Man they make wonderful flower planters
I was only a year old when this video came out, it's like looking inside a time capsule, so cool!! But omg so much overlap in GM's car lineup. Between Pontiac, Chevy, Buick, and Oldsmobile it's like they took the exact same cup that was painted green, and painted it red and said here you go buyer, this is a completely different car you can also buy! I don't know if it was the customer's ignorance or GM's arrogance but it is truly sickening. I'm glad they almost went out of business, tbh most of their cars are still the same old garbage but competition has forced them to get at least a little better but with a prettier package (relatively speaking).
Conspicuously absent was the Chevrolet Corvette, delayed until the 1984 model year. The sole surviving 1983 Corvette prototype is in the Corvette museum.
I see a bunch of people commenting on how terrible these cars were and how it was the darkest period. I was there, so I can tell you, the 1983 lineup was a big step up from 1980.
My Mom had an 1984 Buick Skylark and we loved it. Until someone hit me while I was driving. But the cars quick response to try to get out of the way saved my life and the car hit the rear quarter.
Can anyone identify the song that starts at 0:59? I thought it might be a track from Network Music's "Technology Age" album, but it doesn't appear to be.
As bad as those cars were, they well handling masterpieces of modern design compared to the boatmobiles from the 70's. As an 80's child, I can still remember seeing old 70's cars bobbing up and down in the lane next to me on the highway, and see-sawing when they pulled out of parking lots.
ClayPF My 1992 Cadillac sedan deville drives like that a complete floater boat. And I love it! I hate driving new cars. They ride like they have cement bags for suspension. They stay completely flat when stopping accelerateing or turning. I don't mind body lean or pitching. I find it helps you feel how hard you're taking a turn or how hard your applying the brakes or accelerator. I learned to take long and gentle stops to lessen the nose dive. In a panic stop once, the front plate bracket scraped the ground. If I bought a newer car I would have to install softer springs. My car has factory air bag suspension.
How in the hell do you shift that Oldsmobile with the three levers? I was looking most forward to that part and we only got a few fleeting seconds on it.
dstarks80 That feature alone is reason for it to be shown in detail by a car show. In all my years of driving, I've never come across a production car that had anything close to that.
wow omg '83 I was only 11 years old at the time and my family just moved to Markham Ontario Canada which was still called a town at the time, and my dad just bought the blazer
Yes these cars were hideous and under powered but i will give them an A+ in comfort. Those soft plush seats and soft ride. Would lull you to sleep if you were a kid riding in the back seat.
The late 70s and early 80s were truly the dark ages of automotive design. Little technological advancement the past 20 years plus hideous styling . . . really unsurprising how GM lost so much market share.
Lol yes it appears to have caught on and dominated the market. These folks never saw it coming, especially since the minivan craze began the very next year with the Caravans
The Cutlass was one of the top selling cars in Iowa in the 80's until GM murdered the G-body in 88. In fact the G-bodies were good selling cars for GM right to the end when Roger "Fucknut" Smith and Co. said GM wasn't interested in RWD anymore.
The J car line took a lot of crap from the public but looking back it was a very full and flexible line. The wagons look especially practical. And using some imagination, if you had that line today you could just crank those wagons up six inches on their suspension and BOOM, a CUV!
namely the Sunbird and Skyhawk were more negatively viewed because GM's service interval was incorrect for the Turbocharged engines. I change my sunbird's oil every 5,000 miles and haven't had any detonation or reliability issues. That and Pontiacs typically had a reputation to have electronics failures when stored for more than 2-ish weeks, which was caused by poor quality dielectric grease
My first car was the 83 Cavalier with the 2.0 fuel injected motor. For the era, it had good pickup and was generally pretty smooth. Years later I bought an 83 J2000 that was carbuerated, that thing couldn't get out of its own way! 0-60mph was possible, but highly unlikely.
Shame the 2015 Challenger you tested was an automatic in the video, is there a review of the 6spd 392 SRT? and is shifter better than the 2012-2014 models?
If I was my age now back in the 80s, I would have given these cars absolutely ZERO consideration. I'd be looking at Japanese cars just like I do today. Although, that Hurst/Olds is badass.
Its evident I'm trying to communicate with a total douchebiscuit that knows next to nothing about cars...I'm out...hurry up Mommy's telling you to take a bath and gobto bed...SLAP
Growing up during the days of big blocks i.e. BUICK 455's, from my dad's to my own. I had gotten an '83 Cadillac Coupe Brougham, fully equipped, ASTROROOF, power everything. But, when it came to the HT4100, I,NEEDED TO PLAN WAY AHEAD FOR PASSING. It was a BEAUTIFUL CAR,but, the engine was always straining in up grades, with a few passengers, etc. I, had the VOGUE TYRES & true spokes, it was a looker, but, 125 sae-net horses was not ideal w/ air conditioning on, keeping up to traffic & passengers. I never FLOORED any car like this beauty. Got horrific mpg's.
With Top Gear off the air, these retro reviews are turning out to be a solid source of motoring entertainment. This stuff is GOLD!
Yep, jeez its been 8 Years already.
Highlight of this clip was the diesel Caddy belching smoke as it turned.
I seen that too lol
john robert My dad had one God it was awful.
+john robert yeah crazy that a Caddy had a diesel engine from the factory.
You mean the Citation with crooked rear bumper didn't take the number one spot? It actually made me feel better knowing that thing was never on straight from day one. We owned an 83 Citation and the rear bumper swayed and pitched with the vehicle. Almost like an automatically deployed rear spoiler. Every time you got out, it was leaning a different way.
Gotta love rollin' coal
I've never seen so much body roll and understeer in one place.
cambo1200 I've never heard so much tire squeezing in one video
cambo1200 👍💯
Have you ever been on a cruise?
What do you expect, it was 1983, genius.
Go to Jenny Craig.
You'll see it daily.
Wow, look how young he is. Same great voice.
I haven't heard so many tires squealing so badly while going so slow since.....well.....the 80s.
+1000 m8
Steven D blame hard rubber, tiny wheel and tire sizes and primitive suspensions.
vector6977 yep, we've come a long way.
Steven D I would disagree on that last statement
hahah the good old days where you sounded fast but couldn't get out of your own way!
Man I love the old G bodies, I'll take that Hurst Olds right now!
John Crosetto lol. Something tells me you can have lll the hurst olds your garage can hold. I really don't think anyone is going to compete with you
The darkest days of the American auto.
Oh lord the Citation was agony.
Martin Espinoza it looks like it was design in a geriatric center by old buzzers !
Martin Espinoza
The x-11 lol
Remember the one that was 2 front halves welded back to back and could be driven at either end?
That was a bucket of chuckles there.
had one of those things lol
Wow, it was an entirely different scene in '83! Pontiac and Oldsmobile were still around, and absolutely NOBODY thought they would be discontinued! Those small cars were nothing compared to the ones we have today! There was no Bluetooth, no cell phone plug ins (or cell phones, period!) and no touch screens or back-up cameras! It's also amazing how the compact pickups changed. Today, the Chevy Colorado and GMC Canyon come in Crew Cab models that hold up to five full-grown men, and they're as large as a full-size '83 Chevy pickup! I remember the Eldorado/Riviera/Toronado trio, and it was hard to believe they were still being made. A Riviera convertible was pace car at the 1983 Indy 500. GM was still pretty much "old GM" even in '83! Now look at GM in 2017! Times really have changed!
If you’re putting 5 full grown men in any current mid size truck they better be full grown little people.
I remember seeing Chevy Celebrities everywhere, actually still see a few rolling around.
My neighbor had a beige one until they moved 5 years ago
You must not be in the Rust belt! Those things would be dust by now.
You are a celebrity with those.,
Yeah, but like Amber Heard... nobody likes you.
Damn that Coupe Deville was nice!
I was a proud owner of a 83 s10 blazer with the powerful 2.8l v6. It was such a powerhouse that cruising on flat interstate at 65, it would have to downshift to maintain speed. It was totally gutless. I don't know which set GM back farther, the 2.8L v6 or the 5.7 diesel made from the 350 block. Then there is the Cadillac Cimarron. You too can have the European luxury of an early 80's cavalier. You know that car had Mercedes, BMW and the rest quaking in fear. What a sad time for the US carmakers.
Yep, had an '83 S10 extended cab with the 2.8. No guts, but it was completely reliable. Always thought the 4.3 was just right for it.
@@qwertyuiop3455 Agreed. I don't know if the 4.3 was that great or just that much better than the 2.8 though. The 4.3 has had a great run though.
The Cavalier, Skyhawk, 2000/Sunbird and the Cimarron were all re-badgings on the same J body. My mom bought a Sunbird brand new in '84 and it was fun to drive. Wish I could find one now and restore it.
My only question is how did the executives at GM get crack in Michigan when it had barely been introduced in Los Angeles around the same time .
Now you know why 80’s movie car chases were so good!
I have no idea why, but I find a lot of these late 70's/early 80's cars fascinating. It's something about how gimmicky they are, with stuff like the "econo-minder" or the digital gauges, and for some of them I love the looks alone. I guess I'm just weird.
same here brother
haha, i like their look too. sure, they're gaudy, but i think that's part of the charm. i won't say anything for engineering or performance, though.
It's all just a little bit of history repeating.
Its called the "so bad that its good" effect.
2019 here. Somehow GM got through the eighties and is still in business.
Ford and Chrysler were no better.
Tax dollars
That Riviera convertible is gorgeous. The T-Type is even better. It was fantastic in snow with the front wheel drive.
The 4.3 liter came out in1988. It was a great power plant in the s10 truck
Tony, is too many options a bad thing? All we have now is 4 doors. Remember when all compact cars had 2 door, 4 door, wagon and hatch options like the Cavalier? The A bodies? Even the land yachts came in 2 door, 4 door and wagon trim.
I miss the days of variety and think that option is a good thing. Remember when the camry/Corolla came in a 2 door and a wagon? Now It's only 4 doors. The Civic used to have a wagon, hatch, and a 4 door. Now it's just a 4 door jellybean.
kirbyswarp 100percent facts
Civic currently come in 2 and 4 door, and hatch. Corrolla comes in 4 dr and wagon.
I remember my dad had 2 Olds 98 COUPES. Them was some big heavy doors! How 'bout Coupe DeVille? Remember when cars had engine options? In the '70s I was exposed to so many configs of the same '60s cars. You could get a Nova with an I6 or V8s from 283 to 396 (COPO 427, like Yenko) In 1982, when I bought my first NEW car, I had such a long list of options to customize my Z/28. Mine had manual windows & locks, but power mirrors and 4-wheel disks. You might think 1983 cars were crap, but the F-bodies were a big improvement over the '82s, which were the first year of 4rd gen.
GM was a mess in the 80s. WAY too many car lines and variants all chasing the same customers.
Chevy, Pontiac, Buick, and Olds all with the same platforms with multiple body styles. 2 door sedans, 4 door sedans, 2 door hatchbacks, 4 door wagons.. Did we really need 16+ J body variants? And that’s just one platform! There were still another 9 or 10 to go.
Variety is the spice of life
@ 15:18 the Coupe DeVille belches out a huge cloud of black exhaust.
That's when they thought it was cool to roll coal, haha
It was a diesel
That was the infamous crappy 5.7 diesel that was smoking. They had much worse problems than smoking.
I was working at Oldsmobile when the last 442 Hurst Olds came out.
"Truck/wagon" oh yeah, this was before SUVs were known as SUVs.
Ya. Before this your option was a Jeep® or that large Ford Bronco thing.
Broncos were nice.
There was the International Harvester Scout too.
@@DTD110865 The IHC Travelall too. You know what GM ripped off to make the Suburban
@@J-1410 the Suburban has been around since the 30s.... The Travelall came out in the 50s...
"Let's see how their marriage is going"
Not. Well.
Darn you Motorweek and your Retro Reviews! Now I'll be watching CZcams all night.
High style road holding.... that almost made me pass out from laughing do hard
Wow these cars really bring back memories. I had a sunbird with the 2.0 OHC engine. It was my first car.
The 6000-STE....there's your car right there.
The S10's, camaro, and firebirds were true gems in the 80's!
Fascinating to watch these now, its great they have been preserved and I got to witness the birth of KIT from Knight Rider!!
I always liked the S-10 line back then. The 4.3 V6 in later years were bulletproof.
I've owned a few of those. Just like going down memory lane! Thank you!!
wow those Pontiacs with 4 doors look like a firebird from the front
but it's just a cavalier or citation with extra plastic... In the pontiac 'performance' tradition.
With those cars, I'm not surprised people turned to Japan for their next vehicle.
Chris C. Plenty of 86-89 Camry's and Corolla's exist. My 89 crx exists. And my friends 88 Civic, 85 AE86. Another friend of mine has a 79 Datsun, 86 280Z and two 88 300ZX's. One 87 MR2 and an 89 MR2. Additionally, one other friend, for no reason at all, owns 5 Mazda RX-7's from 87 - 90. Also my 1990 Acura Legend exists.
blaknoizee sorry dude but i drive a hundred miles a day around the phoenix metro area and i notice cars. I never see those cars but i see tons of ford and gm cars and trucks from 80s and 90s. We have a huge amount of people from mexico here and all they drive are old cars but never see any Japanese. I think its interesting how many friends you have with cars of that vintage. What are you part of a 80s Japanese car club? Japanese car lovers i found tend to stretch the truth.
Chris C. Are you part of an 80's GM club? Why is that question relevant? You metro does not have a high concentration of those types of cars. Go somewhere else. I'm on Ohio and happen to own an old Japanese car. There are plenty if u look. There are plenty of every manufacture really, except euro it seems. Probably due to expense of ownership.
It is like you took offense to me just stating what is around my area. Head south to "southern fresh" and you will again find a high concentration of Japanese cars in the southern strip of our country. Or in Washington State and NO California. Arizona may just not have it. So u won't see it.
Chris C. Also, on craigslist you can clearly find many older cars available for sale in that era. Nearly rust free. Rust kills our cars here so it is even rarer to find these older machines. Japanese cars at that time were built to prove to America that they were reliable and reputable. Which is why the market share changed in Japans favor. The motors were quality built, the chassis were built well. My crx and legend still have their original engine and transmissions. My CRX even has its factory front rotors with 171k on them and wheel bearings. Same for my Legend.
Scott K True, but remember that Japan was also producing some junk at this time also. (And didn't have competing vehicles for each class) It wasn't until the late 80's that the US caught up though, and in alot of ways, it was just too late since Japan had by then introduced cars like the Legend and Cressida.
"Diesel power" was the biggest oxymoron of the 80s
it didn't really feel like I was watching a video from the distant past, until he said "write us" at the end. When was the last time you wrote someone a letter?
Bradford Hart I never have tho I was born in 1998... sooo yeeaaahhh
TheDude Your avatar is fantastic.
TheDude lol I thought it was an eyelash on my screen. I swiped it 3 times lmao.
Bradford Hart I received a letter just 6 months ago. I myself wrote several letters also, while i was locked up for breaking my fuckin nosy neighbors jaw!
a lost art. must admit handwriting a letter for or to someone, idk seems more sincere vs email
If GM only knew what they were about to face with those diesel engines. If they only knew what was coming.
+Push Back
For the trucks with the 350 diesel V8, a late-1980s 4.3 V6 was likely an upgrade, LOL.
And the 6.2 diesel V8 has roughly the same amount of torque as the late-1980s 4.3 gasoline V6! The N/A diesels suck...
No kidding. They couldn't predict rock bottom gas prices, efficient gas engines, and American's lack of interest with diesels.
I have never seem a diesel s10 I never even knew they existed! pretty cool! where they turbo? 4-stroke or 2?
I owned an 1983 Suburban with the 6.2 diesel. It's truly incredible how slow it was. 130 horsepower trying to move a 7000 pound truck will straight axles and leaf springs at all four corners. It was so bad that it couldn't maintain overdrive on the highway on a windy day. It would literally have to shift down into 3rd gear to maintain highway speed. It was certainly reliable though; I had 550K on mine before I rebuilt it.
Ward413 growing up a buddy's dad had an 86 Ford diesel.
Idk I was young, but it was extended cab bla bla ...
slow as all heck, but put a 30' airstream behind it and it didn't get much slower , it was odd.
The 2.8L in the Blazer wouldn't out run a fat man walking. The 4.3L was a life saver later on. I'm not a gm fan, but can't argue against the 4.3L. Great motor with the TBI
I find it funny that MotorWeek had nice words for the Cadillac Cimarron, while consumers pretty much universally took one look at it and said "nope, nothing but an overpriced and rebadged Cavalier".
Because it wasn't a bad car, it was a bad Cadillac!
The big Caddys are really really beautiful.
i remember. my parents. bought. a 91gmc Jimmy. with. a 4.3.v6 i loved. that. little. truck... it had a digital. dash display. and would. light. up the tires. so easy.
Man, those Cadillacs were absolutely lovely... right up until 14:47 ... What the hell were they thinking with that thing?
They weren't
Very cool 83 Hurst Olds, pretty rare now. Same for the 83 Monte Carlo SS.
I make you glad to know you didn't have to live in the 80s with cars like these on the streets.
It is so weird to see car reviews talk about front wheel drive like that. You can sense that it seemed new and special at the time where as now the goal of many car guys are to find cars with rear wheel drive. Fasinating.
Thank you for sharing the retro videos. I have enjoyed seeing the Oldsmobiles and Pontiacs and other GM brands. I would like to see more Oldsmobiles( Ninety Eight, Eighty Eight, Toronado) and again thank you for posting the retro videos from not just GM too.
I miss the old cars...much easier to work on and prettier, I LOVE the tornado with the coffin nose hood
the cimmiron: (and a lot of other gm products at the time but by no means the only guilty party)
should be hung on a wall at corporate for an example of why badge engineering is WRONG on so many levels.
The lighting roods LOOKED! So bad ass ! I n that Hurst like a pitchfork. One of the coolest ideas ever in my opinion.
I remember that year well. It’s hilarious now that they’re making such a big deal out of front wheel drive!
Love seeing these retro reviews!
my grandpa had an 83 Eldorado.
that car was awesome!
My dad had a 82 Toronado diesel when I was in high school. When he would let me borrow it that car would cruise all weekend on 10 bucks of fuel in 1986. It was a nice car too.
In 1983, I bought my first new car, a Honda Civic stick no air. Out the door it was $5850. Took a loan with a 13% interest rate.
Watching this video made me think. At this time, GM was already dealing with the Olds Diesel fiasco, and chose to add the Cadillac HT4100 to their list. They must have had their hands full dealing with problems and warranty repairs. Dark days for GM indeed. I would not want to have been a car buyer at that time. Think I would have just given up and bought something older.
This is when GM began taking platform sharing to a really extreme degree. And it didn't turn out too well. And that Hurst/Olds made my tongue hard in 83 and it's hard now...and I'm Ford guy...
Thanks! I loved seeing our 83 cimarron in action.
I love these MW Retro Reviews -- the good, bad, and ugly. That was a 15 minute encapsulation of the worst cars America has ever produced. What on earth was GM doing, let alone thinking, back then. Every single one of those cars -- with the possible exception of the forthcoming re-designed Corvette -- was a monstrosity in engineering, craftsmanship, and reliability. Every brand under the GM badge was basically selling the same car with a different name. Why do you need 10 versions of a Chevy Celebrity? What kind of ridiculous financial sense did that make? That last clip of one of those land yachts spewing black Diesel exhaust out of the tailpipe when the driver was flooring it around a turn was the perfect ending and summed up the 1980s for GM rather perfectly.
UDPride I pretty much agree with everything you said except the g bodies were good cars until they were phased out...
As were the B Bodies that they showed. I daily drive one with 250,000 miles with no trouble.
The 83 lineup stood the test of time: buick century, regals, rivieras were everywhere. The Camaro, Monte Carlo and El Dorado were prized vehicles. Some evolved some went the way of the dodo but those cars marked an era and back in the day they were the most popular cars. they dominated the 80's.
We owned an 83 Malibu sedan growing up. Ran well, but the sheet metal was made out of cheapest metal. The front doors and trunked had rust holes in them within 2 years from new. However, I do remember loving the appearance of that Hurst Cutlass Olds. I had a poster of it in my room that I got from a car magazine.
Isn't it funny you hardly see ANY of those FWD GMs anymore, except for the occasional Cavalier wagon. But I still see tons of those old RWD 80s GMs.
Torque Effect malibu are like rocks on wheels
Torque Effect I see many of them. In barns, behind farm houses without any paint left, I see plenty with trees under the hoods instead of engines. Man they make wonderful flower planters
I see some of those fwd 80s gm cars at dollar tree parking lots
Turds like the Aztek contributed to Pontiac's demise.
I had a Citation, a lot of room in that car, seats folded down and the hatch went up, perfect for parking out in the country!
I was only a year old when this video came out, it's like looking inside a time capsule, so cool!!
But omg so much overlap in GM's car lineup. Between Pontiac, Chevy, Buick, and Oldsmobile it's like they took the exact same cup that was painted green, and painted it red and said here you go buyer, this is a completely different car you can also buy! I don't know if it was the customer's ignorance or GM's arrogance but it is truly sickening. I'm glad they almost went out of business, tbh most of their cars are still the same old garbage but competition has forced them to get at least a little better but with a prettier package (relatively speaking).
+gmualum08 Roger Smith! Says it all.
Love your new car reviews
i love these videos. fascinating.
Conspicuously absent was the Chevrolet Corvette, delayed until the 1984 model year. The sole surviving 1983 Corvette prototype is in the Corvette museum.
I see a bunch of people commenting on how terrible these cars were and how it was the darkest period. I was there, so I can tell you, the 1983 lineup was a big step up from 1980.
Love the skyhawk t well all of the shy hawks especially when the t got the 3 toned interiors
My Mom had an 1984 Buick Skylark and we loved it. Until someone hit me while I was driving. But the cars quick response to try to get out of the way saved my life and the car hit the rear quarter.
Can anyone identify the song that starts at 0:59? I thought it might be a track from Network Music's "Technology Age" album, but it doesn't appear to be.
Love the Retro Series. Nostalgic and fun!
I own 2 cavalier wagons an 85 an 92. An 85, 87 an two 88 celebrity’s Awesome video!
Love how they called the S10 Blazer a Truck/Stationwagon. I guess the term SUV didn't exist yet 😃
As bad as those cars were, they well handling masterpieces of modern design compared to the boatmobiles from the 70's. As an 80's child, I can still remember seeing old 70's cars bobbing up and down in the lane next to me on the highway, and see-sawing when they pulled out of parking lots.
ClayPF That may be true but there is nothing like floating down the road in style then there came the " good handling cars" ugly and boxy.
With one hand on the wheel, and the other holding up the sagging roofliner.
ClayPF one hand on the wheel and the other holding a can of Budweiser
ClayPF My 1992 Cadillac sedan deville drives like that a complete floater boat. And I love it! I hate driving new cars. They ride like they have cement bags for suspension. They stay completely flat when stopping accelerateing or turning. I don't mind body lean or pitching. I find it helps you feel how hard you're taking a turn or how hard your applying the brakes or accelerator. I learned to take long and gentle stops to lessen the nose dive. In a panic stop once, the front plate bracket scraped the ground. If I bought a newer car I would have to install softer springs. My car has factory air bag suspension.
GM Monza no Brasil
good pick! managed to see buick's t-type range, the citation, the spyshots of the vette, the diesel delta 88
How in the hell do you shift that Oldsmobile with the three levers? I was looking most forward to that part and we only got a few fleeting seconds on it.
+jflow08 It's why I clicked. I've seen them in person, but never knew how they worked.
+Push Back Argghh.
Anybody??
It's suppose to shift like a drag car. You put all 3 down then shift up starting with the far right lever-then middle-then left lever.
dstarks80 That feature alone is reason for it to be shown in detail by a car show. In all my years of driving, I've never come across a production car that had anything close to that.
That Cavalier seems to be screaming for mercy!
GM has some decent looking cars. The diesel V8 was a major lemon.
Curious if you guys have a Mid-90's Cadillac Eldorado review? That would be interesting to see
wow omg '83 I was only 11 years old at the time and my family just moved to Markham Ontario Canada which was still called a town at the time, and my dad just bought the blazer
Yes these cars were hideous and under powered but i will give them an A+ in comfort.
Those soft plush seats and soft ride. Would lull you to sleep if you were a kid riding in the back seat.
I watched this show back then, still watch it now. God what junk those old 80s cars were!
The late 70s and early 80s were truly the dark ages of automotive design. Little technological advancement the past 20 years plus hideous styling . . . really unsurprising how GM lost so much market share.
Lol
That Coupe DeVille is beautiful. I even like the color.
Loved my 84 Buick Skyhawk T-Type! 1.8 Turbo.
I miss my 83 Malibu with 3.8 V6 it was just a plain white 4-door sedan it served me well
Please upload more on the GM diesels!
Did that truck/station wagon thing ever catch on?
Um yeah... ever hear of an SUV?
lol
Lol yes it appears to have caught on and dominated the market. These folks never saw it coming, especially since the minivan craze began the very next year with the Caravans
Joe Williston rd
One of my girlfriends back in the mid-90's had one of these Oldsmobile Cutlass (gasoline model), it was quite nice actually!
The Cutlass was one of the top selling cars in Iowa in the 80's until GM murdered the G-body in 88. In fact the G-bodies were good selling cars for GM right to the end when Roger "Fucknut" Smith and Co. said GM wasn't interested in RWD anymore.
so many options, every car company was ACTUALLY different
The best of beta max 240 aspect ratio.
The J car line took a lot of crap from the public but looking back it was a very full and flexible line. The wagons look especially practical. And using some imagination, if you had that line today you could just crank those wagons up six inches on their suspension and BOOM, a CUV!
namely the Sunbird and Skyhawk were more negatively viewed because GM's service interval was incorrect for the Turbocharged engines. I change my sunbird's oil every 5,000 miles and haven't had any detonation or reliability issues. That and Pontiacs typically had a reputation to have electronics failures when stored for more than 2-ish weeks, which was caused by poor quality dielectric grease
My first car was the 83 Cavalier with the 2.0 fuel injected motor. For the era, it had good pickup and was generally pretty smooth. Years later I bought an 83 J2000 that was carbuerated, that thing couldn't get out of its own way! 0-60mph was possible, but highly unlikely.
Gotta love that caprice
Man that Pontiac 2000 was a good looking car. Throw a LS1, T56, and a 12 bolt in it and that would be one fun car.
That should be interesting considering that the 2000 was a front wheel drive car.
all I see is HOT BROWN
Oh man those Cadillacs was beautiful
lots of models I'd forgotten about!
When the word SUV hadn't been invented yet. They called the S10 a truck\station wagon.
Shame the 2015 Challenger you tested was an automatic in the video, is there a review of the 6spd 392 SRT? and is shifter better than the 2012-2014 models?
If I was my age now back in the 80s, I would have given these cars absolutely ZERO consideration. I'd be looking at Japanese cars just like I do today. Although, that Hurst/Olds is badass.
GT6SuzukaTimeTrials Japanese cars back then weren't exciting back then either, just more reliable...
Patrick Simmons CRX and MR2 would like a word with you.
Riceboy lol the 80s Corvettes and F-bodies were garbage except for the turbo Trans Am.
Its evident I'm trying to communicate with a total douchebiscuit that knows next to nothing about cars...I'm out...hurry up Mommy's telling you to take a bath and gobto bed...SLAP
How red is your neck exactly?
Growing up during the days of big blocks i.e. BUICK 455's, from my dad's to my own. I had gotten an '83 Cadillac Coupe Brougham, fully equipped, ASTROROOF, power everything. But, when it came to the HT4100, I,NEEDED TO PLAN WAY AHEAD FOR PASSING. It was a BEAUTIFUL CAR,but, the engine was always straining in up grades, with a few passengers, etc. I, had the VOGUE TYRES & true spokes, it was a looker, but, 125 sae-net horses was not ideal w/ air conditioning on, keeping up to traffic & passengers. I never FLOORED any car like this beauty. Got horrific mpg's.
That Toronado was gorgeous