Ways You'd Improve the 1st Gen W

[GPX]

I think it's interesting how few complaints there really are. People complain about the brakes, but so far, my only complaint is that they squeal when I back up after washing or rain. And there's the occasional quirkiness with the ABS, but for stopping the car, they work great! And what's the big complaint about the glass mono-leaf? I love the way my car hugs the road. I have a stock suspension and shit tires and the car still pulls thru a turn nicely--and I'm driving on twisty Vermont roads. Now mind you, I don't go around endangering the general public all the time, but it's fun to run out to 60, 70, 80 on occasion and for brief periods. The car accelerates nicely and corners predictably. What more do you really need? There's no way these cars are underpowered! These are "Luxury Sports" cars--they're not Vettes, or even Firebirds or Camaros. They're old man cars for crying out loud! They fact that some of the GTPs, Internationals, and GSs run 14 second quarters is very respectable. My complaint is about the interior trim--and I worked in the Fisher Body Advanced Design Group back in '83 on the darn thing! My console is garbage. The front ashtray door is gone, the cup holders suck, the armrest top is broken off, and the rear ashtray has fallen out and won't stay in. The hood release is also junk. The power locks rarely work. The remote mirrors stopped working. The top-rear fastener cage broke on my driver's side door and now it's a little floppy. And they kept telling us back in '83 that they didn't want ANY screws showing in the interior and yet my '96 has screws all over the place. They did much better in this regard with the second gen cars. I don't know how much a screwless interior matters, but when I worked for Fisher Body, we tested the bejeebers out of moving interior trim parts. I don't think they did that with my '96. All in all, however, this is the best car I've ever owned and if I can, I will keep it forever! And one other thing I think should have happened is that there should have been a 442, or W-30, or W-31 Cutlass and the GTO should have come from the GP, not Australia.

[Bake82]

I think it's interesting how few complaints there really are. People complain about the brakes, but so far, my only complaint is that they squeal when I back up after washing or rain. And there's the occasional quirkiness with the ABS, but for stopping the car, they work great! And what's the big complaint about the glass mono-leaf? I love the way my car hugs the road. I have a stock suspension and shit tires and the car still pulls thru a turn nicely--and I'm driving on twisty Vermont roads. Now mind you, I don't go around endangering the general public all the time, but it's fun to run out to 60, 70, 80 on occasion and for brief periods. The car accelerates nicely and corners predictably. What more do you really need? There's no way these cars are underpowered! These are "Luxury Sports" cars--they're not Vettes, or even Firebirds or Camaros. They're old man cars for crying out loud! They fact that some of the GTPs, Internationals, and GSs run 14 second quarters is very respectable. My complaint is about the interior trim--and I worked in the Fisher Body Advanced Design Group back in '83 on the darn thing! My console is garbage. The front ashtray door is gone, the cup holders suck, the armrest top is broken off, and the rear ashtray has fallen out and won't stay in. The hood release is also junk. The power locks rarely work. The remote mirrors stopped working. The top-rear fastener cage broke on my driver's side door and now it's a little floppy. And they kept telling us back in '83 that they didn't want ANY screws showing in the interior and yet my '96 has screws all over the place. They did much better in this regard with the second gen cars. I don't know how much a screwless interior matters, but when I worked for Fisher Body, we tested the bejeebers out of moving interior trim parts. I don't think they did that with my '96. All in all, however, this is the best car I've ever owned and if I can, I will keep it forever! And one other thing I think should have happened is that there should have been a 442, or W-30, or W-31 Cutlass and the GTO should have come from the GP, not Australia.

 

I'm going to agree with this statement!

 

I mean my Cutlass has been great to me. If you know how to turn a wrench EVEN A LITTLE BIT, you can work on these cars NO problem. I think they are great reliable cars, and the problems these cars have are IMO minor. Sure you have the odd tranny to go out, or whatever...but these cars are a HELL of a lot better than the mopar product, and IMO ford too!

 

They did the job they were supposed to, and most of the problems people have are because the previous owners did not take care of the car like they should have!!

[93CutlassSupreme]

I think it's interesting how few complaints there really are. People complain about the brakes, but so far, my only complaint is that they squeal when I back up after washing or rain. And there's the occasional quirkiness with the ABS, but for stopping the car, they work great! And what's the big complaint about the glass mono-leaf? I love the way my car hugs the road. I have a stock suspension and shit tires and the car still pulls thru a turn nicely--and I'm driving on twisty Vermont roads. Now mind you, I don't go around endangering the general public all the time, but it's fun to run out to 60, 70, 80 on occasion and for brief periods. The car accelerates nicely and corners predictably. What more do you really need? There's no way these cars are underpowered! These are "Luxury Sports" cars--they're not Vettes, or even Firebirds or Camaros. They're old man cars for crying out loud! They fact that some of the GTPs, Internationals, and GSs run 14 second quarters is very respectable. My complaint is about the interior trim--and I worked in the Fisher Body Advanced Design Group back in '83 on the darn thing! My console is garbage. The front ashtray door is gone, the cup holders suck, the armrest top is broken off, and the rear ashtray has fallen out and won't stay in. The hood release is also junk. The power locks rarely work. The remote mirrors stopped working. The top-rear fastener cage broke on my driver's side door and now it's a little floppy. And they kept telling us back in '83 that they didn't want ANY screws showing in the interior and yet my '96 has screws all over the place. They did much better in this regard with the second gen cars. I don't know how much a screwless interior matters, but when I worked for Fisher Body, we tested the bejeebers out of moving interior trim parts. I don't think they did that with my '96. All in all, however, this is the best car I've ever owned and if I can, I will keep it forever! And one other thing I think should have happened is that there should have been a 442, or W-30, or W-31 Cutlass and the GTO should have come from the GP, not Australia.

 

I'm going to agree with this statement!

 

I mean my Cutlass has been great to me. If you know how to turn a wrench EVEN A LITTLE BIT, you can work on these cars NO problem. I think they are great reliable cars, and the problems these cars have are IMO minor. Sure you have the odd tranny to go out, or whatever...but these cars are a HELL of a lot better than the mopar product, and IMO ford too!

 

They did the job they were supposed to, and most of the problems people have are because the previous owners did not take care of the car like they should have!!

 

You're right about that. By the time most of us "aquired" our W's, they were beat to shit.

[GtipGary]

I give Gm credit on the way they put the bumpers on the first gen B4U Gps.... after seeing mine nearly being bent in half when my brother pulled up over a tall curb then backed up... Besides a few stress cracks you cant tell ne thing ever happened. I thought some of the guys were gonna faint when this happened (i nearly did)

[ns87]

redcar_96:that sreally cool you worked for Fisher!

[GPX]

redcar_96:that sreally cool you worked for Fisher!

/hijack

I was jobbed-in to Fisher Body as at the time they were not hiring any new employees. People were concerned that all the old knowledge was not going to get passed on to young blood. I think they were just waiting to have the divisions absorb Fisher Body. Also at the time, GM claimed that there was a shortage of qualified designers, so they hired a bunch of Europeans to fill out the programs. They were a cool bunch of guys and exceptionally good draftsmen. I did, however, get tired of their accents, believe it or not. They learned to like big cars and hamburgers while they were here, and many of them got fat. During my short career as a drafter/designer I worked on sheet metal and glass in prototype and them switched to interior trim for the production program for the B/C-bodies and sheetmetal for the prototype S-body, and finished up my career doing interior trim on the W-body at the Advanced Design Center at GM's Tech Center in Warren. You had to go thru an underground tunnel and show ID to get in. It was all 1950s industrial architecture and it was all in great shape. The W-body program was right next to the M-van which was getting ready to go to pre-production, and so was closing down and moving. The W-body program was in its earliest stages. We had a full-size wood buck of the car in the room and all I knew about this car was that it was the new Grand Prix, we were to have no screws showing in the interior, it was GM's first "world car," it's windshield rake was second only to the Corvette's, and we had no interior styling drawings or models to work from, so we were making it up as we went. As drafting programs go, it was an exciting one. We had access to a Saab, an Audi, a Mazda, a Honda, a Volkswagon, and I think a couple others. We could check them out and drive them around, and if we wanted to see how something worked, we took it around to the shop where they tore it down, laid it out in order and then called us to let us know we could come view it. There were also expansive rooms filled with torn-down assemblies of other cars to look at. There was also a shop full of experimental engines that I didn't know anything about except there were a lot of wild looking intake setups on those motors! Also at the time, the whole drafting business was making the transition to CAD and I felt it was a good time to try something different so I went to radio broadcasting school! My Cutlass is the first car I've ever owned that I also had a hand in designing and it gives me a very special sense of ownership.

[Brian P]

that's awesome!

[slick]

That's pretty awesome!!!

[Addicted To Boost]

Thats sweet!

[pwmin]

that's awesome!

That's pretty awesome!!!

Thats sweet!

yeah, what they said

[Andrew]

that's awesome!

That's pretty awesome!!!

Thats sweet!

yeah, what they said

[94CutlassXtreme]

1.) Not leave the ECM exposed to the elements (not sitting on the shelf in the inner fender)

 

2.) Never even think of the untunable OBD1.5 setup.

 

3.) Mini-projectors for the mini-quads.

 

4.) Carrying over a turbo option on the 3100.

 

5.) Not making the early huds look like a brick sitting on the dash.

 

6.) Monoleaf....good on the vette, not so good on a FWD car. A new one at the dealer is $436.00 the last time I checked, that and the troublesome rubber end pads that like to erode.

[19Cutlass94]

^^^ hes alive!

[94CutlassXtreme]

lol, yes I am, but my Cutlass still isn't.

[19Cutlass94]

why?!

[94CutlassXtreme]

Too busy and lack of motivation...and I keep buying things for my GTP. I don't know what to do...the thought of sending it to the boneyard makes me cringe.

[toms92gpse]

My brakes stop great on my gp, but the rear calipers could stand to be better and not seize up so easy. My only other real complaint is only 1 cup holder. Other then that it think gm did great for the time that the cars came out.

[pwmin]

i wouldve made them ugly so i wouldnt like them and waste my money on such an old car

[93CutlassSupreme]

i wouldve made them ugly so i wouldnt like them and waste my money on such an old car

 

Well...some W's are quite ugly, so I guess GM did a stand up job in that department.

 

I personally find GP sedans with lightbars hideous.

[GtipGary]

i wouldve made them ugly so i wouldnt like them and waste my money on such an old car

 

 

x2343927940987

[pwmin]

i wouldve made them ugly so i wouldnt like them and waste my money on such an old car

 

Well...some W's are quite ugly, so I guess GM did a stand up job in that department.

 

I personally find GP sedans with lightbars hideous.

well, that is true. only 4dr 1st gen W i really like is a TSTE. some 4dr cuts and lumis are ok.

[Euro]

i wouldve made them ugly so i wouldnt like them and waste my money on such an old car

 

Well...some W's are quite ugly, so I guess GM did a stand up job in that department.

 

I personally find GP sedans with lightbars hideous.

well, that is true. only 4dr 1st gen W i really like is a TSTE. some 4dr cuts and lumis are ok.

 

I'd love to have a 4 door Euro again!!!

[Brian P]

1st gens being sedans was such an afterthought 2nd gens are a different story.

[93CutlassSupreme]

1st gens being sedans was such an afterthought 2nd gens are a different story.

 

I know. It's very obvious. I think Cutlass and Lumina sedans turned out okay. Regal and GP sedans, eh.

[GP1138]

I actually miss my old GP sedan.