Let's make a list of the 10 worst GM cars ever

[PF52]

Nice to see this get back on topic, I suppose.

Why all the hate for the Cimmarron? I cant believe it was $30,000 (as mentioned in the first post). Remember, this was 1982 - how many cars cost that much back then? Certainly not a fully loaded Cavalier with leather and the carbed 2.8 V6. The Cimarron was a fine car but it just gets a bad rap for being badge engineered.

One could start a thread like this one for any manufacturer. Can I nominate the Ford Tempo for their 10-worst list?

 

[javacontour]

I remember liking the lines of the Vega when I was a young boy. I can still recall days of being on school safety patrol in the 5th grade, working the street crossing with a police office and one of my fellow safety patrol members and just marveling at all the cars that would drop off kids.

I like the lines of the Vega and there was a red GT, IIRC that would catch my eye on the mornings I would be working the crossing.

Certainly better looking than the GT posted for sale on E-bay, but not as nice at that Cosworth Vega. From the outside, that's a nice looking car.

The interiors of that era car have much to be desired when examined from today's perspective.

 

[ekpolk]

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Nice to see this get back on topic, I suppose.

Why all the hate for the Cimmarron? I cant believe it was $30,000 (as mentioned in the first post). Remember, this was 1982 - how many cars cost that much back then? Certainly not a fully loaded Cavalier with leather and the carbed 2.8 V6. The Cimarron was a fine car but it just gets a bad rap for being badge engineered.
...

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Personally, I believe that the Cimarron deserves every bit of the notoriety it earned for Cadillac. GM has long held Cadillac out as something special -- their ultra top of the line cars. Buyers of this make pay a high premium for these cars, and IMO, they deserve to get something special for the money, at least something more special than a barely warmed over cheap economy car. Which is all the Cimarron ever was. The old concept of putting lipstick on a pig comes to mind, and in this case, they tried to use a bunch of cheap lipstick to cover what they were really offering. Ironically, you're right, for the period, and for the particular mission targeted (cheap, economical transport), the Cavalier was a decent car. But neither luxury nor performance were built into its genes. At the end of the day, this car was never anything more than an overdecorated, overpriced Cavalier. That it ever was allowed to exist will remain a festering sore on GM's reputation for a some time. Yeah, put this car on the list.

 

[Spitty]

I have to say I don't recall much about the Quad 4, other than it was supposed to be the 'Small Block of the 90's'.
It must have been a high winding engine to put out 200 hp
But I only recall hearing of it in Largish, unsporting cars.
I remember someone once lamenting that it was never put in the Fiero. Why?

 

[pp_rp]

The piece of Chevete is #1..

 

[javacontour]

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I have to say I don't recall much about the Quad 4, other than it was supposed to be the 'Small Block of the 90's'.
It must have been a high winding engine to put out 200 hp
But I only recall hearing of it in Largish, unsporting cars.
I remember someone once lamenting that it was never put in the Fiero. Why?

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I owned a 1990 Beretta GTZ with the 2.3L 180HP variant of the Quad-4. No down low torque, but yeah, it produced HP at high RPMs. I had it in German with me, and I estimated from the tach that it would do about 140MPH on the autobahn.

I probably shouldn't have driven it that fast as it really didn't have the brakes for that rate of travel.

I really didn't have any engine issues in the 75K I owned it, but had a bad thermostat, bad belt tensioner, and clogged the cat. (Probably by driving a long time with the bad thermostat, dumping a rich mixture into the engine for a long time.)

I had a friend with a 5.0 Mustang. He would leave me at the lights and I would quickly catch him down the road.

I think the redline was in the 6K-7K range, but don't recall.

http://www.beretta.net/model_info/1990.htm

 

[Lonnie]

GM has been investing in new car design, survived a strike and is moving into a bright future. I think a twist on your thread might be interesting, "What are the 10 best new GM vehicles". Because of user demand we have a standing order for all the Buick Enclaves we can get. People in the lease program that have their choice of lots of expensive vehicles are tuning them down for the Enclave. If this is an example of GM quality the 10 worst vehicle list will never include this one.

 

[XS650]

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GM has been investing in new car design, survived a strike and is moving into a bright future. I think a twist on your thread might be interesting, "What are the 10 best new GM vehicles".

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They did more than just survive the strike, they did pretty good.

It's a lot harder to pick the 10 best.

The bad ones stand out for specific easily defined reasons. "Best" can be any above average quality car that lights someone's candle.

 

[BennyL]

indeed. i'm loving the new saturn line-up. not too fond of the "award-winning aura" though. looks over sized and funny to me. but i do love the new 2008 vue and the coming astra looks like its gonna be great too. finally get rid of that disgusting ion.

i think bringing the astra is a step in the right direction for GM. i think they have such a massive supply of amazing models in europe, specifically germany, that they are not tapping into enough. they need to start bringing more euro GM models over to the North American market. especially some nice small car diesels!

what amazes me the most is that GM stands by and watches as Chrsyler devours them in the commercial van market with that new Dodge Sprinter... which is, of course, just a re-badged Mercedes. that thing is a genius vehicle and is quickly destroying sales in it's market, eating up the GMC Savana and Chevy Express models. i remember seeing a similar Opel van of some sort that looked alot like the Sprinter when i was in Europe. i just don't get why GM doesn't bring those over here too and fight the Dodge Sprinter. it doesn't make sense to me. TAP THAT EURO MARKET!

 

[javacontour]

I think the number of us who like the European cars is small in comparison to the remainder of the US market that like SUV's and other large vehicles.

I know Ford has tried several times to bring us European offerings such as the Merkeur and the Contour/Mystique (North American implementation of the European Mondeo.) GM brought the GTO and it really didn't do well.

So I'm not sure if GM or Ford will be eager to bring a bunch of European models here.

GM is trying again with the full sized Holden based sedan (whose name escapes me). It gets great reviews, so we will see how it does in the marketplace.

 

[javacontour]

And yes, I know Australia is not in Europe

My point is that many cars not designed in North America have flopped in the North American market.

While enthusiasts like those cars, I'd say enthusiasts are not the majority of the market.

Even Asian carmakers are not immune. Nissan has brought a largely Peugot based mini-van here, and I don't think they are tearing up the market place.

 

[Spitty]

BTW, anyone heard of the Cosworth? That was way ahead of it's time.

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Cosworth Vega:
110 hp, 0-60 12.3sec, 1/4 mile 18.5, Top Speed 112mph.
Marketing Slogan : "One Vega for the price of Two"
Who could resisit that!!

The problem for GM is they Could/Can make a very good car, but it would proberbly only be recognized as 'good' perhaps 10 years after it's release. A Bad car not only get recognition straight away, it stays in our memory longer!
It seems we well remember the Vega, That was 30 years ago!

 

[Spitty]

BTW, anyone heard of the Cosworth? That was way ahead of it's time.

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Cosworth Vega:
110 hp, 0-60 12.3sec, 1/4 mile 18.5, Top Speed 112mph.
Marketing Slogan : "One Vega for the price of Two"
Who could resisit that!!

The problem for GM is they Could/Can make a very good car, but it would proberbly only be recognized as 'good' perhaps 10 years after it's release. A Bad car not only get recognition straight away, it stays in our memory longer!
It seems we well remember the Vega, That was 30 years ago!

 

[Spitty]

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Vega? That was a great car for hot rodders. Perfect engine swap candidates. I had a few of them, one V8 powered. One with a Buick 3.8 V6 on nitrous and one 4 banger with with a steel sleeved block, high comp pistons, side draft weber carbs ported head and a cam. Lots of fun. For those who just wanted to drive them the way they came from Chevy...

All my Vegas are long gone.

BTW, anyone heard of the Cosworth? That was way ahead of it's time.

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[Spitty]

Sorry for the repeat post.

 

[JohnBrowning]

Cimmeron
Luv Pickup
Fiero
Buick Lasber Diesel
S10 based Blazer
Cadillac's with 4.1V8
All FWD Cadillac's

 

[JohnBrowning]

Oh I had almost forgott about the Vega!!! The "Unsafe At Any Speed" Corvaire as well. Oh let use not forgett the pathetic Corvette's that we had for almost what 20+year's!!!

 

[JohnBrowning]

GM and their badge engineering is always going to be a sore spot until they do like they did with Oldsmobile and get ride of all the dublicate divisions. It only makes sense to have multiple divison's if they all have unique products to offer. Nothing makes me made quicker then a company when they change the front and rear fascia and maybe lights and rebadge a vechile. If it is worth a $ H I T it will sell no matter what divison's name is on it if it does not sell then it has nothing to do with the badge on the front.

 

[artificialist]

Could you imagine how broke Honda would be if they put a problematic engine in their basic Civic, and the only way to make it a good car was to buy a Type-R engine?

 

[Mr. Boston]

I was just thinking today the Vega was the start of GM's decline in America. I once had a Chevy dealer tell me that if the Vega was GM's answer to the imports...they missed the question.