(first posted 6/6/2012) There are some things you just tend to forget about. Appointments to the dentist. Needing to tuck-point the brick on your house. What your wife wore on your last anniversary.
There are other things in which a lack of comment or activity indicates a degree of success. For instance, this past winter were you more likely to telephone your local highway department on snowy days when the road was covered or when the road was clear?
So what explains GM’s N-body? Introduced in 1985 as the Pontiac Grand Am, Buick Somerset, and Oldsmobile Calais, these cars replaced the unfortunate X-bodies that are still discussed today.
The N-bodies are rarely seen anymore, particularly the Oldsmobile and Buick versions which are illustrated here. Production of these cars ceased in 1991. For perspective, that has been enough time for someone born on the last day of Oldsmobile Calais production in April 1991 to now legally purchase alcohol in all fifty states. Thus, rational deduction would conclude the simple passage of time and usage would have eliminated most of these cars. However, as evidenced by the number of similarly aged GM A-body Buick’s and Oldsmobile’s still on the road, might age be an inferior determining factor?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ByUvY2aO7bQ
Perhaps it was the audience of these machines. As evidenced by the commercial above, these cars were aimed at the young and upwardly mobile. Or, in ’80’s parlance, yuppies on a budget. A much different demographic than the A-body audience, this would give credence to the idea they were bought, got stale for the owner, and were resold. Many times.
Perhaps another reason is the model names of these cars. When introduced in 1985, the Buick version was the “Regal Somerset”. In then evolved to “Somerset” and then to “Skylark”. The Oldsmobile was initially the “Calais” but was soon re-christened “Cutlass Calais”. Renaming a car every year or two does not assist in name recognition or name retention, thus it being less memorable to people.
It should be noted that GM and Oldsmobile were shamelessly trying to milk the Cutlass name, as in 1988, they had the “Cutlass Supreme”, “Cutlass Calais”, and the “Cutlass Ciera”. Pontiac was at least consistent in calling the “Grand Am” by the same name for its entire production run.
Yet the question remains: Why are they such seemingly forgotten automobiles?
More evidence is needed.
Never having driven, or even ridden in, an N-body GM, your author did some research on these cars. Being as obscure as they now are, a google search revealed little. However, a car owner survey website did give a little insight into these cars.
It was found that these cars were, and can be, highly durable in the mechanical department. The 2.5 liter Iron Duke engine earned many fans for its ruggedness and frugality. The assorted sizes of V6’s were well respected, also.
However, it seems that these cars were prone to rust and paint loss, as evidenced by the Buick seen here. They were also prone to various electrical gremlins at times as well as possessing brittle trim and hardware. Such does not bode well for longevity.
Then there are also the driving patterns and styles. Many of the owner reviews seemed to be written by males between the ages of 16 and 18. That generally does not bode well for longevity.
So what conclusions can be reached about these cars? The two examples here both present evidence toward a hybrid of the theories presented: these vehicles did a good job for their owners despite their often being subjected to less than favorable treatment.
The Buick, due to it being a Skylark, was built toward the end of the 1985 to 1991 production run [ED: It’s an ’88-’91 model as it has the composite headlights]. The paint is retiring and the tin worm has taken hold. Found in Fulton, Missouri, I did a double take upon seeing this car as I had simply forgotten they existed. After snapping a few pictures, and going about my business, I saw it parked elsewhere about 30 minutes later.
The Oldsmobile was found a few days later on a used car lot in Lebanon, Missouri, about 120 miles south of Fulton. When I introduced myself to the lady on the lot, she told me the Calais has only 58,000 miles on it and was either an ’86 or ’87 model. Despite the obvious misalignment of the body panels up front, this car was fairly sound with a great looking interior.
General Motors did not hit a home run with these cars, however, they at least got a base hit. A strike out would still be remembered.
I started selling cars at the end of 1985 at the Buick-Olds-Jeep dealer in Rolla, MO. The first new car I ever sold was a gold colored 1985 Buick Somerset Regal (Skylark) 2 door. My first demo was a gray 1986 Olds Calais 2 door. That was my first experience with a front wheel drive car. I couldn’t believe how well it got around in the snow. The Pontiac-Cadillac-GMC dealer was just down the road about a mile. We’d have customers come and test drive our Calais and Skylark but they couldn’t decide anything until they looked at the Grand Am first. Lots (and lots) of times we would see the customer we just had, driving home their new Grand Am. The BMW style grille and sporty appearance of the Grand Am got them almost every time.
My mother was looking at a Buick Somerset as a car for her to use while she was wintering in Florida, to keep at her house there. It was in great shape, I admit it, but I told her “no way”. It was a 4-cylinder and sounded like a wounded moose on acceleration (that was with her driving it too, not me).
We found an 89 Corolla nearby that had more miles but was in excellent shape also. I said – this is the one. She agreed, bought that car, and it served her well for many years with zero problems. That was right around Peak Toyota also, even the interior has held up well, still have the car and even the AC is ice cold without having ever needing a recharge. Every time I drive it I get offers to buy it, people know it’s a good car.
The N-cars were certainly a part of GM’s demise. At least a Citation has that Pinto-like vibe going for it – it’s really bad, but that makes it cool in a weird way. You can drive it and think – GM actually thought this was a good product to fight the Japanese. Incredible. The N-cars were not a big improvement at all.
They were unloved and will not be missed.
There is a very well-preserved Calais of this generation that I see around town frequently. It’s the next nose treatment though, with composite lamps and the mail-slot grille reminiscent of the early 80’s Toronado. It’s been so long since I’d seen a Calais with this original sealed-beam nose that I had forgotten what it looked like.
Definitely quite a few of these N-bodies in the student parking lot when I was in high school (’94-’98) but they started to thin out fast after that. My girlfriend senior year of college had one though, a thoroughly beat ’87 Grand Am sedan. It had the iron duke with an absurd number of miles on it (over 250,000), so I’ll give it credit for longevity, but that was probably the most unpleasant car to drive that I’ve ever experienced. It shook, rattled, creaked, groaned, bucked, didn’t track straight, bucked, and buzzed. Everything about the car suggested that its useful life had ended at least five years earlier. But it refused to die, I’ll give it that. Just refused to die.
I also have a LOT of experience with a much later N-body, my wife’s ’00 Alero, but that story has already been told.
This is my 1987 Grand AM LE V 3.0l, I own this car for 6 years now.
One of the very very few in the netherlands…
Get a lot of attention many people do not know what kind of car it is and some want to know more about it.
I am still very happy with my Granny…….It has125000 miles on it. Power seat,power windows, power door locks, power mirrors, remote trunk realese, adjustable leather wrapped steering wheel, original entertainment system with cassette player,6 speakers and some other features.
The a/c,cruise control do not working anymore.
My Grand Am and my 1978 buick riviera……..
Old but still good!
Love it !!
A truly awful . My dad had one as his last Pontiac or gm car. It was cramped and eared in plastic and had a quad 4 the 4 with as many parts as a v8. First time I rode in it the window. crank fell off. I guess I slammed it too hard being used to a Ltd coupe. The plastic cracked and fell off it, the head gasket, water pump, axles, rack all failed at low miles. It was rough and noisy and just horrible like a modernized sunbird. Paint.fell off too. This was a lightly driven maintained car. It was the car that made him a Toyota driver. I also did not like the car names.
Somerset what did that mean?
Calais a place in France a country where one should not buy anything made there with moving parts,
Grand am you could rearrange the letters and spell grandma.
I guess Chevy got lucky being spared,
My cousin had an 87 Somerset, it was a deep blue, digital dash, sunroof, ice cold air conditioning. I liked the car a lot but he hated it from day one & he bought it brand new. I was driving a 82 Nissan Stanza 5 sp that he loved so he would sometime switch cars with me. I must admit though that I could tell the Nissan was a much better engineered vehicle than the Somerset. He sold the Somerset to another cousin, he eventually bought the Stanza from me with 250k miles, sold it to someone who drive it 3 years before it died.
I had a red on red 1990 Calais 4 door with the Olds built 3.3L V-6 (a version of the 3.8L Buick). Great car, aside from a grounded knock sensor wire (which resulted in retarded timing) the car was trouble free. At 12 years of age the clear coat started to go in places, but the interior held up very well. The car is still on the road.
GM’s timing was always retarded.
My two sisters each had a Buick Somerset 2-dr.! Both with V6 engines so they were peppy. The radio with their tiny pushbuttons was indecipherable while driving, and I recall that their pod-configuration made it virtually impossible to upgrade. One had electrical gremlins, the other blew up after a cooling system failure. I can’t recall which was which, but one was replaced by a 1994 Honda Accord, the other by a 1998 Chrysler Cirrus LXi…that one actually had a rather long life.
My impression…they were appliances, with about as much personality as a refrigerator. Average ride, average noise level, average seating. They seemed to be made to appeal to younger, upscale customers with their close-coupled sporty coupe styling but once you were inside and driving them, the “family car” Ford Taurus outdid them in every way.
Considering this was the substitute for the X-car disaster; it should be considered decent.
These cars appealed to loyal GM buyers who never had much exposure to the competition. Once that happened, that was pretty much it for their loyalty to GM.
These were, according to GM Marketing at the time and reported in the rags, aimed at “New Values Customers”, BMW intenders and new monied yuppies. The BS machine was running full throttle at GM then.
The 86 Calais I owned [and as I mentioned above, little brother still drives] handled well, the best of the GM small cars I have owned [including the 95 SL1], the ride was rather plush on good roads, but every bump was not only heard, but felt.
I bought it at 8 years old and 21,000 miles and the things I replaced on it, whether due to garage rot and inactivity, or bad QC, over the next 30,000 miles was appalling: heater core, brakes every 20,000 miles, AC system, torque converter switch went, causing the car to come to a stop as if it was a manual left in 4th gear, dashboard separating from the instrument cluster [came that way], two alternators, and the sagging headliner had to be replaced.
Gave it to my parents, who had few problems with it, as I had not only replaced what needed it, but had it repainted for them as well. Several years later they gave it to my brother and his wife, who have been driving it for 10 years or more.
The upholstery is still unworn after 30 years, it still handles well, they had to replace the head gasket [common with Iron Dukes/Tech 4s], but very few problems for them.
Plus there is the vintage charm and character of the Iron Duke grumbling away under the hood. What’s not to like ?
Whenever I see one around town, it’s usually my brother, though I have seen a handful of Grand Ams and later model Calais.
Head gaskets common on tech IV’s. I don’t think we ever had one go bad in the 20 years of selling cars. It was always the valve cover gaskets that went bad leaking oil all over the place. Ditto K-cars. These engines were all iron so head gaskets shouldn’t have been a problem. This was usually an issue more with 80’s Honda’s and other foreign cars with iron blocks and alloy heads.
Yes, Two were replaced on my parent’s Ciera: once when they had it and once when my older brother had it. OB and family had it trashed within a couple of years. Criminal.
Back in 87 my friend Chris traded in his 81 1500 DX Civic on a 1 year old Grand Am. We called it the Damned Am. However, he had no troubles with it while he was in Wichita Falls. It was the Duke/auto combo. I remember one trip we took to Dallas one afternoon to retrieve something for his boss. It was a OK car, but yeah, pretty generic in it’s behavior. We timed it to 60 one night with three skinny 20 year old kids on board. It took 20 seconds. However when he went to San Antonio to live with his grandparents in 88 it started falling apart ( cooling issues) so after a few months he got rid of it. But I remember it well,
I remember as young kid, maybe around 1994, my aunt traded her 1984-ish Escort 4 door hatch for a dark blue 87 Somerset coupe. My favorite feature? The dash bounced up and down like a can in a paint shaker every time she hit the gas with the AC on. I always giggled when it happened, and she did too.
Both sides of my family are loyal GM and Ford people, and it was funny to grow up during such a dark time for the American auto industry, seeing the mental gymnastics my family would do to justify continued purchases of such compromised vehicles. They’re all quietly thankful that they’re making decent product again.
I had a 89 Grand Am early 90’s, Blue inside and out. It had a lot of options and the 2.5. I wish I could write how terrible it was but it was a fine–it just needed parts replaced that wear out on every car. I only sold it because it was a 2 door and getting an infant seat in and out was a pain.
These were initially meant to replace the old G-body coupes and sedans starting in 1985. They all started out as 2 door coupes with 2.5 Tech IV std and 3.0 PFI V6 optional. The Iron Duke came with a 5 speed stick and optional 125C 3 speed and that was the only choice with the V6. For 1986 4 door sedan variants were introduced on all 3 lines. The Grand AM lost the Buick V6 after 1987 and the Quad 4 was substituted. The Olds and Buick carried on with the 3.0 until 1988. For 1989 the more powerful 160 Hp 3300 V6 replaced the 3.0 and the Grand Am was selling in decent numbers. They never got the 4 speed overdrive trans-axle like the larger A and W-body cars.
We sold a boat load of Grand Am’s with many 1985-88 models coming up for sale. Many were Tech IV Iron Dukes. Rust was for sure an issue on the earlier examples in Upstate, NY and the occasional gremlin would surface but these seemed like reliable enough little cars and many examples had well over 100K and were on there 3rd or 4th owners by the time they reached out sales lot. These sold like hot cakes to the younger set or as a perfect college commuter special. They aren’t seen much today but going to the Southern parts like PA still sees them on the road occasionally, especially at auctions.
These cars were everywhere back in the day. My sister bought a year old 1986 Grand Am LE sedan from the original owner with only 9,000 miles on it. The woman had lost her job and needed to sell the Grand Am fast. I thought that car was the coolest! It had the Trans Am rims with the wide Eagle GT tires. It was loaded with options, too. She loved that car and kept it for about five years.
A high school friend of mine’s Mom bought a brand new Somerset in 1985. It was a silver coupe with the bright red cloth interior. I thought the digital dash was the coolest thing ever. That car had a very upscale look to it. As I was looking around her dashboard, what did I notice? What? No A/C?? Yes, she special ordered it without A/C!
I don’t know if I would agree that GM did not hit a home run with these cars. These cars were everywhere and considering the foreign competition was only getting better and better, I’d say GM did a great job with selling these, especially the Grand Am.
Here’s an interesting one in Coalgate OK.
When you were coming from a 1986 Pontiac 6000, a 1987 Iron Duke Grand Am WAS a step up, especially if you upsized to the 60-series tires on the SE.
Paul Niedermeyer talks about how some cars are honest – these cars were dishonest.
After the X car fiasco, GM didn’t rank highly in this sized market. These frumpy cream puffs were popular Pontiacs, but as Oldsmobiles or Buicks? Sorry, no. The quality of the interior parts was abysmal GM plastic. The mousefur interiors covered seats that couldn’t hold your tush upright after a few hours of driving long distances. I remember my thighs dropping into the center of the seat cushion like they were in a hammock. I wasn’t even 200 pounds. As a tall fellow, I didn’t like the low seating either. The back seat was not very usable for adults.
We rented these cars and they didn’t help us attract new business. Our Mercury Cougars were much better and the Topaz was cheaper, but more practical. I didn’t like either the Topaz or the Calais, but when I had to drive one of the, I went with the Mercury because you sat higher and more comfortably.
These were forgettable cars.
I don’t think I’ve seen one of these in Northern California in quite some time.
Whereas the X-Cars were a step forwards, even if highly flawed, these seemed a step backwards. The beginning of when GM just started to give up. The extraordinarily generic nature of the Oldsmobile versions of these laid the groundwork for the death of Oldsmobile, and very nearly killed Buick at the same time.
I don’t remember the last time I’ve seen a first gen N body. My buddy had an 87 Calais 4 door with a 2.5. It was a great car and he would plow snowdrifts and never got it stuck. Very comfortable, smooth, quiet. Had a surprise feature where the chime would go off if the turn signal was left on more than 3/4 mile or so. He would take it to the oil change place for the sheer amusement of the techs swearing up a storm trying to get at the oil filter. (GM changed the design a year or two later.) But sadly he hit a deer with it and totaled it.
I had a 86 Olds Calais as a company car.
It was a memorable vehicle.
In fact, it was unforgettable.
Excessive driving excitement interspersed with moments of stark vehicular terror.
Last case in point. It was raining cats and dogs, in the passing lane unable to move to the slow lane (and doing 70+ to keep from being run over). For some reason the right and left wipers decided to kiss and get lip locked in the center of the windshield.
Fortunately the speed was enough to keep the windshield barely clear enough to make it to the shoulder.
When I returned to the office I told the boss that I’ve had it with the car. He traded it in for a Delta. Nice boss.
I had a 1988 skylark as my first car. Had about 80k when I bought it. Quad 4 engine was damn fast for its time. I got rid of it a year after high school with about 160k on the clock. Not sure if the previous owners had fixed all the issues but it was a reliable car and I drove the piss out of it. A couple mufflers, alternator, and general maintenance was all I ever did to it. I thought it was a great little grocery getter lol.