Name some obscure US Produced Car Models made during the 1980s

[allblackcars]

I had this one....1984 Cougar XR-7 Turbo.

 

[1ARUNM]

Does anyone remember the Pontiac 6000 STE and SE All wheel drive from about 1988-1990?

 

[CamoDeafie]

Does anyone remember the Pontiac 6000 STE and SE All wheel drive from about 1988-1990?

yup. not alot of those made, theres one for sale on the A-body forum i;'m a member of, and he's asking $800 or so..here is a copy of his post

Well all, it has come time to part ways with my 6000, I have loved this car since I got it many years ago, when it was the cherry car of the group.

But now its many years later, and the lackluster has gone... And I bought a new car last night.

I wont lie to you, it needs work. The engine is sound as far as I know. Its the 3.1 V6 and a TH125CAWD tranny.

The good..

New alternator
New Water pump
New AC system (Minus compressor)
New Injectors
New Heater controls
New Fuel Pump
New Muffler
New Brakes (rotors and pads)
New Headliner
Power windows work
Power door locks work, although the drivers door can be finicky
Door Seals
New Brake System Accumulator
New Power steering pump
And I am sure I am forgetting a bunch
Newer front seats
New Bonneville style seat controls (AWD specific)
New Radiator
New Starter
And more that I am probly forgetting

Now the problem areas..

I put brand new, AC Delco, struts on the rear about 1 year ago. 2 months later the fuel pump went out. I had it towed to the dealer for them to put a new fuel pump in, but when the tow truck driver attached the hook to the rear axle to hold the car secure, he popped off the rod that was for the rear air suspension. I didnt realize this until a coupe weeks later when I was taking my cousin home, and the rear end sagged down. We hit a pot hole, and it caused a leak on the top of the air strut on the drivers side in the insulator. I since have had to disconnect the air compressor cause it wouldnt shut off. The struts are very rebuildable, since they are fairly new, thru Tim Anderson, a regular on the boards here.

The Drive shaft carrier bearing has gone bad, its repairable I think, I have not looked into it.

The body needs work, body work, paint work. Clear coat is pretty much gone, Dent in the drivers rear quarter panel, and a missing bump guard on the passengers door.

The AC System does not work, I replaced the system, and converted it to R134A (done professionally at a shop I trust), and I believe the AC Compressor blew a seal or something. It will not hold a charge.

I have many spare parts that go with this car. The old front seats that came out of the car a couple weeks ago. All the bump guards (doors, panals, fenders, etc), front and rear bumpers (2 of each, red and blue), spare spoler, extra drive shaft with a bad H-Joint, steering column, and grille.

It has roughly 132k miles on it. The motor runs really well, tranny shifts like it should, and the TCC works also.

I hope to have photos up this weekend if anyone is interested..

I am asking 800.00. And yes, I am pretty firm on that price!

If you need more info, just let me know...

Thanks

Brian

A-Body.Net Moderator

P.S. - The installed stereo is a Pioneer Premier 1.5 din radio, with a remote control. If you want this radio, there will be a additional charge of 75 bucks.

located in Missouri

but yeah here's an obscure specific car from GM lol. i see a few SE STEs around here and one is being run into the ground

 

[1ARUNM]

I worked in the plant that made them. I think the '88s and '89s were all painted a special sapphire blue or ruby red. Seems like the 1990's were the SE's and came different colors. The also had a special deck lid lock cover unique to the STE. The rear struts were huge and heavy. One person installed them with hand tools on a moving line. Fortunately there was usually a big gap between STE's.

Probably more than anyone cares to know but that's my recollection of them.

 

[SloGN]

the dodge 600 turbo convertables 84 only! the dodge/shelby pick-up truck in 89 first small truck with a V8 power!

then the Eagle premier/dodge monaco that was a blunder from hell!


Then there was the first yr dodge caravan 84 with a mitsu 2.6l 4 banger and a 4 speed manual trans. later on it 89 they made 5 turbo caravans with 5 speed manual trans

then we can't forget the olds cutlass with a 5.7l diesel or the smaller ciera with a v6 diesel !. then came the fiero's.

the 80's cadillac alante was garbag.

how about the high priced cavalier by cadillac the CIMMERON.

 

[GNGAL]

That offset intercooler scoop always bothered me..... they were just a few inches from getting it centered.

I totally agree... why even make it if they cant get it right ?


So... AMC.. didnt they make the Deloreon (sp?) Back to the Future Baby ! ! Did that have a turbo ?

 

[CamoDeafie]

I totally agree... why even make it if they cant get it right ?


So... AMC.. didnt they make the Deloreon (sp?) Back to the Future Baby ! ! Did that have a turbo ?

DeLorean was made by GM i think. had a terribly complicated v6 in the rear adn was NOT turbocharged, not that i know of. it was supposed to be the flagship car of DeLorean Motor Company (the DMC on the grille) and made of stainless steel...i dont think its obscure precisely because of the movies.

 

[troGNman]

A few more obscure Mercurys including the "Black Magic"
A Mustang GT Turbo thrown in for good measure (the SVO's older brother)

I seem to recall the Michelin TRX tires were a wacky size and most owners just switched to conventional rims later on.

 

[troGNman]

CamoDeafie and 1ARUNM, these are for you.....
They were really trying to grab that Euro-look back then.

 

[CamoDeafie]

too bad pontiac stopped making coupes after 1987, a AWD coupe with the Oldsmobile aero roof would have been AWESOME. and probably wouldve sold better...there was a 6000 wagon with SE or STE body kit, dark sapphire blue, red trim, moon roof, some odd kind of roof rack that like the one on the gold one in the picture...i never heard back from the guy, i left a note about the car club. I am an active member on A-body.net's forum, since i own an 83 Ciera Brougham coupe, and used to have a few other A-bodies..I had tried to get the 94 ciera wagon to have the Euro look with the GT/International body kit but i killed the transmission on it for the 2nd time and junked it....oh well. only real reaason i;m on here, i love TRs and want one....and am trying to save up to get an 82 ciera with the buick 3.0L v6 so i can build a buick motor for it and see what happens.

 

[88 CuttyClassic]

beretta GTU and GTZ...i never saw them much when they were new

 

[VETKILR]

Stepfather's car dealership about 10 years when i first got my license, had a GTZ and it screamed. Never seen another before or since!

 

[Joe 1320]

All of the salesmen driving them for demos thought the same thing.
I would grab one of the little turbo colts off the lot and get me a free lunch......:biggrin::biggrin:

I had one of those. Put a bunch of mods into the car. It turned out to be a little screamer that was totally unsafe in the rain. I could whip so many cars from Corvettes to Porsches right up to 120mph, then it was done (gearing limited). The car was a beast.

 

[russgoodman]

My parents had a 1985 Thunderbird FILA edition, like the shoe company. Had a carb'd 302 and was pretty peppy for its time. All electric dash, had like 8 way power drivers/pass seat, twilight sentinal, etc. It had the "F" emblem on the front quarters and pressed into the seat backs. It had the 10 hole wheels like the Mustangs but they were painted white and a PITA to keep clean. We had it from 1988 to probably 2 or 3 years ago. The crappy silver factory paint oxidized and turned to rust, the motor needed to be rebuilt due to it smoking really bad, so my father in law scrapped it when steel prices got pretty high. Only had like 102K miles on it at the time.

 

[klrv6]

What about the clitaurus? I hear the pink ones are still very popular. You can only afford to own one at a time though.

The late 80's nova was a toyota corolla underneath... always busting head gaskets between number one and two cyl.

 

[novaderrik]

someone mentioned that the Cordoba/Mirada was Dodge's last rwd car platform- not true.
it was their last V8/rwd car with only 2 doors, but not the last of the V8 rwd cars..
they made the bigger rwd cars (Diplomats, i think??) until the 87 model year. they were mostly sold to police departments that didn't want a real car like a Caprice, and came with 318 cubic inches of "lean fire" power under the hood..

 

[gnxtc2]

Turbo LeBaron and it came in a convertible also.

My friend had an eight speed Dodge Colt. The trans was split, the shifter had a button that seperated 1-4 then 5-8.

Billy T.
gnxtc2@aol.com

 

[rmar]

Turbo LeBaron and it came in a convertible also.

My friend had an eight speed Dodge Colt. The trans was split, the shifter had a button that seperated 1-4 then 5-8.

Billy T.
gnxtc2@aol.com

I think it had a 2 speed axle......

 

[ILikeSix]

Mentioned a couple of times already are the Chrysler TC by Maserati but did you guys know that of the 7430 total production, 501 came with an intercooled DOHC 16V turbo 2.2 that put out 200HP and 220LbsFt at only 9PSI of boost 14 PSI with no other changes puts it right about 235 That version was only available with the Getrag made GM 284 5spd trans rated to 475LbsFt of torque That transmission was originally made for the mid engined 1984 Corvette. Wait, the C4 wasn't mid engined? Turns out there were two projects going concurrantly, the front engined 1984 C4 we all know and love won out. To bad.

Yes, I know more about TC Maserati's than I should, I also have the quickest/fastest one on the planet


Alan

 

[Dennis Kirban]

Just got done reading all the new additions to the growing list....

The Chrysler TC mentioned above I see one sitting every day near me have to look at it see if by chance it is a turbo version....its not for sale.

I am not sure what year or years but Olds probably only made a handful for 4 speed manual shift Cutlasses....I am sure someone here can nail that down. I member seeing one a few years back.

Again referring to the Cutlass early 1980s they had a Calais model G body....full gauge package uses same shifter handle fond in our cars today.....Think the Calais was an upscale Cutlass model.....again going by memory....

Those Pontiacs mentioned I member them nice looking cars as was the Phoenix.....Having attended almost every GTO and Pontiac Nats during the 1980s I did get to see soem of those cars....

Obscure when they where almost new and now mostly forgotten by most.

Unfortunately, as Turbo owners we can attest to anything that saw low production originally, made it tough to obtain parts later on. Didn't matter if it was GM-Ford-Chrysler.

denniskirban@yahoo.com