The latest Celebrity to get into racing is a bit of a surprise

Tyler H said:

We had a new Celebrity Eurosport when I was learning to drive.  It had a novel feature from new -- it was self aware.  It would detect the most pucker-inducing possible moment (like pulling across a divided four lane highway) and just die without warning. 

Well, I, for one, LOLed at that

My parents had an '86 that kept my dad and sister alive when a drunk lady came at them head on in a Metro of some variety. I remember being so shaken up about that at the time. The whole family wished that she hit the 1981 LTD station wagon instead

crankwalk said:

 

pres589 (djronnebaum) said:

I've found myself wondering about those as a dirt cheap commuter platform.  They should be like legos to mix and match into something not horrible.  Then I remember what I'm looking at and go back to something more worthwhile like watching cartoons.

 

I can’t see any combination of those cars making a good one.

Oldsmobile Cutlass Cierra 3.8 motor mounts, 3800 Series II or III supercharged V6, and the 6 speed transaxle from a G6 GTP?

MadScientistMatt said:

crankwalk said:

 

pres589 (djronnebaum) said:

I've found myself wondering about those as a dirt cheap commuter platform.  They should be like legos to mix and match into something not horrible.  Then I remember what I'm looking at and go back to something more worthwhile like watching cartoons.

 

I can’t see any combination of those cars making a good one.

Oldsmobile Cutlass Cierra 3.8 motor mounts, 3800 Series II or III supercharged V6, and the 6 speed transaxle from a G6 GTP?

Ok I thought we just talking A body celebrity,century, cutlass ciera. Either way even with that combination of parts you mentioned it would still be an exceeding lame car to be in that was marginal in a straight line and handled poorly.

I'll say those Cierras with the V6 felt pretty fast for the time. That was the first kind of car I ever officially test drove and was also the first car where I experienced that strange phenomenon of driving a car as if I wasn't going to get a ticket in it just because it wasn't mine.

In reply to crankwalk :

You need to look at that sum with a "Sleeper" quotient added. It's perfect. 

I was a GM tech when those were new.  Not only were they crappy cars by design they were assembled by disgruntled UAW members who were apathetic at best and actively sabotaged stuff when at their worst.  The only good thing about them is that they made the J cars look reliable.

There were some bad cars in the 80s and i dont think these were the worst. I guess they are just not uncool enough to get GRM enthusiasm. If i popped up with a Yugo or Pony or  Excel in some kind of decent shape I'd probably get a pretty good response here. These GMs were definitely mundane, but i dont actually think they were terrible.  I'll echo the comment that a 3300 Cutlass Ciera is surprisingly punchy. I think an early 3800 Olds fwd (i forget the name? same platform i believe) was one of the cars that stuck out in my mind for being so much faster than i thought it would be. Felt like an actual 'ringer'. 

In reply to Vigo :

I frequently search "Hyundai Scoupe" 

captdownshift said:

In reply to Vigo :

I frequently search "Hyundai Scoupe" 

In the late-90’s I was playing in a band with a guitarist who was a professional pizza delivery guy - in his 40’s - who had a Scoupe and he’d ripped out all the seats to make more room for pizza & music gear. He seemed to like it quite a bit. 

Now don't forget that the Pontiac 6000 also came in AWD and did at least some service as a rally car. I have a newspaper clipping of one with trophies somewhere around here

Yeah, the Ceira with a 3800 would be the platform to work from.  A mild shift kit (probably one one the shelf from Trans-Go) and do the math on a proper spring combination for the thing, KYB shocks & struts, the stiffest factor sway bars from whatever they need to come from, a +1 wheel & tire upgrade, and then some decent seats... I wouldn't bother with a supercharger, focus on everything else.  

And then I remember my old turbo 626 and it's like, good lord forget that A-body nonsense.

Celebrities in Canoes - that's a new show I've never heard of

They make a good looking race car. 

Epitome of malaise era.  My grandmother had one.  Eventually burned itself to the ground.  

In reply to Kramer :

self-immolation is probably the best ending they could aspire too. 

Vigo said:

Wonder if in 20 years a minty fresh Eurosport VR will cross the block at Barrett Jackson and fetch stupid money.

Depending on what you think stupid money is, I really doubt it will take 20 years! GM made a whole bunch of weird but kinda cool trim levels on their FWDs in the 80s and 90s.  All of them are super rare at this point.  

A lot of those they only made enough to put them in the brochures. Like the Olds Achieva SCX W41 C41 that GRM had back then. Production? 10-12.

Speaking of.. I got to see this one in person at Radwood Austin in February. It was awesome!

Oh, the not so fond memories of A body steering rack “morning sickness” issues.  No thanks.