Here's a 1976 Oldsmobile Starfire coupe in Red Orange. This was Olds's badge-engineered version of Chevy's Monza 2+2; with Buick badges it was a Skyhawk, while in Pontiac form it was a Sunbird. These were marketed as sporty-ish compacts, intended to compete with Ford's Mustang II.
Launched as a '75 model, initially, the base engine for the Starfire was a 2-barrel carbureted Buick 231cid V-6... destined for later fame as the 3.8L ...and it could be had with a four-speed manual. A Borg Warner 5-speed became available for 1976. Given the dearth of performance in the mid-'70s doldrums, a 110bhp 3.8-liter six in a 2800lb car was considered kind of sporty.
Later model years could be had with 130hp 305 Chevy small-block V-8s but in factory form, those things got whatever you call hip dysplasia when it happens to the front suspension of small GM autos instead of back legs of large dogs.
Oh, and they understeered for days. (For those of you who are not car nuts, understeer is when your car loses traction and plows into the outside guard rail nose-first, while oversteer is when you hit the outside guard rail ass-end-first.)
The photo was take in June of 2016, most likely with a Nikon Coolpix P7000.
These remain attractive, but that back seat is unusable for anyone over about 5'5".
ReplyDeleteThey are definitely a "2+2". I just kept the back seat of my Monza folded down and used it like a 2-seater hatchback, same as I did my 280ZX 2+2 and 924S.
DeleteBack in the day it seemed like every car magazine published countless articles about fitting bigblock Chevys (Chevies?) into that chassis.
ReplyDeleteThey were best with a peaky small block, like a 327.
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