The W-Body is not a platform that gets a lot of love from enthusiasts, but it is one that, for better or for worse, has been in constant production since the late 1980s. It has been sold with Buick, Chevrolet, Oldsmobile and Pontiac badges, with inline-four, V6, supercharged six, turbocharged six and V8 engines, and in sedan and coupe body styles.
Although a significant proportion of W-Bodies manufactured were flaccid Luminas and bench-seat, rental fleet Impalas, there have been some bright sparks along the way.
If you’re all about that boost, how about the ultra-rare (1990-91 only) Grand Prix McLaren Turbo and STE Turbo? The 6000 STE gets a lot of adulation to this day for being a competitive domestic sport sedan offering, but the Grand Prix had more modern styling and a turbocharged V6. It was still a four-speed automatic or nothing, though. At least with the Grand Prix you got a funky Sable-esque light bar! These early Grand Prixs also came with amazing bucket seats too.
If turbos aren’t your thing, why not try one of the later 3.4 DOHC V6-equipped Ws? With an impressive-for-the-early-1990s 210hp, these were about as quick as a Taurus SHO and you could even get a 5-speed manual. These engines weren’t bulletproof, but you could get them in the wild-looking Lumina Z34, as well as the Grand Prix GTP and STE and Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme.
Those early Cutlass Supremes sure were smooth-looking, before the ugly cladding was added. You could get the Quad 4, the first domestic DOHC four-cylinder since the Cosworth Vega, from 1990 until 91 in both the Cutlass and the Grand Prix. Oh, sure, they were noisy and ate headgaskets, but they revved hard and put out as much power as a lot of V6s even though they were naturally-aspirated.
Would you describe your family as ‘supercharged’? If the answer is yes, maybe a second generation W-body Buick Regal GS is in order. They looked a lot like your grandpa’s Century, but they packed a supercharged version of the trusty 3.8 V6 with 240hp and an impressive 280 ft-lbs. If the Regal was too much of a Q-ship for you, you could get the same engine in the wide-track second-generation Pontiac Grand Prix.
Maybe you’re like Tim Allen and you think everything needs MORE POWER. Well, GM stuffed a 5.3 small-block V8 in the 2006 Impala and Monte Carlo SS, 2005 Grand Prix GXP and 2008 Buick LaCrosse Super. They didn’t make any noteworthy suspension modifications for Chevy, so unless you like the sensation of excessive torque steer as you slide across flat, unsupportive seats, maybe you should look at the Pontiac and Buick.
303 horsepower and 320 ft-lbs is an eye-watering amount of power for a front-wheel-drive car, but reviews of the time were impressed by the dialled-down torque steer and competent handling of the Grand Prix GXP; the use of larger tires in front played a part in that. The GXP was also the first W-Body in over a decade to have anything close to a manual transmission, with a 4-speed automatic with TapShift paddles. 0-60 was under 6 seconds, and the V8 engine didn’t make the car as nose-heavy as you’d suspect. Still, these V8 W-Bodies had transmissions made of glass so… Uhh, get an extended warranty.
Finally, you could get that kind of horsepower from a smooth, modern V6 mated to a modern, six-speed automatic transmission in the 2012-present Chevrolet Impala “Limited”, as seen in your local rental fleet. Sure, nowadays these Impalas are very much outclassed by the new, Epsilon platform Impala and Malibu, but they are cheap and fast and the bugs have most certainly been ironed out by now.
Which W-Body would you pick?
My choice is the Grand Prix, of course being a Pontiac salesman/sales manager from 1985-2009 makes me biased! For most of these years, the Grand Prix was a great demo. Here are a few recollections of the w ody Grand Prix:
1988-1990 sold very well, all types of people came in to buy them, especially the fancy SE with 4 bucket seats. The turbo and STE models were crazy money back then and only sold if they were factory brass hat cars. The sedan sold very well in 1990 (some were quad 4 yuck!)
1991-1993 harder to sell unless b4u aero package coupe. 1992 demo stands out in my mind. It was a 3.4 b4u coupe with the 3.4 24 valve V-6 . Black with gold wheels. Great looking car. 3.4 not a very memorable engine or great performer in my opinion. NEVER wash the engine of a 3.4 (nice deep spark plug inserts to fill up with water). Still some quad 4 coupes and sedans to destroy future sales.
1994-1996 great seller! The smooth 3100 V-6 was a great improvement over the original 3.1. Repriced GTP and better looking sedans made for a great car. Dark teal was the hot color during these years.
1997-2000 great seller that people actually WANTED. Loaded GT/GTP coupes and sedans very hot items. 3100 se sedans hard to sell, especially with the plastic wheelcovers :(.
2001-2003 GTP still popular, but most of the others became lease/smartbuy giveaways to payment buyers. More base 3100 se sedans in the mix.
2004-2008 2004 sold well until about August 2003, theneveryone that wanted one got one. The orange 2004 GTP 24 hour test drive car remained in inventory until Feb 2007. Did not order any Grand Prix for stock from 2005-2008 unless begged by district rep to take a few. GXP was a great car however. In 2006 I found the sweet spot and started selling tons of Grand Prix: program cars with leather, fancy wheels, heated leather seats, electronic climate etc with under 20000 miles that could be profitably sold as GM certified for $13995 during the current model year. Strategy worked well with the 2007, but then the 2008s had the nice options (leather etc) but plastic wheel covers. Game up :(.
Then it all ended…..
I have to go with the 97-03 Grand Prix. My late grandad had 2 GT Sedans, a silver ’98 and a royal blue ’02. I distinctly remember my cousin and I being very excited to visit them in downstate Illinois and see their new car(we would have been like 5 y/o). The ’98 replaced their tauras based early 90’s Continental. It lived a fairly problem free life, taking over boat towing duties from their tired ’94 galant. It eventually migrated to the bay area with my aforementioned cousin as his first car. He totalled it within the year. When the Galant coughed up its transmission, it was replaced by a dealer’s ’02 GT. I remember riding 40 miles back from the dealership in tandem with my grandparents each driving twin grand prix’s.
The ’02 is still kicking with only 110xxx miles on it. My grandma doesn’t drive anymore and my folks use it as a second car. i pretty much learned how to drive on it (and the 98 as a kid on country roads). I drive it occasionally and it hauls ass compared to my civic. I remember hating how low the back seat in the 98 was in comparison to the window.
I still see tons of Grand Prix here in Chicago. Many are pretty beat, some with 24″ rims. They are fun cars, i just hate slushboxes.
I daily drive a 1996 Regal, the 4T60 died years ago so I did the L67 /4T65E-HD swap. With the old 3800 it was fun to drive but now with the supercharged one it’s a real blast.
I have no aspirations to replace the Regal, but I’ve thought often about buying a second first Gen W-body. Likely that would be a Cutlass Convertible or another Regal, also very partial to 91-92 Grand Prix.