GM's N Body Platform: A Mixed Bag For The General

[@mikeperry6794]

My mom's 2005 Grand Am lasted till 2024. It was rotting but the 2.2lt ecotech still ran perfectly.

[@Salty_Balls]

I bought my 2001 GA GT new when I was 20. I still have her. Over 210k miles and 24 years old. I've had it basically my entire adult life. Lots of memories of going tplaces with girlfriends past, including one who actually passed. Taught my niece to drive in that car, and she sadly passed in 2023. If they made another Grand Am just like it, I'd buy one again today.

[@freedomfighter5095]

Anytime I seen a final N body grand am I can’t help but stare. Such a well proportioned automobile

[@bigsprinter]

My dad was the chief engineer on that car.

[@laranaarana]

I bought a 1999 Pontiac Grand Am and I can say that it was a fun car to drive. Traded it in 2008 for a 2006 Pontiac Torrent (which I still drive).

[@TravisM-zv5eh]

My first car was a 88’ skylark with the quad 4. Auto on the floor, pop up sunroof, and aluminum wheels. It was “sporty” lol. Despite others having issues with the quad engine, mine never skipped a beat and took all I gave it. It was a good little car.

[@Ccyawn123]

A friend of mine had a two tone red over gray Skylark. I thought it looked sharp

[@darylrigney6872]

I sold Pontiacs in the mid 80's in southern Virginia and had the opportunity to see first hand how well the Grand Am was received by the public. Fantastic times! Good looking cars with the split grill and clean lines. I sold a ton of them in both 2 and 4 door models, LE and SE versions. They were very popular, I sold 5 one day. We were taking orders for these like never before. People were actually waiting in line for a chance to purchase them, our dealership had a waiting list for these cars. The most popular color was "Flame Red", it was a somewhat dark red and it was a good looking color to say the least. Hard to believe I rarely see any today. It was an amazing time for Pontiac Motor Division. Good video and Thanks for sharing this it brought back great memories. Pontiac was known for great designed cars with excitement! I hope GM decides to bring back Pontiac as I've been reading and hearing some rumors to that lately.

[@davidschleyhahn1610]

I had 88 Grand AM. I loved that car

[@Dbear1977]

My uncle had a Calais International with the Quad 4 and a manual transmission, in the early ‘00’s. Man was that a fun car!!

[@TheMaddPCGuy]

I still have a clean white 1998 Oldsmobile Achieva with the 3100 V6... Its not my daily driver but it turns heads....!!! Everything is mint and working...!!! Definitely a unicorn of a vehicle...!!! 👍😎✌️

[@bigsprinter]

Those coupes were nice designs

[@markbader31]

Had an 85 Grand Am base model with the 2.5 Iron Duke. Bought used in 89. Drove that car for 10 years. Was a good car.

[@Hobotraveler82]

Excellent video. Brings back memories. Bought my first car in high school got my driver's license in it too. That car was a black 2-door 1988 Grand Am LE. 2.5-liter Iron Duke with three auto. Loved that car and the reason i am partial to the Pontiac brand. RIP Pontiac. 😊

[@uncleshark1103]

Cool video. Well researched and plainly explained. My parents had a brand new silver 1985 Somerset coupe with a red interior and digital dash when I was born. I remember the dashboard well. It was totaled when we were T-boned by an old lady in an Oldsmobile Delta 88, so we traded it in on a brand new dark metallic blue 1988 Grand Am SE coupe with the 5 speed manual transmission, analog gauge package, and dark blue interior. I remember that car fondly, and my parents liked it so much that my grandma bought a 1991 Grand Am SE sedan, and drove it until she gave up driving 20 years later. She always said her only regret about buying the car was not opting for the 5-speed manual, lol.

[@Gerisheng]

I'm loving how your parents and grandma(!) were into manuals. :)

[@michaelmurphy6869]

I remember going to a NRHA race up in Seattle back in '98. Surprised me was that there were many late 80's to early 90's Olds Calais's being raced in the super street and other classes. All had been modified of course, with both small or big block V8's rear wheel drive, large racing slicks and so forth. What really surprised me was that the majority of those cars, the owners kept the bodies totally stock (expect of course the interior/exterior safety modifications required) sheet metal, paint and even the glass. They ran fast times, later come to find out that those models were one of the most aerodynamic designs and that's why some car builders, racers loved them. At first look they looked stock until you saw the large slicks tucked under the narrow body. N-bodies served their time and deserve a place in automotive history.

[@stevebier710]

Shape-wise, these cars (especially the Grand Am) reminded me of the BMW 3-Series. I had a 91' Grand Am...loved that car.

[@kybble]

I loved my Pontiac's. Started with 86 Pontiac Sunbird, and them 3 Grand Am's 86 88 and 96. They were all exciting cars, then I moved on to the 99 Grand Prix GT. The Sunbird got stolen and torched. The 3 Grand Am's i bluw head Gaskets racing them around. The Grand Prix I through a rod in mu mechanic bought it. I miss them all and the Pontiac brand.

[@claylyons6447]

I owned 2 Buick Somersets back in the 1990's 2.5 four cylinders. Easy to maintain and easy to work on.

Had a 1987 Buick Somerset 2 door with all the options. Really decked out luxury compact car. Tho it was a stick shift 5 speed so the dealer couldn’t sell it. Got it for a good price. Loved it

[@w41duvernay]

THE Achieva SCX with a W41 QUAD 4 with a 5spd was the bomb. I took out plenty of suckers with mods on the intake and exhaust and a chip.

[@anthonytbarnes8725]

I love this video and my first car was a white 90 Pontiac Grand Am SE with the HO Quad 4 and I absolutely loved it. I wished it would have offered the 190 hp Quad 4, but even the 180 hp with the 5 spd was very quick for the time. I wish I could find a 91 GA SE HO Quad 4 in decent shape now.

[@Gerisheng]

That engine caught a lot of flack for being thrashy, but wow, a 180-190hp 2.3 liter! No mainstream brand was making that kind of horsepower per liter for the masses in the U.S. market (the first Honda DOHC VTECs were available overseas). I wanted anything I could get that had that engine, but couldn't afford them. Glad you enjoyed yours.

[@jaycarlson927]

Your research is the greatest

[@doug6191]

No mention of the '97 Malibu/Cutlass or the '98 Grand Am and the later Alero?

[@orion2250]

Always loved the grand am

[@jefferysmith3930]

I was never Really a GM car guy, but I almost bought a Calais, twice! Once in 2 dr. HO quad 4, 5 spd. Spec. This was a cool little 4 year old, one owner car with a body kit. It had paced around the Charlotte Motor Speedway with several similarly spec’ed cars as part of an Olds promotion when new. It was a kick to drive despite its notchy gearbox. I was scared off by my father-in-laws stories of head gasket failure in some of his company’s cars. I bought an Acura Integra instead. The second time in iron Duke 4dr. Automatic spec. When I just needed a cheap car. (I couldn’t really afford the Acura). It drove OK, but my 21 year old self just couldn’t warm to its whitewall tires, wire wheel covers and bordello red interior. Plus, it had a little rust around the bottom of the doors. I ended up with a (very rare and no one cares) Nissan Sentra 3 dr. Hatch instead

[@johnrose3169]

My wife had a 1989 Grand Am with the Quad 4. She drove the wheels off of it. Great video - I miss Pontiac and Oldsmobile. In an unrelated note - I’ve heard this is the last year for the Chevy Malibu. I believe the Malibu is one of the last cars GM offers outside of Cadillac.

[@sasz2107]

It seemed to me that the Grand Am sold the best by far in both generations, then the Skylark/Somerset in both generations, and the least were the Oldsmobile models. However, I remember seeing a lot of Calais/Cutlass Calais around, but for some reason when the Achieva came out, they really didn't sell well - even though the styling was very different than the other two, making it more unique. They were trying to make Oldsmobile more modern and up to date, but for some reason it didn't work as well as they hoped. In 85, when the Somerset Regal came out, they really tried to make it this super advanced small car. You should see the advertising for it. It was much more impressive inside than outside. They were trying to make it a mini-Riviera. Later on it was like, here's a compact car we're offering... CAFE was a big motivation for coming out with these cars. Fuel economy standards were increasing and they had to come out with smaller fuel efficient cars.

[@robk9685]

I remember an Achieva in the showroom while special ordering my G-body RWD V8 Cutlass. "Why don't you get one of these smaller cars like this?", she said. "NO!", was my reply.

[@BennyT_3434]

That Somerset T-Type shown @3:12 is a really slick looking car, love the red with two-tone and blacked out look

[@Gerisheng]

My mom had an early Calais coupe with the V6 and I quite liked it (this being me in the '80s). But lord, the 1992 Skylark. It looks as utterly hideous today as it did back then. That Skylark's interior, I have to say, was another story and looked truly unique and interesting. I remember really wanting an Achieva with the H.O. Quad4.

[@gmpny3945]

In the 1980s I worked in NYC across the street from the GM Building on Fifth Ave. They had two big showrooms on the main level where they showcased their new models. You are correct when you stated that the N line was originally made to be a replacement for the G bodies. I heard the same thing from one of the GM marketing employees who was assigned to the showrooms. Apparently these cars did not get good feedback when it was revealed they would be replacing the Regal, Grand Prix and Cutlass.

[@peter455sd]

I had an 86 Sommerset,loved it

[@TheREALOC1972]

Out here in the Southwest and West These 80's and 90's N bodies, especially The Grand Ams and Olds Calais, along with the Chrysler K cars are becoming really really popular with the teens and early 20 somethings to build into budget JDM style builds, They are so popular in fact they have their own clubs starting to pop up. As an "old guy" I think it's cool, they aren't my type of car but I'll support the kids doing it because they will be the ones that keep the car hobby alive.

[@gregorymalchuk272]

What engines and transmissions were they putting in them?

[@TheREALOC1972]

@@gregorymalchuk272 Mostly the Original engines or they will find the JDM version, They are a Budget cars, it's not about performance, it's about the look.

[@rainmant5724]

i loved my 95 Skylark 4 door with 3.1..The styling was ahead of it's time, and had no troubles with it.

[@frankiemck40]

I was in my early 20s when they came out in 1985. My favorite was the Somerset which I really, REALLY wanted. I couldn’t afford one. But in 1992 I bought a Grand Am as, by then, those looked better to me.

[@milfordcivic6755]

The Calais and Grand Damn were the better looking N-body variants. The Quad 4 engine was a nice idea with a 4cyl making 180hp, but is was a pain in the ass to work on. The integrated ignition coils on the upper engine cover would get brittle and crack when trying to remove. Changing the water pump required removing the timing chain and the exhaust system. I dumped a 99 Grand Am for that reason after 2 years of owning it.

[@OLDS98]

Excellent video. You did an excellent job. You always do from the videos I have watched. You forgot to mention the Grand Am was replaced by the Pontiac G6 which stood for sixth generation Grand Am. I liked how you covered everything. I did want to add you are correct when you said the N Bodies were supposed to replace the G Bodies in the 1980's, but due the the fact they( G Bodies) kept selling, that is why the N Bodies got name changes. Calais-Cutlass Supreme( eventually became Cutlass Calais), Somerset Regal- Regal, Grand Am- Grand Prix. You covered everything else so well. The downsized era at GM ( 1985-1990) not only hurt the full-sized and large and personal luxury cars, it hurt brands significantly( Oldsmobile, Cadillac, Buick). GM was on a downsizing kick because they thought fuel prices would be high and they thought the downsizing was right for the time. As we know, it was not. It did not not help the E Bodies( Oldsmobile Toronado, Buick Riviera and Cadillac Eldorado and Seville) all looked like the N Bodies at a higher price and were not much larger either. That Calais got better looking in 1988 and it was nice when it had digital gauges and the 3300 V6( derived from the 3800 V6). I do recall the Grand Am was the best seller. I will never forget that and it carried Pontiac for a while too. Grand Am SE/GT loaded was nice too. The other little things I recall is Skylark and Calais later got column shifters and front bench seats. When Achieva came, the sedan looked like a pint sized Ninety Eight as the Calais did too. The Skylark and Achieva shared the same instrumentation at the end also. Go look at a 1997 model. The N Bodies served their purpose. Hard to believe it could have been called Oldsmobile Omega. It may have worked out better too. The Quad 442 is fondly remembered and has a following as well. There are videos of it on You Tube.

[@Gudi102]

Grand Am was my favorite, followed by the Calais

[@Crispychicken4u]

In high school l wanted a 87-88 grand am turbo . Great boxy design and interior layout . 170 hp with a 5 speed 😊

[@VTMCompany]

I bought a 1986 Grand Am LE new in '85. It was dark gray and silver trim. The V-6 engine had the electronic speedometer and computer check window. It was awesome.

[@pancudowny]

The Grand Am was basically the GTO's transition from being a full-sport muscle car to a luxury-sport model, much like the Dodge charger did for '75. When it was brought back as the N-body, Pontiac was trying to image itself as the full-on performance oriented division of GM, thereby eschewing any prior connotations of luxury associated with it... hence making the FWD Grand Prix so sporty-looking. This naturally was extended to all Pontiac models, including the Trans Sport mini-van. And in light of that, I must say: As a car enthusiast, I'm thankful that by the time the N-body Grand Am debut, any association of the marque with the GTO had been forgotten. Otherwise, it would look as bad as when the Plymouth Road Runner was based upon the '75-'77 B-body Fury platform, or the J-body Volare... thus tarnishing the name of a great legend.

[@robertb3409]

What an excellent video 👍

[@robertschmalbach9840]

I had a 1988 Olds Cutlas Calais sedan, burgundy inside and out. It was a fun little car, gave me no problems (other than a jumpy speedometer needle). Front end was vaporized by another Olds that ran a red light as I was driving to class in college in 1998. Sad end. My grandfather had a 1989 Buick Skylark sedan. Hearing a Quad4 running brings back a lot of memories of those days!

[@gregorymalchuk272]

What engine did your 1988 Cutlass Calais have? The Iron Duke got balance shafts that year.

[@robertschmalbach9840]

@@gregorymalchuk272 It had the Quad4

[@acadian76]

My Mom had an 1987 2 door Grand Am SE. It was silver with a blue interior. Had the 3.0 L V6 which sounded great, all the usual power accessories, sunroof and best of all a good sounding Delco Bose stereo system. She loved that car and had it until 1994 which she then replaced with a purple 1994 2 door Sunbird SE with black interior with a 3.1 L V6 similarly equipped except this one did not have Bose speakers and she loved that car as well, which she had until 2010 and then replaced with a Honda Fit since she lives downtown and only drives within the city now. RIP Pontiac

[@stepheng3667]

87 GA with the 3.0 sweet. Sunbird with the 3.1 even better.

[@ripplerocket]

I had a 86 grand am le with theDelco Bose sound system. That was the first year for the four door. Silver and dark grey.

[@kevin9c1]

What about the N-body Malibu or Alero? That's part of the history, too!

[@terrypikaart4394]

My mom got a grand am in 85 quad 4 with 5 speed. Car ran forever

[@2006gtobob]

I took Drivers Ed in the Buick and I really liked it. It was 1987, and the local Buick dealer donated/loans some cars for our school to use. I enjoyed the car, as it was smooth, had a relatively powerful V6 (by the standard of the day) and it was loaded with options. Unfortunately, it was beyond my meager means.

[@Travis25601]

Also the Cadillac Eldorado and Seville, too, I think.

[@glennvernes8305]

I remember the gen 1 Grand Am and kind of liked it. The grill made it look kind of BMW and it was overall well-proportioned. The other models were invisible to me.

[@jstavene]

We had a 92 grand am, the car his 380k miles rusted (MN salt) but what killed it was stepdad had a drink or many and it died on the side of the road, went to tow it home, he left it in park as I pulled it with my truck, tranny went,,our faults,,but at over 350k it lived its life with honors and distinction.. always wanted another but never happened still would consider one today

[@gordonborsboom7460]

I have a distinct memory of how many auto magazine covers the Acheiva was on when it was released. The SCX was SCXY

[@Buzz-vz2js]

I had a 97 Skylark it was a nice car. Not everyone liked the look but I thought it was cool

[@bigheadfred]

The N body cars from GM were originally meant to replace the Pontiac Grand Prix, Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme, and Buick Regal on the RWD A body platform which was later renamed G body after the introduction of the FWD A body in the 1982 model year due to concerns of gasoline predicted to be much higher in price by the mid '80s; that was the same rationale used to downsize the full-size cars to a smaller FWD platform around the same era. However, the three aforementioned cars were selling very strongly and gas prices remained low, so they stayed in production for a few more model years while the N body replaced the X bodyvcars and four-door models were developed.

[@DaveGreg100]

Excellent. I've owned an 86 Calais two door for many years. It's been an enjoyable car. The 2.5 is tractor like but smoothes out at highway speeds. It's nicely trimmed and I've always loved the looks of it. Quiet. Roomy enough. Good ride. I enjoyed this piece a lot and the photos you used were great. Chevy opted out of the N Body program, but took the basics and used the N as the basis for the Baretta and Corsica, referring to it as the L Body. Not really cheap either. They were a good deal more money than the J Bodies. And Car and Driver reported GM brass were, amazingly suggesting these cars were aimed at BMW intenders. "New Values" customers... AKA Yuppies. Will you do a video on the 3rd Gen N Bodies ( Alero, Gran Am and Malibu )?

[@gcb345]

the Grand Am was my first car. I kept it until I traded it for a Fire Bird. I had a lot of fun in that car.

[@DetroitNerd]

My first car was an 86 Calais. It was a rusted out mess but it ran great

[@andyk6796]

The Iron Duke engine was junk! I had an '86 Calais with that engine and it blew a head gasket at 56,000 miles. The dashboard vibrated while sitting at stoplights with the car in drive. Oh, and a whopping 92HP as well!

[@jumpinjimmyg2164]

Had a 91 Grand Am SE 5 speed manual with the high output quad 4. It was a little honda killer.

[@henrystowe6217]

I liked how my rental 1985 Grand Am drove. I even got a speeding ticket in one. Although that wasn't too hard. The speed limit was 55 mph and I was doing 70.

[@spazzman90]

While I was a Beretta GT and GTZ guy for most of this era, finally had to switch to a Grand Am when the Beretta was discontinued. But my mom did Grand Ams. And she had got a Turbo when they were new. I don't remember exactly what year, but it had a fancy digital computer that told her the door was open and such, same as my friends '87 Firebird. Fun cars that actually seemed to get 'cheaper' as the model years went on. Interiors were utter garbage by the late '90s.

[@thisisyourcaptainspeaking2259]

I'm still looking for a complete '86 with the 3.8 and EFI.

[@The_R-n-I_Guy]

I'd love to find another Grand Am. Mine was an 86 I think. Black with gray cloth seats. I think it had the Iron Duke, but it's been so long and so many cars ago I really don't remember. I know it was an automatic. I was in my early 20s and I enjoyed it. Don't remember exactly what happened to it. I went through a lot of cars. I know the next car I got was an 88 Caprice Classic Brougham. And that's another car I wish I still had. Ugh, I was so hard on cars when I was younger

[@Elandycamino]

My friend had a 87 "god damn" with a 3.8l swap it had a rust hole in the fender and looked horrible but was fast AF

[@isaacgarrison36]

I had 2 Chevy Corsicas "basically a N body with a little J car". Anyways, the 2.8L V6 8: lol9 LTZ and they teuly sid tune it to feel more sportier than my regular 90'

[@robk9685]

Surprised these were so reliable. They just seemed like most Chrysler cars, they were all over the road everywhere then boom.....5 years later you never saw another one again.

[@woxyroxme]

I had a 1990 Buick Skylark that I bought from my mother when she decided she needed a new car, I thought they were the perfect size for what I needed but I thought the Oldsmobile had much better styling

[@larrymorgan222]

The first model year had a hand brake for the parking brake. It was directly under the center console storage. Oops. So what those clever engineers did was put a hinge at the back of the storage compartment so that you could use the hand brake.

[@landonbenford8369]

I had a coworker who had a First Generation (1985-91) Calais and another worker who bought a 1993 Grand Am new. The Grand Am's were ALL OVER ChicagoLand!!! In the 80's, the Chicago/NorthWest Indiana region was Buick's Number One market in America.😎Pontiac couldn't have been far behind!!🧐Unfortunately, I haven't seen a Grand Am in probably the better part of 2 decades! They were very likely either eaten alive by Road Salt or driven into the ground by Fast & Furious 'posers.😢😢

[@seththomas9105]

The Olds was actually a big seller in Iowa as they were a popular brand here. A freind had a 84 and drove it for probably 12 years, was a nice car. I thought the first gen Pontiac was a good looking car too. I just wish this had been a RWD platform, but GM under Roger "I don't know shit about building cars" Smith was in love with fron drivers and the second gen was a BIG letdown IMHO.

[@petertornabeni602]

Who remembers the last generation Grand Am with its 210 hp H.O. 3.4 ? I’m a Ford guy, but that car was a lot of fun to drive - btw . . In what world is it necessary to kill off a youth brand ? Pontiac was totally mismanaged - the Pontiac division of General Motors under the right direction would have been a monster money machine …. I (even as a Ford guy) would have NEVER let some government quack tell me what to do with my company. SAAB, Hummer and the other money losers bought that weren’t in the GM family originally - OVERBOARD .. no questions

[@seanabe7375]

Owned and 86 LE that I traded in with 175K miles for a 92. Loved the 86. Hated the 92. The 92 felt junky.

[@kennethsouthard6042]

I don't think that these were cheap throwaway cars. If I remember correctly they began for around $9,500 or so for the base models. Add some options and trims and these could easily climb over 12,000 which was a pricey summer in 85. These were a major investment, designed to be much more advanced than the cars they replaced. I think you're confusing them with the J cars.

[@chadakoin1]

Buick had the GNX , the Grand National or the "Somerset". It just screamed "pussy".

[@zachlafond2652]

bil had an '88 Grand am manaul with the quad 4. That car could move, but the handling was god awful horrible. The thing rotted away very quickly and ended up in a junk yard not long after he gave it to me sometime in the later 90s.

[@Sludge73]

I had that thumbnail Grand Am! 5sp car.

[@postmodernrecycler]

"Achieva SEX" lol😂🤣

[@shaneduncan2924]

I owned 3 grand Sam's 85 _95 _02 not bad cars

[@joshriver75]

Said "Kal-A"

[@XLil-n1b]

They would have sold better if they all were rear wheel drive

[@drippinglass]

I thought they were all crappy. 😀

[@Stevenimich]

The N- body cars I couldn't stand. I just felt the back half was polarizing. The Grand Am had a handsome face.

[@jakeballard7999]

My car made the Video -

[@markman7]

GM spent a crap ton building 2-door versions of this body and others when 2 doors were on the way out. The GM-10 platform was another major loser as they began only as coupes when the Taurus/Sable was the big seller at that time in only a 4-door body.

[@jamesterakazis6624]

By this time, GM had completely lost its way. Cheap and I mean CHEAP interiors, poor build quality, engines that were weasy at best. To think that the General once created the 1965 Grand Prix and then created this garbage 30 years later....Progress you say ?

[@JacobPaul-ix7oc]

No, planned obsolescence. Does a company make more money selling a quality product once every 20 years, or once every 5 years with multiple parts and repairs needed within that time? You need to understand how government and corporations work together to plan the economy. Long lasting, reliable vehicles: Less vehicles sold, less parts sold, less service jobs needed= Low National Gross Domestic Product and economic stagnation. Barely adequate, unreliable vehicles: More cars sold in shorter period of time, more parts sold and more service jobs needed= High National Gross Domestic Product and the appearance of economic growth.

[@jamesterakazis6624]

@@JacobPaul-ix7oc Somehow Toyota managed to be the most profitable car company EVER producing reliable, well made vehicles. Your argument is silly at best.

[@braddietzmusic2429]

Never liked these. The rear proportions were bad, and followed by other GM lines like Riviera, Eldorado, Toronado of the same era. Good feature, however. Thanks.