GM’s first attempt at minivans, the long-lived 1985 Chevy Astro/GMC Safari, were more “van” than “mini.” This wasn’t so surprising since they were designed in a hurry and therefore based mostly on off-the-shelf truck components….
Posts tagged General Motors
1960: Chevy’s Last Big Sedan Delivery
It says “Bel Air” on it, but those badges were added later. Sedan deliveries became common as hot rods in the 1960s, but they were plain and basic work vehicles first – and definitely not…
1939 LaSalle: Cadillac’s Companion
Recollections of the LaSalle were, for many years, as hazy with nostalgia as the Edward A. Wilson paintings that were used to advertise the Cadillac companions from 1927-33. Born of the boom times of the…
Disco Nights: 1979 Coupe DeVille D’Marchand
“Regional” and “Seasonal” special models were once a Detroit staple, particularly from the 1950s into the 1970s with models as obscure as the fifties Dodge Coronet “Texan” (Texas only) to AMC’s Rebel “Mariner” (Pacific Northwest),…
Baby Cadillac: 1932 Chevrolet Landau Phaeton
99% of the photos you see here are originals, but sometimes it’s nice to show something else – and today we’re time traveling to NYC circa 1940. Photog Stanley Mixon took this shot on Washington…
Good Old Days: 1973 Oldsmobile 98
It could be described as the postwar American car mantra – “longer, lower, wider,” even if the trend arguably began in the 1920s. The proportions of “standard” American cars grew progressively larger and lower-slung after…
Retro Muscle: 1968-69 Buick Skylark & Special
They were designed at the height of muscle cars – so it wasn’t any surprise that GM’s 1968-1972 A-body mid-sizes all had muscle car overtones. But one of these cars was not like the others…
Famous: The 1963 Split-window Stingray
The split-window 1963 Corvette “Stingray” is probably the most famous of all of Chevrolet’s sports cars, and it was born from group of people who became famous or already were – Pete Brock, Ed Cole,…
Fuel Crisis Fleetwood: 1981’s Cadillac V-8-6-4
The excellent downsized GM full-sizes of 1977 were reworked with a more formal look in the late fall of 1979 as 1980 models. The more upright looks belied better aerodynamics which, in some cases, yielded…
Old School Truck, New School Shape: 454SS
Muscle pickups, briefly popular in the 1970s in the form of truck’s like Dodge’s “L’il Red Express,” made a comeback in the early 1990s and the first manufacturer to really unleash them was GM. In…
See the U.S.A. in your Chevrolet!
Maybe, looking at this car, you can hear Dinah Shore’s voice – “See the U.S.A., in your Chevrolet, America is asking you to call…” But the wonderful Dinah wasn’t the first person to sing that…
Big and Bold: 1973 Oldsmobile Toronado
When it came time to redesign the Toronado for 1971, it would morph into a kind of Oldsmobile version of its Cadillac sister. The new look came from designer David North.