Worst cars of the '80s from General Motors!

[@The_R-n-I_Guy]

The worst cars from the 80's are better than the crossover garbage people drive today!

[@yungkidnf]

All except the Olds diesels 😂😂😂

[@billbowers268]

I rented a LeMonz while my car was being repaired . I brought it back the next morning I would rather walk while my car was being repaired. What a piece of crap !😢

[@Outdoorsy368]

Fair enough

[@Turfcat150]

Nothing is more uninspiring than a transverse or equinox

[@Dizzy206]

Chevy Trax. One of of the worst designs ever imo.

[@DBlake864]

My husband bought me an ‘85 Firebird when we were newlyweds. Gorgeous car, but the transmission was a lemon. We were visiting family out of state. Despite the fact that we had the extended warranty, the dealer there refused to touch it. When we got back home, the dealer there suggested we take it to the dealer where we bought it. He WAS the dealer we bought it from. We haven’t set foot in a GM dealership since.

[@GreenHawkDrive]

Wow, lots of people from dealerships can be snobby…

[@charlesb7019]

We had a brand new 1994 Chevy Caprice. 6 months in and it was leaking both oil and transmission fluid. Took it to the dealer to be repaired under warranty. The service manager told me that the leaks were a design feature on the car that kept pressure from building up in the engine…….🤬 Got rid of that car and bought a Toyota.

[@jorgedacosta8957]

Them Transmissions and that small 7.5 Rear end was Horrible. They did this intentionally so you'd get the car repaired. Who's going to take a Monza style V6 rear end and put it behind a 8 cylinder?

[@The_R-n-I_Guy]

The Iron Duke was rough and underpowered. But it was reliable. Only the 3800 V6 was more reliable

[@stevecooper7883]

Post Office trucks still use the iron duke!

[@courtneypuzzo2502]

as someone who was born in the mid 1980s who's no deceased maternal grandmother had a used 1984 Buick Skylark with the Iron Duke engine it wasn't rough due to the tune used for the Buick as opposed to the Chevy Citation Pontiac Sunbird and Oldsmobile Cutlass base model and even the base 1982 Chevrolet Camaro which weighed 3,119 LBs while the base Buick skylark weighed 2,600 LBs during that time while a fully optioned Camaro SS weighed 3,362 LBs

[@brentboswell1294]

I don't know, it had its fair share of troubles. I had an '88 Fiero with the "Tech IV". It broke two valve springs on me, and it didn't have any incling of power whatsoever. You could try revving it out, but it hit a brick wall at its pathetic 4500 RPM redline 🙁

[@christopheryanoski6899]

The 3300 ,2.8 (carbed or MFI), and 3.1 were equally as good as the iron duke and 3800 in terms of reliability.

[@jeffbranch8072]

@@brentboswell1294 still MUCH better than the V6 ever was. They developed rod knock (or worse) where most 2.5L would go 200k-250k (or more) miles still running just fine.

[@thatcarguy1UZ]

My first car (I was 18 in 1992) was a 1980 Olds 98 diesel. It was originally grandfather's car. It's first engine blew up when it was one-year-old. But the engine that replaced it was one of the improved engines. That engine went well over 200,000 miles because my grandparents frequently traveled between Philadelphia and California and also between Philadelphia and Miami. I got the car because my grandfather had gotten another car when the transmission went bad on the Oldsmobile. I got it for free on the condition that I could fix it. I put another Transmission in it and I drove it for four more years. It finally died because it got rear-ended by a dump truck while I was sitting at a red light. I know the early old diesels were bad engines, but the later version actually wasn't terrible. It was definitely gutless. But I had a big American luxury car with ice cold air conditioning and blast furnace Heat that rode like a cloud, and managed to get almost 30 miles per gallon. Back in the early to mid-90s that was pretty good.

[@GreenHawkDrive]

Man, i’m so sorry about what happened. Thank you for sharing this, I enjoyed the read!

[@thatcarguy1UZ]

​@GreenHawkDrive it is what it is. It was a very long time ago. I used to be a GM Tech back in the early 90s after I graduated from school. I learned a lot about those Diesels because there were still a lot of them at the time. The V8 was rushed out because of the oil embargo before it was ready and GM paid the consequences for it. The V6 diesel was also a gutless Wonder, but it was pretty reliable. The V6 was derived from the 350 V8, but it had more cylinder head bolts. That made all the difference. The V6 diesel only had some problems with the injection pump, but the Roosa Master (and then later Stanadyne) pump wasn't exactly the best design. One of the other issues that really hurt the 350 diesel and to a lesser extent the 4.3 L V6 was the fact that GM purposely did not use a water separator because they were trying to make the diesel as maintenance-free and user-friendly as a gasoline engine. They didn't want people having the regularly drain their water separator.

[@frankpeletz1818]

@@thatcarguy1UZ The V6 diesel was developed by Detroit Diesel-nothing to do with the 350 gas engine.

[@thatcarguy1UZ]

@frankpeletz1818 I was a dealership mechanic working on those. You're thinking of the 6.2 L/6.5L diesels. The V6 4.3 L diesel was based on the Oldsmobile 350 diesel design and was designed by Oldsmobile division. One of the key differences, however, is that it was modified from the original Oldsmobile 350 design and Incorporated more cylinder head bolts per cylinder.

[@frankpeletz1818]

@@thatcarguy1UZ There was a 4.3 AND 5.7 v8 diesel based on the Olds 350. The 4.3 v6 was a different engine designed by Detroit Deisel. There was the aluminum or cast iron head and cast or stainless exhaust manifold and 4 different head gaskets corresponding to the head/manifold. I spent 4 years doing nothing but diesels at Olds, then went to Chevy.

[@superbird2814]

My dad had a 1979 Delta 88 Diesel. He installed his own water separator, and did oil changes constantly. Traded it in after 6 years. It actually worked quite well. Fuel efficiency was awesome and it had a 102 Liter tank. Slow as hell though even by '80s standards.

[@johnmaki3046]

I owned an '81 (GUTLESS) Cutlass with the gasoline "231" V-6! WHAT A NIGHTMARE in a country of freeways!

[@bindig1]

I had a '81 Chevy Caprice Classic wagon with an Olds diesel engine. Beautiful car, phenomenal fuel mileage but would never start when the engine was hot. Had to wait an hour or so to start. Switched it over to a 350 Olds gas engine and never had a problem

[@MandoRive]

Have u checked out the Nissans from 2000-2019?nice cars but worst transmission ever.

[@jakerazmataz852]

@@MandoRive I had an '82 Datsun 310, an '88 Pulsar NX SE, great car, and a '98 200SX. The '82 got 36 mpg hywy. How many gas cars get that today?

[@crowejoy]

A water separator? I’ve never had a diesel…. never knew anyone who had one..

[@sidgreentherhymeofreason]

Chevrolet Celebrity was not an awful car. You would do better looking at the Chevette. The Chevette didn't have a lot of power, plus it took forever to get to 0-60 most of the time. If you ask me, I would rather have a Celebrity over a Chevette any day.

[@ront769]

I delivered in a pizzeria owned Celebrity while driving my own 84' Chevette. The Celeb got the job done but the 76hp 5-speed Vette was my sentimental favourite for a long time after!

[@lastotallyawesomebleach204]

I was thinking that he should've mentioned the chevette, Vega, citation, or Monza, but those were technically 70's cars.

[@bobcarlino7280]

The Citation was introduced in the fall of 1979 as a 1980 model.@@lastotallyawesomebleach204

[@sidgreentherhymeofreason]

@@lastotallyawesomebleach204 I think the Vega had an engine cast iron head and an aluminum block

[@sidgreentherhymeofreason]

@ront769 My mom did have a 1985 Chevette CS Sport, and it was a good car, so was the 1989 Celebrity 2.5 litre she owned.

[@dartsport1974]

4:53 mark-The GM president Peter Estes already warned the Cadillac General manager they didn’t have enough time to make the Cimarron. Yet they went against him and made the Cimarron. 7:30 mark- One of the engineers who worked on the diesel engine told his boss’s don’t release this and he ended up getting fired. Very interesting. It’s the way HISTORY is. You have some people out there that have good ideas and they get overridden. It’s like that in life. Now I’m going to add to this, tragically though those people that have good ideas may be intelligent and correct but are sometimes forced against their will resulting in them going forward with the bad idea that the majority is pushing, and then they get blamed for it when it backfires being the fall guy . It’s like that in companies, public service, like Police Department/Fire Department (even in the hospital emergency room. ) maybe even executive offices as well. It’s not like the movies where there is some guy who has the right idea & wins against the group of people who oppose it. I wish it was that easy, but it isn’t.

[@Diogenes-ty9yy]

+1

[@marklittle8805]

GM however has a history of firing people for speaking the truth. Anyone who knew diesels with their higher compressions knew that you had to adapt the block to allow for a strengthened bolt architecture on the heads. The video didn't mention either that aluminum heads and the iron blocks were an issue either. That engine was a disaster from the word go. And I am not a freaking engineer and I would understand the issues with that. Gas engines are not easy conversions to diesel at all.

[@a.leemorrisjr.9255]

Wagon pictured is actually a '76. I had 1, a Grand Lemans Coupe. Like a baby Grand Prix. Yes, it was very trouble prone, lousy. It was comfortable, quiet, rode nicely, but engine/transmission issues were common😮! My first & last GM.

[@GreenHawkDrive]

Thank you for sharing that. I made the mistake as I assumed GM put the diesels in them!

[@michaelwhite2823]

@@GreenHawkDrive will you change the photo?

[@GreenHawkDrive]

@@michaelwhite2823 I’m just going to keep it how it is, for Part 2 I will bring it up for sure!

[@broncomcbane6382]

@@michaelwhite2823 cant now the video is finished.

[@burtbacarach5034]

@@GreenHawkDrive You know what you make when you assume right?An ASS out of U and ME.

[@TheDarkPhoenix23]

Some great points here, though the J body was never intended to "replace" the X body. The eventual replacement for the X came in the form of the A bodies (Celebrity/6000/Century/Cutless Ciera), which even then used an X body chassis and components. Because so much money had been invested in the X body program, the X and the A bodies were sold from 82-85 side by side. The X was simply phased out, allowing the A to fill the void.

[@pcno2832]

I suspect that the X-body cars were sort of a beta test program for the FWD A-body cars, bigger than GM really intended its "compacts" to be. The N-bodies were the ultimate replacement for the X-bodies, occupying the same place in the lineup, even though they were less roomy and comfortable. The J-bodies were just barely big enough to be called compact, so they sort of created their own niche.

[@TheDarkPhoenix23]

@@pcno2832 i concur, the N is the natural replacement for the X cars.

[@kc9scott]

X-bodies were marketed as compact, although technically they fit the EPA interior-volume category of midsize, so were seen by the customer as a “roomy compact”. J-bodies were subcompact, totally different market category. The A-bodies were truly midsize. I believe it was just market reaction to the many problems of the X-body cars that made customers switch to the A-body models, not an intentional plan by GM to have one replace the other, at least not in the first few years. I’m very surprised that the X-body cars weren’t #1 on this list.

[@christopheryanoski6899]

Don't forget ... Chevrolet didn't have an N body.....but they had their own L body. Corsica and Beretta. Same size ...same loosely based on J platform underpinning but way nicer sheetmetal than any N body.

[@dvaeogreg5557]

The A Body was based on the X Body but marketed as a midsize.. It was intended to replace the midsized rear drive products (which remained popular and remained on sale) as part of GM's downsizing frenzy. They are from a foot to 8 inches longer than the Xs. Same wheelbases. When they came out the Xs shared the many improvements GM made for launch of the A Body. The X Body Citation was replaced with the N Platform based L platform, Beretta/Corsica, legitimate heir to the Citation. Pontiac's Phoenix, Olds Calais and Buick's Somerset/Skylark N Bodies replaced their X counterparts. The Ns were heavily based on the J and the L was based on the N. Nice work on this piece. I subbed. Thanks

[@maxmoritz2786]

The German model of the Le Mans aka Opel Kadett was also offered with a 2.0l 115 hp engine as a counterpart to the Golf GTI and as a 2.0 16V GSI with 150 hp. And it was also available as a convertible.

[@ferencmarknagy2573]

The GSI was brilliant with the C20XE

[@tomaszprzetacznik7802]

I remember Opel Kadett E from my childhood, my dad bought this abomination. It looked like stuffed turtle and was similarly agile. it had diesel engine that sounded like if it was taken from a tractor.

[@ianalyzeeverysecondiexist]

@@tomaszprzetacznik7802 The 1,6 litre diesel? My parents had one and it sounded horrible. With approx. 55 hp it was very, very slow. And the cream white (ish) colour didn't do any good for the looks.

[@rinkkalex]

The GSI 16v was truly unparalleled in performance back then, the fact it'd even gap the MK3 Golf GTi 16v in a drag race is plain hilarious but speaks volumes to the cosworth designed C20XE, that had "156 horsepower" (modern dyno tests showed the number is like 170-180 crank)

[@markuskruger2102]

Mine has had the 1.3 Litre 60 PS / HP with single caburettor and manual Choke, nice to handle on cold, humid, windy and rainy Northwestern Germany winter days.....and 4 on the floor with the sometimes clonky 1 gear after using the Reverse.....

[@toddburgess6792]

A shiny new black Cadillac was parked next to me, back in the 80s, when the lady driver sauntered up, slid in and cranked that locomotive up! I jumped in my seat, it jolted my senses so bad!! My thought at the time was, "Where has GM gone?!?!", and can now say I've seen the rise and complete failure of an empire. There was an old saying, "What's good for GM is good for America!", but that has changed several times and several corporations with, I suppose, some Chinese company filling that role today.

[@GreenHawkDrive]

A diesel caddy is the last thing you would expect😂

[@richardpetker4337]

@@GreenHawkDrive Except a 4 cylinder Cimarron.!

[@pinkflydnt]

He mentioned the Skylark as a sister car to the Firenza, Cavalier, Sunbird and the Cimarron but it was an X Body like the Citation, Phoenix and Omega; it was the Skyhawk that was J Car.

[@UhOK327]

Yep. And at 5:34 it’s a picture of an X-body Skylark.

[@michaelgillis9420]

Yep - the Skylark is an X-car and not a J-car. Hope the content can be updated to reflect that.

[@jonyoder2356]

I had a 1982 Skyhawk as my first car in highschool in 1989. It was the biggest piece of crap ever!! American cars were horrible and most still are.

[@yungkidnf]

I knew the Caballero existed. It was previously known as the GMC Sprint for the a body platform.

[@michaelafsa4591]

I had a 1979 Chevy El Camino with the 5 liter V8 and it was a good truck, drove it to 150,000 miles with only regular maintenance and it drove like a car. Should of kept it.

[@e28forever30]

Should HAVE

[@jorgedacosta8957]

The way cars should have been built

[@truckcamper5751]

Made in the 80s they still make junk 2023

[@AsteroidsDeluxe]

Back in September of 1990 my friend gave me a ride in his company car Lemans. I was thinking how modern and terrible this car is at the same time.

[@autochatter]

Best way to describe that car! Good engineering, but slapped together with the quality control of gas station sushi.

[@szilardtoth8814]

I drove 1980 as well as 1988 and 1990 Le Mans in Europe! All of these cars were proven quite reliable! The 88-90 Pontiac Le Mans had been a kinda upscale of Opel Kadett-E. Also owned an Olds Custom Cruiser Diesel. I had no problems with it.

[@soco13466]

I hate that. They took a famous and popular name of another totally dissimilar car people loved, and slapped it on a cheap import. That's just a real proof that GM really thought the name would make the car "cool." They wouldn't know "cool" if it kicked them in the ass.

[@clay43373]

Notihing wrong with the El Camino

[@GreenHawkDrive]

It’s definitely a hot take. The first few years were fine for the 5th gen. They never redesigned it over the course of 9 years which contributed to its lower sales, the diesels in them were garbage.

[@The_R-n-I_Guy]

The El Camino was a great vehicle

[@CamaroSS-sy2ei]

I remember seeing a lot of Monte Carlo SS front ends added to El Caminos in the ‘80’s.

[@soco13466]

I agree. I thought it looked good.

[@johnnymason3265]

I would still want an El Camino or even a GMC Cabarello. I would just find a good GM V8 crate motor to replace the old V8s used at the time.

[@lilibethdoherty295]

Chevy Celebrity was GM's version of the Chrysler K car and was not even mentioned.

[@Themadhattter]

In the case of the La Mans in the '80's GM was trying slinging anything against the wall hoping anything would stick.

[@eddiestanley135]

Sadly, sh*t will usually stick to a wall!!!!😁

[@DS-wo8wr]

@@eddiestanley135The LeMans of that era smelled like piss… Not the usual new car smell.

[@Sikat-k5i]

@@DS-wo8wr Korea made. Smelled like Kimchee.

[@Rob-eg8qc]

Lemans was badged as the vauxhall astra here in the UK. The vauxhall astra GTE 2.0 16v which had around 156 bhp was the hot hatch version

[@OLDS98]

Good video. Great footage. I like the fact you put thought into your information. The Buick version of the J car was the Skyhawk. Skylark was an X Body then a N Body. Interesting list and footage.

[@GreenHawkDrive]

I really appreciate that man, thank you!

[@mockbattles]

A right hand drive version of that Opel Le Mans with Pontiac badging was built in New Zealand in 1989-90. People weren’t fooled and could see through it. Sales were poor. I have a brochure though. Super rare!

[@BigRobChicagoPL]

I had an 86 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham. That model year they switched to the good OLDS 307 V8, but before that they used some v8 with cylinder deactivation. You could imagine an early 80s computer doing that was not very great...

[@GreenHawkDrive]

Sweet ride brotha!

[@Rocky_O_Gibraltar]

That particular V8 engine Cadillac used from 1981-85 was the fuel-injected 368cid variable displacement V8-6-4. The factory also offered the fuel-injected 4.1 Litre aluminum block V8s from 1982-85.

[@dannyzwahlen8278]

The Cadillac 8-6-4 was a huge problem. GM realized this and extended the warranty to 100,000 miles or 5 years. Most people traded them in. How long did you keep yours?

[@mbd501]

One correction: the Buick J-body was the Skyhawk, not the Skylark. The Skylark was an X-body.

[@michaelwilliams4410]

My first car was a 1981 Chevrolet Citation. I graduated from high school in 1991, and my late parents bought it for me ($1000). It was the four-door hatchback model, and it was beige with tan interior. That car was AWFUL!

[@GreenHawkDrive]

Good god😂

[@KevinBarry-j8w]

I had two decades ago, I'm still traumatized

[@kc9scott]

My Dad bought an ‘80 Citation new and he ended up hating it, although I don’t know specifically why. I was 18 at the time and experienced its common rear-brake lockup issue once, doing a 180 on an offramp in the rain, luckily not hitting anything. The Iron Duke had OK power with the 4-speed manual, though. I think it rusted a fair amount in the 5 years he had it. In 1987 I bought my own Citation V6 as a beater, and used it for 1 year. It was a Flintstones car when I bought it; added some pieces of pressure-treated plywood, supported by plumbing straps, to have a floor. It went through several HEI ignition modules during that time, and often I had to fiddle with the butterfly valves on the carburetor to get it to run.

[@kendalson7100]

My first car too. The accelerator would stick to the floor (I still have a lead foot) and I'd have to kick it pretty hard to loosen it. I think it had fuel injection problems too.

[@skifusya2814]

The Citations always looked like turtle shells mounted on wheels to me. They were...unique.

[@kpkp2655]

Lol, It's not "LEHMANZ", it's "LE' MAU". The Europeanz be like Dafuq they americanz messed up our race name.

[@crw3673]

Didn't anybody else pickup at 12:43 they showed a LQ engine instead of the traditional Chevy 350, they were talking about?

[@GreenHawkDrive]

I believe you are correct

[@crw3673]

@@GreenHawkDrive dude! You clearly see a throttle body facing 90° and the huge truck intake. Then the plug on coil. Traditional small block has a overhead tbi that looks similar to a carburetor, facing straight up! The spark plugs were still rotor on cap! They referencing a small block 305/350, but showing a LS engine. 🤔

[@NSH_2814]

What's the name of the background music?

[@scottleyva8656]

I had a 1986 Chevrolet El Camino that I drove to 183,000 miles. I kept in like new condition and everything worked great. I sold it to an older gentleman in 2004 whose El Camino was totaled while parked on the street. I wish now I had kept it, as it was one of my favorite cars I've owned!

[@jamesguptill6611]

I owned a 92 lemans, a four speed with no radio. It was amazing! No power, but a hoot to drive!

[@milfordcivic6755]

So many oldsmobiles went to the boneyard far too early because of the diesel engines

[@johnmaki3046]

Oldsmobile and Cadillac diesel powerplants were OFTEN replaced by "350s" (ALL G.M. divisions) These WORKED!

[@paulbalogh4582]

Had one - total piece of crap. Park it in October cause it would not start again till May.

[@paulbalogh4582]

Sure miss my Olds/Buick gas full size station wagons.

[@mharris5047]

That was too bad, the full size cars they put the diesels into were actually nice cars with a gas engine. I had a 1982 Buick Electra, the V6 that was in it had over 200K when the transmission started slipping and my brother crashed it before I could decide what to do about it. The engine was fine.

[@milfordcivic6755]

@@mharris5047 My 1st car was an 83 LeSabre coupe with a 4.1 4bbl and a bad 200R-4 transmission. It had all of 110 hp and no power when the A/C was on. I had nothing but trouble with that car and it was only 9 years old in 1992. I swore I'd never buy another Buick with a V-6 after that.

[@smellsuperb1]

The j body did not replace the X body, they were made simultaneously. It replaced the h body rear wheel drive platform, primarily the Monza, Starfire, Sunbird, Vega, and Skyhawk vehicles.

[@carlasghost656]

An overlooked issue with the GM diesel was the transmissions they were attached to. I had a Olds with one. A friend laughed at the way I slowly shifted from Park to Drive. First Reverse, pause. Then Neutral, pause. Then finally Drive. At a stop sign I slapped it straight back into park. The hit the accelerator and started driving down the road. I stopped after a couple blocks because I was afraid it might suddenly remember what gear it was supposed to be in. I've talked with others who had similar cars from Olds and Cadillac from the time. Apparently it wasn't that rare of an issue and drivers just learned to check before taking their foot off the brake.

[@ClassicTVMan1981X]

Yes, I have read the THM200/C was not a very good transmission for it; the only reason they ever used it with the LF9 instead of the better THM350/C, especially in the 1980-82 B-body wagons and the C-bodies, was to keep the overall weight (GVW) of the vehicle within a certain limit. The THM200-4R with the overdriven 4th, as used from 1983-85, was much better.

[@fritsb8788]

In Europe the le mans/kadett had a top version with 150 hp. This was the car to owne in the early 90's. They where fast and reliable. Oh how I miss that area.....

[@Rusty5000]

The Cimarron was supposed to come out in 85 with the v6 and a more unique body but supposedly cadillac dealers where threatening to leave if they didn't get a car soon to compete against the 3 series. Or thats how its told. They even had a turbo 4 that could have been used.

[@GreenHawkDrive]

I had another comment say the same thing

[@LearnAboutFlow]

I can see why. i remember being at the BMW/Buick dealership and this family showed up in a giant Cadillac Sedan de Ville, got out, and were looking at a 'tiny' BMW 320i. But you can't put lipstick on a pig, especially with a NON-forward thinking company like GM run by accountants, so the Cimarron was a failure.

[@juliamiller2299]

One of my friends had an 80's J2000 that was turbocharged. It was fun to drive. It didn't handle very well under hard acceleration since it had a brutal torque steer. His parents bought an Olds station wagon with the infamous diesel. We used to love driving it and flooring the thing just to watch the black smoke screen appear. It was very hard to start in cold weather, needing two other cars to jumpstart it, since it had two batteries. My company cars in the 80s were a full-sized chev wagon with a 305, a Celebrity wagon with the gutless 2.8 v6, and a Ford Taurus with a 3.0 v6, which was probably the nicest car.

[@MrROTD]

My Mom had a Lemans from the late 80s, it fell apart after one year she had to fight the dealer to get them to take it back.

[@GreenHawkDrive]

Holy shi-

[@Wild1995]

I would add the 1985 Oldsmobile Forenza. Brazilian made engine. Head gaskets would blow before 35,000 miles. My dad had one and a mechanic told him it would happen and like clockwork it happened at 34,000 miles. Luckily it was barely still under warranty. They looked nice but the quality was horrible.

[@autochatter]

Great vid! I would have included the infamous Cadillac 8/6/4 cylinder deactivation cars too and the Alante.. The LeMans was a joke. I remember mainly younger females having them.

[@GreenHawkDrive]

Thank you. Yeah, I should have included the Alante for sure!

[@autochatter]

​@GreenHawkDrive It had a longer assembly line than any other car ever built to my knowledge LOL. I'm not trying to be critical or anything, there was alot of questionable product then to research lol.

[@kc9scott]

The vast majority of GM’s cars in the ‘80s were terrible. The “malaise era” lasted longer for them than for any other car company. It’s hard to pick the worst from such a long list of candidates…

[@ferencmarknagy2573]

The EU spec, aka the Opel Kadett was a good car, especially the GSI with the C20XE which made 150hp.

[@rogerrendzak8055]

"Either way, 1986 Cimarron people, have one thing in common". Yeah, absolutely ZERO taste😏!!! Four door, sedans?? That's a good one🤭!!

[@license2kilttheplaidlad640]

I loved my Elc SS wish i had another. The only tricky thing I ever had to deal with was that the former owner was a smoker and it screwed up the transmission ( i know WHAT?) Believe it or not i had noticed the car struggle to settle into overdrive it would go back n fourth a couple times then shift up finally i later learned there was an autronic eye senser built into the speedometer that as the needle passed it signaled the trans to shift up , but it would get coated with shit from tobacco smoke n not be able to read clearly. Taaaadaaah a qtip and alcohol problem solved.

[@GreenHawkDrive]

What a crazy story😂

[@justsumguy2u]

Interesting video. To me, the worst offender was the Cimarron---putting a luxurious interior into a Cavalier does not equate to a Cadillac. And I once drove an elderly lady's early 80's Cutlass coupe with a V6 diesel---you'd swear that car had a 4 cylinder under the hood. It was so slow that I'd actually call it dangerous, couldn't get out of it's own way

[@DanielLopez-me9mh]

I clearly remember the olds diesel it was a good concept but Oldsmobile rushed the development and did no extensive testing before releasing and no water separator the second revision of the olds diesel was the best but the damage was already done

[@DTD110865]

Those Olds diesels were also available in Buicks, Chevys, Pontiacs, Cadillacs, GMCs, and even Checkers. BTW, I like the Cadillac Brougham commercial from the late-1980's you've got there.

[@einzelganger2925]

I worked for many years in the Opel organization in Germany. The Pontiac LeMans (Aerocoupe) and the Kadett-E developed here in Rüsselsheim are worlds apart due to the many technical changes and the very poor quality assurance at Daewoo at the time. In addition, the Kadett was tailored purely to the European market and was half-heartedly converted by the Koreans for the US market. Here in our country, the Kadett-E was one of the most successful cars in the lower middle class and car of the year 1985, with around 3,800,000 units sold. I also own the GSI 16V of the then general project manager of the Kadett-E, Mr. Leberecht Fröhlich, who was responsible for the Kadett-E from design to production; everything that had to do with the car went over his desk. Many greetings from Germany

[@GreenHawkDrive]

Thank you for sharing this man, this is awesome! Cheers from the USA🇺🇸

[@westhavenor9513]

My father and stepmother got on board with several GM 5.7L diesel models. Delta 88, Caprice. Tornado. Yep, they were terrible. GM paid for several new engines. The other problem was the lack of a decent diesel fuel filter. Few stations carried diesel in those days. In the ones that did the fuel was often old and dirty. Also, these car were dismally slow. We had a steep hill in town, and those things would creep up it in a huge cloud of black smoke! My dad finally bought an '81 VW Rabbit diesel that I eventually took to college and got 250k (very slow) miles out of it!

[@GreenHawkDrive]

Thank you for sharing this man, I appreciated the read! My cousin has a rabbit diesel, awesome little things

[@tholmes2169]

A girl I dated in high school in the early 90s had a dad that specialized in those Olds diesels. He actually loved them. He was a mechanic for at least 2 decades before and he actually had some fixes for the things to make them more reliable. Her personal car was a delta 88 with the diesel. It was fairly quiet with torque but no HP.

[@Calc_Ulator]

Ukraine is getting their shit pushed in. How ya feel about that stooge?

[@bigtractorpower]

Very informative. New subscriber. 👍👍

[@GreenHawkDrive]

Welcome aboard!

[@catjudo1]

GM is the best example I can think of that demonstrates why the bean counters should never be given control of the entire company. GM engineers did amazing things with what they had, but their work was always undermined by cost cutting. I honestly think that GM shouldn't have been bailed out; they ran themselves into the ground, and they should have stayed there. And for the record, my first car was a '70 Pontiac Firebird. That was when GM still made some great cars.

[@a.leemorrisjr.9255]

Remember Ford to their good took no taxpayer bailout cash (a sharp CFO named Daniels had accrued a large war chest for Ford before things went down the toilet.) It was GM & Chrysler who went to Feds hat in hand. Don't know if they got it, but all Ford wanted was a $9B line of credit they could tap into if needed. For me, the scary part was: 1.) Why were we bailing out those who caused the meltdown in first place? 2.) Who's to say it can't happen again?

[@martinliehs2513]

GM as a car company barely exists today in North America. The are essentially a maker of trucks and SUV's, with a few halo cars.

[@GloucesterODaugherty]

Same for ford and Chrysler

[@GloucesterODaugherty]

Ford took bailouts before the big one in 2008

[@a.leemorrisjr.9255]

@@martinliehs2513 Can they really force customers to buy overpriced vehicles they don't really want? Time will tell the tale.

[@Kenneth-fu3js]

Good Episode!! I remember my Gmom wanted a Cimaron when they came out! My uncle talked her out of it Thankfully!!!

[@jamielee8991]

I have a Olds cutlass that came with the 350 olds diesel. When I pulled the engine the car had 205k mi. All that was really done was maintenance. I pulled it just to swap it to a gas engine.

[@GreenHawkDrive]

the later diesels were far better than the older ones.

[@ClassicTVMan1981X]

@@GreenHawkDrive Yes, the 1981-85 models with the newer DX block (and also the 1982-85 4.3L V-6 diesels), as they also had roller lifters. I read that Olds did install a fuel/water separator on some of these, but I think that only applied to their 4.3L V-6 diesel. The 4.3L V-6 diesel also had more head bolts per cylinder than the 5.7L V-8 for improved reliability.

[@AutistCat]

Fantastic video, I hope this channel keeps this up. Very happy to subscribe.

[@raymondellis5720]

Why is a 1976 Pontiac Safari used to introduce a story of the worst GM cars of the '80s ?

[@GreenHawkDrive]

It was my mistake. You and many people have brought this to my attention, I appreciate it!

[@brianhechinger6726]

That gorgeous safari got my attention to watch this video

[@jamesstewart3771]

I love the 87 El Camino SS . It looked cool with the aero front end .

[@gc7820]

The Pontiac LeMans was the second version of the Opal Kadett in Europe and the Vauxhall Astra in Britain and highly successful but, in the UK at least, cheap & cheerful.

[@andymountain130]

And in 16v redtop xe engine it's was the quickest fastest of all it's rivals. Commanding heavy prices now

[@estebanrearte252]

Yes , but the American Pontiac LeMans was merely a rebadging of Korean Daewoo Racer / Nexia

[@leopold7562]

The Astra! I knew it looked familiar!

[@richardpalleschi4807]

I worked at a salvage yard back in the 80's. I changed over a lot of Diesel GM's to a gas engine. Not hard to do. Just get a good Old's 350 & use the Diesel engine mounts the one on the starter side was more forward for the bigger starter.

[@yungkidnf]

I love how you put a *GREAT* car from the 70s at the thumbnail (no, seriously)

[@GreenHawkDrive]

It was my mistake. I assumed those wagons had the diesels in them!

[@garywalters3007]

i was thinking the same thing. i was standing by you with a sock full of nickels to swing at the poster.

[@ne2i]

We had that very wagon in the thumbnail pic. It was a great family hauler that never let us down. Traded in on a Toyota when my dad worked for Bronx Toyota in the early 80's

[@GreenHawkDrive]

Thanks for sharing that man

[@iangrice329]

Strange about the Opal Kadet or Vauxhall Astra in UK, as these had some of the most reliable engines of the time.

[@bavelnaard]

Not really considering the fact the European built Opel E Kadetts and Vauxhall Astras were eventually reissued by the Korean built Daewoo Nexia (the same crapshoot which the Americans got) which wasn't an evolution but a regression, especially in quality terms. Of course, the Koreans have come a long way since then. Interestingly enough, the E Kadett could be considered a regression of the D Kadett which was a much more durable and innovative, but GM chose to regress and use a sort of paperthin sheetmetal for the E Kadett. I'm remembering the dissolving rear wheelarches of those which would simple vanish when not looking for a second

[@iangrice329]

​@bavelnaard friend had a 87 Astra estate 1.6 that went round the clock twice. Hardly had any problems mechanically or bodywork wise.

[@bavelnaard]

Fair enough, good for him he didn't have any problem. Mechanically they were pretty bulletproof, but at least here in the Netherlands I never saw a single one that hasn't had bodywork. The Korean afterbirth was just that, afterbirth

[@iangrice329]

@bavelnaard Neighbour had a MK 3 Astra, that was awful in every way. Broke rear springs for a hobby.

[@bavelnaard]

Hahaha

[@larrymacfarlane1799]

A guy in my high school had an 80's era Chevy Nova. It was a brutal death to a notorious name plate.

[@RobsNeighbor]

My grandparents gave me their mint 1083 Delta 88 Diesel in 2000 all original motor was great for them. At 19 it didnt last for me, wish I could go back in time. I remember like it was yesterday Grandpa handing me the keys.

[@GreenHawkDrive]

Damn:/

[@BrianPetersen-l2w]

One of my favorite cars was the 1981 Pontiac Grand LeMans wagon. Great ride along with good proportions. It wa so smooth on long trips. However, it had some problems with the engine cooling system. I was able to fix it with new hoses. Love the power rear lift gate window and the power side wing windows.

[@jessefletcher9116]

We owned a 1983 El Camino SS, my wife loved it because it drove like a car and carried cargo like a pickup. I liked the SS styling, and somebody else liked it more because it was stolen at the start of 1997. We got a 1995 Dodge Dakota sport, she would not drive it and did not even like to ride in it. If GM would restart the El Camino line based on the Holden Ute I'd buy one today.

[@GreenHawkDrive]

Appreciate this comment, thank you

[@AdamB12]

My first memories as a kid was riding in the back of a Chevy Citation! It was an 84 model, manual 4 speed. At 8:38 I think I saw that diesel Olds for sale years ago, was the same color. Was the first time I saw a diesel Olds

[@GreenHawkDrive]

Thanks for sharing that. I’m a few years younger, the earliest memory I have was sitting in the back of my family’s 07 Chrysler Pacifica😂

[@AdamB12]

@@GreenHawkDrive man, youre making me feel old. I was out of High School by then.

[@GreenHawkDrive]

@@AdamB12 Oh shi-, my fault!

[@RichardVanMeter-j5x]

The cimarron could have been a whole different car with the 2.0 ohc and would be great with a stick Skyhawk at the sunbird had this engine and we're totally different than the base engine cavalier forenza and semoran which also had an optional 2.8 V6

[@Groovy-z3x]

My 1st car was a 1980 El Camino with a factory 3 speed manual and a 350 that someone put in before I got it. I took the engine out and put in a different 350 that I had someone rebuild so I could drag race it on the streets. I also put in a 4 speed manual and had the same chamber mufflers as the 69 Camaro had and were the same shape as the glass pack mufflers. Man, that car was loud with the exhaust under the cab and no tailpipes. It was a pretty fast car and raced against a friend who's parents had a 1970 Cornet R/T 440 with the automatic. We both were going over a little over 120mph on the highway and my front bumper was just a bit ahead of his car. We seen a police car had someone pulled over in the opposite direction so we backed her down. We had a car dyno at our high school and I put my El Camino on it. The small engine classroom was upstairs and you could see the students up there looking at my car on the dyno to see what was so loud. 😆 🤣 Great high school memories.

[@1dollarten]

Interceptor was a Ford engine 🙄

[@lukesil7887]

They should have marketed a Pontiac version of the El Camino instead of the Caballero. It would have sold like hotcakes!

[@GreenHawkDrive]

I didn’t even think of that, you’re probably right

[@matthanson3189]

I have a 1979 elcamino identical to the first picture you showed. The biggest thing ive noticed is everyone has a story or memory about one, that they love to tell at every gas station (also a suprisingly practical daily driver)

[@Fatcat19j]

Nem sabia que vendiam Kaddet ai nos EUA.😮 Aqui no Brasil venderam até 1994, também teve a versão GS e GSi mas não a quatro portas... Posteriormente ele foi substituído pelo Chevrolet Astra.

[@marcosduarte1830]

O GM Kadett foi vendido no Brasil até 1998 ,sendo substituído pelo GM Astra em 1999 .

[@HR-wd6cw]

I'm thinking that by the mid-80's the Japanese car market was starting to take over the small, fuel-efficient market (something that they always had even going back to the late 60's in many cases, like with the original Toyota Corolla or whatever it was called back then, and the Honda Civic and even the Accord from the early/mid 80's). It's interesting now some 30 years later, GM and Ford basically lost out to Honda and Toyota (and even Kia and Nissan) in the small car market since both GM and Ford have pretty much given up on small cars. At least the El Camino was perhaps one of the exceptions -- while it failed at its tine, it became a bit of a classic in later year due to its unique design of being a pickup/car combo. Something new for its time.

[@japanjack62]

I wish the feds would stay out of the car industry....

[@himynameisaaron86]

They would if the industry would stop making stupid decisions and then begging for bail outs.

[@MyHumanWreckage]

Imagine an unregulated car industry. What could possibly go wrong? Not in my world.

[@104thDIVTimberwolf]

We had an Opel/Daewoo/Pontiac Le Mans as a staff car at the schoo district i drove for in the early 1990s. The poor thing could barely get out of its own way.

[@robwalton2007]

Green Hawk Drive, when you were talking about the J body cars, you forgot to mention the Pontiac Sunbird which was sold in Canada. Looked identical to the J2000, it was the Pontiac equivalent of the Chevrolet Cavalier at the time. We also got the Oldsmobile Omega here in Canada, which was identical to the Buick Skylark.

[@GreenHawkDrive]

Thank you for bringing this up!

[@johnmaki3046]

These were also sold in Minnesota. NOT BAD cars!

[@RedfishCarolina]

I saw a lot of Sunbirds in South Carolina too. They were better looking than the Cavalier.

[@pcno2832]

Why does the opening frame of this video feature a 1976 or '77 Pontiac Lemans Wagon? It's neither an '80s car, nor a particularly bad one.

[@GreenHawkDrive]

It was a mistake that I made. I thought those wagons had the diesels in them which was wrong of me to think

[@brentboswell1294]

The problems with the Oldsmobile Diesel: 1) no water separation unit. Water in the fuel would destroy the engine. Detroit Diesel knew about the importance of water separation. However, Oldsmobile engineers wouldn't listen to other wisdom from within the walls of The General. The other problem was the head bolts. It wasn't that the number was inadequate-it's that the head bolts weren't of conventional design, and were difficult to properly torque down at the factory 😮

[@GreenHawkDrive]

Appreciate you bringing this up, thank you!

[@dave23024]

I had a 1984 Pontiac Phoenix notchback, and it was so fun to see the puzzled look on their faces whenever I needed something at the auto parts store.

[@davidburrowes8678]

Great content here, and I hope you will produce that Chrysler video you mentioned. One thing about this video, though, is that you mentioned the Buick Skylark being built on the J-body platform, and it was an X-body from 1980 through 1985. The Buick Skyhawk was the J-body offering.

[@GreenHawkDrive]

Thank you man, and my mistake😅

[@unclebob7937]

Wagon in thumbnail is mid 70s

[@GreenHawkDrive]

You’re right, my mistake!

[@DistantKarma1]

They put the Iron Duke in the Camaro for at least one year (1982). A buddy of mine got one for a HS graduation present. 4 speed manual and like 90 HP. We made fun of it to him, but man, it was still a brand new car.

[@tyler2610]

When doing a video on cars from the 80’s it might be more effective if you don’t put a model from 1976 in your thumbnail picture

[@giantrobot9000]

I think he does this for clickbait, as many of his thumbnails are wrong or misleading. I absolutely hate that shit and won’t watch them just for that reason.

[@danielsweeney6742]

I had a 84 sunbird. Drove into the dirt put over 300,000 on it and sold it.

[@kpkp2655]

This reminds me of the My Old Car channel. Love it! Subbed!

[@GreenHawkDrive]

Thank you so much!

[@stevedeleon8775]

I still have my 1988 Pontiac Fiero V6 with 200,000 original miles.. i take it to car shows & get alot of positive attention

[@robertjanicki6420]

Why do you have a picture of a 77 Pontiac wagon on your video when they were pretty good they had the Pontiac 400 and turbo 400 trans ?

[@MyFavoriteColorIsBLUE]

We had a Pontiac 6000 station wagon and it was the best car i"ve ever had.

[@redpiano1]

I'm confused why your "hero" picture is a 75 LeMans wagon. It was around 5 years before the 80s, and wasn't discussed in your list. (You didn't hit on the "Little Limousine" iteration of the LeMans in the mid 1970s)

[@GreenHawkDrive]

Yes, i’m well aware of this mistake as it has been brought to my attention many times. I thought those wagons had the diesels in them and that’s why it’s on the cover. it was an assumption of mine.

[@pgtmr2713]

I'd never seen that Z34 El Camino thing before... I like it and the Impalamino. Also a long time ago I saw a 4th gen Camaro with an El Camino back to it. A home build out of a wrecked car. It looked really good. You know what sucked about those cars, no power, no options. V6 and 3 speed automatics, under 200hp v8s with 4 speed auto at best. They needed a RWD manual for their V8s and they needed a manual for their FWD cars that could handle more than the iron duke put out.

[@GreenHawkDrive]

If I make a part 2 for General Motors, I’ll be sure to include that as an entry!

[@jrcars7017]

@@GreenHawkDrive I'd guess the main reason why the car-truck failed is that trucks had become as comfy and easy to drive as cars by the 80's. So in a sense the recipe for a succesful car-truck wasn't a truckified-car but a car-ified truck. I'd love to have the Pontiac car-truck with the screaming chicken.

[@gregfielder4763]

Speaking as someone who was around during the 70’s and 80’s I can say that the El Camino would have survived if it would have had better hauling and towing capacity as was expected for a vehicle of that type.

[@geraldscott4302]

Today the '78-'87 El Camino is the most sought after model since 1972. They are much more desirable than the '73-'77 models, and there is nothing wrong with them. GM ruined the Corvette in 1978, with that huge ugly bubbleback rear window, then made it even worse in 1980, with non body colored T tops, a super ugly grille, a tacked on front spoiler, a flat hood instead of the cowl hood, and rear fascia with a molded in spoiler. It looked like a rolling junkyard. I prefer the '74-'77, and own a '76. I've owned it for nearly 30 years and absolutely love it. Most beautiful car ever made by anyone.

[@GreenHawkDrive]

Yeah man it really comes down to taste. I would say I prefer the styling on the 4th gens more, but it’s just an opinion.

[@Scottrevans87]

Awesome - loving these videos. FYI J didn’t replace X, if any platform replaced X it was the N. And the celebrity was on the A platform which ended up being extremely lucrative for GM spawning the Ciera & Century which basically went unchanged for 16 years - prob could have continued to sell them if they could have brought them up to crash testing standards. We had a 95 century and that thing could not be killed 😂

[@errolmilanes852]

l remember when all GM Brands were different from each other. in the last days, only thing different were grilles and taillights.

[@errolmilanes852]

I agree with Errol 852. we have a lot in common 😂😂😂

[@jtkent28]

My grandfather left me his ‘82 cutlass cruiser station wagon. It had the 5.7 in it. It was in showroom condition. I drove it for a couple months I think but it was plagued with problems. Didn’t keep it long unfortunately.

[@Wv8675]

Great video I've been looking for more of videos like this awesome great work

[@GreenHawkDrive]

More to come!

[@forrestiwaszewski4970]

Dude, like your videos! I'm a big dodge guy, own a 2020 charger RT. Please do a video on chargers through the years!! You have a great personality with your videos, making them interesting Subscribed! Thanks

[@GreenHawkDrive]

Thank you man!

[@kennethswain6313]

GM got a lot of use out of the iron duke engine. How about a video on its applications and years of service? What do you think??

[@thomasjsanford4229]

The Iron Duke engine was built by Pontiac, and was so sturdy, it was even used by Jeep !!

[@OdditiesOffcial]

Can you please tell me which cars ate those on the image at the 4:21 mark? Also would like to know which car is the one at the 4:39 mark. Thank you! Great video man!

[@organrick]

The ones at the 4:21 mark are the J cars from the other GM divisions: the Pontiac J2000/Sunbird, the Chevrolet Cavalier (the red convertible that’s by itself), the Oldsmobile Firenza line, and the Buick Skyhawk. They came in several different body styles. The car at 4:39 is a Chevrolet Citation 2 door coupe, which is probably the rarest version of the Citation.

[@OdditiesOffcial]

@@organrickThanks so much! I appreciate the info! Cheers! 😊

[@pauldizinno4949]

The J-platform Buick SkyHAWK (not X- platform Skylark) was comparable to the Cavalier, J2000/Sunbird and Firenza. Also: The new for 1982 4.3 V6 Oldsmobile Diesel was improved over the V8 design of the 1978 model year by adding 2 headbolts per cylinder (14 on the V6 vs 10 for the V8 - if the V8 had 18, the head gasket issues would have been minimized, although performance studs/nuts could fix this issue as well).

[@lordterra1377]

The Impala truck concept is amazing.

[@randymarsh-Tegridy420]

May dad bought a new cavalier in 87ish as a commuter car (he drove about 90 miles a day) and the neighbor bought his wife a Cimarron about the same time. They thought they had something special with it being a cadillac. It was the exact same crappy car with a bunch of bells and whistles. Ironically the neighbor did the same thing in about 98 or 99 and bought his wife a Cadillac Catera as a retirement gift. I think those were just a Opel Omega though.

[@GreenHawkDrive]

Yeah those were junk too😂

[@mharris5047]

I remember the Catera -- Caddy advertised it as "the car that zigs". The full size Caddies were decent but they don't have a good reputation with their smaller cars. I went for the Lincoln Town Car instead.

[@MarvinHartmann452]

These el camino and malibu were the most beautiful. The previous ones were land yachts with less passenger space than the smaller ones, so unless you're the type of person who drives a long bed 4x4 pick up to get your groceries, or have something to compensate for, there's no reasons to have the bigger version.

[@KTJohnsonkidThunder]

I never heard of the GMC Caballero. But I am a big Chevy El Camino fan.

[@tetchuma]

The NorthStar engine didn’t do Cadillac any favors in the ‘90’s with their guarantee to fail before 60,000 miles