(None of the pictures in this article is of the actual car but pictures borrowed from the Internet using Google image search)
I had just given away the best car that I had ever owned to this point. Why? Because I was leaving for grad school in Baltimore, 180 miles away, and my car was getting close to 20 years old (ancient in those days), plus I was looking for something newer and more fuel efficient. I had a small stipend given to me by the organization sending me to grad school which I used to purchase my next vehicle.
Thar car turned out to be a 1986 Pontiac Grand Am sedan with about 55,000 miles on it. It was a boring/ugly shade of brownish gold with a crack in the windshield.
And under the hood…my old friend the 2.5 liter Iron Duke rated at 92 horsepower. The car looked just like the picture above except it had four doors. In researching this article, I found that there are very few pictures of the ’85-’91 four door Grand Ams available online. Especially the early ones with the sealed beam headlights.
Along with the Buick Somerset and Olds Calais, the Pontiac Grand Am was built on the N body platform intended to replace the X body which was sold until 1985. The Grand Am was marketed as a sporty car for the 80’s yuppie set. Chevy’s X body replacements were the similar L bodies consisting of the Corsica and Berreta.
Despite the brown color, the car’s “sporty” theme was evident..in an 80’s sort of way. For starters it had a tacky digital looking dash mimicking actual digital dashes of the day. Light and wiper controls were also pod mounted which was considered high tech back then.
The seats were also patterned after small sport sedans. The interior contained absolutely no wood trim or living room easy chair seating. There were even headrests for the rear seat passengers, unusual for the GM cars of the day. Another novelty was that the power window switches were on the console, another nod to “sport sedans.”
Before my big move to Baltimore, a few repairs and modifications were undertaken. The cracked windshield was replaced as well as a headlight switch which melted shortly after getting the car. I remember going to the parts store and requesting one. They only had switches for the ’73-’75 Grand Ams available! My part had to be ordered. This is when I learned that the Grand Am name predated 1985. We also replaced the stock AM/FM radio with a head unit with a cassette player. The previous owner said the AC “just needed a charge.” He was right, after getting it charged it was blowing ice cold. I’m sure I don’t have to say it but…of course, in a few months it needed another charge as it was no longer blowing ice cold.
Anyway, I packed the car, which was actually a lot roomier than it looked, and headed down to school. My parents followed me with the rest of my stuff in my Mom’s newest J car, a Buick Skyhawk two door sedan, and helped me move into my new school in the Roland Park section of Baltimore.
While at school, I had an internship twice a week about 5 or 6 miles away. So having a car was advantageous. In my free time, it also took me shopping, dining, and socializing. In addition, it also allowed me to go home to New Jersey whenever I wanted. The car was very good on gas and was not bad in terms of performance. It did not have the off the line torque of my Caprice or Camaro but could keep up with traffic reasonably well. Acceleration was more than adequate with a little bit of torque steer. That is, once you hit 80 or so, after that, the steering wheel began to vibrate and the engine noise approached motorcycle levels serving as a warning that you were nearing the limits of its performance envelope. It did handle pretty well and its trim dimensions inspired confidence in tight spaces and emergency maneuvers.
I was lonely and homesick in Baltimore but not for long. At my internship I met the young woman who would eventually become my wife. The car took us on our early dates and also provided us with privacy since neither of our living situations at the time afforded us much alone time. We spent many hours in that car taking it all over Maryland. I remember it as comfortable, quick, and versatile and also quite economical. This was important because I left school at the end of that year and began looking for a job. The car was great there too, taking me to my many job interviews.
Because I was out of school, I needed a place to live. Because I wanted to be close to my girl, I looked for a job in Baltimore. That search took a few months which left me essentially homeless in the meantime. I alternated between staying at Mom and Dad’s, Motel Rooms, friends’ couches, and yes, one or two nights in the Grand Am at various rest stops. Thankfully, I found gainful employment by the end of the summer and moved into an apartment in early September.
When the car hit 68,000 miles, the Check Engine Light came on. This was not unfamiliar to me. Like the Iron Duke engine in my Skylark and Century, it came equipped with an early version of GM’s Computer Command Control (CCC) for the emissions system. Like my Skylark, the CEL illuminated around 68,000 miles and would go on or off intermittently despite attempts by many to clear/read/resolve the trouble code. It was determined that in order to really fix it, I would need a new CCC which everyone (including the mechanics) believed to be a waste of time and money. While this problem was annoying, the worst was yet to come.
It started with an oil spot. I checked my oil, it was a little low so I topped it off. The next time I returned home to New Jersey I had my mechanic take care of the oil leak. No problem, leak fixed, no more oil spots…for about a month.
Then the oil spots returned. A few small spots at first, eventually worsening until the spots it left looked like the picture above. The place I worked for was located in a residential neighborhood in Towson, Maryland. There was no parking lot by my office so I parked in front of the house across the street. I remember how embarrassed I felt when the owner of that house came into my office and begged me not to park there anymore because I was ruining his curb appeal…he was absolutely right.
I found it puzzling that despite the massive environmental disaster I was creating, the dipstick registered full. It was leaking like crazy, yet the crankcase always showed full.
To this day, I don’t know how I could have overlooked what the problem was. It became crystal clear one day on York Road when a huge amount of smoke began pouring out from underneath the car and the car was barely crawling forward. What an idiot I was…the oil leaking out was not motor oil…it was transmission oil! The entire time that the car was leaking, I never bothered to crawl underneath to see what kind of fluid was leaking…I just assumed that it was motor oil. Because of my stupidity/laziness, all the trans oil was now gone so the transmission was cooking itself! I pulled into a gas station, bought a few bottles of ATF, and believe it or not, the transmission was fine. In addition, despite my past experiences with the 2.5 liter Iron Duke, the one in the Grand Am continued to run strong and reliably.
That’s pretty much how I rolled for the next few months, I’d fill it up with trans fluid and it would be good for about two weeks. Of course the two weeks, became one week, the one week became….you get the picture. Towards the end, my trunk had a case of ATF at all times. It was especially awkward when I drove people around and had to pull over abruptly to pour fluid in. I recall a trip back from New Jersey when I had to pull over about eight times to top it off. I’m still amazed that the transmission itself did not fail. By the way, my mechanic confirmed that one of the main seals was compromised and the cost to fix the problem was far more than I could afford.
With no money, a new life in Baltimore, and the necessity of a car, I needed a solution. This will be the subject of my next COAL.
My brother owned one of these in gray with two doors and a 5 speed. He thought it was a sports car too so he mounted oversized tires on it then found out the hard way that wide tires are no good in Maine winters! It started to get rust on it so he traded it in for a Ford Ranger extended cab.
We Build Excitement…In Baltimore
The Astro was bar none the best work van I ever drove, but exciting it wasn’t! 🙂
My college Operations Management class toured the Broening Highway plant circa 2001. One of my roommates, who was also a car nut, was in that class with me. When the professor told us about it, we looked at each other and went “They still make the Astro”?
Why did all of the stunt drivers back then have a “perm” and sunglasses? The only thing he is lacking are the leather driving gloves! This guy pictured in the advertisment looks like Jeremy Clarkson from Top Gear.
I was wondering when you’d get around to “it has oil leaks” in your story.
Or this!
Gaah! Don’t do that without a warning.
You Pillock…..
Oh great memories of my 1989 Grand Am LE. Whoever ordered the car got the GT taillights, foglights (switch on the overhead console), top end stereo(switch on the door to activate the door speakers) but an Iron Duke engine. Turns out for that year it was the best choice (the other engines where the turbo 2.0 or the Quad 4). It drove and handled well with the “arrow feathers” alloy wheels. The interior was nicely executed-the only reason we sold it was getting our newborn out of the back seat was a pain with a 2 door. Car never really gave me a problem–the timing gear got noisy because it was made of fibre not metal. GM wanted you to remove the camshaft to replace the gear but a GM mechanic friend of mine found that if you smashed the old gear off, put the new one in the freezer, and slip the new one on while cold–he made a bundle at his job getting flat rate and doing the job in 1/4 of the time.
Yeah, I remember those pieces of mediocrity. Back in the mid 90’s, when I had my (E30) BMW 325is, I could always count on some teenager in one of these driving aggressively as all get out around me, on a Friday or Saturday night. Pushing it thru the twisties, making sure he passed me somewhere along the line, so he could brag to his buddies how he “blew off a BMW”. Usually I ignored him. If I didn’t . . . . . the little poseur in the mediocre-mobile got taught very quickly why BMW’s cost a lot more. And were worth it.
The car also had a darker memory for me. Stud, my closest brother in my first M/C (before the Pagans took us out), was driving his the night he was murdered. Probably the only night in years that he wasn’t carrying his .38.
These Grand Ams were very attractive cars compared to what the lineup evolved into.
Before I had purchased my first Poncho (and soon after another one), I had also checked previously a BMW 323i manual as well… Poncho had took the glory… Anyway those lil’ bavarians are powerful machines, I liked it…but…I actually had not needed a 2 door rwd racing car at that time…
I miss those crazy digital dashboards. Even this fake one has some style.
The Grand Am when introduced for ’85 was actually a very good looking car at that time. The interior design was nicely done. Didn’t like the hockey stick gauges but shortly thereafter proper round dials were introduced.
When properly outfitted with the right options and suspension, these were desirable. Drove many of them, had buddies that owned them who had good luck and lots of miles / years of use
Sure, back then some niggling quality issues were still going on, these were notorious for the Iron Duke cam gear and the Rack & Pinion inner seal wear failures.
Never see these alive in the wild any more. Would be cool to see some pristine ones at vintage car shows, particularly a well equipped LE or SE variant
Small wonder that SO many Americans bought Hondas in the 1980’s.
Our 86 is the first car I remember my dad buying, it was this or a Taurus MT5. Both white with manuals. If you ask my dad, this was the best GM he ever had. If you ask my uncle, who bought the car from my dad in 89, it was the biggest pile that wouldn’t die! That same car became my sister’s first car too. It had 240k miles and only ever needed a new timing chain gear? (The noisemaker as we called it). It was a damn good car and I loved the interior even over our first Sable. Ours had circular gauges though, and according to the owners manual there were tons of available tech features…. Blew my mind when I could start reading in 88!
A good story , I bet the same one happened over the decades to many here : cheap car that did yeoman duty for years whilst getting into Adulthood .
-Nate
I still don’t understand how they could call that lump of iron “Tech 4” with a straight face.
Ahhhh, the irony……
Compared to the original TBI Iron Duke the “Tech 4” had a few minor tweaks that upped the power ever so slightly. Car and Driver consistently referred to the revised version the “Lo-Tech 4” for the entire production run.
And an apt name is was/is!
I always thought “Grand Am” was the dumbest name ever given a car.
…possibly shortened the fantasy name “Grand-American”??? Trans Am ~ “Trans-American”??? Etc., etc…
I thought ***insert alphabet soup name from most German and Japanese Luxury car manufacturers*** was the dumbest name ever given to a car.
Finally, an 80s Pontiac! How long has it been???
Grand AMs were extremely popular where I lived. So popular that the only one some girl could get her hands on was a gold one with hubcaps just like the one pictured above. She had it painted black and had them put factory rims on it. Another girl had one painted baby blue.
I always liked the SE models (except the painted rims).
One of our neighbors had one just like that when I was in grade school, red wheels and all! I was never a huge fan of that color keyed treatment either, seemed to be a short lived fad.
When these came out in 1985, I went to my local Pontiac dealership and gave one a casual look-over. I thought they were okay, but the amateur car stylist in me said my “mini-me” /Firebird wanna-be J2000 was a better looking car. To me, these cars, especially the 2 door models, look awkward. From the front doors forward, they look okay but the rear half of the car looks like it tacked on from a slightly smaller and narrower car. And that instrument cluster….who ever designed it should be ashamed. At least they finally replaced it with true analog gauges.
I think I’d rather own the earlier Grand Am.
Count me in as a Grand Am and Tech IV fan.
My oldest brother and his wife had two GAs. An ’86 two door w. the Iron Duke and a ’90 two door w. a Quad 4. They put mondo miles on both. Never any serious problems w. The Duke, but the Quad 4 did munch a timing chain, which was solved by a used replacement engine. The rust monster is what did them in.
Between me, my wife and my in-laws, there were several A-bodies with the Tech IV. Lots of mostly dependable miles accumulated. I was able to do all of my own wrenching. I’d take a clean low-mile A or N body today, if one crossed my path.
My sister had a black 1986 Grand Am LE 4-dr., loaded with options, with the infamous 2.5 Tech 4. She bought it with 5,000 miles on it in 1987 from the original owner who couldn’t afford the payments on it. She loved that car! It even had the special wheel/tire option with the wide Eagle GT’s and Trans Am rims. I thought that car was so cool. Unfortunately those wheels and tires led to the car’s demise. It was a snowy December morning and she went to make a turn on an off ramp and the Grand Am decided to go straight instead. That car was never the same after the accident. She got rid of it in 1990 when it had about 50,000 miles on it and bought a used 1987 Acura Legend. Even though technically it was not the car’s fault, that Grand Am would be her last American car.
Well, since no one else has pointed it out, I recognize that “graduate school” in Roland Park. No wonder you weren’t able to entertain your GF there. And why you left it after you found her. It’s the…seminary 🙂
You are correct. St. Mary’s Seminary and University. It became clear to me that I was going to have to find a new direction in life. Those days were very much a learning experience for me.
As you will see in my future COALs, I embraced the new chapter in my life, which led to many consolations and desolations….but always love, blessings and graces everyday….I know for certain that I made the right choice!
These Grand Ams did not register with me in 90s and by the 00s they were gone. Even in Portland, OR these Grand Ams are very rare and I never recall seeing one.
I had tried one (4-door) with an intention to buy IT as the rear shock-absorbers had been “finito”… I really liked that silver Grand Am but those damn dead rear shocks made me not to make a deal with the owner… Anyway I’m in search for another one…
In Canada, there was a Chevrolet Corsica FWD L-Bodied based model called the Pontiac Tempest (shown on the right) while the FWD N-Bodied Pontiac Grand Am (shown on the left for comparative purposes) which were only available as the Oldsmobile Calais and Buick Skylark never had a Chevrolet version of these FWD N-Bodied Cars and only both the FWD L and N-Bodied Cars used the same exact chassis. This just goes to show how much GM decided not to give Chevrolet other models while Pontiac, Oldsmobile and Buick had them.
I feel simpathy for that Tempest… When I had purchased my first ever Pontiac, a 1991 Tempest 3.1 Litre V6 was that I had sat in as it was the first one that I had observed during that day. For the second car of mine and with only 2 years spent in my profession after having the M.Sc., finally I had decided to drop the Tempest (because its “big” engine displacement) to the favor of the 1990 4-door (and 4 cylinder) LeMans LE 3-speed automatic… Coincidentally a friend of mine had bought that same Tempest for his wife…
But having a larger engine brings more power doesn’t it? Anyway which of the two cars had a slightly more interior room – The Grand Am or the Tempest?
Chevrolet didn’t have an N-body car of this first generation, true. But the L-body was killed off after one generation and Chevy got a “true” N-body in the 1997 Malibu. I guess they realized it didn’t make sense to have a Chevrolet-only version of what was essentially the same platform.
This wasn’t necessarily a good thing…those later N-body cars were real pieces of work.
I used to see quite a few Canadian L-Body Tempests driving along the New York Thruway, thought the front end/grille treatment was slightly better (or at least more interesting) than the Corsica. It’s kinda cool that they’re “Cheviacs”, in relation to the American lineups anyway, just like in the good old days.
EDIT: I realize the difference is just grille, badging and wheels – so maybe I just happened across some very clean Tempests… but even the one pictured here looks “spiffier” than a Corsica to me, thanks to those few small details.
My father had a whole string of Corsicas powered by V6s usually, but he drove 4 cylinders on occasion. When he found one better than the one he was currently driving he would buy it and my little brother got his old one. After a “bad” 58 Chevy, my Mom swore off Chevys and would never drive one of my father’s Corsicas.
While living in Memphis, I saw 2 different Pontiac Tempests. One had a Tennessee plate, the other Canadian. From what I could see, the only difference between a Corsica and a Tempest was that the Pontiac “arrowhead” replaced the Chevy “bowtie”…..true BADGE engineering.
…the taillights are showing a lil’ difference as well… No Chevy emblem on them…and were striped… 🙂 Canadians ought to have/had Pontiac badged Chevrolets… Maybe because of the Pontiac (and related) brand(s) had been stronger over there… Like the Acadian, Beaumont, etc., etc., …
There is a Tempest running around here in Richmond, and I saw at least one in Greensboro back in the 90’s. This was before the internet was widely available so I never did find out how exactly where that thing came from until years later!
Seeing those Pontiac-specific alloy wheels on what at first appears to be a Corsica always inspires a double-take.
Under the skin, both the Grand Am and the Tempest were exactly the same cars. The Corsica based Tempest though were a bit longer at 183.4″ compared to the Grand Am’s much more compacted 177.0″ or half a foot shorter than the Tempest.
Curbside Classic Effect – I saw a baby blue 4-door Buick version (Skylark) today. It appeared to belong to the archetypal little old lady, as it was in eerily good condition. Still, what a hideous car! It’s bland yet offensive at the same time, with cobbled-together proportions that look like two different cars welded together. (See also: Dodge Dynasty.)
I also saw an example of the infamous 1986-1991 Seville. What were they thinking? The proportions looked bad enough on the N-Body and made the “flagship” look like a clown car. I find the bustleback Seville far from attractive, but at least unique.
Oh well, at least the ’92 Seville was a looker.
The only personal experience I have with these cars is courtesy of a car that briefly belonged to my girlfriend at the time, an ’87 LE sedan. And that just may be the worst car I’ve ever driven. It shook…at idle, at low speeds, then at higher speeds the shake was accompanied by a shimmy. It rattled. The engine sounded like a wounded animal, plus it burned oil. The radio didn’t work. The outside looked like it had been through a natural disaster. Man, that thing was a real heap.
It should be said it had well over 200K miles on it, so maybe I should be more charitable that it was still running at all after that many miles and 15 years (this was in 2002.) Also I don’t think it had that faux-digital dash, I think I would have remembered something that odd! Maybe what was only on the SE or the early models.
Thankfully after a few months her Mom got a new car so she was given the previous one, which was a ’94 Volvo 960. *Huge* improvement. However, she broke up with me around the same time so I never got to drive it…you win some, you lose some.
Growing up in the 90s these were the cars I most related to General Motors as I knew it, small wonder why I ultimately preferred Fords of this era eh? I really still haven’t warmed up to them, they look stubby and awkward from the cowl back, the whole stance reminds me of a wagon(as in radio flyer wagon) more so than a car, especially one marketed to be BMW sporty, which I’ll NEVER understand. N bodies all drive exactly the same as far as I’m concerned, a pair of fog lights seats with bolsters aren’t enough to make me think I’m driving a E30. In their defense though, I never experienced a quad 4 version personally, but then again I’m not going to exonerate a mediocre POS car just because the low volume high optioned ones were somewhat competent. Reality trumps marketing.
Weirdly I thought these looked very dated in the 90s when their jellybean 92 replacements roamed the streets, the boxy styling, grey cladding and fussy details just looked awful to me then, and they just had such a poverty vibe to them, but now in 2014 I think they look way better than the 92s(not that I liked those either, but they fit into the 90s well). The front end definitely has a charm to it, both the sealed beam version and the flush ones.
As bad as these were….their domestic competition was the Tempo/Topax and Aries/Reliant.
Depending on the trim level, a Chrysler K car was a Lexus compared to a noisy, vibrating, shaking, slow “Low-Tech 4″/Iron Duke 4 cylinder Grand Am.
We sold a crap ton of these at our first used car dealership all through the 90’s. Most were Tech IV’s and they served there owners quite well. We usually avoided the Quad 4 and turbo 2.0. Some were even equipped with the Buick 3.0 port injected V6 up to 1988 (1987 for Grand AM) and those were actually quite snappy despite only making 125 horses.
I was always dumbfounded how many different variations of small V6’s GM had during these years. 2.8 Chevy carb. 2.8 Multi port Chevy. 2.8 HO Chevy as used in the Fiero. Buick carbed 3.0 V6. Buick 3.0 port injected 3.0. Then in 1987 some cars got the new Gen II 2.8 with aluminum heads. The F-body cars also got there own version of the Chevy 2.8 which was similar to the 2.8 multi ports as used in the A-body cars but setup for RWD use.
All I can say is that thinking back, GM had a hit on their hands with these Grand Ams as they were EVERYWHERE. People liked the style and they were affordable, attractive, fairly decent cars. I’m sure everyone knows at least one person that owned one of these cars in the 80’s.
My only experience with these was one my Dad rented for a friend’s wedding when new. He left the hand brake on while driving it home leading to a bit of a smell.
I’ve always seriously disliked the roof on the 1st gen N-bodies – the relationship between C-pillar, decklid and rear wheelwell is all sorts of bizarre in both 2- and 4-door form. I’m sure this was a function of picking the interior dimensions they wanted and then building around them, but GM would have been so much better off going with something sleeker and letting a few tall kids suffer.
One of my least pleasant automotive experiences was being stuck in the back seat of an air-conditionless Olds’ Calais 2-door high above Brooklyn on a closed down elevated highway with 4 other fairly large dudes during the hottest night of summer, 2001… and even with all that extra headroom afforded by the formal roof, it was still a torture chamber. Even if I had been solo in the back, the legroom just wasn’t compatible with adult bodies – useless unless your torso is twice the length of your legs.
Shame about that, because otherwise I think Pontiac’s version was a fairly handsome car. I remember seeing tons of them in LE trim with that maroon color up top and dark grey on the bottom, which I thought particularly good looking. On the higher-spec models, there was also a nicer dash with full gauges.
These cars became an endangered species many years ago around here, and seemingly overnight, too… however I do see one in decent shape near my office all the time – and it’s Quad4 powered, too! Black with the “TWIN CAM” fender badge in bright red. I had another friend with a white ’87 that matched yours mechanically and suffered the same fate – I remember he never could totally kill the tranny, but it was slipping horribly and only had 1st gear by the end.
My experience driving them is limited to those two 2.5/auto models, and I thought they were surprisingly crude cars. Not at all what you’d expect from the looks. The “Tech4” provided at least acceptable motivation by this point (minor nit, these were TBI, not CCC – what’s the difference? Not much… but one is “single point fuel injection” and the other a “feedback carb”). A 5-speed would have improved them considerably, but even then it’d still be an Iron Duke. Brakes and suspension were both very “divey” and easy to overwhelm. They rode well but the seating position was ridiculous and the build quality abysmal – the worst of any GM car from this era, IMO. The Calais actually got driven “off road” a couple times and handled it surprisingly well. Maybe the N-Bodies missed their true calling and should have gotten the AWD system from the 6000. The American, compact, formal roof, “sporty” Fiat Panda 4×4.
CCC was Computer Command Control and [per the owner’s manual for my 86 Calais] “used by most cars sold in the US [ and some cars sold in Canada]”.
Also from the manual: “Monitors the exhaust stream with an oxygen sensor. Based on sensor signals, an electronic control module adjusts the air-fuel ratio as needed,” etc etc etc. An emissions control system first implemented in 1981.
CCC is not TBI.
https://www.gmheritagecenter.com/docs/gm-heritage-archive/historical-brochures/Innovation_and_Technology/GM-Introduces-CCC.pdf
I checked one of these out at a specialist dealer last year, a RHD conversion. It was peculiar, as I cannot understand why someone would spend the time and money to import and convert one.
At the right price in the U.S. I could imagine it selling well, even with the weird bright red velour interior. But who and why would someone drag one all the way across the Pacific?
Now THAT’s something I’d like to see pix of, how they converted these to RHD. And yeah, one of the US cars I’d least expect to see outside of here… They seem to be strictly for the US Midwest, I can’t remember ever seeing ones on the coasts (freinds lived in California and Mass.) but seeing thousands of them everywhere in WI/MN/IA…
Where did you see a RHD car? I’m in Australia and I always wanted a 1985-1987 Grand Am LE with the sealed beam headlights. I have a feeling they were sold in Japan where they drive on the left side of the road, but maybe only after 1989 or something.
I think they might have sold them in China too but I think they would be LHD.
Never thought I’d want one of these, but I saw this one at starbucks today in Gaithersburg MD and it’s in perfect shape! No sign of an owner around…
I just typed out this absurdly long response to this post (nostalgia, maybe) and it dissapeared with an error message… shoot.
My first really nice car was an 88 Grand Am base model 2-dpor (not an LE or a GT, the badge between the door and back window just said “Fuel Injection”) It had the Quad-4 engine, and a 5-speed. THese cars were SO much nicer with that combination, than the Tech-4 (better suited to a lawn tractor or mail jeep) or the V6 (less HP, more weight on the nose of the car, less MPG) I remember routinely nailing down 30 MPG in mine, and taking it to redline pretty much every shift (the Quads liked to rev, totally unlike the other 4-cylinder) I remember reading that the Quad engines made 150hp, the V6 was more like 130 and the Tech, well those FELT like 7 or 8… With the Quad, the handling suspension (I can’t remember what it was called now) and no other options, this car was pretty fast. More importantly, it actually was pleasant to drive. I had been reading that these engines “ate head gaskets”, but my Mom (the original owner of this car) put 90K on it with no issues, I then put 70K more on it, and the oil pump broke (it was parked outside in -30F weather, and probably should have had different oil in it) WHen I had the oil pump fixed, the dealership put in a 94 oil pump instead of the 88 one it should have had, so the car had severe oil starvation issues and ate it’s bearings. That dealership then put in a new short-block, and I drove the car for 50K more miles. BY then it still ran OK, but was very rusty (it had the typical GM paint delamination issue, and every panel had at least one hole, both door lock cylinders literally fell out of the doors, the floor had holes and the windshield pillars were rusted thru) THe AC still blew cold, and I got hot air within a minute or 2 on cold day startups, also it NEVER let me down by not starting, and I parked outside year-round the whole time I had it. On the last final exam of my last year of college, on the way home the engine finally let go (dropped several valves, this was the original head with well over 200K on it) but I was able to coast into my parking spot on my momentum. Meanwhile my Mom had bought an Olds Achieva SC, again with the Quad engine/5-speed combo. She put 100K on that with no issues (other than getting hit by a red-light runner) so I don’t know where the head gasket issue came from.
I wish I had digital pix of this car, since it’s the one I’ve had the longest at this point.
My grand am le V6 3.0l is still alive and kickin’…..resides in the netherlands since 1987.