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Memories Of The Old GM And Its Cars
hpmctorque
Member Posts: 4,600
in Chevrolet
GM has been around for generations. There are tens of millions of GM vehicles on the road around the world, way more than from any other manufacturer. Hundreds of thousands of people living today have either worked for GM, or for its dealers and suppliers. The purpose of this discussion is to share your memories and experiences, including photos, regarding this company and its vehicles. For example, tell us about the vacations you took in GM cars. Maybe yiu currently own a GM vehicle.
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I also remember a hole eventually formed in the floor in front of the front passenger seat. It was about the size of a deck of cards. You could see the ground and we used to joke that it could eventually become like the Flintstones' car.
Thanks for the opportunity to share. What are your memories?
This was another classic that my mom drove:
So I'll bite. Which early to mid 90's cars do you think were caught up with the imports of the same day?
'96 Infinniti M30 vs '96 Riviera. Series II 3800 (per Wards) made 10 best engines in world list. Shortstar was up there. Buick Topped Lexus in initial quality in '96. They had their qualities in different areas but they each excelled in some areas. By late 90's, the Gen 3 V8's and 3.5 V6 were out. Trucks that got 13 mpg at 120 mph and rode quieter than M30's were out in mid '98. Vettes were at the level you question.
Until the first turn and the 2 hit the wall and detonated while the Ferrari blew past!
Regards,
OW
1968 Buick Special Deluxe 6-passenger station wagon finished in striking Teal Blue Mist and Arctic White">. It featured a 350 V-8 w/2 bbl carb rated at 230 hp mated to a Super Turbine 300 automatic with column shift. I bought it for the princely sum of $650 in 1981 about two months after I turned 16. It was still running in December 1992. It was the car that earned my unconditional respect and praise for the awesome Buick automobile!
Now I know you're pulling crap out of thin air!
Another example of wasted money. Yeah, they were quick, but a death wish on anything but a straight line. Made a pretty useless truck too. I think it was C & D that did the Ferrari comparison, it also was quicker than a vette too.
I've driven that bridge several times. Magnificent bridge in just a stunning area.
LOL, comparing a '96 Buick to a '96 Lexus in anyway is laughable. So what if it had higher initial quality, a Buick of that vintage was light years behind in NVH, features, design and technology. Those Century's were sure cutting edge and so desirable. LOL
Well with any luck they were durable, at least. After all, by that time they had 15 years to figure out how to build them! :P
Actually some of Buick's more serious efforts of that time, like the LeSabre, Park Ave, Riv, and Roadmaster, were probably pretty good cars. Not cutting-edge, and not up to an LS400 by any stretch of the imagination, but they also came in at a much lower price point.
While I think they're clumsy looking as hell, I wouldn't mind getting a '96 Road
hazzardMaster. Nice, comfy car that, for its size, performs and handles well, and even gets fairly decent fuel economy.The '96 would be the one to get with the LT1 350. My Grandpa had a '92 Roadmaster with the anemic 180hp 5.7. It was slow and a gas pig. My dad had a '92 Crown Vic at the time and I like it much better. Ford's OHC 4.6 was much smoother and quieter, it handled much better (the steering in the Buick was horridly light and numb), had better brakes (RM had rear drums, I think they might have added rear disks by '96)), and got better fuel economy. The only thing I really liked about the Roadmaster were the seats. They were comfy, front and back. Also, grandpa started having trouble with the Roadmaster near 100k, A/C and trans. Dad's Crown Vic went to 230k relatively trouble free.
Grandpa traded the Roadmaster in on a '97 Park Ave and it along the the '00 he also had were noticeably built worse than the Roadmaster, both of those Park Ave's had to many problems to list. After grandpa passed, the '00 ended up going to my dad. He hated it and kept his '00 Taurus and gave the PA to my sister. Who also hated it but needed a free car to get through college. After her experience with it, she may never buy another domestic.
About how you would sum up a '72 442, except today they are worth $41,999.
I know two people driving RM's. One has a '93 and a '96. They score 21-22 hwy mpg or more. Interstate cruisers running 1700 rpm in the left lane. Quiet and trouble free at 17 and 14 yrs old. You can't feel or hear the semi your passing.
So what you're saying is that they're great cars for left-lane camping? :P Just ribbing ya. Actually, I toyed with the idea of buying a black '92 last year. It was really low mileage and in excellent condition. And while they're not that fast with the older 180 hp TBI 350, they'll still get from 0-60 in just a click under 10 seconds. Prior to that, I think the last time a GM B-body would've scooted to 60 that fast would've been around 1978-79, unless you got an ex-police car with the 350.
So while I'd prefer the '94-96 with the 260 hp LT1, I could probably be happy with an earlier model with the 180 hp TBI.
What does that have to do with anything. I'd say it's a cool car.
Yeah, that's really impressive...
I was in Charlottesville VA a few years ago and actually got one of the last Roadmaster models as a cab ride from the airport. The thing had around 150K on the odo, but still road nice. However, those seats - geez my back still hurts thinking about those overly pillowed, no support cushions.
Steve, I'm old enough to remember the bouffant hairdo look and rather liked it I dare say!
I was like 20 years old when I rode and drove my grandpa's Roadmaster a lot. I just remember the seats being padded big time front and back. Might hurt my back today, but I remember them being comfy back then. I still remember the super soft dynaride suspension. It would lull a baby to sleep.
As for fuel economy, I remember my grandpa never being happy with it on his many trips between his house in Indiana and house in Florida. It never mached the fuel economy of the '87 Caprice Classic Brougham LS he had before the Roadmaster, but the Caprice had a 305 4 barrel. I actually liked the Caprice better.
Beautiful!
All those cars in White!
The only thing is I can imagine how chilly it might be. It's cooler there even in summer.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Did they finally sell it, trade it, or junk it? What replaced it?
The bouffant hairstyle in the photo belongs to a classmate of my older sister's and they are in their mid-60's. The classmate still looks good (but she's heavy into Botox :P ).
There's a bunch of reminiscing going on over in the UAW topic that we're moving over here, so pardon any out of sequence posts.
L82 Air filter/valve covers
Crane HT Cam/lifters
Edelbrock Performer Intake
Q-Jet carb(rebuilt/calibrated by yours truly)
Re-curved Delco Distributor/Mallory Unilite/MSD5
Blackjack Headers(1 5/8" primaries)
3" dual exhaust with Cherry Bomb Q (Turbo) mufflers
B&M Transpak(Street/Strip calibration)
Flex-a-lite 15000 lb.GVW Transmission cooler
3:42 Final Drive Ratio
No, it wasn't blindingly fast, but I was able to blow off 99% of the contemporary model Z28s, Trans Ams and Corvettes(do you detect a pattern here?) that I lined up against. It would chirp the tires on both the 1-2 and 2-3 shifts at anything over half throttle. It was also one of the first cars in the area to have a LOUD stereo; I had installed a Pioneer KE-2002 Supertuner head unit, AD 304 amp, and TS-694 6X9 coaxial speakers. I sold it in 1989, and sometimes I wish I'd kept it...
Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport; 2020 C43; 2021 Sahara 4xe 1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica Wife's: 2015 X1 xDrive28i Son's: 2009 328i; 2018 330i xDrive
A lot of those old cars really don't have very good side bolstering, to keep you planted in spirited driving, but I've found that they do at least tend to support me in all the right places, which helps keep fatigue away during long-distance driving. For instance, my '76 LeMans and both '79 New Yorkers give me good support in the thighs and lower back. Many modern cars don't give me very good back support, forcing me into a bit of a slumping position. Or the seats don't give very good thigh support, which puts more pressure on my butt cheeks.
I have seen some old cars though, where the seats look plush, but they really aren't. For example there was this one awful goldish colored '74 Cadillac that I'd seen pop up for sale at one particular car show for years. Lemko and Grbeck have seen it too. I remember sitting in the back of it, and sinking way down low, like the springs were really weak or something. It felt like it would get really bouncy out on the road, with little provocation.
I'm with you on the '87 Caprice, too...I actually like the old ones better than the rounded off 1991-96 style. The only thing that sways my preference towards the newer style is greater availability of the 350...especially once the 260 hp version hit the streets in 1994! With the older '77-90 style, they dropped the 350 after 1979, unless you got the Diesel, or a copcar. Otherwise, if you wanted a 350 in 1980 you had to get a Pontiac, Olds, or Buick.
I had a set of Cragar S/S wheels on it, but aside from that it looked dead stock. The duals weren't all that loud either, so it was an excellent sleeper.
Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport; 2020 C43; 2021 Sahara 4xe 1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica Wife's: 2015 X1 xDrive28i Son's: 2009 328i; 2018 330i xDrive
Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport; 2020 C43; 2021 Sahara 4xe 1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica Wife's: 2015 X1 xDrive28i Son's: 2009 328i; 2018 330i xDrive
Is it? I thought the consensus in Mystery car pix.... was that it was a '61, but I may have forgotten. I was 8 or 9 at the time and about all I remember from those days is riding backwards in the third row "magic seat" in my mom's station wagons. (ah, I need to change my CarSpace page - it is a '60).
She used to get a new Buick every 3 years for a while there. Then my dad went off on a tear after selling his '53 and ran through a Valiant, Falcon and a Galaxie 500, before picking up a used '59 Chevy for my brother and returning to the Body by Fisher fold.
Mom wound up with a GMC pickup for at least a decade, and then a long spell with an Impala (with the passenger door secured by a coat hanger) after that. But a Protege was her last car until she quit driving last year.
1967 Catalina:
1976 LeMans:
1985 Silverado (pic is too big to post here, so I'll just link it instead)
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
#47 shows an ad for bringatrailer.com but no Buick.
Looking at the source code for the page, maybe this will work.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
The 76 looks to be in great shape, despite the finicky behavior youve described.
One of the guys in my local Pontiac club chapter has a 77 Grand Le Mans...it has the Olds 350.
Cool! What color is it? Does he have any pictures of it online? FWIW, my '76 is wearing a '77 grille. At some point in its life, before I owned it, it took a hit to the front. I wonder how the Olds 350 performs compared to the Pontiac 350? I've heard that it adapted better to emissions controls than the Pontiac engine did, so it was probably less finicky. When mine is running, it's great. ONCE it's running, at least.
When did the Rally 2 wheel come out, anyway? I bought Catalina's wheels in late 2007 at the Carlisle PA swap meet. I don't know what year they came off of...I was just thankful to find them in the 5" bolt pattern! Originally, it just had little 14" steel wheels, and tended to shed hubcaps on a regular basis.
Rally 2's came out in 67... but had black center caps until late in 70 model year. Then they were red through 72.
I had a 77 Cutlass with the 350 Quadrajet. That's the best sounding car I have ever owned when I put my foot into it. The exhaust note was great and the engine moved out.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,