I’m a little late to the Beretta party, but probably just as well, as the less I say about them, the better, depending on your POV. But I just remembered this Beretta GTZ that I shot in the Bay Area a while back. But I know this was the hot one, with a 180 hp Olds Quad Four under the hood and a Getrag five-speed. As in 0-60 in 7.6 seconds, all the while pinning the dB meter. Quick and noisy, for the times.
The 3.1 L V6 was also available, but only with the three-speed automatic, and was thus slower. This one has the 2.3 Thrash-Four, undoubtedly.
Obviously, a Chevy lover lives here.
Shiver
I like it. It really is a clean design, however IMO the side window glass looks a tad too big for the rest of the car. It stands out in the Arctic White paint scheme, no gaudy multi colored striping, just a nice monochrome color. Hard to believe the Cavalier Z-24 is what took over the reins in Chevy’s catalog after this car left the scene.
Interesting comment on the side glass: I never really noticed it before. It might look nicer with a higher beltline but dang, I hate high beltlines on cars.
I never cared for the solid grille insert that much though.
Ahh…the 1968 Chevy: my bestest most favoritist truck in the whole wide world.
The reason the side glass looks too big is because most modern cars are styled like pillboxes on wheels. Personally, I like the airy greenhouse look of ’80s and ’90s cars.
I have a 2012 Mustang and a 1988 Thunderbird next to each other in the garage and the diference in glass area is amazing. Both cars have a low seating position with a high cowl. The difference between them is that I can see out of all the windows in the T-bird, where as on teh Mustang I can’t. Visibility out the front and side windows is ok but I can’t see a damn thing out the quarter of rear windows.
I think the Quad 4 was a 2.3L engine. The 2.2 was the OHV Cavalier hand-me-down for base Beretta/Corsicas.
Typo; fixed. Thanks. You see how I’m trying to belittle the Beretta?
I hadn’t noticed… I’ve been too freaked out by my own level of arcane knowledge and recognition of such a thoroughly underwhelming automobile, from a manufacturer I can’t stand! LOL.
(I also just noticed the engine type and displacement are shown in the tiny red type below the GTZ logo.)
I used to feel that way about the FWD GM vehicles of the 80-90’s, but I was always basing that on driving soft sprung, low equipment level V6 cars that had little in the way of spring rate, shock dampening and tiny sway bars.
Simply jumping into another car, with the performance suspension options (could be had even on some station wagon Cavaliers too) and you got much more car than people give them credit for.
I attribute the attitude to reading too much C&D and Motortrend when I was younger. They hated everything GM and would always put them dead last out of hatred. It’s actually very childish, when I think about it now…
This car is one I never even noticed enough to have an opinion on. By the time it came out, I’d completely given up and lost interest in GM.
That was the tail-end of the era of Generic Products. This one would fit right in…in a plain white wrapper.
CAR.
Value-Time® Specifications Approved.
This car is suitable for everyday transportation.
Generic toilet paper…is okay. Or generic table salt.
Not a generic car.
Everything is relative. My brother had one of these and we thought it was the fastest, meanest, baddest car evah! It was cheap, good on gas, handled pretty well and was cheap. It was also cheap. The headgasket went south on the Quad 4 (man, that thing was booming loud) and that was not cheap (to fix).
Owner gets extra coolness points for the ’68 C-10 Fleetside.
What must the Audi and Rav4 driving neighbors think!
They would have to have their heads out of their anatomical parts to think.
This reminds me of another vanishing car. The Pontiac Grand Am was really a huge success for GM sales wise, even if the reality of ownership wasn’t always pleasant. Where did they all go?
These are not bad looking cars. The problem is that every time I see one (once or twice a year) it is being driven by someone who looks like they sould be on the next episode of COPS……
Around here in NE Ohio all these cars seem to have one thing in common…no gas door. Something must rust off and they just fall off. From my perspective the early Beretta GTU (88-89) and GTZ (90-93) are much more rare than the later 94-96 Z26’s. If I were going to pick one up it would have to be painted the rare “Raspberry” color only available in 95-96.
The horror…the horror…
I have vented my spleen on these foul abominations before. A rolling expression of Lowest Common Denominator.
But WAS it was the ’90 Indy Pace Car!
Bring your mullet.
i like the white car