Alternate General Motors Vehicle Lineup (1980-Present)

[Chocolate Raines]

SMALL SUV: Chevrolet Tracker
Chevy rebadges a Suzuki to create a new small suv. No other American or Japanese car company offers an SUV this small. This is a first for GM.

MIDSIZE SUV: Chevrolet Blazer/ GMC Jimmy

LARGE SUV: Chevrolet Tahoe/ GMC Yukon/ Suburban

SMALL TRUCK: Chevrolet S10/ GMC Sonoma

TRUCK: Chevrolet C/K and GMC Sierra

SMALL VAN: Chevrolet Astro/ GMC Safari

VAN: Chevrolet Van/ GMC Vandura

 

[Chocolate Raines]

1. Chevrolet
2. Pontiac
3. Oldsmobile
4. Buick
5. Cadillac
6. GMC

 

[Chocolate Raines]

SUBCOMPACT: Metro

COMPACT: Cavalier

SMALL: Chevelle

MIDSIZE: Malibu/Monte Carlo

LARGE: Caprice

MINIVAN: Lumina

SPORTS: Camaro/Corvette
All new Camaro for 1990.

 

[Chocolate Raines]

COMPACT: Sunbird

SMALL: Grand Am

MIDSIZE: Grand Prix

LARGE: Bonneville

SPORTS: Fiero/Firebord
All new Firebird debuts for 1990. It is based of the Banshee concept. It wins Motor Trend's car of the year over the new Lincoln Town Car.

 

[Chocolate Raines]

SMALL: Omega 68

MIDSIZE: Cutlass Supreme

LARGE: Delta 88/Regency 98

PERSONAL LUXURY: Toronado

MINIVAN: Silhouette Custom Cruiser

 

[Chocolate Raines]

Well, the day has finally come, GM announces the phasing out of Buick over the next few years.

SMALL: Skylark

MIDSIZE: Regal/Century

LARGE: LeSabre/Electra
Both models are the first to go. This is their final model year.

PERSONAL LUXURY: Riviera

SPORTS: Reatta

 

[Bongani The Mediocre]

Couldn't GM made Buick an overseas division based in China?

Then what brand GM would go to China ITTL?

 

[phx1138]

One of the problems regarding the Chevette is the failure of GM to replace the Chevette with a more suitable Front Wheel Drive model before the 1981 or 1982 model year. Something else that GM should have done with the Chevette was to start the development when the development of the T Platform (That the Chevette was built on) was started.

Would you absolutely rule out the Chevette-based Chevy 500 ute? Or a FWD Monza? (I really do like the styling...)

When you get a little further on, what are the chances for a V8 Fiero GT instead of a sucky econobx? Beretta/Corsica/Tempest? Or even A-body (Celebrity/6000), like a *Celebrity SS/*Century GS?

Edit: BTW, if the 2.8 is such junk, what are you going to use in the Cavalier & its clones? And the Celebrity/clones? And the Camaro/Firebird? (Yeah, those might use the Buick 3.8. If *GM has a lick of sense, it'll be the GNR-spec engine.) Maybe a 3.4 turbo, akin the Grand Prix Turbo?

SPORTS: Camaro/Corvette
All new corvette for 1984. First redesign since 1968.

I wasn't a particular fan of the '72 styling, til this came out, & realized they could screw it up even more. Why couldn't they've built the Aerovette, or something?

COMPACT: Cavalier

This really wants the DOHC 3.4 optional, or maybe the 3.8 GN (if it'd fit), as the Z26. (I wouldn't mind the GS option for Buick, either.) Maybe a 3.4 turbo, akin the Grand Prix Turbo?

And what in all blazes was GM thinking, going from the TranSport showvan to the aardvark-nosed production version?

The Allante, OTOH, what a beaut. So why couldn't GM get a deal to build the bodies in Detroit, or Mexico? And give it a 32v 305 from the start?

All new Camaro for 1990.

That's going to severely undermine the 'vette, isn't it?

 

[Chocolate Raines]

MIDSIZE: Seville

LARGE: Deville/Fleetwood

PERSONAL LUXURY: Eldorado

SPORTS: Allante

 

[Chocolate Raines]

CAR TRUCK: Chevrolet Camaro XT-2
The long awaited replacement for the El Camino finally arrives. It is based on the new Camaro.

SMALL TRUCK: Chevrolet S10/GMC Sonoma

TRUCK: Chevrolet C/K/GMC Sierra

SMALL SUV: Chevrolet Tracker

MIDSIZE SUV: Chevrolet Blazer/ GMC Jimmy

LARGE SUV: Chevrolet Tahoe/GMC Yukon/Suburban
GM's large SUV'S are all new for 90'.

SMALL VAN: Chevrolet Astro/GMC Safari

VAN: Chevrolet Van/GMC Vandura.

 

[Chocolate Raines]

1. Chevrolet
2. Pontiac
3. Oldsmobile
4. Buick
5. Cadillac
6. GMC

 

[MakiRoc]

When you get a little further on, what are the chances for a V8 Fiero GT instead of a sucky econobx?

Don’t know how the Chevrolet folks would let that fly. A V8 Fiero would definitely be competition for the Corvette and GM kinda has an unwritten rule that no car should surpass the Vette.
Personally I find that rule a bit ridiculous, because it made no sense to me that the bread and butter brand carried the main halo car of the corporation instead of the sporty or luxury brand (Pontiac or Cadillac).

 

[phx1138]

Don’t know how the Chevrolet folks would let that fly. A V8 Fiero would definitely be competition for the Corvette and GM kinda has an unwritten rule that no car should surpass the Vette.
Personally I find that rule a bit ridiculous, because it made no sense to me that the bread and butter brand carried the main halo car of the corporation instead of the sporty or luxury brand (Pontiac or Cadillac).

I think it's absurd, too. If the Fiero would, why don't the Camaro & Firebird?

If there's an actual chance the Fiero would, why not make the 'vette better?

 

[TheMann]

Interesting choice to base the new El Camino on the Camaro platform, not what I woulda done but it works. Maybe do a Subaru BRAT and put a couple seats in the bed as part of a 'fun truck' option package?

And perhaps maybe bring the Chevrolet Montana over as well at some point and create lots of minitruck buyers? Smaller vans and trucks could be very useful for people living in urban areas.

 

[Laqueesha]

Always wanted to see an SS version of the Chevrolet Express/GMC Savana, just for kicks.

 

[phx1138]

Interesting choice to base the new El Camino on the Camaro platform

Yeah, a bit counterintuitive, but interesting. Would that be just a Chevy?

I'd add a 4-dr S-10 (offered in Brazil, IIRC).

 

[TheMann]

Would you absolutely rule out the Chevette-based Chevy 500 ute? Or a FWD Monza? (I really do like the styling...)

Simply bringing in the little trucks and vans used in other parts of the world makes more sense than a Chevette (quite an old platform by this point) pickup. If it had been me I'd have never built it in the first place, as it came out the same year as the Volkswagen Golf and Ford Fiesta, both enormously better cars aimed at the same market.

When you get a little further on, what are the chances for a V8 Fiero GT instead of a sucky econobx? Beretta/Corsica/Tempest? Or even A-body (Celebrity/6000), like a *Celebrity SS/*Century GS?

IMO, the Fiero is best served by being a Toyota MR2 fighter in price and performance, and it best does that with a faster-revving V6 or a turbocharged four. That way it doesn't become a problem for the Corvette (agreed on the corporate edict being enormously stupid) and keeps the Halo effect for Pontiac. A V8 Beretta is kinda pointless when you have the Camaro around, but a smaller Beretta as a rival to cars like the Mitsubishi Eclipse (which is what I think GM was aiming for with it in the first place) works nicely indeed, and having a Chevrolet coupe lineup of the scrappy Beretta, luxurious Monte Carlo, powerful Camaro and bullet-fast Corvette works rather nicely indeed.

Edit: BTW, if the 2.8 is such junk, what are you going to use in the Cavalier & its clones? And the Celebrity/clones? And the Camaro/Firebird? (Yeah, those might use the Buick 3.8. If *GM has a lick of sense, it'll be the GNR-spec engine.) Maybe a 3.4 turbo, akin the Grand Prix Turbo?

The 3.8 Turbo Buick is a cast-iron block motor with a steel crankshaft, waaaaay too heavy for a smaller front-drive car like the J-bodies, and it's too expensive for lower-model versions of the Camaro/Firebird.

What GM should do there is use the Quad-Four or some other similar solid 16-valve four-cylinder engine for it. The 2.8 V6 was a cheap way of providing some power for the larger and heavier J-bodies but if they made a proper engine for it in the first place it wouldn't have been necessary in the first place.

I wasn't a particular fan of the '72 styling, til this came out, & realized they could screw it up even more. Why couldn't they've built the Aerovette, or something?

The Aerovette....yuck. Pass.

And what in all blazes was GM thinking, going from the TranSport showvan to the aardvark-nosed production version?

Price and production practicality. The concept looks awesome but would have been an absolute nightmare to make it work on the production line with all of that curved glass. And the gullwing doors provided a lot of different issues too. The Aardvark nose could have been better but the concept was impractical. A really awesome Trans Sport could have been a little different styled, and ideally has the Fiero's V6 and four wheel drive on all models, a van with the heart of a sports car and the ability to handle anything the every day or the fun day could throw at it.

The Allante, OTOH, what a beaut. So why couldn't GM get a deal to build the bodies in Detroit, or Mexico? And give it a 32v 305 from the start?

The Northstar System didn't exist in 1987, that was the problem. It could have been done to make the bodies in the United States or Canada rather than Italy, but that wasn't really change much for the Allante. Better bet might have been speeding up the Corvette ZR-1 a couple years and making the same 32-valve engine go into the Allante, with maybe 350 hp in the Cadillac against 405 hp in the Corvette.

 

[TheMann]

Yeah, a bit counterintuitive, but interesting. Would that be just a Chevy?

I'd add a 4-dr S-10 (offered in Brazil, IIRC).

I'm not sure I'd call it counterintuivitive, and if one is marketing it as a fun truck than in fact it's quite logical. Sacrificing a fair bit of utility putting it on a Camaro chassis though. As far as a four-door S10, I'll bet that's already here.

 

[Chocolate Raines]

God if only my nascar timeline could take off like this

 

[Chocolate Raines]

As far as a four-door S10, I'll bet that's already here.

Spoiler: Chevy s10

That will be available when it gets redesigned soon!