Here at CC we normally have a high regard for the GM B-bodies that appeared in 1977, but my own B-body tale is a bit uneven.
In 1981, Mom was still driving the workhorse 1972 Matador, Dad’s commuter car was a 1974 Vega, and it was pretty clear that new vehicles were soon required in the JackD household. In hindsight my father’s plan was clever; our Vega wasn’t too terrible yet, and could be traded in with a straight face on a suitable GM workhorse. Therefore, the Matador replaced the Vega as commuter, and the Vega got traded in on a brand new 1981 Chevrolet Impala.
This was a milestone vehicle for the D family. First brand-spanking-new car. First car with luxury options like air conditioning, power brakes and AM/FM/Cassette. It was from lot stock, and Dad had specified a small V8 for towing our small camper trailer. I went along for the last ride in the Vega, and took a photo of Dad accepting the keys at Nethercott Chev-Olds in Hamilton.
Although our new car was brown, and a 4-door, I will admit that it was a handsome machine. The well integrated chrome bumpers and lack of gaudy trim gave it a sort of square jawed purposeful look, and the brown velour bench-seat interior was plain but tasteful, mercifully devoid of pillow cushions or other brougham-y flourishes.
I was positively salivating on that first ride home: A V8, finally! I begged Dad to floor it at a stop sign, he hit it, and…. nothing really happened. The Impala gathered speed but there was no perceptible sense of acceleration. I was mystified; even the Vega had more poke than this.
Sadly, the base V8 in 1981 was the infamous 267, the small block that Chevrolet didn’t build enough torques into and often considered the worst SBC ever. Strangled down to 115 hp with emissions control equipment, it could barely get out of its own way, yet retained a prodigious appetite for fuel. On our next family vacation we found that the fully loaded and trailer towing Impala was hazardous to drive on the Interstate because of its inability to climb grades at a reasonable speed. Fuming truck drivers hung inches off the back of the camper as we chugged up hills at 40mph with the A/C off, then they blasted us with the horn as they passed on the downhill.
Having cheated death again, Dad goes for a stroll at the Piggly Wiggly
Once I got my driver’s license, one of my Chevy-driving friends had me bring the Impala over to his house for a tuning session; he confidently assured me that bumping up the ignition timing and blocking the EGR valve would bring Dad’s Impala to life. What this actually accomplished was to make the engine detonate like shaking a coffee can of hardware, so we returned the engine to stock settings and broke out his copy of “How to Hot Rod Small Block Chevys”.
Once we checked the VIN code and learned the awful truth about the 267, we turned our attention to the rear end, jacked up one wheel and checked the final drive ratio. I don’t recall the number we arrived at I do recall repeating the test three times because it seemed impossibly low, lower than the 2.73:1 in my friend’s older Impala, so it was probably 2.41:1. Thus ended the Impala tuning session, and all thoughts of Impala performance ended there too.
Quality-wise, the Impala had a split personality: It simultaneously managed to be staggeringly reliable and yet drive me crazy with failure.
Generally the car was an anvil of reliability. It didn’t break, rust or wear out. It never needed a major repair, ever. Never needed a tow truck or a rescue in 12 years, just tires, brakes and exhaust. It brought us kids to college, brought me and my wretched TR4 back from college, and it was my Sister’s wedding car. If you needed a job done, the Impala would do it without drama or complaint.
Off to College, 1986
But, after a few years the gas struts retired from trying to hold the trunk lid up, and thereafter we employed a broom handle. This was a bit risky, as a carelessly applied stick would slip, and the 900 pound trunk lid could have severed an arm. Later the foam in the seats totally collapsed. Riding in the Impala was like sitting atop a layer of potatoes on the floor. It was a literal pain in the butt, and it was hard to see over the dash.
At some point the signal stalk wouldn’t return in one direction. My Chevy-driving friend told me how to fix it, and with a 30 cent spring from the dealership and a borrowed steering wheel puller I made it right. My parents complimented me on this fix; I think it was the first repair I’d ever made without creating either a colossal mess or another problem.
The Impala had a few quirks, one being the windshield washer mechanism. It was a mechanical pump driven off a cam on the back of the wiper output shaft. Touching the washer button resulted in multiple massive squirts of fluid being deposited on the windshield. It was important to carry a jug of washer fluid in the Impala, as driving in slushy weather would quickly deplete the small reservoir. The powerful vacuum-assisted brakes caused me grief on a couple of occasions, as I was accustomed to driving a car with manual brakes. One day I made the mistake of adjusting the front bench seat as I was slowing down, the seat instantly slid all the way forward on its tracks as all four wheels locked up and I was crammed against the dash and steering wheel while the horn blew. Luckily there was no one around to witness my display of driving prowess.
By about 1991 a new Dodge Grand Caravan appeared in Dad’s driveway, and my brother began to drive the Impala to University. Like me he was not much of an Impala fan, but as an English major he was a more effective complainer than I was. He was later presented with a 1992 Mercury Tracer LTS which was a vastly superior student car. It was left to me to dispose of the Impala, luckily a co-worker had mentioned that he was looking for a cheap reliable car, and we sold it to him for $150.
As I type this I’m about the same age Dad was when he bought the Impala, would I have bought a similar car under the circumstances? Probably, but with over 30 years of hindsight, it still bothers me a bit, and I ask myself what I might have done differently with that car. The big stick answer would have been to ditch the 267 and drop in the much more capable 305 cubic inch V8, but my parents would never have taken that suggestion after the car was bought, particularly from a 14-year-old kid.
No, I should have encouraged my Dad to get the rear gears changed out, a much more affordable proposition. With a 3.08:1 gearset the Impala would have had 28% more torque at the wheels, which would have made a big difference in drivability. Sure it would pull more RPM on the highway, but we wouldn’t have been risking our lives on vacation and it may well have gotten better combined mileage since it didn’t see much highway use.
Although I was knee deep in my own vehicular problems in those days, I should have taken the time to do something about the trunk struts, and replaced the potato seats with benches from a newer Caprice, anything up to 1990 would have bolted right in. With a little attention and a few tweaks it might well have been a vehicle that I looked forward to spending time in. I might have even started driving it in 1991 instead of my AMC Concord and become… a GM guy.
Last Photo before delivery to new owner – 1993
Related Reading:
COAL – 1972 Matador – I saved it and it saved me
The GM B-body: A Love Song in B Major
Had I known there was a Piggly Wiggly at the bottom of the Grand Canyon, I would have hiked all the way down.
Oooh! 40 MPH uphill? Yikes! I can’t even imagine a 115 HP engine pulling this huge car and a trailer. The heck was GM thinking?
Also, you’re a great photographer! I swear, the shots of your folks and the dealer shot look like GM publicity shots! I really thought they were before reading the captions.
In re: what they were thinking, probably, “If we miss our CAFE target, the feds will say, ‘Okay, smart guys, you get to be the teachable moment for everybody else.'”
The same thing Ford and Chrysler with there 111 HP 255 and 120-130 HP 318 emission strangled V8’s.
I have a ’79 Malibu with the 267, and that car benefitted from 10 more HP (it was still at 125 in ’79), better (ha!) rear gearing of 2.73:1, and several hundred lbs. less of total weight. And it was still rather poky. Your experience with the Impala must have been rather dreadful from a driveability perspective. Ah, the anti-V8. As much as I’d like to keep it mostly original when I get it back on the road, given the lack of power, lack of parts support, and general lack fo respect for the 267, I think it’s getting tossed in favor of a 350.
I also have a ’79 Malibu with the 267 which I bought new. I don’t drive it much anymore, but it still runs pretty good with 165K miles on it. Until I started following CC I didn’t know that these engines were held in such low esteem. I guess I have been ignorant of that fact for all these years.
My car is the only one I have ever driven with the 267. However, mine is also equipped with the Saginaw 4 speed, so I guess the stick shift gives you a different sensation. I know it is not exactly a muscle car, but I used to do a few burnouts with it when I was young and stupid. I have never pulled a trailer with it, but it also never driving through the mountains on vacation with my wife and 3 girls and a weeks worth of packing in the trunk with no problem breaking the speed limit on an Interstate. I have to agree with you, the lighter car and a few more horses must make a big difference.
Cars like these triggered the wise old folk saying ” GM cars run bad longer than most cars run at all”.
By the way, is that a real picture of your dad with the cars salesman? I mean, it must be a parody photo or something… Your dad looks completely normal, but that salesman….. looks so, so salesman.
As a side note, a 1977 Caprice Classic was my dad’s last American car. I wasn’t around much by that time,I’d gone off to conquer the world, but I do know it came from the factory with the rear axle on crooked – the left rear wheel forward of the right, and I recall that the dash looked like something grabbed from the Rubbermaid aisle. It was only around a few years before my dad replaced it with a Honda Accord – quite a daring move in our area. Of that car, I remember him commenting with awe in his voice “90,000 miles and all I’ve done is changed the oil and replaced the tires”.
*click* ‘Paging Herb Tarlek, your customer is here to pick up his car. Paging Herb Tarlek’ *click*
That salesman is very very saleman-ey, it almost looks like a parody, I keep looking a the pic and expecting it to turn into Kurt Russell from Used Cars.
Also, it looks like there is an early Cavalier hatchback in the RH corner of the pic too.
Trust me!
Airport Lanes! Best salad bar in town!
Ha!
“One day I made the mistake of adjusting the front bench seat as I was slowing down, the seat instantly slid all the way forward on its tracks as all four wheels locked up and I was crammed against the dash and steering wheel while the horn blew.”
Easily the best description of driving a B-Body GM I’ve ever heard!! I did that so many times in the 85 LeSabre; I literally laughed out loud when I read that.
Cheers!
+1 Yup…78 Chevy Caprice here
+2 Yup…79 Impala here
’77 LeSabre
Guilty as well in my mom’s 82 Caprice. Back then cars had POWER BRAKES. I especially liked when you thought the seat was in a detent, but really wasn’t until that steep downhill stop or uphill takeoff.
80 Skylark.
I did that on my ’74 LeSabre, all other B and C body cars I had had power seats that didn’t have this issue!
I’ve never had a B with a manual seat.
Did the bench seat have multiple positions? Maybe it was just worn out by the time I started driving it (1996) but I recall the bench seat on the Malibu having exactly two positions – “up” and “back”. Perfect for my 5’1″ Mom and my 6’4″ Dad, but a little lacking for those of us in the middle.
The one actual B-Body we had, an ’86 Parisienne, had power seats. And rather comfy ones at that.
A good writeup on a good car .
L.A.P.D. had these in ’77 , all had the RPO 350 engine and most of the RPO Police Package , they were terrific cars , handled well for boats and were simply unkillable .
They even got 14 MPG’s , a terrible thing in my view as I was driving an old 36 HP Beetle then , it got 30 ~ 32 MPG easily , no matter how / where I drove it .
I and the older Blue Suits stil miss and lament the passing of these cars .
We’re now using Dodge Chargers , worthless garbage .
I too laughed at the sales man photo , that fake smile switched on and off so easily .
-Nate
Good write up, looks like your family got good service out of that ’81, if not enjoyable service. The Chev-Olds emporium my Dad worked at back then wouldn’t stock the 267 in anything, it was so gutless it was actually dangerous in our mountainous terrain, and the few customers who did order them complained bitterly.
That picture with the salesman is hilarious!
Articles like this are what Curbside Classic is all about. A terrific recounting of a beloved car and you learn something new. I did not know the Impala used gas struts for the deck lid. Did those come with the facelift and longer lid?
I’ve done that moving the seat while slowing down thing too, don’t worry. A similar inelegant move can come from coasting in a car with power brakes that are out of vacuum then, while the car is moving, starting the engine with your foot on the brake..
Your Dad’s salesman looks like Ron Burgundy.
I don’t know about the gas struts either, my 80 Caprice doesn’t have them, there is a torsion-bar type set up that holds the trunk up, but the trunk doesn’t seem to weight 900lbs to me either, I don’t know if they changed that from 80 to 81, but it seems unlikely since they barely changed anything on these through 1990.
Torsion springs… They can get out of adjustment or break.
I had to take the tension out of my 77 Chevelle’s springs after putting in a power trunk release to avoid the jaw-breaking springing to full open with gusto action the stock position had.
Our 84 Olds Delta 88 had the torsion springs as well, along with my 86 6000, our 84 Sunbird, 92 LeSabre, 69 Chevelle, and 76 Chevelle. Friends 78 Impala had them as well.
Struts?
I missed that from the original post, I thought the car had broken torsion springs.
I had an issue with the torsion springs in my 1984 Corolla 4 door sedan, the trunk door wouldn’t close once it was fully opened because of a bent metal bracket that moved with the springs. I had to push on that bracket while closing the trunk door and it was quite tricky! I eventually got a replacement part from the junkyard… It never happened to me with a GM car.
Thats the guy…..Torsion Springs.
Doug, I can so see you driving this Impala. Uphill. At 40 mph.
Isn’t it odd how the cars that tend to annoy us the most for whatever reason tend to be the most anvil-like in durability?
Not in my experience. My second Rabbit was both annoying AND fought me constantly for the entire short time I owned it.
One of my books says that the 267 came with a 2.41:1 axle ratio and three speed automatic. The 305 V8 came with an overdrive automatic and the 3.08:1 axle ratio. The 267’s torque was 200 ft-lbs while the 305 had 240.
I have not had a car that climbed hills slowly, but I helped my brother move and the truck I was driving would climb mountains at less than 40 and trucks that got caught behind me were not happy either.
The signal stalk that wouldn’t return!
I hate when the signal stalk doesn’t hold in place or doesn’t cancel!
That reminds me something! Back in 1967-68, GM already used similar flasher switches, some had springs like the one in your parent’s Impala, some had plastic tabs to hold the flasher switch in place and to cancel it. If a car has one style switch, the hazard flasher button isn’t located at the same place on the column so you can’t interchange the switches unless you don’t mind drilling a second hole in your column for the hazard flasher button.
And since there are switches of both styles for cars with and without cornering lights, that makes 4 styles of switches available… Unfortunately, my 1967 Riviera has the switch with the plastic tabs that can’t be repaired. Well, Help! products did issue a repair kit for Fords that had the same exact same switch as GM cars without cornering lights but for GM cars with cornering lights, you couldn’t use it. Many years ago, I had to order the complete switch (which I think is now obsolete) from the GM dealer for $270. Replacing it required to remove the terminals from the connector as the connector was too large to pass through a tilt steering column (it passes through non-tilt columns fine).
The next time I have to replace that switch, I’ll use a complete column from an identical 1967 Riviera that parted out (that also had cornering lights, same interior color as mine and console shift) that happens to have the style of switch you had in your parent’s Impala.
BTW, in Canada, 1981 was the last year for the Bel Air, so the Impala wasn’t the entry-level full size Chevy here! Here’s a small picture of the interior of a 1981 Bel Air 2 door. Anyone can tell the differences with the Impala?
The BelAir seems to have less woodgrain on the dash then the Impala I think.
> BTW, in Canada, 1981 was the last year for the Bel Air, so the Impala wasn’t the entry-level full size Chevy here!
BTW, DougD is in Canada also.
I can’t, it looks like an Impala interior, unless there is some little detail missing somewhere….
From what I’ve read, the 77-81 Bel Airs in Canada had a “Bel Air” plaque above the glove box and if you pulled the plaque off, you could see the indentation for the Impala emblem.
The woodgrain on the doors was missing as well on Bel Airs.
I would love to find a nice 77-81 Bel Air and bring it here into the States.
Doug, your posts always bring a big smile to my face. And yes, your family photographer(s) is top notch! They couldn’t have been staged better.
I like the simple honesty of these cars…it’s from a period when Chevy built cars that were attractive even though a bit plain. I bought a 77 Nova just for that reason.
Did GM buy THE cheapest gas struts for holding up trunk lids? The struts holding the hatch for my J2000 failed suddenly and I was nearly de-capitated. I don’t think that the car was more than 2 or 3 years old when that 1st happened.
In our family, the gas struts problem was with the rear glass of the G body (Malibu, Cutlass, Bonneville, Regal/Century) wagons. We never had one with reliable gas struts. Just had a flashback of what it felt like when he glass came down on part of your body as you were reaching into the cargo area!
GM struts…I had just put my wife into our Trailblazer and was getting ready to put her wheelchair in the wayback. With no hint of looming fiasco, the struts quit, and I was left holding the gate up with my head while wrestling the chair into place.
Not a pretty picture.
Broomstick? Eh. More than a few of the ’80s GM products I’ve owned have benefitted from the addition of my own “custom” hood and/or trunk props, cut to just the right length from leftover sections of conduit.
BTW, I thought most/all B-bodies of that era had a torsion bar style setup for the trunklid? Maybe I’ve just been looking at the downmarket ones too much. (That’s not to say I haven’t found one or two of those which had been monkeyed with and no longer worked, too!)
Good read, I always wanted my parents to get one of the 77-79 caprice classic or Impala with the 2 tone paint, few friends parents had them & they were beautiful to me.
Doug, you look just like your Dad! And mine had the same affinity for sandals with dark socks as well. As others have said, the pictures really make the story, it’s also great to see the other cars in the background, lots of CC fodder there. Great stories and memories, I’m sure many (most) of us had a car that used a broomstick to hold up on lid or the other at times.
Great pictures! Stating the obvious here, but old photos are a glimpse into another lifetime, whether it be your own or someone else’s. They really complement your story of the Impala.
That salesman though. He reminds me of George Bluth (Jeffrey Tambor) on Arrested Development.
I started my 305 or 307 equipped 87 Caprice in Drive and that thing took off and yes I too once adjusted the bench while driving, but my seat went back instead. Wonder when the 350 was offered on these Impalas if ever.
My parents and I have never towed a trailer, but we also have never owned a vehicle capable of going up a steep incline (I-70 Colorado, I-90 Idaho, or I-5 Oregon) within 10-15 MPH of the speed limit.
The 350’s were available for 1977-79. From 1980-90 only the 9C1 police package cars could be equipped with the 350.
Thanks.
350s were available in 77. Don’t know when they were dropped, if ever. Mine was a 77, same color, wagon, 350/350. One of only 3-4 cars I wish I had kept.
Great story! Its always bittersweet to read of a new car that slowly devolves to more or less beater status, though I suppose almost all of them do. It seems like this process takes longer now – my 93 Crown Vic is definitely there now, but is also into its 3rd decade of daily service. And wow – that engine and that axle ratio, how unfortunate. And did CAFE even apply in Canada?
I too will confess to the adjusting the seat while slowing down maneuver. I also laughed when you reminded me of that old GM windshield washer pump design. “We here in engineering know exactly how much washer fluid you will want under any particular circumstance.” Was it 7 squirts every time you hit the button?
Like some others, I wonder how your father managed to find the winner of the “look like a car salesman from the 70s” award. Or maybe they all looked like that back then.
> And did CAFE even apply in Canada?
Our vehicle emissions requirements usually move in lock-step with the US or trail behind slightly. In some cases, I think that the auto manufacturers also foisted California-spec cars on Canada too, just so they could sell more of them. Canadians are also more frugal car shoppers, so you’re more likely to find a lower trim car on the dealer lot with the small engine offering.
LOVE the key exchange photo! Not intending to engage in hagiography but it seems like we attached more significance to buying a new car then. Now it’s “corny” to take a picture like that. Maybe it was then, too, but I seem to remember a bunch in photos throughout my family, particularly an aerial shot of my grandfather’s new Cadillac pulled into his new brick ranch house on a hill. It was something to be very proud of, to take the trouble of getting a shot like that. Cars are just machines but I feel like we’re all more cynical now. We’d be too busy playing with our phones to bother with such a picture now.
On a less sentimental note I love posts like this: just a story from a family who drove a very average car for 10 years, essentially the Camry of the ’77-’84 period, and the life of that car. Cool and brought a smile to my face.
Wow a whole 115 hp, way back in time GMH introduced its red motor to the Holden range a massive 179 cube 6 with 115hp and created the fastest Aussie car to 50mph with 3 speed tree shift and 3;55 rear axle that was in 63, 20 years late Chevrolet come up with a V8 of similar power progress indeed.
The 115 hp on the Holden was a gross number, so the 267 had at least a slim advantage, although obviously nobody is going to hand out any prizes for 19.4 kW/L.
I know. 2 tonnes of car and 115hp. Pathetic. I think the Holden 253 was about 150hp and it was available in everything – even utes.
My old MkII Corona had more grunt than that Chev.
Even more annoying is the irreversible smog modifications on the US cars. It’s as if inefficiency was mandatory.
It wasn’t exactly irreversible. You could slap on a 305 4BBl intake and carb and swap out the highway 2.41 rear gears for a set of 3.08 or 3.23’s and wake up any 267 car considerably. My buddy did just that with his 267 1980 Monte Carlo. It went from just barely adequate power to easily spinning the peg leg rear end into burnt rubber.
GM lost a lot of friends with some of their ’80s engine offerings. Our ’78 Caprice with the 305 was quite satisfactory, pulled a much larger pop up camper trailer just fine, and got similar gas mileage. Yes, we are currently revisiting old times with cars with too small displacement optimized for EPA testing, that may well do more poorly in the real world than their larger predecessors. Ugh.
The great GM cheapening of 1980 is also telling. Our ’78 used counter springs in our trunk lid and we never had problems. Strange thing, I’m rather certain my ’82 Olds Delta also used counter springs. I’m rather surprised that they used two systems in the B.
Great read, as was your story about the old Matador. Too bad your dad didn’t opt for the 305, it was a decent engine in these cars. I really liked these 1980-85 Impalas, plain, clean and good looking. I always thought they made the best detective cars ever. We had a 1984 Parisienne wagon that was owned until 1997. The 305 powered this car easily beyond legal speeds, and with the TH700-R4 it knocked down great MPGs. It was similarly top notch reliability over 300K kms, and the body stayed rust free until we sold it, although the rust check helped.
The photo of the Nethercott salesman made my whole day; I bet he “threw in” those snazzy whitewalls. I was living in Montreal as a student in 1981, and in central Canada (Ont/Que) these cars were so common they were more or less invisible. Ditto a year later when I started working summers at Avis back home in Vancouver. In import-friendly lower mainland BC they weren’t quite as ubiquitous, but goodness knows there were plenty on the roads. Especially wagons.
I recall driving these gutless wonders on the highway and assuming they had the same six as the Malibu. I’m not even sure I knew GM had a smaller V8 at that time than the 5.0L 305.
Canadian Impalas usually had cloth bench seats, wind-up windows, no bumper inserts and no a/c, which in turn meant ugly plastic plugs inserted in the vents at either end of the dash, just to keep that cheapo-feeling experience consistent. One concession to modernity was AM/FM radios (as late as the mid-80s Chevettes/Acadians just had AM kazoos; I hope renters enjoyed getting blasted with CKLG when they turned the key (whammed with Wham, one might say).
I can’t recall if the ‘Palas still had the old GM big car-staple footwell fresh-air vents (a lever you could pull back to let in fresh air from outside) or not. Anyone remember?
Frankly, these cars were a throw-back even at the time.
Having said that, they were basically reliable because of the simplicity, lack of options, and the continuity of the long heritage of the Basic American Car….Why “Panther Love” continues to this day. I would not have thought it at the time, but I’ll miss the genre when they are wholly gone from the roads…
Twelve Ontario winters didn’t seem to hurt your car all that much, and it still looked pretty good in ’93. Oddly, the better rust-resistance is I think one reason these basic Detroit sedans in the eastern Canadian market lost popularity so quickly in the 80s.
Historically these family workhorses were traded-down every 3-4 years as rust would generally get to them fast, and the need to buy a car more often drove a penchant for not spending too profligately. I can recall hearing about some cars as being “notorious” this way (Chryslers seemed to have a bad rep, although my uncle in Edmonton loved his higher-spec Dodge Monacos, although that might have been as rust was/is actually a non-issue on the Canadian prairies (too cold for salt)).
I suspect that once you could rely on a car to last longer, staring at the clock with no hands and the plastic vent plugs for a decade just seemed like too much to bear.
Rust wasn’t the only reason these boats faded, of course. Fuel prices went up sharply during the 1981-82 recession just as Asian imports started to really get taken seriously in the market. Better quality, better spec, better value, and in those pre-AWD days (AMC Eagle aside), many FWD options (any Impala owner taking “the kid’s” Civic, Sentra or post-83 Corolla out in the snow was in for a huge revelation; one friend’s Dad in Toronto traded his high-spec Parisienne in on an equally high-spec Accord right after such an experience in the winter of 84 (and taking delivery of his new car during another snowstorm, to his delight).
The no-frills car buyers shifted to a variety of no-frills import options, and hence was born “Civic Nation” (still top of the charts, alongside Corolla, Elantra and Mazda 3). And families of course moved en masse to minivans….
The footwell vents were present through ’68, we had an Impala so equipped. I’m not sure about the ’69-’70 cars, but I’m betting they were gone along with the door vent wing windows. I’ve never seen a ’71 and up full size with them. I suppose you could not rule out some very low end cars or Canadian market cars where AC was uncommon.
My Grandma’s non-a/c 69 Catalina had the footwell vents too. What was interesting is that the dash had the same outboard edge vents as a/c cars. Those vents also got fresh air and were operated by a second pair of knobs/cables mounted right above those for the floor vents. Not sure if this was a Pontiac thing or if all of the 69-70 GM B bodies got these.
These vents with two pull knobs in the kick panels were used on many GM cars in 1969-70, to compensate for the now missing vent windows. That included some “A” bodies too. The first non-air conditioned GM cars to have dash vents were the 1966 Riviera/Toronado (which were also the first to lack vent windows) but on these cars, the pull knobs for the floor vents were under the dashboard, not in the kick panels. The vents in the dashboard were operated from the heater control panel by vacuum actuators. Other GM cars (including some “B” bodies) started to use a similar system in 1968 that was called “Astro Ventilation” as seen on this 1968 Pontiac Grande Parisienne: http://www.oldcarbrochures.org/Canada/1968-Pontiac-Prestige-Brochure-Cdn/1968-Pontiac-Prestige-Cdn–04-05
In 1971, the non-A/C full size GM cars switched from having outer dash vents controlled by a cable in the kick panels to center dash vents controlled by the heater control panel (as it was already done on the previous “E” bodies). They still had floor vents but the pull knobs were now located under the dashboard near the center so the controls for both sides were accessible from the driver position.
In the mid-1960s, some cars had both a/c and floor vents. If my 1965 Buick had a/c, it would still have it’s floor vents which are controlled by two knobs on each side of the radio that have the exact same shape as the radio knobs and the headlight switch.
On my ’65 Wildcat, I pulled the wrong knob to open the vents quite a few times. So instead of opening the vents, I was removing the volume or tuner knob!
See:
My 68 Chrysler also had both a/c and floor vents (and vent windows, too) – a perfect car hvac combination.
I think all GM full size had the footwell vents – based on your comments, through ’69, and very likely through ’70. I never saw them deleted on AC cars. I recall my friend’s mom’s ’66 Olds 98 as an AC car that had the footwell vents. My ’65 Riviera also had both AC and the footwell vents.
Chevy introduced what they called “Astro Ventilation” with the ’68 cars. That meant you got the ball style vent at each end of the dash, like AC cars. I’m pretty sure that you didn’t get the top center dash vent. And, Astro was optional, my folk’s factory non AC car did not have them. I’m pretty sure that you got a fuller compliment of dash vents with all non AC big Chevy’s beginning with ’69, much like your Grandma’s Catalina.
Are you sure the 1966 Olds 98 with factory A/C had footwell vents? I did a quick google search and it seems that the 1966 full size models I see with factory a/c don’t have them.
All full size Buicks (including the Riviera) didn’t have them if they had factory a/c after 1965.
Of course, there were some a/c ready cars that could have been converted at the dealership wihich could have kept theirs. When I added A/C to my 1967 Riviera, I have hesitated to use the blockoff plate from the parts cars I had with factory A/C to block the footwell vent on the driver side as I liked using it sometimes. The one on the passenger side had to be removed as the “E” bodies used this vent for the recirculation air door. One parts car was equipped with manual A/C system and the other had the Automatic Climate Control but both had no footwell vents. I installed the manual system in my Riviera but used the compressor and evap from the car with ACC.
There is a large rubber tube that connects to the passenger side footwell vent hole that recirculates a part of the cabin air on some settings. The “B” and “C” models didn’t use that so if someone installed A/C in a non A/C car, the vents could have been left functionnal on both sides without interfering with the A/C parts like it did on the “E” bodies. But as far as I know, they were not offered with factory A/C in full size Buicks and Oldsmobiles after 1965.
If someone knows more or can find some pictures showing a large GM car with factory A/C and footwell vents made after 1965, I’d like to know. I didn’t research any Chevrolet or Pontiac and I’m currently in a hotel room with my iPad so searching for large images isn’t too easy tonight!
Yes, they had the fresh air vents, the driver, passenger, and the two centre dash vents. The driver and passnger side vents flew from under the dash on the occupants feet. They moved far more air than the A/C cars in “vent” mode.
Our old ’84 Parisienne was a stripper model, with virtually no options. No A/C, (it had the vent plugs, but they looked decent in the Pontiac), crank windows, one piece front bench, not even a radio (an aftermarket Audiovox AM/FM Cassette was later installed). The other great thing about the Canadian market cars were that they had no computers until 1987. The old mechanical Quadrajet on the 305 was very reliable. Plus many of these early to mid 80’s B-body Chevs and Pontiacs were built in Oshawa which IMO seemed to be better built than the other plants.
The 1977 and up B’s without a/c still had the vents, the controls were under the steering wheel, they were black hood release style handles labeled VENT.
My Grandfather’s ’78 Cutlass Supreme had the same, both under the steering. My 1967 Riviera also had black rectangular controls marked “Vent” but they were not under the steering. The one for the driver side was under the dashboard next to the kick panel and the one for the passenger side was under the ashtray, on the right side of the console, accessible from both the driver and the passenger. I had to remove these when I installed “factory” a/c in my car!
As I think about it, I think my 1974 LeSabre (that also lacked a/c) had 3 vent knobs under the dashboard. I think the third one was for the center outlets in the dashboard. I’t been already 9 years since I sold it and I drove it mostly in winter so I’m not 100% sure about that!
I had forgotten that the two outer ones were still in the kick panels.
And here’s the center one. I thought it was controlled by the heater control… Not yet!
I always liked that dash.
Never saw that sport steering wheel in a B-body Buick. Looks nice!
Me too, my LeSabre was a base model with very few options (it did have the 350-4) and the power trunk and I added an 8 track radio from a 1983 Park Avenue and a NOS rear defroster kit (blower). I got that steering wheel from a ’79 Skyhawk S in a junkyard years before I bought that car and I think it’s what motivated me to buy this car as I knew my steering wheel would match it’s beige interior! When I got that LeSabre, the transmission (a THM 350 based THM 375) didn’t work and I had to test drive the car in reverse! I bought it anyway just to put that steering wheel on it!
One day, I’d like to get the Luxus version with the ride and performance package as well as the Stage1 455 engine. The Stage 1 was offered for just a year on LeSabres and it was 1974. I’d also like to get an Estate-Wagon from that year. I like the horizontal taillights from the 1974-76 and the 1974 still had Electra 225 exterior trim and that dashboard which I prefer to the one in my current 1975 Electra and my former 1976. If I could find a clamshell wagon around that’s driveable and priced so I could afford it, I think I’d buy any model!
I have a LOADED 75 Estate Wagon, but I’m not selling it!
I remember missing an ebay auction on a 1974 Electra 225 Limited that was a Stage 1, I miscalculated the end time by like 30 minutes because I wasn’t paying attention, I still kick myself in the ass, it was loaded up too, auto climate control, cornering lamps, vigilite, I’ve seen other deuces, but not a Stage, and I remember that it went cheap too. I also was close to buying a trip black Estate 225 that was sinister as hell, but I passed, I shouldn’t of……
Arrrrrggggh.
There was a fairly loaded up red 74 Estate on ebay a few years ago, it was pretty nice.
Lucky you are! I Like the ’75 too! I prefer it to the 1976 for one reason: The 1975 LeSabre and Estate Wagon could still be ordered with the Automatic Climate Control. In 1976-77, Buick didn’t offer ACC system on these models or on the Century/Regal. It remained available only on the Electra/Riviera. For these two years, the “A” and “B” bodies got the semi-automatic “Custom-Aire” system that was the same as the Tempmatic system that Oldsmobile had been offering on it’s cars since 1974 instead of the fully automatic Comfortron (the name “Comfortron” was shared with Chevrolet who kept offering it when Olds stopped and the system was the same as other GM automatic A/C systems since 1971).
Buick got rid of the semi-auto system after two years and it never made it’s way to the Electra/Riviera who kept the fully auto system but Olds kept offering the Tempmatic instead of the fully automatic setup through the mid-eighties on all upper models including the 98 and Toronado.
Great story Doug. Cheb was definitely the most handsome of the downsizers. A brown on brown salesman handing over keys on a brown Impala. A moment in time.
Wonder if he had a different suit to go with each colour of car he sold?
Surely your father too a test drive before buying the car.
I wrote this a while ago, and finally got over to Dad’s to dig up some pictures. I laughed out loud when I saw the key handing over photo too. It was my idea and setup, I guess at 14 I was qualified to work in marketing: “9 out of 10 brown salesmen prefer to sell brown cars”
We sure did use that broom handle for a long time, the first and last photos were taken in exactly the same place, check out the difference in the size of the tree.
I forgot to mention earlier about the gas struts for the trunk. GM tried these for a few years in the early 80’s and then went back to the torsion springs. Perhaps it was because of failures like yours. My brother’s ’86 Cutlass Supreme had a torsion spring break and it’s amazing how heavy that trunk lid was (which was small compared to the Impala). And let me tell you putting in that new spring was a real PAIN.
“Off to college, 1986″…I instantly recognized the exact place where that photo was taken. That’s the Ambassador bridge in Windsor you’re parked/standing next to, and across the street is the residence known as Macdonald Hall. I know this because I spent a grand total of 2 semesters attending the University of Windsor in 1996/97…I lived on 5th floor Laurier. Most certainly was an interesting time in my life. I remember when I when to orientation there, being fresh out of high school the month before. My parents drove me down the day before in my mother’s year old ’95 Monte Carlo, stayed overnight in Laurier hall and went to all the orientation stuff the next day. When we got back to my mother’s car at the end of the day (we had parked roughly where you had in your picture) we found the guy that we parked next to had one of his vehicle’s windows smashed out.
Great post, Doug. It would have been merely an enjoyable read, if it weren’t for the ’81 Impala 2-door sitting out there in front of the workshop, in our driveway. We recently relocated from Maine back to southern Indiana, and one of the last things I did before we left New England was to trade our thirty year-old Glastron runabout for a friend’s 83,000-mile barn-find Impala. A few hundred dollars were spent making “Vlad” somewhat roadworthy, and the car made the 1,200-mile jump under its own power – driven by one of TTAC’s writers – and we drive the Impala regularly down here. I can relate to your experiences with your family’s car – ours possesses every one of those idiosyncrasies – I use a piece of oak handrail to prop the trunk open, and it sports a NAPA washer pump – and the rest of your observations are also spot-on. My car has the nearly-invisible 3.8 v6 (229 c.i.), right-hand door-mirror, analog clock, and not much else. It is bog-slow – slower than your Dad’s 267 – but it does plod gamely along. I wish that I had the story of our car’s first 33 years. You documented 12 years of your family’s faithful prime-and-then-subprime mover beautifully.
Thanks Doug for an entertaining read. Re disconnecting the EGR, we (this is a small Holden dealership in 1978) found big driveability gains by some well placed ball bearings in the vacuum line to the EGR. And a quick reroute of the vac lines so the engine got full vac advance, regardless of engine temp or what gear the transmission was in.
Voila! Mind you we didn’t have rear axles as tall as yours. 2.60 was the tallest.
This article begs the question why didn’t potential buyers spring for the larger engine in these full size cars of the time. A 150 HP 305 4BBL V8 was offered for the same $50.00 price as the 267 with the stipulation that the $172.00 overdrive 4 speed transmission also had to be ordered which gave you a 3.08 rear gear in place of the 2.41 and more relaxed highway cruising and better MPG. It should have been obvious on the first test drive that the 110 HP 229 and 115 HP 267 didn’t have the suds to move these big cars around with any verve.
These small engines were simply offered to appease Cafe. On paper the 229 V6 boasted best combined MPG of most any full size car along with it’s 231 V6 Olds, Pontiac and Buick sister cars. The 5.7 diesel was offered for similar reason during these years starting in 1980 on wagons.
In all fairness the 267 wasn’t the only underpowered V8 offered during these years. Pontiac joined in with there 120 hp 265 which was a small bore 301, Olds had there little 260 which joined the team in 1975 with but 110 horses and ended up in 1981 and 82 dwindled down to 100. Imagine a 3650-3700 LB Delta 88 with a 100 hp 260 V8 and 2.56 rear gears fighting it’s way up to speed towing a trailer.
Not to be out done Ford brought out there 111-115 Hp 255 V8 for 1980-82 in the Panthers, T-Bird, Fairmont and Mustang series cars and Chrysler detuned there bread and butter 318 V8 down to a mere 120 hp for 1980 and 130 for 1981. I drove a friend’s 1980 120 hp New Yorker which weighted in around 4000 LBS and it was quite the challenge to pass on a two lane open road without miles of room to spare.
RE : gas trunk struts ~
I worked for Oldsmobile during the Diesel Debacle and one day we got a factory memo that _ALL_ cars with these struts were to get new struts no charge any time they came in for anything .
We asked why and they told us some GM honcho in Detroit was taking his golf clubs out of the trunk and we bashed by a falling trunk lid .
Strange but true .
-Nate
All this talk solves a long-forgotten mystery. My car-mentor Howard bought a Caprice in the early 80s (brown, of course). After dozens of new cars, it was his first GM car since a 6 month dalliance with a 60 Corvair. I remember him shaking his head over how GM was so cheap that the trunk lid would not even stay up on its own. I had lived with GM cars for years and knew that they wouldn’t do that, but saw that the familiar torsion springs were not there. I don’t think either of us had ever seen a gas strut setup to that point, but his car must have had a defective strut.
I like that Datsun 210 station wagon.what a super simple&reliable car.
My father bought a ’77, first year for the reduced sized B body. It had a 305 CI engine, and while it wouldn’t win too many races it was certainly adequate and held up well. The 305 equipped vehicles were plagued, however, with the miserable Turbo-hydramatic 200 transmission. It was OK for a four or six cylinder engine but had a tendency to crap out behind a V8 right after the warranty expired. We ditched ours before it got to that point but many were not as fortunate.
One of the biggest differences and problems between the 267 and the 305 (and other small-block engines) was the metallurgy involved. The 267’s had low to no nickel content in the cast iron components and they wore quickly. Also, internal components like the crankshaft and, in particular, the cam shaft tended to wear quickly and break apart – a real disaster on an engine. It was pretty sad considering that the 267’s predecessor was the 262 (’75 and ’76) and it wasn’t a whole lot better; you would think Chevrolet would have learned what cheapening up major engine components does to reliability (and good will) but I guess not.
I know that University! Windsor! I lived down the street. I showed up there a couple of years later.
Nice car but I really like the trailer. Photo attached of mine. 1967 Simpson-Sears purchased new at Sears in Burnaby B.C. by previous owner. Wow, amazing to see another one.
Cool, the last one I saw was about 10 years ago & was being used as a utility trailer.
Dad bought ours at Simpsons-Sears in Hamilton during 67 or 68 and we had the add-a-room attached to the front. It got yearly use until the canvas was done in 1995 and he gave it away.
Nice to know there’s still one out there!!
I dabbled a bit in GM cars from time to time and found myself the owner of an 81 Chev Bel Air. I don’t know if these were just for Canada, but it’s very difficult to find any photos of them on line. This one was a former company car. It had the 305 engine and could power itself comfortably on the 401. Drove to Nova Scotia from Toronto with it in almost a straight run (stopping in New Brunswick). Unfortunately we had then and still have now, 100 km/h speed limits (62 mph) so watch for the radar traps. Wish I had kept it longer than I did.
Nethercotts were a victim of GM cutting dealers loose during the reorganization–the whole building was demolished and the lot has recently been redeveloped into a plaza.
Super ultra late to the table with this comment, and it might get carburetors thrown at me for being pedantic, but:
Nossir, no gas struts on the B-body trunk lids in any year; they were held up by springs.
Not only are you late, but you are also incorrect!
Google “Gas trunk strut 1981 Impala”, you can still buy them. As explained in the comments above, Impalas briefly had struts before GM realized what a bad idea that was and switched back to torsion springs.
Well, awright, I stand (sit) corrected!
I was just talking about some of the first cars I had with my daughter this evening. We talked a bit about the 1981 Impala I drove for a few years in the mid 90’s. The car wasn’t much to look at, being more rust than metal at that point, but it was extremely reliable. It was green, so we nicknamed it “The Tank,” which was fitting… What a lovely blog post. Thanks for sharing your memories!
Excellent story telling. Here you have my quick summary…I’m from Venezuela and down there these cars were super popular. During the early 80s, they banned V8s so the local GM office only put the 4.1 Buick V6 starting in 81 which I understand provided 125 hp and 200 ft-lb. I do remember myself inside a fancy gray Caprice Classic begging my dad to buy that one because of the power windows but money was tight and we ended up with one “Brown” Impala with a nice burgundy velour interior and manual windows. It was one of the cars in which I learned to drive. I was laughing about the bench seat being low and how I stretched my neck to see the road. Did anybody use the hazard lights, we used it once and it took us quite a bit to turn it off….. Our trunk shocks didn’t last long neither, as a matter of fact I have more memories of my dad alternative to the broom stick: a fancy pool cue (broken on the tip). He used to drop it to close it and always asked us to back up, it was dangerous heavy! The buick 4.1 overheated on a trip to a mountain and I do believed it leaked at the heads. My dad instead of dropping a 305 or 350 got the awful idea of keeping 6 cylinders: a freaking I6 250. Never forgot how cheap the car used to sound after that. Anyway it was a really comfortable ride we kept up to my middle school days and was also sold in in 1992.
It’s strange that certain engine/gearing combinations can rate so high on CAFE mileage tests, but do so poorly in real world use.I guess it suits the proverbial little old lady who lives in a completely flat city and only drives to church and the doctor’s office. I have a similar situation with my automatic ’96 Mustang GT. I believe the rear end gearing is something like 3:00. The car does get pretty good gas mileage at freeway speeds, 25-26 mpg. at 70 mph. Many guys on the the Mustang Forum suggest replacing that ratio with a 3:31 combo. They say that it provides better acceleration at little cost to the mileage. It probably would help, but I find that it pulls most hills plenty fast without downshifting. I’ve also got the option of disengaging overdrive or just mashing down on the loud pedal and forcing a down shift. You can guess my choice!
It’s strange that certain engine/gearing combinations can rate so high on CAFE mileage tests, but do so poorly in real world use.I guess it suits the proverbial little old lady who lives in a completely flat city and only drives to church and the doctor’s office. I have a similar situation with my automatic ’96 Mustang GT. I believe the rear end gearing is something like 3:00. The car does get pretty good gas mileage at freeway speeds, 25-26 mpg. at 70 mph. Many guys on the the Mustang Forum suggest replacing that ratio with a 3:31 combo. They say that it provides better acceleration at little cost to the mileage. It probably would help, but I find that it pulls most hills plenty fast without downshifting. I’ve also got the option of disengaging overdrive or just mashing down on the loud pedal and forcing a down shift. You can guess my choice!