As part of the 1987 domestic new car issue, Car and Driver also served up “Short Take” reviews on new and/or updated products. Read on for details about the Camaro convertible conversion by ASC, the upgraded power train and chassis for the AMC/Renault GTA, face-lifted and upgraded Dodge Daytona Shelby Z, the front-wheel-drive H-Body Bonneville and the value-packed Plymouth Horizon America.
Convertibles and Pony Cars go together well. Ford took the lead for the 1983 model year by introducing a drop-top Mustang. Built in-house by Ford, the Mustang Convertible sold around 15,000 to 20,000 units per year. Since speed-to-market was not a GM strength in the 1980s, it took 4 model years before Chevrolet served up a convertible Camaro. The result was a convertible conversion by ASC, available only at select Chevy dealerships, that carried a whopping upcharge–the Camaro that Car and Driver tested stickered for $22,593 ($49,650 adjusted). The combination of high price and limited availability hindered sales, which fell far short of the 5,000 unit target for 1987: just 1,007 were sold.
The last gasp for AMC/Renault was an upgraded Alliance, intended to compete in the “pocket rocket” category against the likes of the VW GTI. The GTA did offer a much needed performance upgrade, along with “boy racer” styling enhancements. The lofty sales targets were a joke, however–it’s highly unlikely that many of the 36,336 Alliance models sold in 1987 were GTAs. The blood was in the water for AMC/Renault at this point anyway, and a shark named Lee was circling…
The G-Body Dodge Daytona received some timely upgrades for 1987. The smoother nose with pop-up headlamps led the charge for all models, while a new Shelby Z burnished the Daytona’s performance image. The Shelby Z featured an enhanced Turbo II 2.2L 4-cylinder mated to a Getrag 5-speed manual, along with suspension enhancements and sport seats. 7,152 Shelby Z models found homes for 1987, representing 22% of total Daytona output.
To me, the 1987 Bonneville was by far the nicest of The General’s H-Body front-wheel-drive full-size cars. The interior in particular was one of the best from GM for the year; other than the plastic woodgrain trim, the flowing, clean instrument panel looked like it could have come from a far more expensive imported sedan. Pontiac also deserved kudos for tweaking the handling on the SE models to make the big Bonnie feel more nimble and connected than was typical for a full-size American sedan. But… the boxy, shared H-Body greenhouse and doors were generic “big” GM, while the corporate 3.8 V6 played the same tune in countless other GM cars. When model year sales were tallied up, 69,904 LE models (also including the SE, which was not broken out separately) were delivered, along with 53,912 base Bonnevilles. Though the results were a nice lift from the previous G-Body Bonneville and B-Body Parisienne, the new FWD Bonneville was about 30,000 units behind both the H-Body Buick LeSabre and Delta 88, proving that older buyers still gravitated to traditional styling cues.
I had first-hand experience with a 1987 Bonneville SE, as my Pop had one as a company car for a few years, so I had plenty of time in it, both as a driver and passenger. There was a lot to like about the car: it was comfortable, drove well for a traditional domestic (though I’ve never driven a B-Body with F41, I imagine the SE package had a similar buttoned-down feel), and was reasonably powerful. Build quality was borderline acceptable, with paint glitches, loose trim and a hood that shook at highway speeds. For GM standards of the 1980s, though, it was probably great as far as quality was concerned.
Pity that Pontiac wasn’t allowed to offer a sleeker greenhouse or a unique power train for its H-Body to recapture some of the special Bonneville magic that had thrived in the 1960s. The car was close enough that it could have been a real contender in the quest for younger, import-oriented buyers, but GM took the cheap-n-easy route and wound up with a good, but not great, big sedan.
Scrappy Chrysler certainly made the most with the least in the 1980s. The company got more mileage out of core platforms than most people ever dreamed possible, and the Plymouth Horizon America was a perfect example. The L-Body platform was entering its 10th year as 1987 got underway, so Chrysler simply “value engineered” the product to keep it competitive against newer rivals. With an as-tested MSRP of just $6,970 ($15,317 adjusted) with A/C, power steering, upgraded trim and freight charges, the America models were priced at the low-end of the economy car market. Materials and build quality were decent, mechanicals were tried and true, the relatively roomy FWD hatchback body style was still viable and the price could not be beat. Americans responded well to the America treatment: combined sales for the Plymouth Horizon America and virtually identical Dodge Omni America hit 146,356–not bad for a decade old design sharing showroom space with the newly launched subcompact Plymouth Sundance/Dodge Shadow models.
I remember being quite disappointed that Pontiac scrapped the both the G-body Bonneville and the B-body sedan for this year as a high school kid but was fairly impressed with there replacement the H-body Bonny when it showed up one Wednesday at our local dealer. Even though the greenhouse was the same as the other H-bodys the front and rear were different enough along with the interior plus the sportier trims like the SE gave this car a tighter better feel and bucket seats/floor shift were offered unlike in the Olds version and most Buicks save the T-type coupe LeSabre. 1988 on up were the better years for these with the smoother and stronger 3800 motors and the SSE trims etc.
Renault Alliances sold ok in Chicago, being close to Kenosha. Quite a few on streets in its first 3 model years. But by ’87, they were sitting in storage lots. By ’89, BHPH dealers were advertising used 83-85’s for less than $1500, “beater” status then. Nearly extinct by mid 90’s.
I remember seeing Renault Alliances on sale with 0% financing in 1985 or 86. I knew they were circling the drain at that point.
Build quality and cost issues aside, I still love the looks of that Camaro. Beautiful.
+1. Great looking cars, but flimsy rattletraps.
A gunmetal grey 1987 Bonneville SE was my first brand-new car, purchased about a year after college graduation. That red dashboard was especially impressive at night. I kept the car for ten years. However, there were problems:
1. The Eagle GT tires were super grippy, but also wore super-fast. After burning through two sets in 30,000 miles I switched to Pirellis.
2. At about 1500 miles the camshaft sensor blew, and took the camshaft with it. It took about three weeks for the dealer to get parts for the updated 3800 V-6.
3. Typical bad GM paint for the era. The metal started showing through on the roof after about 7 years and I had to get a repaint.
4. After the warranty ran out, it needed a repair every few months. Usually an O2 sensor, but sometimes something more serious. When this became a monthly affair I decided to get rid of it. My dad bough the car from me for $1000, spent a couple grand on repairs and kept the car for another 6 years. He liked it so much that later on he bought newer Bonnevilles for my mom and him. He still drives her old (last generation) Bonnie to this day.
Call it irony, call it the benefit of hindsight…hell, I don’t know, but the one car I’d love to have today is the one out of this batch that I’d never have given a second look at the time: Horizon America.
By 1987 I’d been driving and riding in every iteration of the L’s and K’s that had been conceived to that point, and they were just old and tired to me. But damn, they were really pretty good little cars. Funny enough, in 1992 I was working for a resort and needed to do a bit of local errand running to banks, etc. The car in use for such errands? A well used (by many, many cannibus fueled 20-something ski bums over several years): An Omni America. Even having been beaten and baja’d for years it was still fun to drive and never let anybody down.
One of these days I’m going to find one at just the right time and I’m not going to be able to resist snatching it up.
Same here MTN. A Sonic 5 door just doesn’t cut it. These are just “right” and purposeful looking. Nothing gimmicky like a digital speedometer and “motorcycle” style instrument bin, just function, long lived mechanicals, good seats,actual gauges, a look that never goes out of date and value.
I had thought sure the Horizon America reshuffle added EFI to the 2.2, though. I’m now 90% certain it HAS to have been added by the end.
First car I ever turned a wheel on public roads in was Mom’s ’86, bought only months (maybe weeks!) before the big price cut.
Looks like they were bragging about EFI as new for 1988 http://www.oldcarbrochures.org/NA/Plymouth/1988-Plymouth/1988-Plymouth-Horizon-Brochure/1988-Plymouth-Horizon-04
I liked the look of the 87 Bonneville but found the shared greenhouse to be a bit jarring. It just wasn’t Pontiac….I have seen some well done cobbling of the Bonneville front clip on to a Buick LeSabre 2 door coupe with the Bonneville rear clip welded on and the body finished as a piece….A good look, But the bean counters would not give Pontiac a 2 door The market for big 2 doors was dying, so I understand that decision.. However, had they maybe used the 2 door coupes “Faster” roof on a 4 door it would have given the Bonneville a little more of the Separate Pontiac visage of old. True, new quarter panels would have had to be stamped and either a 6 window look or a wider “C” pillar would have been needed, but the rear window and even the deck lid form the Buick would have fit, and helped the economy of scale… Someone with Photoshop talent might want to try their hand and see how this might have worked.
I never sat in an H-body coupe rear seat, but I’ve read that slanted rear window and shorter roof badly cut into rear seat headroom and legroom – perhaps ok for a coupe, but not Pontiac’s largest sedan. The H-body sedans already had a shorter roof and a more slanted rear window than the similar C-bodies (98/Electra, which were the same wheelbase and length as the 88/LeSabre/Bonnie), and the C-body coupes had the exact roofline and interior dimensions of the C sedans, unlike with the H.
The fact that the Horizon did 0-60 in 10 seconds is rather shockingly impressive.
For those days, it wasn’t bad. But when I see that lightweight little box, I wonder how easy it is to stuff it with the power unit out of a Dodge SRT-4. Work it up to 300-400 hp….let the games begin!
Even short of that, the Turbo II powertrain from the Daytona seems like it would probably be a straightforward installation (although I’m not familiar with the Turbo II underhood layout, so I don’t know how readily the Horizon engine bay would accept the intercooler installation).
Bolts in…the Omni GLH-S used an intercooled 2.2 turbo!
My dad and I bought an 88 Bonneville SE, identical to the test car here, but with the slightly upgraded 3800 V6. The hood fluttered at speed (something C&D mentioned), but otherwise ours was excellent. It lasted 230,000 km before the subframe almost rusted off. Comfortable, good handling, roomy and efficient ,all-round an excellent car.
Dad and I looked at many domestic cars, and nothing else appealed to us, as much, except perhaps the Taurus. Everything else was too small or cheap-feeling, or too traditional chrome/tufted/floppy. Its too bad that it took the domestics so long to produce such a product, especially ehen the Germans had provided the formula for years.
I had a 1988 Bonneville, and it was a very nice driver. The 3.8 is of course maybe the best V6 GM ever made, the 4-speed auto was smooth, and with the addition of some wide wheels and tires car looked pretty cool, imho, an it did drive way better then you would think.
Having had an 86 Turismo, it was interesting reading about the Horizon. The car mags didn’t often test the domestics after they were first out, even when updated, I always thought the 165/80 G/Y Vectors had no grip but .73g is a pleasant surprise. I will agree that the brakes felt weak, and the stopping distances confirm that. The brake sizes seem quite small. I also agree the seats were quite good. This is one area that Chrysler did well in the K car era, at least the buckets.
I had to laugh at the car stereo ad on the Horizon page.
In the 70’s and early 80’s, the first thing my friends did was rip out the factory AM radio in the hand me down cars from Mom and Dad and install true sounding Clarion AM/FM 8-track radios with Jensen speakers. The rest of the car could be in disrepair, but you had a “cool” sounding stereo system.???
Like today, only with rent a wheel OE replacements and the latest sound systems.
Priorities.
Actually, it was a rather convenient way of hushing away all the rattles and clunks of an old car in need of massive repairs. Cheaper too.
I added stereo speakers to my $15 ’66 Belvidere I ex-telephone company car (225, 3-on-the-tree, no ps or pb). It was a mono AM radio but damn I thought I was cool. The speakers doubled the value of the car….
Those are some sweet pellet guns at the end, and I’m fairly certain my grandpa had a few of those at his countryside house for us cousins to play with, they looked REALLY real, no orange tips or anything. As a suburban boy I absolutely loved stuff like that.
The bonneville may be the most extinct car in numbers of all the 80s GM products, they were everywhere at a time, and now I can’t recall seeing any in at least 15 years. I remember not at all liking them as a kid, I don’t recall the specific source for my disdain but they were one of those cars where I’d see a corner of thinking it’s going to be something really cool, and then I’d realize it’s just a Bonneville again, damn! Now it actually looks pretty good to my eyes, the H-bodies weren’t GMs worst efforts, their design language of the time worked best(or more accurately, only worked) on larger bodies like them, but they never seemed like top of the line full sizers by any measure.
One of these Bonnevilles was my first inkling that things were changing at GM. A family friend who never bought anything but GM cars bought a new base level Bonneville. The car didn’t do much for me, but it was unusually low in trim. A year or so later, he told about a long day of rain on a vacation trip and how the wipers suddenly gave up for several minutes. I had never heard of wipers malfunctioning like this, and expected that GM would be the last company where such a problem would be found.
I don’t think he kept the car long after that, which was very unusual for him.
A friend of mine had a gray/gray ’87 Omni America when new. I have to say, it was a pretty decent car for the money, and gave him no problems during the 3 years or so he owned it.
Gee, 1987 was a pretty bad year. The only American car that I can remember that seems interesting was the Buick Regal Turbo Coupe. By this time I had moved on to Honda.
My mother had one of those little Bonnevilles and it was a car I didn’t care for. It’s bland styling which was Taurus like did nothing for me. It rode hard and had awful hard seats in it and hideous orange gauges. It was like a they were trying to make a German car. It was not very reliable and had really fast wearing tires and seats. It was too smAll to really be a big car. It really was a poor attempt at a flagship model. For a full sized car a grand marquis was so much nicer. For a mid sized car the fifth ave was so much with way better interior and way better looks. I remember the Bonneville was not that good on gas either. It used almost as much as the much nicer pariesenne it replaced. It was one of those cars that tried to be too much and did nothing well enough. It had the style of a us, but not radical enough, it tried to be a bmw but was not sporty enough, it was too small to be a big car like a Vic, it was to thirsty to be an economy car, too cheap looking to be a luxury car. It was a typical gm anomalous 80 s car. On the plus it was not as fully as a delta 88 or deville fwd.
The ’87-’91 Bonnevilles are probably my favorite GM car from the early ’80s onward. I still to this day think they’re good looking, the 3800 was a durable motor that did everything well, and they were probably the best example of brand differentiation GM had going at least into the mid-1990s.
I bought a 1989 example in LE spec in 1999 with my high school job money. By then, it had 122,000 on it and had been through a repaint thanks to the insta-peel paint everyone used in 1989. I drove that car all through college. It was comfortable for three hours on the road to go home for break. It did 28 mpg no matter how I drove it, and it always felt like it had enough power. It handled surprisingly well for such a big car, and it withstood a few of my trips home when I left university in the middle of the night so I could do 100 all the way home without being bothered (I literally did what was a three-hour drive at the speed limit in two hours once).
The only repair I ever had to do was in 2003 at 177,000 when I had to replace a PROM calibration memory unit because it wouldn’t start when cold. Oh, and the doors! GM locks from that era seemed to like to stick, and at one point I could use neither of my back doors because they were stuck closed. The rust was the biggest thing, though. By the end, I could see the ground looking down at the top of the front strut towers because they were rusted through. The back quarters had rust holes starting. The rest of the body would probably have been gone but for the 1998 repaint before I bought it.
The rust must have gotten pretty much all of them, as I’ve seen exactly one of these Bonnevilles in the past several years. Shame, because I loved mine, and having grown up in a GM family I sincerely think these were about the best-sorted cars GM made from 1980 to the bankruptcy.
Wow, in 1987 my 87 F150 had a sticker of $9995. I should have bought the Horizon. No, wait, maybe not. Actually when I ran into a tray holder at Sonic, when they put my truck in the body shop, my rental was a Horizon. Had it for two days. Remember it well. Even with the auto it seemed quick enough. But I almost ran it into a telephone pole doing spins with the hand brake.