I believe it was longtime CC commenter geozinger who first introduced the term “Cockroach Of The Road” (COTR) here. And it’s been applied mostly to those generally unloved older GM FWD cars that seem to defy the expectations and keep on going, and going. The Chevy Celebrity earned its COTR status early on. And keeps on earning it, although the numbers are dwindling.
And of course the Beetle is the original Insect of the Road, so it’s appropriate that we see these two communing here. This house obviously doesn’t have a pest control contract.
Thankfully (for its owner) it’s got the 2.8 L V6. This white Celebrity reminds me very much of one that also found its way into the parking lot at KSCI-TV in LA via that same fleet purchaser agreement one of our engineers set up. But in this case it was to end up as the first new car for a very sweet young couple that had met at the station, fallen in love, and got married. Gary and Mary; our company sweethearts. And Mary got pregnant on their honeymoon. Oh; so sweet indeed!
And now that the kid was on the way, they needed a bigger and more reliable car; their first new one. But they were thrifty too, so they ordered up a very plain white first year 1982 Celebrity with the 2.5 L Iron Duke four. It served them for quite a few years, but I don’t know just how reliably so. Enough so to keep it anyway. The first COTR in my experience.
Theirs was just like this, but in blue. it was pretty spartan compared to the four Skylark Limiteds in the official station fleet. But then they were paying for it. And its big four throbbed away.
This one looks like it still gets driven, which I can’t say for the VW. But it never fails to amaze me how many real Beetles are still on the road here. And I’m talking about real drivers, in varying condition, not Sunday hobby cars. Before you know it, we’ll be celebrating the 100th birthday of the Beetle.
The A-car does have a reputation for being a COTR. But in my mind, perhaps due to my secondhand anecdotal experiences, it’s the later A-cars, post 85-86 particularly the Buick and Old versions that were built into the 1990s, that I associate with COTR.
Even by the 90s, I recall the early A-car as being noticeably absent from the roads. At least IMO
My friend’s dad from 2 houses away, bought a new Pontiac 6000 V6, high-end, it was a first or 2nd year car. It replaced a 1973 Bonneville. This guy was meticulous and careful, not abusive by any means. Yet in his first year, he had lost of issues….he went from “it’s a nice car” to “it’s bad, very bad….not like our old Pontiac, which was good”. Another customer added to the millions GM lost in the 1980s, when the rest of autodom was rebounding….
Yeah I don’t think the early ones, particularly those w/o the Buick V-6, qualify for COTR status. The 2.8 wasn’t nearly as durable as the Buick engine and in general the early A bodies were put together about as well as the early X-bodies they were derived from. The demographics of the Buick and Olds buyers definitely helped their longevity. The Chevy was more likely to be a fleet car, whether rental, corp or gov’t. So they went on the used car market earlier in their life and started the slide into neglect. Meanwhile the Buick or Olds was more likely to be purchased by an older person, possibly as their last car, who would tend to be more religious about the care of their car and likely to see fewer miles per year.
Good point on the Buick/Olds demographics. I thought the 2.8 had a decent reputation by the mid 1980s. It soldiered on for decades, in 2.8 or 3.1 size.
The feature car is can’t be newer than 85. Those cars 1983-85 cars seem to have vanished relatively quickly–but later Celebrities, and even more so, the Buick/Olds version held out for a while, even in salt-happy Michigan. Last year I saw a wagon variant–I always thought that was a very practical car.
Yes the Chevy V6 did get better in the later versions.
A guy I knew bought a 82 Camaro, brand new. 2.8, 5 speed. He was a tech at the VW dealer in Beaverton. One morning, just as he was pulling into work, oil pressure drops to zero. Digs into it after work, turns out the bolt holding oil pump was apparently not tightened correctly at the factory, and the pump just fell off the bearing cap. Gotta love GM back in the day!
That Chevy Celebrity has no license plate nor a temp tag so who knows how much it gets driven. Nice finds by the way, I haven’t seen a Celebrity in months, but I’m still seeing Beetles semi-regularly.
The offspring of this mating match could be interesting.
If the offspring inherits the VW’s rear engine genes, I’m guessing it would look something like a Corvair.
If the offspring gets the Chevy’s front engine, FWD genes… hmmm, maybe something resembling a New Beetle?
What, no mention of the very nice (very much in contrast with the two cars in front) PT behind them?
Didn’t want to steal your thunder.
The picture of the vinyl interior in the Celebrity reminds me of one of my Dad’s favorite fleet assignments (although his boss always bought used). It was a late 70s (1980 is the newest it could have been) IMPALA wagon when Impala had slid down the hierarchy below the Caprice Estate at that point. It was a brownish copper color on the outside, tan vinyl benches on the inside. I’d swear it only had an AM radio but did have A/C. It also stands out in my mind as NOT having a 3rd row seat, just a storage compartment. Of course memories are faulty but those were the things that stood out.
It just seemed like an honest straightforward wagon that could have been used by a working man back when Chevy still had designations like “210”.
Geo may have introduced the term COTR here, but I have been using the term since the early 90s when I moonlighted at the used car lot. Not a new term for describing these cars by any means.
We never had any problems with rental car customers returning these cars. I don’t recall any of them being stolen. I don’t recall any of our customers asking for one. I don’t recall any of our customers saying how nice the car was. We had a fleet of them and it was a toss up which was more exciting, the Celebrity or the Tempo. I felt bad for anyone who had to actually own either of them.
Having owned both, my opinion is that the Celebrity is the more exciting car.
Like a 19 inch black and white TV was better than a 12 inch black and white TV.
Of course mine was a Eurosport with red pinstriping, and the Tempo had none, so its based mostly on that. 😎
Comments like this are why you are TheMann!
I think you may have just captured the complete automotive life-cycle of the American Baby Boomer in one picture.
1. Young Boomer = VW Beetle (Summer of Love, Hippy Culture)
2. Family Boomer = Chevy Celebrity (See the USA, in a Chevrolet! The Heartbeat of America!)
3. Retired Boomer = Chrysler PT Cruiser (Early 2000’s “Retro” Design for a car that had enough utility to be driven daily.)
The only way the picture could have been improved is if the Chevy Celebrity was a 1986-1995 Ford Taurus or Mopar Minivan instead and there was a Corvette and/or Harley Davidson parked in an open garage in the background. Bonus points if the “Harley Davidson” was actually one of the Ford F-150 Special Editions and not an actual motorcycle.
IDK if either of those cars are drivable. The Chevy looks pretty uncared for and lacks a rear plate; it may just be a carcass. The VW looks cleaner, but parked, long-term.
I remember when my stepmom got a 82-ish 4 cylinder Cutlass Ciera to replace a 74 Cutlass Supreme. After a short drive in the Ciera, I recall thinking “this is not the same thing at all.”