MM Retro Write-up: Chevrolet Celebrity / GM A-Body cars.
10-21-20, 07:14 PM
#1
Lexus Fanatic
Thread Starter
MM Retro Write-up: Chevrolet Celebrity / GM A-Body cars.
By CL-member request, a write-up of the 1982-1990 GM A-Body sedans/coupes/wagons.
IN A NUTSHELL: A step up from the X-bodies in some ways, but still about average for the period.
^^^^^Chevy Celebrity sedan/wagon
^^^^^ Pontiac 6000STE
^^^^^Olds Cutlass Ciera
^^^^^Buick Century
^^^^^Buick Century interior (which I thought was the best of the A-body interiors)
I don't have a whole lot of experience with the 80s-vintage A-bodies outside of a few test-drives and the ones that we had in our Government office at the time that were used in local runs for job-related reasons. But I think I'm familiar enough with them to do at least a brief write-up, so I'll put down what I do know about them, and what my brief experience was.
In the latter part of the 1970s, amid fuel-supply crunches, massive fuel-price-hikes, and ever-tightening fuel-mileage and emission regulations, GM decided to downsize its fleet of American-market passenger cars, with smaller engines, to make them lighter and more fuel-efficicient. This started with the full-sized RWD coupes/sedan/wagons, which were downsized for 1977 (and kept RWD/body-on-frame), the mid-size RWD sedans/wagons for 1978 (and kept RWD and body-on-frame), though the sedan-fastback version of these new mid-sizers was a sales-flop, and the compact X-Body coupes/sedans/hatchbacks for 1980, which were a radical departure and all-new from the ground up, switching from RWD to FWD/transverse-engines, and from BOF to unitized construction. The 1980 X-bodies were a quality-disaster, one of the worst in GM's history (I covered that in my Chevy Citation write-up). The full-sized GM cars were not to be given FWD (and further downsized) until a few years later, in 1985.
But, as much of a disaster as the early-production X-bodies were, some of the the experience learned in their design and construction helped with GM's next step with the A-Body intermediates.....another new line of mid-sized coupes/sedans/wagons, that would be one step up from the X- bodies, and use the same FWD/unitized layout. Introduced in 1982, they would be called the Chevrolet Celebrity, Olds Cutlass Ciera (as opposed to the slightly larger, RWD but still mid-sized Olds Cutlass), Pontiac 6000, and Buick Century.
I wasn't terribly impressed with any of these FWD A-body cars, but, of the four, I liked the Buick Century the best (perhaps no surprise there LOL, with my long-respect for the Buick nameplate). The Celebrity, of course, was the most basic no-nonsense version, the Pontiac 6000 the most sport-oriented (with the 6000STE, a favorite of the auto-press at the time, getting a number of imitation-European touches), and the Olds and Buick versions with somewhat upscale interiors and trim. As was typical of American-designed GM and Chrysler products of the 1980s period (and partly due to the policies and management of GM CEO Roger Smith), none of the A-body line was considered particularly reliable or well-built, although I have to say, in fairness, that the few I sampled seemed to have fewer defects in them than the X-Bodies.
Like I said earlier, I didn't rack up a whole lot of miles in the 80's-vintage A-bodies, but I did drive them enough to get a basic feel for them. Our Government office, at the time, had a mix of Ford/GM/Chrysler office-vehicles kept in the building's parking-garage (the GSA purchase-contracts, at that time, apparantly mandated American-badge vehicles), and, before some of our processes became automated, they would send me downtown, right around the corner from the White House, to our headquarters building to make any last-minute production-changes needed. Luck of the draw, I got our Chevy Celebrity wagon a couple of times, and drove it down and back. Decent but rather ho-hum car, felt pretty much like what it was.....a slightly larger X-body Citation with a different body/dash/interior and somewhat better quality, although our wagon did have a persistent rattle in the chassis somewhere....perhaps a slightly loose strut/suspension-piece. I reported it when I got back...I think it was fixed the next time I drove it...I didn't remember it a second-time.
I also did a few test-drives at dealerships....one on the Buick Century sedan (from my interest in the Buick nameplate), and one on the Pontiac 6000STE...the STE was one of Detroit's earliest attempts at a Euro-inpired sport-sedan, and the auto-press was ogling it. To me, it simply felt like a Celebrity with a little stiffer suspension, a slightly firmer ride, more sport-oriented rim, and a digital-speedometer/dash-panel that I did not like at all. And, of course, somewhat more power from its 3.1L HO V6 than from the smaller 2.8L V6 and 2.5L (Iron Duke) fours used in the more pedestrian A-bodies. Still, I thought the auto press was over-indulgent with this car.....I just was not a big fan of it. If it were my money, I'd probably have taken home the Buick....although at the time, I was actually driving Mazda sedans as my personal cars. I would not actually return to the Buick nameplate until the 2012 Verano.
All of the A-bodies, though, at least from my limited experience, had more or less the same sound and feel....a dull nasal-sound from the V6 engines, a firm-shifting FWD 3-speed GM automatic transmission, average-to-good brakes, and much better steering/handling, particularly on the Pontiac 6000STE, than the larger RWD GM body-on-frame cars. Road/tire noise was a little more pronounced than with the larger GM RWD cars, primarily because, all else equal, it is more difficult to isolate a unitized structure from the rumble of the tires. The A-bodies stayed out of the shop somewhat more than the X-bodies did, although that still may not have been saying much. In general, I'd say they had about the same level of quality as the competing Chrysler FWD/unitized K-body and stretched-K-body sedans/coupes/wagons they shared the roads with...and I'd say more or less the same for the equivalent Fords/Mercurys of the period, although I did not have much experience in the Fords of that time either except for a long trip behind the wheel of a 1986 Escort and some time with a Ford Tempo rental. But, more on those later, in another write-up.
And, as Always, Happy car-Memories.
MM
IN A NUTSHELL: A step up from the X-bodies in some ways, but still about average for the period.
^^^^^Chevy Celebrity sedan/wagon
^^^^^ Pontiac 6000STE
^^^^^Olds Cutlass Ciera
^^^^^Buick Century
^^^^^Buick Century interior (which I thought was the best of the A-body interiors)
I don't have a whole lot of experience with the 80s-vintage A-bodies outside of a few test-drives and the ones that we had in our Government office at the time that were used in local runs for job-related reasons. But I think I'm familiar enough with them to do at least a brief write-up, so I'll put down what I do know about them, and what my brief experience was.
In the latter part of the 1970s, amid fuel-supply crunches, massive fuel-price-hikes, and ever-tightening fuel-mileage and emission regulations, GM decided to downsize its fleet of American-market passenger cars, with smaller engines, to make them lighter and more fuel-efficicient. This started with the full-sized RWD coupes/sedan/wagons, which were downsized for 1977 (and kept RWD/body-on-frame), the mid-size RWD sedans/wagons for 1978 (and kept RWD and body-on-frame), though the sedan-fastback version of these new mid-sizers was a sales-flop, and the compact X-Body coupes/sedans/hatchbacks for 1980, which were a radical departure and all-new from the ground up, switching from RWD to FWD/transverse-engines, and from BOF to unitized construction. The 1980 X-bodies were a quality-disaster, one of the worst in GM's history (I covered that in my Chevy Citation write-up). The full-sized GM cars were not to be given FWD (and further downsized) until a few years later, in 1985.
But, as much of a disaster as the early-production X-bodies were, some of the the experience learned in their design and construction helped with GM's next step with the A-Body intermediates.....another new line of mid-sized coupes/sedans/wagons, that would be one step up from the X- bodies, and use the same FWD/unitized layout. Introduced in 1982, they would be called the Chevrolet Celebrity, Olds Cutlass Ciera (as opposed to the slightly larger, RWD but still mid-sized Olds Cutlass), Pontiac 6000, and Buick Century.
I wasn't terribly impressed with any of these FWD A-body cars, but, of the four, I liked the Buick Century the best (perhaps no surprise there LOL, with my long-respect for the Buick nameplate). The Celebrity, of course, was the most basic no-nonsense version, the Pontiac 6000 the most sport-oriented (with the 6000STE, a favorite of the auto-press at the time, getting a number of imitation-European touches), and the Olds and Buick versions with somewhat upscale interiors and trim. As was typical of American-designed GM and Chrysler products of the 1980s period (and partly due to the policies and management of GM CEO Roger Smith), none of the A-body line was considered particularly reliable or well-built, although I have to say, in fairness, that the few I sampled seemed to have fewer defects in them than the X-Bodies.
Like I said earlier, I didn't rack up a whole lot of miles in the 80's-vintage A-bodies, but I did drive them enough to get a basic feel for them. Our Government office, at the time, had a mix of Ford/GM/Chrysler office-vehicles kept in the building's parking-garage (the GSA purchase-contracts, at that time, apparantly mandated American-badge vehicles), and, before some of our processes became automated, they would send me downtown, right around the corner from the White House, to our headquarters building to make any last-minute production-changes needed. Luck of the draw, I got our Chevy Celebrity wagon a couple of times, and drove it down and back. Decent but rather ho-hum car, felt pretty much like what it was.....a slightly larger X-body Citation with a different body/dash/interior and somewhat better quality, although our wagon did have a persistent rattle in the chassis somewhere....perhaps a slightly loose strut/suspension-piece. I reported it when I got back...I think it was fixed the next time I drove it...I didn't remember it a second-time.
I also did a few test-drives at dealerships....one on the Buick Century sedan (from my interest in the Buick nameplate), and one on the Pontiac 6000STE...the STE was one of Detroit's earliest attempts at a Euro-inpired sport-sedan, and the auto-press was ogling it. To me, it simply felt like a Celebrity with a little stiffer suspension, a slightly firmer ride, more sport-oriented rim, and a digital-speedometer/dash-panel that I did not like at all. And, of course, somewhat more power from its 3.1L HO V6 than from the smaller 2.8L V6 and 2.5L (Iron Duke) fours used in the more pedestrian A-bodies. Still, I thought the auto press was over-indulgent with this car.....I just was not a big fan of it. If it were my money, I'd probably have taken home the Buick....although at the time, I was actually driving Mazda sedans as my personal cars. I would not actually return to the Buick nameplate until the 2012 Verano.
All of the A-bodies, though, at least from my limited experience, had more or less the same sound and feel....a dull nasal-sound from the V6 engines, a firm-shifting FWD 3-speed GM automatic transmission, average-to-good brakes, and much better steering/handling, particularly on the Pontiac 6000STE, than the larger RWD GM body-on-frame cars. Road/tire noise was a little more pronounced than with the larger GM RWD cars, primarily because, all else equal, it is more difficult to isolate a unitized structure from the rumble of the tires. The A-bodies stayed out of the shop somewhat more than the X-bodies did, although that still may not have been saying much. In general, I'd say they had about the same level of quality as the competing Chrysler FWD/unitized K-body and stretched-K-body sedans/coupes/wagons they shared the roads with...and I'd say more or less the same for the equivalent Fords/Mercurys of the period, although I did not have much experience in the Fords of that time either except for a long trip behind the wheel of a 1986 Escort and some time with a Ford Tempo rental. But, more on those later, in another write-up.
And, as Always, Happy car-Memories.
MM
Last edited by mmarshall; 10-22-20 at 08:00 AM.
10-22-20, 07:12 AM
#2
Thanks for this MM. My dad bought a new 2-door Celebrity back in '84, I think in one of the lower trims. He kept it in pristine condition until he gifted it to me after I got my driver's license. I used to call it the maroon monster, lol. Lots of fond memories in that car. By my recollection, it was trouble-free for 20 years until it was totalled on a parking lot accident. A lady "t-boned" me, but really she just hit the front wheel straight on, which busted the axle up. Insurance deemed the repair too expensive, so they wrote it off and I replaced it with a used 1991 Honda Accord (which only cost me about $600 CAD out of pocket).
10-22-20, 08:03 AM
#4
Lexus Fanatic
Thread Starter
10-22-20, 08:22 AM
#5
Lexus Champion
My parents seriously considered an '84 Celebrity. I remember going to the dealer with them and checking it out. I was pushing for the EuroSport edition. But they ended up with a Camry; I was not happy with that choice, but from an adult's perspective and not a teenager's, the Camry was the better car.
I always thought "EuroSport" was such a bizarre trim name. No hiding "Hey--we're trying to make you think this car is as good as a European car." Can you imagine "JapaneseSport"? Or "AmericanSport"?
I always thought "EuroSport" was such a bizarre trim name. No hiding "Hey--we're trying to make you think this car is as good as a European car." Can you imagine "JapaneseSport"? Or "AmericanSport"?
10-22-20, 08:29 AM
#6
Lexus Fanatic
Yes true. GM was making big money. Then they closed so many plants just before Xmas. I can’t remember but Buick City was downsized. You should do a industry write up of that story.
10-22-20, 08:53 AM
#7
Lexus Fanatic
Thread Starter
BTW, the facility you are talking about is the big Buick plant in Flint, MI. Yes, those people have suffered a lot over the years.....the latest crisis, of course, being a poisonous water-supply.
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10-22-20, 09:25 AM
#8
Pole Position
I loved the 6000STE when it first came out. It had the tech, AWD, bold design. What could go wrong.
10-22-20, 11:47 AM
#9
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