"Do you mean cars like the Chevy Citation, Cavalier, Celebrity, 80s Caprice Classic or Malibu, Pontiac T 6000, J2000, Sunbird, Pariesienne, 80's Bonneville, Catalina or Le Mans, Oldsmobile Omega, Cutalss Ciera, Cutlass Calais, 1980's Delta 88, 98 or Firenza, Buick Skylark, Apollo, Century, 1980's Le Sabre, Electra and my favorite, the Cadillac Cimarron!"
Agreed! GM and the rest of Detroit pumped out a lot of crap during the '70s and '80s. During the '90s they seem to spend their time trying to catch up to the Japanese on reliability, but still seldom offered much that could be seen as really desirable for for a true driver. The exception might be the later Cadillac CTS (and even ATS) series. The first introduction was an Opel based RWD that opened a few eyes. Then they went the extra mile to create the next generation of CTSs. Which led to the CTS-V models. Before the CTS's emerged, I had asked a friend at GM if Cadillac was targeting Mitsubishi or Nissan with its FWD models as their direct competition. Certainly not BMW or Mercedes, as those both were exclusively RWD with performance models like the M-series. A couple of years later the CTS and CTS-Vs were in the showrooms. I have no allusions that my remark had anything to do with that. But Cadillac did offer, for a while, a RWD V-8 with 500+ and 600+ HP, and could be had with a manual transmission, and enhanced suspensions. The CTS-V Coupe was drop-dead gorgeous and could easily embarrass a BMW-M or M-B AGM for a fraction of the price. Finally, the US could claim an affordable world beater. No longer an object of desire now, tho. They scraped the option of the manual shift and the styling has deteriorated to a shape that might be mistaken for a Toyota from across the street.
I think the poor Cimarron might have been based on a Chevy Cavalier. That in itself does not bode well for a happy ending. The Olds Cutlass of the '80s was actually the best selling model in the US over its production span. But GM dropped the ball on that when they replaced it with lesser model updates.
Much of the GM line-up today seems to be cookie cutter models designed by the bean-counters. One basic layout multiplied by several size options. I presently have a 1999 Chevy S-10 Blazer as my work vehicle. It's treated me well, but may need replaced before too long. In researching my options on replacing it, I find that GM only offers 4 doors, zero with manual shift, based on a car chassis, and only FWD or AWD. I'd prefer a 2 door 4X4 with a 6 speed manual resting on a frame-chassis. The new Ford Bronco seems to meet my want there. As its sales have a long waiting list now, I have a feeling that GM may be forced itoto creating their own version of the Bronco soon.
