You may have heard of the Golden Raspberry Awards, also called the “Razzies.” They’re an annual satirical award given in the entertainment industry – to the worst movie, actor, Director, etc. — the Anti-Oscar. If ever there was an auto manufacturer’s video that deserved a Razzie, it’s this one from GM circa 1982, extolling the virtues and overall engineering excellence of the new Cadillac 4100 “High Technology” V8.
The “HT4100” — that “Standard of the World” powerplant that was infamous for various design flaws, including;
- Head Gasket Failures: The engine’s weak aluminum block and poorly designed head bolts would pull out, leading to head gasket failure.
- Leaking Intake Manifold Gaskets: The gaskets between the intake manifold and the engine block would fail, allowing coolant to enter the oil.
- Camshaft Wear: Poor oil circulation and the presence of coolant in the oil would cause the engine’s camshafts to wear down prematurely.
- Oil Leaks: A combination of inadequate gaskets and differing expansion rates between the aluminum block and cast iron components caused numerous oil leaks.
You won’t hear anything about those in this video however.
What stood out to me was the almost singular focus on computers and technology — to economize and speed up the manufacturing and assembly process – not to design and build a better engine. This focus on automation for automation’s sake seemed a recurring theme during the Roger Smith era.
So, if you are in need of a laugh or an example of why GM went downhill in the ’80s, here it is:
And if it’s been awhile since you’ve read GN’s superb, in-depth treatise on the 1981 Cadillac, the link is below. Highly recommended.
Vintage Reviews: 1981 Cadillac – The Year Caddy Stopped Firing On All Cylinders by GN
This kind of stupid aspirational naming on the part of GM just showcases their desperation in a age of producing crap, unlike the 60s and into the ’70s when they actually made some good stuff…but later on “high technology”. “high value” and other dumb attempts to promote junk as quality. Remember the promotion for the Quad 4, Norhtstar V8, and other similar garbage? It got increasingly worse through the ’80s and ’90s. Now they have 900,000 V8s being recalled,so lately there’s nothing new under the sun at GM, they haven’t made one vehicle I’d want since1979.
This was the start of GM’s long, self-inflicted delcine alright as they embarked on stupid internal projects and foisted poorly designed and engineered crap products on their once loyal customer base.
I was an insider when they embarked on brand management where non-auto personnel were hired by the droves and literally given free rein to come up with arty-farty statements and mission objectives that would lead to (hoped) customer enthusiasm. These so called brand specialists knew absolutely nothing and did not care about what makes a good vehicle and the products gestated in this time frame (late 1990s to mid 2000s) were disastrous at worst and plain mediocre at best.
GM is still paying the price today, where it is no longer a global player and the following it once commanded for its remaining brands is a pale shadow of what it once was.
Part of it is the irrational hate GM still seems to engender. Like it’s personal. Toyota recalled well over a million cars the last few weeks. Completely stopped electric vehicle sales in the US. Yet every CC on Toyota doesn’t feel a need to mention this. Ever driven a Northstar? Fantastic engine. Absolute blast.
Part of it is the irrational hate GM still seems to engender. Like it’s personal. Toyota recalled well over a million cars the last few weeks. Completely stopped electric vehicle sales in the US. Yet every CC on Toyota doesn’t feel a need to mention this. Ever driven a Northstar? Fantastic fun
I think the irrational need to defend GM is a more interesting phenomenon.
Blowhard publicity touts technology for its own sake which ignored the age -old truth, “Garbage in, garbage out.”
Took the words from my mouth, Mr. Poon! Nice computers, though, huh?
That “Coolant Fault” light teasingly flashing in a couple of spots was pure cinema gold.
Once again, I will admit to the 4100 not being the greatest, but I won’t bash it either. And I actually have a lot of experience with them.
In 1988, I began a sales career with a dealership that had Buick, GMC, Cadillac and Honda. In 1993, we traded in a stunning 1985 Seville Elegante in gray with a white top and gray leather. The top was a factory top and no other ugly stuff had been added. It had about 90K and was very clean and ran quite well. I didn’t have the complete history on the car, but enough to be ok with buying it. Shortly after getting it, my wife and I took it on a trip from northwest IL to the west coast. It wasn’t the most powerful, but it held it’s own and we made it through the mountains and all. On the way home, we did start to get an oil burning smell that wasn’t a problem for the trip. However when we got home and I was back to work, I had the service look at it. With well over 102,000 miles, they said it needed a rear main gasket. So I had them do that and replace some worn parts along with it. The car was like brand new again. The next year I sold it to a couple who drove it for several more years trouble free.
What we (as a dealership with Cadillac) found was that those who learned to flush the radiators every other year while putting the GM approved pellets in on the other years, while changing the oil faithfully every 3,000 miles, those 4100 engines would actually run well for a long time. But it was best to look for a 1983 or later as the 1982’s were the most problematic. Some of the higher points? It was a quiet engine, smooth and would actually get good MPG’s on the highway when driven well.
I had an 85 Fleetwood Brougham with this engine bought in 1994. Didn’t know much about these engines but knew the car had been owned by a funeral home so I figured it had been fairly well serviced. Had about 95,000 miles on it.
Drove the car to over 150,000 miles with no engine problems. The only thing I did was on long trips when I stopped I’d pop the hood and let it cool as the heat that motor generated was unreal!
When it went to the wreckers the motor was still fine but the wiring harness had a major meltdown and it wasn’t economically sensible to fix it