history on how the g body came about? ended?

[ponchoman49]

The 1978-1988 A/G body cars were GM's second answer to the 1973 Oil Embargo. The 1977 B and C-body downsized full sized cars were so well received by the buying public that GM decided to capitalize on round two with the A-body intermediate cars. The Monte Carlo, Grand Prix, Regal and Cutlass coupes and Malibu, Lemans, Century and Cutlass Salon sedans and wagons all rode on the new full frame body which featured more rear legroom and larger trunks, 500 plus LB weight loss and improved ride and handling. The Malibu and Monte came std with a new small 3.3 liter 200 V6 tied to a 3 speed stick, the Grand Prix/Lemans used Buicks 3.8 liter 231 V6, the Regal/Century came with a new smaller 3.2 liter 196 V6 and the Cutlass line had the larger 231 as std. Mileage was up to mid to high twenties on the road compared with 20-22 the year before with the larger, heavier bodies and big displacement V8's were all but eliminated save the 1979-80 limited production W-30 Cutlass and the odd high alltitude or Canadian wagon combo. There wasn't anything overly radical about these cars other than they were designed using computer aid and the Century and Salon 4 doors used an odd raked back bubble design which was never well recieved by the buying public. The sedan versions of these bubble backs were dropped in 1979 and the coupes followed suite in 1980. The Century and Cutlass were redesigned using a Seville like notchback design which drastically increased sales. The wagon versions of these cars- the Malibu, the Safari, the Cutlass Cruiser and the Century Estate were kept about the same until 1982 when the Century name was removed from this line and became the Regal and the Lemans became the Bonneville. 1982 was also the year the A-body cars were re-named G-body and the A designation was used on the new FWD intermediate coupes and sedans- the Celebrity, 6000, Century and Ciera. The wagon bodys last year was 1983 when the A-body line created a new FWD wagon to take there places. The still named A-body coupes were heavily re-skinned in 1981 to make them more aerodynamic and in 1983 and the Nascar inspired look was used to create the SS coupe. The 1978 coupes and sedans largest powerplant was the Chevy sourced 305 V8. Buick also introduced there 3.8 liter turbocharged V6 in both 2 BBL and 4 BBL forms. This engine lived on in 4BBL guise until 1983 with various improvements until it became the SFI turbo intercooled wonder offered in 1986 that could outrun a Corvette! Another interesting fact on A-G body cars is that the only engines that used fuel injection were the 1984-87 Buick T-Type/GN and the 1985-88 Monte carlo with the Chevy sourced 4.3 liter TBI V6. The Cutlass Supreme line continued a trend as the best selling American car during the A-G body years after buyers got used to the new downsized bodys and remained a top seller up until 1985 after which the Ciera and Century line became more popular. Chevy introduced a more areodynamic bubble back window Monte SS in 1986 which was again Nascar inspired and Pontiac followed suite with a Grand Prix 2 + 2 which was only offered in limited numbers in 1986 with a 165 HP 305 V8 vs the Monte Carlos SS's 180 HP HO version of this engine. The bad boy Grand National continued an extended production up to the end of 1987 from increased demand and the Monte carlo and Cutlass (now renamed Supreme Classic) hung around until 1988. The Grand Prix was totally gone after 1987 along with the Regal RWD line. These cars had a slew of engines ranging from small 3.2/3.3 Buick/Chevy V6's, there larger 229/231 brothers, numerous small V8's including the Olds 260, the Pontiac 265 and the Chevy 267, 301, 305 and 307 V8's and 350 gas and diesel V8 engines. Chevy also used there own 4.3 liter TBI V6 starting in 1985 and Olds introduced a 4.3 liter diesel V6 in 1982 which is not to be confused with the one year only 4.3 liter 260 diesel that was made in 1979 only! In it's last year the 1988 Olds Cutlass Classic made due with the sole powertrain consisting of 307 4BBL V8 tied to the 200 R-4 overdrive transmission. A GT version which used similar exterior graphics as the 442 was offered as a farewell edition in 1988 but did not come with the HO 307 engine and instead used the regular 140 HP 307 and 3.08:1 rear gears. Said HO 307 180 HP V8 was introduced in 1983 on a black with silver accented supreme coupe with the Hurst name and triple stick gear selectors. The paint scheme was reversed in 1984 to silver with black accents. 1985 dropped the Hurst name and 442 was again used to reffer to the 2 door coupe powered by 4 BBL carb and hitched to a 4 speed transmission. In the Pontiac arena a Grand Am coupe and sedan were offered in 1978-79 with sportier prententions and a specific handling suspension was used. The sedan version was dropped in 79 and the coupe survived until 1980 right after the second oil crisis killed any semblence of power. The Lemans line survived with coupe, sedan and wagon form up until 1981 and was succedded by a new downsized Bonneville Model G sedan and wagon in 1982. 1981 and 82 were bad years for these cars in the powertrain department with the larger 301, and 305 4BBL V8's dissappearing off the options list leaving the weaker 260, 265 and 267 V8's as the top gas fired V8 offerings for NA coupes and sedans. Some California cars could still be had with these engines along with Canadian models. Buick and Pontiac took things a step further in 1982 by dropping a gas V8 entirly from the options list and instead offering Buicks 4.1 liter 4BBL V6 as the top gas fired engine with 125 HP. The Regal coupe could be had with the 3.8 liter turbo with 175 HP in Sport Coupe form too but no Pontiac model offered this engine in 1982 so this was a real bad year for the GP and Bonneville. Help came in 1983 when the oil crisis was subsiding and fuel rpices were coming back down again. The 305 4 BBL V8 was re-instated as a Grand Prix/Bonneville Monte Carlo/Malibu option once again and Olds offered there 307 4BBL V8 across the board as an option except on Hurst/442. Buick continued to offer the 4.1 liter 4 BBL V6 as the top gas engine until 1984 tied to the 200 R4 overdrive unit. 1985 was 3.8 liter gas engine only in the Regal line, with the base 110 HP 2 BBL 3.8 and the 200 HP SFI turbo V6 which was introduced a year before. The 4.3 liter diesel V6 was also an option in it's last year. 1985 was in fact thte last year for both V6 and 350 V8 diesels Olds engines in passenger car duty. The sedans started dying out in 1983 starting with the Malibu, followed by the Regal in 1984, the Bonneville in 1986 and the Cutlass in 1987. The A/G body cars have a lot of pluses and of course several minuses. They are very good looking in coupe form and have a nice quiet easy effertless ride and drive. Interior room and comfort rate highly too and the wagon body offered a useful hauler. Most any engine will fit in these these ranging from a Buick V6 to a Cadillac 500 V8, tons of suspension and brake upgrades are available and these cars are lighter in weight than many mid size cars offered today. Minuses include those heavy often sagging 2 doors which often suffer from rust at the bottom edges and inner portion, the rear frame rails are often rotted out in snow belt regions, quality control varied from one car to the next with one car tight as a drum and another with wind leaking around the frameless door glass and numerous squeaks and rattles. The sedans and wagons did of course have frames around the door glass so are better in this regard. Overall these are classy fun to tinker with and drive cars that nothing today can compare with for sheer fun, styling and appeal.

 

[87REGALPRO]

What they should have done was build the 4 door car but call it a coronet instead of the charger.

Not to fall of subject but this is exactly what I thought. I mean look at a 68-69 even 70-72 dodge coronet. it was available in 4 door and wagon. The styling of it closely resembles that of this newer charger. And for the sake of high performance the coronet also had a hemi, and the superbee was a a coronet.