Pictures of Vintage GM cars!

Tanker that truck looks pretty good as my 74 is rusted away. It originally had a 454 and TH400 (It will have an electric kick down switch under the gas pedal). Being a C20 I thought you would would originally also have the same AT tans. in that era anyway. Bulletproof reliable trucks for sure. If I ever get some extra $ I would restore mine plus add the collapsible steering and move to a fuel tank between the frame rails.

I was surprised it only had a turbo 350 in it but it doesn't have a towing package and is pretty much stripped except the Bonanza package, They may have had a HD model with a higher GVW with the 400. I think by '77 they had sucked so much HP from the 350 and wanted to get as much as possible to the rear wheels they went with the T350 and saved 8 HP. It was a free truck that a local mechanic worked on, then claimed it needed a $600 part to fix it, It wouldn't shift, but I found the modulator disconnected and plugged and lots of wire on the carb making the choke and secondaries inop. I fixed those problems and it's been running great and shifting without any problems. This mechanic was my competition and I always questioned his work, this was just another example of it.
It needs a Y pipe now and I've been resisting putting a set of headers and big mufflers (to keep it quiet) on it since the Y pipe wasn't as easy to find as they used to be. Then I'd have to put a timing chain on it, along with a cam to make it sound good, them maybe find an aluminium manifold since it's easier to put back on, Then maybe refresh the heads since I'm that far into it, well maybe a better set of heads They're easy to find). I think I may go with the $125 Y pipe the parts place found for me yesterday, But it may be time to check that timing chain :D
 
In later years to get better MPG they no doubt did that, but in 74 20 & 30 all got the TH400 as I have the dealer sales pamphlet. Mine is a camper special (8600 GVW) with 4.10 so hard on fuel too. TH350 really tough also (just have a good cooler and clean fluid).
 
Interesting ride....you don`t see many of these around....
Around 24K sold....but many were the 03 and 04's and had the smaller 300hp motor. This one is part of a badging which was the final production run.....only fifty one like it....:) 400 hp stock.
 
New Guy here, here is my Chevelle SS454 I've owned since 1983

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My mom's last GM was a 1978 Olds Starfire Firenza ( w/ 305ci, TH350, and... 2.29:1 rear end!) Quite possible the worst car ever made. It would get stuck on level ground in the snow. One time it crabbed sideways into the car next to my mom at a mall w/ maybe 1/4" of snow on the ground. She had to climb over the passenger seat to get out. The wheels were 13" x 5.5" so handling was a challenge. Even when new if you hit any long sweeping road dips the car would bottom out. One time it hit hard enough to dent the inspection cover on the trans with ensuing horrible noise. I was home watching TV and heard this godawful grinding getting closer & closer to the house, my mom.

I learned to wrench on this car. Changing the spark plugs was a nightmare and would take at least 2 hours. The last one on each side was so buried under obstructions that I would move a table next to the car and lay on it with my arms down next to the manifolds. Once you were able to get a socket onto the plug, this after 20 minutes of swearing trying to pull the boot off, you could only get ~1/64 of a turn on the plugs there was so little clearance to turn the ratchet handle. I considered hole-sawing through the inner fenders for access but never did it. Long after the car was gone I found out this was exactly what GM service did when one of these abominations came in for a tune up.

Somewhere along the way it became mine by default. I did my first stereo install in it (Pioneer KP-8500 & Jensen 6x9 coaxials). The only place the coaxials fit was in the front kicks. IIRC, the only speaker in the car was center dash. I also put in a set of JC Whitney "aircraft landing lights" behind the grill. You could not run them for very long though. I discovered this when the grille warped. It went back to near normal during the summer though. The rear spoiler however warped during another summer and stayed that way. Also the "enza" lettering on one side came off during a car wash. My GF at the time began calling it "The Mighty Fir". Much later I married her.

Around 1981 there was somewhat of a renaissance in Detroit and ungelded cars began to hit the showroom. The '82 Mustang GT and the '82 Chevy Z28 were 2 notable ones. And there was one thing the The Mighty Fir did on a consistent basis, show its taillights and put distance between any of them. From ~65MPH on it was pretty much untouchable from any domestic at the time. It did so effortlessly. Off the line if you floored it things were very polite but on the highway it was much different. If you wanted to merge, you mashed it and were well out in front of anything like right now. If you recall the majority of "hot" Detroit cars prior to '82, they were badge-engineered, stickered, scooped, & spoilered, yet total pigs (any Trans Am comes to mind). I had a lot of fun with the Fir in that regard. A 305ci & 2.29:1 rear end; someone inside GM certainly had a great sense of humor.

In 1985 I sold it, less than 80K on it. I put it in the local Want ADvertiser and and sold it to the first guy that came out. I don't miss it but he was sure happy. I have a feeling it is still around somewhere. This is an online pic, ours was this exact color combo -


78-OldesmobileStarfireFirenza_ScottR-1024x530.jpg
 
1978 Olds Starfire Firenza

Looks to be a re-badged Chevy Monza. I should remember these but do not. I still see a Monza every once in a while at the drag strip. A friend had one back in the 70's. I was told you had to jack the engine up a couple inches to get some of the plugs out. Back then it wasn't every 100k, either.
 
Looks to be a re-badged Chevy Monza. I should remember these but do not. I still see a Monza every once in a while at the drag strip. A friend had one back in the 70's. I was told you had to jack the engine up a couple inches to get some of the plugs out. Back then it wasn't every 100k, either.

Skyhawk, Monza, Firenza, & Sunbird, all H-bodies going back to the Vega.

Everything you'd want to know is in this line -

"The Starfire was Oldsmobile's badge engineered entry-level product of the Chevrolet Monza, which was a revised, second generation Chevrolet Vega. The Starfire was virtually identical to the Monza other than Oldsmobile specific badges."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GM_H_platform_(1971)


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oldsmobile_Starfire#Second_generation_.281975.E2.80.931980.29
 
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