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Speaking of the Corolla liftback, note the fine print in the ad - pictured car is not the low priced car, and I bet a base Corolla then was very base indeed.
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2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
Haven’t seen one of those since the mid-90s.
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Old ads are great. Thanks for posting.
No luck on the Caddy. Dealer says it is in storage.
2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic / 2022 Ram 1500 Bighorn, Built to Serve
Speaking of Rockford Files, seeing the name Joanne Nail on the first page banner rang a bell. She played a damsel in distress in one of the episodes.
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This popped up in the Malaise Motors page on Facebook.
Now I'll go on record as saying I like the '81-87 Grand Prix alot. But comparing it to a Z is just insane. It even reeks a bit of desperation. Either that, or they thought car buyers really were that naive.
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That is a particularly attractive Grand Prix to my eyes, but agree on the engines being lame for '81 for power, other than the Turbo available in the Regal and Monte Carlo.
As always, they photographed a car for an ad without the optional body side molding probably 90% of the cars had. Even GM knew the cars looked better without them.
I worked with a guy who was actually two years older than me, who rolled his eyes when I bought a new '81 Monte Carlo with 267 V8. I wanted some size and a useable trunk and back seat. He bought a Scirocco S which was within $100 of my Monte IIRC. He lived in the same apartment building as me and another guy at work and I hated when he drove and I had to ride in the back seat, LOL. He hated my Monte and I used to chuckle at his re.: the one windshield wiper and how the instrument panel waved at you when you pulled away from a stop.
The Grand Prix was always the slowest seller of all the G bodies, right? It had to be due to no performance option. If you think about it, it made no sense. Pontiac was to be the sporty division and the GP certainly wasn’t.
2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic / 2022 Ram 1500 Bighorn, Built to Serve
The car is owned by the dealer. I thought it might be on consignment for sale. They do lie about its mileage in the ad. It's 39339 mi as of June 2022.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
More Pontiac GknowHow To The Gallon
If I wanted a flashhy/"sporty" G-body, I would option up a T-top Monte Carlo (even without the SS). They should have at least spec'd the GP on something other than wire caps.
http://www.oldcarbrochures.com/static/NA/Pontiac/1981 Pontiac/1981 Pontiac Grand Prix Americana Folder/index1.html
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So let’s start a discussion while we are on G-bodies.
Aside from a Grand National or Hurst Olds… what G-body you buying and how is it equipped?
I’ll go first -
Late run Regal Limited, 307, aluminum wheels, digital dash in black or charcoal over grey.
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Oddly, the Grand Prix offered a sporty version called the 2+2 in 1986, that also had the aero rear window. Interestingly, it was a unique design, and not shared with the SS. This 2+2 also had a sloped front-end. It also came pretty much fully-equipped with power everything, so its base price was actually higher than a Monte SS, Cutlass 442, or Grand National. But unfortunately, it just used the regular 150 hp 305-4bbl, like what you'd get in a regular Grand Prix, Monte, or Bonneville-G. I heard it had a 3.55:1 axle though, so that might have at least made it a bit quicker than the typical 150 hp 305.
Or maybe just put checkerboards on a SS, I believe Mexican market SS had these wheels.
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They painted grumpy Otto as a lifetime Chevy guy, and his best friend neighbor a lifelong Ford guy. They showed clips from the late '70's through the next thirty years, when one would say to the other, "Come see my new car". Lots of close-ups of Ford and Chevrolet nameplates on various models. When the neighbor bought his first Toyota, that was more than Otto could take!
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
Also, I was initially thinking only of the MonteCarlo/GrandPrix/Regal/Cutlass Supreme, but I forgot the 'lesser' cars.
HERE is absolutely my choice of one of those bodies:
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Came across this 2,970-mile 1970 Caprice four-door hardtop auction ad. Looks pretty authentic to how I remember them new. I don't particularly love the '70 styling, but it was the last year, IMHO, Chevys had interiors that at times bettered the 'prestige' divisions, and also the last time they had colors like this or 'Black Cherry' which I liked a lot. 1971 brought earth tones and pea green interiors.
This brocade interior could also be had at standard equipment as well, in the same pattern but in nylon, which wore better but didn't look as nice IMHO.
Miss colors, in and out, like this. Since it's an auction ad, I can't figure a way to reproduce individual photos here.
https://www.mecum.com/lots/CA0822-520457/1970-chevrolet-caprice/
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Every time I see the peaked headlights of a 70 Chevy, I think of this:
https://youtu.be/D3neQZqFP3M
I didn't think the '69 big Chevy was a beauty, but I liked the details better than the '70. Those crowned front fenders on the '70 remind me of a '63 Cadillac, and I didn't particularly like the flourish-y "Chevrolet" script they started using on the '70.
I think (pretty sure) the 400 became standard on the Caprice in '71. When introduced in '70, it was known as a regular-fuel, high-displacement engine. It was two-barrel. I believe it was still considered a 'small block' but I may-well be rusty on that detail.
I was hanging around via my bike at the Chevy dealer then, and I remember seeing cars come in with base prices a few hundred more than I'd seen before, at about the same time Chevy started advertising "Turbo-Hydramatic and Power Steering Now Standard". Well, 'standard' maybe, but reflected in a higher base price.
And yeah, it was still a smallblock. From what I've heard, it was "siamesed" because of the large bore, and this had both good points and bad points. On the bad side, the water jackets between the cylinders were eliminated, or something to that extent, and that made the car more prone to overheating. But on the plus side, getting rid of those water jackets made the block stronger, so apparently racers liked the engine to use as a basis for building up.
My great-uncle and great-aunt had a '74 Impala with a 400. Around the 10 year mark, they gave it to a neighbor. He pulled the engine and built it up, but I forget what he put it in. The rest of the car sat around for awhile, until he had it hauled off. It was pretty rusted out, although at a quick glance didn't look too bad, because my uncle had cut out as much of the rusty lower parts as he could, and pop-rivited some aluminum panels that he cut out to more or less fit.
My relatives had a 30-foot or so Terry trailer that they used the Impala as a tow vehicle for. As far as I know, they never had any issues with the engine, and it was still good enough to serve as a basis for a hot-rod, so I guess it lived up to its reputation.
At some point, I think they started offering a 4-bbl on the 400, but I'm pretty sure it did start off as 2-bbl only. It was probably around 1973-74, when the 2-bbl, IIRC, got choked down to around 150 hp.
The 400 was dropped from passenger cars after 1976, but I think it did continue in pickup trucks for a few years.
I have a feeling it's the same color as that Caprice, albeit with a black interior. It's probably just lighting, color adjustment, etc that makes them look a bit different.
Sometimes that look with the fender peaks over the headlights can be hit or miss, in my opinion, but I think this one wears it well. On some models, where you'd have a divider between the headlights, it could sometimes throw off odd reflections that made the front look odd from some angles, like on this '73 Polara...
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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
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There also was a genuine Olds 400, which I think was used in 1965-69. I believe it was a big-block, and just a smaller displacement version of the 425, which itself went on to become the 455.
Buick also had a 400 V8 for a few years. I couldn't remember if it was a small or big-block, so I checked Wikipedia. Looks like it was a big block, and offered from '67-69.
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Can you imagine how much more they would have dominated if they had consolidated their engineering resources in the 50's, rather than in the 80's?
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Back in the day when they had 50%+ market share, they had enough volume to spread the costs of differentiation over a large number of sales. Lots of people thought Olds or Cadillac or Buick made the best engines and chose accordingly. It wasn't just engines either. My Olds buddy decided to restore a '71 4-4-2 that was pretty rusty. The rust around the windshield and rear window was bad enough that the body man told him to find a replacement upper body from a parts car. He found one from a Chevelle that looked like they could use it, and he was surprised to see the inner sheet metal reinforcing structure was nowhere near as robust as what Olds used.
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