How did you get started with your G-body obsession/restoration? Here's mine. Show me yours.

[fleming442]

I absolutely HATED the rear of the G-body wagons when they came out. FUGLY!! Then I forgot all about them. I was a Firebird guy but with a young family I needed a station wagon too. I had a 1975 Matador wagon with the 258 straight six and it was a pretty decent family car. When that rusted out from under me I wanted another wagon. In 1993 we had the "winter of 16 snowstorms" here. The snow was piled as high as the houses on the streets. While delivering Parcel Post I always kept my eyes peeled for cars for sale. As the snow melted I spotted a station wagon slowly emerging from a huge pile. Darn, it was one of those FUGLY POS GM jobs. A 1981 Malibu wagon, full gauges, no AC. When I looked in the window I saw a manual stick shift on the floor. Huh? I popped the hood and there was a Chevy 229 six. Yuk. Base car, V-6, manual 3 speed. But there was so much room in there I thought right away of plopping a Pontiac V-8 in it's place. I tracked down the owner and bought it for $300. I rode my mountain bike over and stuck it in the back (lots of room!) and slapped some phony plates on so I could sneak it home. When I got it home I looked under the seats and found a hog-choker roll of parking tickets the guy never paid. The next day I saw the City Marshal towing scoflaw cars from that same neighborhood. I saved that wagon from the pound! I ran the POS 229 until I was ready to put a Pontiac 350 w/Saginaw 4 speed in. I never looked back. I had 5 different engines in that wagon before it disintegrated. Then I pestered a 93 year old guy to sell me his original owner 1983 Bonneville wagon which I still have. The 231 Buick engine snapped so I put a Pontiac 301 w/Saginaw 4 speed in this one using all the manual trans parts from the Malibu. And that FUGLY rear end? I got used to it.

Waaaaaaiiit a minute! You had a Matador wagon and thought the Gs were ugly?!?!

 

[Doug Chahoy]

Waaaaaaiiit a minute! You had a Matador wagon and thought the Gs were ugly?!?!

GOOD CATCH, !!!

 

[Bonnewagon]

Yes! Matadors were used as police cars and they were everywhere. (One Adam 12- see a man) At least they looked like a car. What really made me puke was the '78 Cutlass Salon. That fastback was just horrible. I saw the same hideous lines on the wagon rear. Don't forget I was raised on station wagons based on Chevelles, LeMans, Novas, LTDs, Catalinas, that kind of stuff. The Matador was a big, roomy family car that got good mileage from the 258. The inside was decent too. Way better than the lousy Malibu bench seat and drooping headliner. If anything it reminded me of Clark Griswald's wagon. Mine was blue like just this one.

 

[ck80]

Yes! Matadors were used as police cars and they were everywhere. (One Adam 12- see a a man) At least they looked like a car. What really made me puke was the '78 Cutlass Salon. That fastback was just horrible. I saw the same hideous lines on the wagon rear. Don't forget I was raised on station wagons based on Chevelles, LeMans, Novas, LTDs, Catalinas, that kind of stuff. The Matador was a big, roomy family car that got good mileage from the 258. The inside was decent too. Way better than the lousy Malibu bench seat and drooping headliner. If anything it reminded me of Clark Griswald's wagon. Mine was blue like just this one. View attachment 132999View attachment 133003View attachment 133000View attachment 133001View attachment 133004

I have to agree. When it comes to wagons I also agree with what she said, SIZE DOES MATTER.

The bigger it is, the better the experience. (Guess that's why I've got a soft spot for square body suburbans)

 

[Texas82GP]

I was born late in 1975. By 1983 my parent's marriage was over. My older (5 years) brother went with my Dad and I went with my mom. It was tough times. Late in 1983 or early in 1984 my mom started dating this guy. I wasn't too crazy about him since he wasn't my daddy. He had a really cool car though, so he couldn't be all bad. I mean, it wasn't as cool as Dad's 57 Chevy Bellaire 2-door hardtop but it was pretty darn cool. I didn't even know what it was but it had a wing on the back, stripes down the side and three shifters coming up out of the console. Yep, it was an 83 H/O. I fell in love with that car and came to love the man who owned it. He and mom got married in 1985 and he always treated me as his own son (he didn't have kids). He was one of the best things that ever happened to me. I learned a lot from that man. He didn't hang onto the car for long. He worked at a chemical plant and while he and mom were dating, there was an unintended release from a neighboring plant that ruined the pain on everyone's car including the H/O. He got it fixed but I don't think he was satisfied with the results. He decided we needed family car and he wasn't taking proper care of the H/O so he sold it. I never forgot that car. I grew up during the gutless turd era of the mid to late 80's. I really didn't pay attention to anything that was newer than the end of the muscle car era. I looked at everything on the road at the time as basic transportation. Some had better style than others though.

Fast forward to high school (early 90's). I friend had a brown 79 Regal T-Type. The 3.8 was long gone and a 455 was in its place. I'm not sure which transmission it had but it was a three speed and there was a sizable flare on all upshifts. The car had brown pillowtop velour seats and was column shift but I loved it. At the same time an acquaintance at another high school had a white choo-choo El Camino with a 355 and a 700R4. Very cool car. As we got closer to graduation my friend with the 79 Regal got an upgrade from his step-dad (who had built the Regal) to an 86 or 87 GN. I loved the styling but couldn't get over the 6 cylinder. I just didn't get it at the time. I liked how it ran though. His step-dad had a GNX in a specially built single bay detached garage in the back yard that was climate controlled. I wish I knew what number it was. They didn't drive it. They just took it to the AutoRama and other shows. I didn't get that either. I wanted a ride. There were other G-Bodies at school but not guys I knew. I was driving an 84 S-10 Blazer with a 2.8 (carb) V-6 and a 5-speed stick. I wanted a G-Body bad. I couldn't have one.

Late in 1994, after graduation, my step-dad bought an 84 Cutlass Supreme Brougham from a colleague at work. It was black with a black landau top. It had grey interior. The seats were pillowtop but they weren't velour. It was a nice car. I did a lot of work to it. It had a persistent coolant leak between the head and the intake at the passenger rear corner. It also had ticking valvetrain (worn rocker bridges). At some point the transmission failed (I think it only had reverse) and I ended up pulling the drivetrain. I had the transmission rebuilt and I did an engine compartment restoration. Later, when my step-dad was ready to move on from that car I wanted to sell the S10 Blazer and keep the Cutlass but we weren't getting along at the time (I was a typical teenager at the time) so it didn't happen.

Fast forward to 2014. My truck has been paid off for a year or two. I finally have the means to have a hobby car. I really wanted an 83 H/O but I didn't really want a 307. I also really wanted a stick shift in the car. I went and looked at a fairly nice example not far from home. They were asking $10k. I passed on it because it was a little too much money for me at the time, I didn't think I would be happy with the drivetrain and I wasn't willing to cut up a nice survivor (1 of like 1000 right?) to put an LS and a T56 Magnum or something like that in it. I ended up buying my car on eBay, site unseen (don't do this) instead. It had a 400 SBC and a four speed. I wasn't wild about it being a Grand Prix (I don't remember them from back in the day) but it was a G-Body and I liked that it was something different. So here I am, building the car I wanted in high school but couldn't have. A G-Body with a warmed up 350 SBC, a T5 5-speed stick, headers, Camaro serpentine front accessory drive, 8.5 posi, etc. Now I just need to finish it.

 

[78chevolds]

Well technically my Cutlass is an A body, but I am familiar and do like the 'newer' G bodies. How I got into them was my friend's father only drove Cutlasses. He had a 65 Cutlass Convertible that was waiting to be restored sitting in the driveway, and he got a new cutlass almost every year. They were much better than the Fords my father drove between 79 and 84. I don't recall what year his father had, but it was black with T-tops. I also delivered papers to Lloyd Long Dealership and saw the new models there and also delivered papers to people who owned older Cutlasses. When it came time for a daily, I knew I wanted to get a Cutlass as a daily driver. Back in 78/79 the Cutlass was equivalent to the Camry's of Today in terms of popularity and utility. I bought my Cutlass from a GM employee I think about 10 years ago.

 

[Rus]

I have probably the most hated g body out there, the 78 and 79 slant back roof century. My first car I financed was a 78 Buick Century in 1980. I had the big boats before that, the 70 buick Electra and 67 wildcat come to mind. I liked the 78 overall except two things, the rear end and the lack of power. I did sell it as moved to Alaska a few years later. Well luck happened and about four years ago I ran across a 78 in West Virginia. I had it shipped here and although body and interior were real solid, the frame was toast. I did a frame off with my wife and we ended up putting a Buick 462, 2004r and 389 9" rear. I also added a rear spoiler of a sport coupe to dress up rear. Very nice surprise and fun to drive.

 

[Doug Chahoy]

I have probably the most hated g body out there, the 78 and 79 slant back roof century. My first car I financed was a 78 Buick Century in 1980. I had the big boats before that, the 70 buick Electra and 67 wildcat come to mind. I liked the 78 overall except two things, the rear end and the lack of power. I did sell it as moved to Alaska a few years later. Well luge happened and about four years ago I ran across a 78 in West Virginia. I had it shipped here and although body and interior were real solid, the frame was toast. I did a frame off with my wife and we ended up putting a Buick 462, 2004r and 389 9" rear. I also added a rear spoiler of a sport coupe to dress up rear. Very nice surprise and fun to drive.
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That’s one hell of a sleeper. I also did not like that body style. I did alot of work for an Olds dealer from 77-81. I remember one black 78, 442 i worked on had these stupid shynal/vynel seats with reversible seat cushions. YUK!! Other than the Elco, I didn’t much like any of the 78-80s .

 

[motorheadmike]

Mom drove us to school in an '81 Malibu Classic and often peeled out of the parking lot. We drove that car to the East coast of Canada, to Florida, and eventually my brother inherited it and hot rodded it. Sadly it got scrapped last summer (she rotted out in the weirdest way).

After that we always had, or friends had, Turbo Buicks and Regals, Montes, Grand Prixs, Malibus, Elkys (first car I ever drove was my Dad's '79) and Diablos in our lives. It is just the way it was.

Not anymore. Now it is just me that carries the torch.

Oddly I've never had an Olds. I should fix that. 😉

 

[axisg]

2 fold for me. Friends dad ( Angus ) used to scrap \ flip cars on the side. As a kid I watched him ( not unlike lego ) take parts from different "scrap" cars or just using parts he had saved to fix what was wrong and make something he could re-sell. He said he loved the BPOC lineup in the gbodies as all the parts interchanged under the hood. Along with the square body trucks he kept quite the inventory and I was able to learn 99% of what I know of mechanical knowledge and making things work when you do not have what you need from that man. I am forever grateful.

What really turned me to the Gbody was my parents friend ( Robin ) had a 78 or 79 GP. Black, tan buckets, t-top and console. He loved that car. He had Angus pull the motor and trans from a wrecked 70 or 71 GTO and put it in the GP. T-tops out, slightly bigger wheels on the honeycomb rims and that thing would smoke the tires at will. I was hooked !! I would still love to re-create that car. Angus is gone, Robin gone before him, but the memories of a little 10 or so year old kid both being scared and exhilarated at the same time with the tires screaming for mercy and smoke rolling in thru the open t-tops still brings a smile to my face !