1983 General Motors Model Lineup Updates
The 1983 model year loomed as a season of regrouping and refining for America’s largest auto maker. No totally new car lines were introduced until March, when Chevrolet would release the new Corvette. The General’s shortage of brand-new new product may not have been that bad for the corporation, though. The J-cars introduced in April 1981 as ’82 models, experienced one of the most lackluster showings in the sales chars since the Edsel. The combination of high price and low performance seemed to be the primary reason for the J’s poor reception. As a result, the 108 liter OHV powerplant developed for the J-cars was dropped. For 1982 the only engine offered in the Js was the 1.8 liter OHC four build by GM do Brasil and a new 2.0 liter version of the 82 pushrod motor. Both engines were fitted with Rochester throttle body fuel injection instead of carburetors.
GM’s other new front wheel drive offering of 1982, the A-body line also experienced rather poor sales in its introductory year. In an effort to pique the public’s interest in the company’s mid-size front drive entries, three divisions would sell decidedly sporty A-cars for 1983.
The General would also add a few new overdrive transmissions to its powertrain lineup, some of them manual, some automatic. The J-cars were available with a new Isuzu built 5-speed manual transaxle. Operation in conjunction with revised axle ratios, the new transmission added more snap to all the J-cars.
Another Isuzu 5-speed was offered on both the Chevette and Pontiac’s 1000. Offered in 1982 along with the optional Isuzu 1.8 lite diesel engine in the Chevy only, use of the overdrive gearbox was expanded to include the 1.6 liter gas engine on T-body 2-door hatchbacks without air conditioning.
Borg-Warner’s T5 manual gearbox was offered on all Chevrolet Camaros and Pontiac Firebirds by the end of January 1983. Also offered on all F-cars with V6 or V8 engines was the General’s own THM 700 R4 4-speed automatic overdrive trans. The 700 R4, originally offered only on 192 Corvettes, and selected truck models, was now optional on carbureted V6 and V8 Fs but standard on Z28s and Trans Ams equipped with the optional Crossfire injection engine.
Later in the year, the front drive A-cars would be built with an all new 4-speed overdrive automatic transaxle, the THM 440C. This would become the only trans offered on the As by February 193.
Other than these technical refinements, much of the news at GM was that of attrition as the various divisions slim their lines down in order to better weather the economic doldrums.
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Can you do Motorweek’s episodes on the 1987 & 1988 General Motors model lineup videos if you can find the video? I really like to see them and also on the 1987 & 1988 versions for Ford & Chrysler model lineups as well.
Please send me an email and keep me posted on the videos and see if you have them.
Thank you very much
Jeffrey Sachs