What's the funkiest / strangest automotive interior of the 1980s? 1984-6 Camaro Berlinetta
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- Опубліковано 16 вер 2022
- Learn more about this funkiest interior of the 1980s...at least for domestic cars. The 1984-86 Chevrolet Camaro Berlinetta interior.
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What's frustrating with 80s GM interior is that you can see the designer had pretty cool ideas, but the mass produced execution was made a crappy hard black ABS that squeaked and rattled, and cracked with the vibration, or slight overtightening, and the soft colored plastics that aged terribly with the UV. I absolutely love the looks of my 84 T/A interior, but I don't want to touch anything.
I’m convinced that probably 75% of GM reliability and quality control issues are a direct result of bean counters. They either rush production, resulting in the final steps of R and D being conducted by the buyer, they insist on cutting corners (think the 350 olds diesel or 440t4 trans) or cut cost at the expense of long term reliability.
My 83 TA Daytona was choice with recaro seats.
Gm plastics to this day are still as chintzy as the comical images in this video of the camaro.
It was no doubt frustrating for designers, engineers and other employees of GM to have the bean counters slash or otherwise sabotage good things. Sadly the "make it as cheap as we can get away with and make as much money as fast as we can" is the driving philosophy behind most everything and everyone
Didn’t they also have a cheap made auto dimming rear view mirror that had a motor on it to tilt the glass up and down?
7:32 I think the GM engineers considered the issue of objects flying out of the holder under hard acceleration. There solution was to woefully underpower all the Camaros.
Lol!
And each one came with a bicycle helmet.
You aren't kidding about being 'underpowered'. Later when they offered the 'Corvette' 350 TPI I think it was rated at a blistering 245 HP. Then they had that Tran Am in '89 I think that had the GN engine. 6 Cyl Turbo intercooled. I think it was white and gold. Mine was an IROC and it had the lame 305 4bbl carb which I believe was 190hp, right around 200 for sure.
To be fair every vehicle was under powered in this era
@@darrin2053 This is very true. The GN was 'only' 245hp and the Corvette right around that.
The most useful part of that setup were the delay wipers. You pressed the delay button once, waited until you wanted the wipers to go again, and pressed the delay button again to set the interval. It was infinitely adjustable.
Oh I would love that now.
seems to be one of the 3 or 4 good things about the whole car lol
My uncle had a 1985 Berlinetta and it was a treat as a teenager to drive it and show it off to friends and dates. It had a great radio though i always had to redo the settings for my uncle as the equalizer was easily taken out of settings by accident. The turn signal was cool. I had no idea that the pods moved or about the flashlight. One bonus to the interior was that the seats were corduroy - rad!
Mom had an 84 Berlinetta. She put 100,000 miles on it in 1 year. She loved it so much that she simply would get in and drive on the interstate highways until she got tired, turn around drive home. The tires and brakes passed inspection with all that mileage. The pod stereo sounded amazing!
Adam, thank you for remembering the Camaro Starship Berlinetta from 1984 to 1986. These were the only Camaro coupes with the accent gold stripes with the matching gold alloy wheels. Even the taillight divider bar was gold tinted with a gold Berlinetta badge in the rear bumper. Not many were sold during the three model years and given the build quality, not many survive.
Hey Adam, the Berlinetta is a car I haven't thought about in years. I actually had two friends back in the 80's who both had brand new Berlinettas. One was kind of a dark russet color and the other was gold. It's interesting when you think about them now, but those unusual features were really kind of quirky and unique back then, but totally forgotten now. Good job!
I've seen a TON of those in that color. I think it was the most popular color because it was sedate.
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I had both an 80 and 86 Berlinetta. Both nice, but I would often hear, “my wife used to have one like that.”
lol yeah be like a man driving a fiat 500 or a mini and dudes coming up to you and saying you got a chick car. Thats what the berlinetta was to the camaro since it was the trim level that the vast majority of women preferred.
Kinda like the LeBaron & Sebring convertibles. I think there’s a few other makes & models from the 80s through the 00s that got labeled “chick cars”, although the only other one that my fading memory can come up with was maybe the Pontiac Sunbird(?).
@@Primus54 my dad had a piston launch on one of those. Knocked the intake off. Didn't help he decided it be a good idea to downshift going 105mph. Goodby engine. I was 5 and was the only one in the car laughing.
@@Primus54 VW Cabriolet. Something about valences, wings and extra body cladding, makes a car a man car. Maybe the suggestion of competition. Women seem to go specifically for cars without it. Fiero, chick car. Unless it was a GT which looked way better. Reality, the extra weight and drag should slow you down more than anything else, working against the whole competition thing.
@@pgtmr2713 This makes me think of the Subaru Impreza and Subaru WRX.
The Impreza is associated with lesbians, the WRX is associated with guys who like video games.
However, to non-enthusiasts, a WRX looks like an ordinary Subaru with junk tacked on.
Something similar applies to the basic Lancer and the Evo.
My father's 86' 5 speed IROC had the overhead hokey reminder dials, pouch and removable flashlight. It also had theautomaticc rearview mirror adjuster.
I remember riding along hearing it make little buzzing noises as it moved. My 91' Z28 has no overhead console.
My grade 6 teacher got a Berlinetta new and we all came out to see it at lunchtime. We were all blown away by the instrument cluster. She still had it when I graduated.
I can confirm that my ‘85 Z28 also had the overhead console features you mentioned - flashlight, leather map/sunglasses holder pouch, and reminder dials. Several times my glasses would slide out of the pouch upon takeoff.
The styling of this F body really holds up well. It's always been a looker. As for the interior, I remember a friend's 83 Camaro had a weird compass-like speedometer with one needle showing MPH (up to 85!) and the other KPH. I also remember my brother's 84 Daytona Turbo with that spaceship-like interior with verbal warnings like "door ajar" etc. Of course this was way cool in the 80s.
Yes, voice chips were col back then. I felt like I was special because mom's 1985 Nissan Maxima had a voice chip.
Nissan's had the verbal warning too.
@@skylinefever the door is ajar the door is ajar.
My 83 Camaro had the weird MPH/KPH dual pointer speedometer. It was always a good chuckle from me.
@@Dratchev241 shit, my ZX would tell you which door was “open”, if you left your lights on, and when your fuel was low. It sounded like an uppity rich girl so we referred to it as “Tiffy”.
With the lack of POWER from the engines the manufactures had to come up with something: gimmicks, overdone interiors and some nice looking rims. Thanks for posting
Should have put in Barco Loungers with heat and vibro massage. Maybe a portable swimming pool. A micro wave.
My wife's first car was a 1982 Berlinetta with a V6. The 1982 had the normal dash, but did have nice cushy velour seats and extra carpeting on the wheel well covers under the hatch. The car was burgundy with matching burgundy interior. It was a nice highway cruiser with the soft suspension and extra sound deadening, but passing required some planning.
With 90 hp there was no need to worry about the garage door opener flying out
Literally my first Camaro. The "Knight Rider" interior. Still in love with that car.
My 1986 IROCZ was a unique car because a buyer ordered it with a 350/350 5 speed Manual Borg Warner "Short Throw" Stick Shifter...it was a $2,000 added cost but being that the buyer couldn't get financed I got it at a greatly reduced price...350 hp was enough back then to kick ass on most other Rivals on the road..👍
I had an '86 IROC-Z, the standard 305 HO made 215 hp, the opt 350 Corvette 350 made 230 hp. Nothing in GM's stable made more than that except for the Buick GNX. By far it was the worst built car I ever owned in my 70 years.
Thanks Adam for noting that there are parts of the world that say Zed. Enjoy your content, there’s always something interesting. Cheers from Oz.
I think my lawn mower has an Iron Duke. Its pretty good except in tall wet grass where it punks out.
I had a 1985 Camaro Berlinetta, in Copper metallic with the matching interior, and the carbureted 305cid V8. I had all the interior features you showed in the video. As a 25 year old at the time, I thought I was the coolest guy in the coolest car! I had that car for 10 years and enjoyed all my cassettes in the Bose version of the swiveling stereo, which included an equalizer. I never used the event/date thing, and my sunglasses kept falling out of the leather pouch after the interior heat stretched out the elastic. Oh, I also had the T-tops, so it was the closest I ever got to having a convertible. Loved that car!
We used to laugh at the berlinetta drivers as we smoked them in our 84 z28.
That thumbwheel thing is cool. They should have had an option for "trade in." Then the driver could move that milestone even closer every time they drove the car.
My uncle had a camaro with the thumbwheel. The problem is the numbers couldnt go down on the km setting and didnt change with the different settings so you better decide which celebration you want to remember and stick to it
My neighbor had one of these around 1990. I would walk the dog and try to steal glances through the hatch window at all the craziness including the radio tower. So neat for the time.
I think the cassette player deserved an honorable mention for it's unusualness.
Cassettes were inserted like home audio equipment instead of face-up. The Cadillac Alante used this set up and Im not aware of any other cars that did it this way.
The Buick riviera in 86-89 with the Graphic Control Center, the Olds Toronado and Trofeo with the Vehicle Info Center in 86-89 had that too. The eject was controlled through the touchscreen. It was so spaceship for the time!
@@EAS76 I did not know that. Good lookin out.
Wow, that's really interesting! I owned an '85 Camaro Z28 IROC with a 5 speed and the gutless 305. I forgot how plasticky the interiors were on those, but I never knew or forgot about the Berlinetta interiors. That IROC was really not all that bad of a handling car at all, in fact I was pretty impressed. It was just WAYY underpowered. That 305 just flatlined above 3500 RPM. It was the last year before they offered the TPI and then I think you could get the Corvette 350 TPI. I saw tons of those cars in the junkyard when mine was only 2 years old. I thought about doing a 350 TPI swap myself. I forget how much they wanted for the engines. I remember in the '90's and up to the early 2000's you could pick up those '80's Camaros and 'Vettes for a song. Good luck getting a decent Camaro that a metalhead didn't own. I had my Camaro up on a lift and it looked like a tin can underneath. Really cheap stamped panhard bar. Disappointing.
I've been driving my '88 IROC (5speed, 305 TPI) for 34 years now (stored winters). Still a fun car to drive. And, yes, it handles well.
I had an 85 Trans Am with the 305 TPI. My buddy had an 85 IROC Z, but I do t remember what engine. They were fun for the day. I definitely prefer my modern Porsche Panamera S though.
I remember how pissed iroc owners would be when they got smoked by my mothers 84 z28. She had the HO 5.0, with long tube headers, edelbrock rpm intake, and Holley 750 double pumper. The five speed was key. It would rip to almost 6k rpm. They handled decent, but not like a Fox mustang.
@@throbbinwoodofcoxley6830 Don't know how even your modded L69 would do what you say. Mine had the L69 too. It was good for what it was. A 190hp engine that could get 26-27 hwy mpg. If you only change the carb, manifold and add headers you STILL got a small cam, restrictive small valve heads and weak valve springs. 6000 rpm? No. You'll float the valves long before then. A 750 double pumper on an '80's 305 street engine is a recipe for a turd and a burned up catalytic converter. Those had Rochester QJet CCC carbs. What did you do, just disconnect the wires and stare at the Check Engine light? Not many people have the balls to throw out their warranty and hack up a new car like that.
This is really neat! Didn't know the Berlinetta had such a unique interior. Always thought the exteriors were interesting. Popular memory and modern media seems to paint a picture that most 3rd gen Camaro were Z28 or Iroc, when reality was that there were a wide variety back in the day. I guess it's just like old Chevlles- most were six or 307 family cars, but now you'll almost exclusively see hot 350s or big block super sports.
I had totally forgotten about the berlinetta having a different dash!
Thanks Adam!
The majority of “serial killer” Camaros were indeed v8 cars. The 80’s had a couple of motives behind stuff like that: 1. The soviets are gonna attack any day, so who cares? 2. So what if you can’t afford it, fuckin finance it!
A friend bought one, brand new, in 1984. He almost immediately regretted it. The pod flopped, wobbled, blink and rattled. The lights on the dash were a mess and the overall fit and finish of these custom elements were a mess. He dumped it after two years. Another fine GM example.
This video is a time warp: a high school friend of mine had an '85 Berlinetta and it was indeed a funky, futuristic car that made you feel like you were in a spaceship, at least when you were a teenager who rode in it to see Back to the Future. FUN DAYS!
I had a friend that had one of these Berlinettas in the late 80’s and she constantly complained about replacing the tiny lightbulbs for the backlighting of the instrument and radio pods.
I have owned and by that bought some Citroens through the years with digital instruments who also have a lot of OK lights in that instrumental and i just love it.
I had a 1987 IROC-Z that had the date/time and trip computer as well as the swivel dome light and garage door opener pouch. I believe that was an option on the higher trim t top cars.
1:50 That's the "Curse-Fail" injection
The quality of materials and execution of all of this hi-tech wonderfulness was just absolutely abysmal. I remember sitting in one of these at a dealership and just being amused and appalled, all at once, as I was sure I could just snap that radio of its stalk with one hand. This is a very good- looking car, though.
I remember driving a 1983 or 84 Z/28 at a Chevy dealership in Albany Ga and was impressed with it’s handling but my father and I noticed right off how creaky and floppy the huge plastic dash was. I got back in my 1969 SS 396 Camaro and never felt so blessed in my life😅
It *looked* like you could, but I had to disassemble mine, there was a substantial (at least 3/4 inch thick) steel rod that went from the console into the swivel pod. You would crush the radio casing before you got it out of the console.
My brother had an '86 Berlineta in '93.. it was funky... It was a must back then for everyone to install an in dash CD player.... That whole goofy radio and mountvhad to come out and there was a kit that was basically a box that would mount over the hole to fit a single din radio...
I remember wanting one of the iroc z Camaro. They were so cool looking and looking back now… it’s interior like straight out of the Stone Age 😂. The last time I drove one was when I had to drive my sisters to the junkyard, seat was so broken from that leaned back position, steering rack was so bad it was like steering a boat at slow speed , doors were so heavy they sagged when you got out. Damn I miss the 80’s😎
I never knew these had such a funky interior. See also: Vector W8, Aston Martin Lagonda, Buick Reatta, Cadillac Allante, Subaru XT6
IMO, I think those interiors of that period were ahead of its time ...
Interesting interior details that I didn’t know about. Thanks.
GM definitely had some influence from the Citroen CX when they did the Berlinetta interior. Although the CX went full TRON in the styling/weirdness/camp factor, both inside and out. Love that car. Wish you'd talked about the Trans Am digital dash option, it was pretty rad and actually very well done. I thought the digital displays looked crisper/nicer than the ones in the 80's Corvette.
The CX instrumentation actually made sense - see also the Citroën GSA. The Berlinetta digital instrument layout isn't funky, but messy. Too many ideas fighting for prominence in there.
Mom loved her "85 Berlinetta. The dash was quirky and the electronics went dead after only a few years.
At least then you did'nt know how slow you were going.
Adam - remember this generation of Camaro Quite well. Unfortunately their build quality, in my opinion, was at best questionable- so I opted to leave General Motors and and purchased a new 1984 Honda prelude instead.
The Prelude provided many years (1984 - 1997) of solid and reliable transportation.
Thanks again for sharing this video with us.
You must feel quite the fool now.
@Roger
Huh?
@@rogersmith7396 sorry 😞 Still -
No regrets
80s Hondas were pretty good, so long as you never had problems with the carb. Also, they had triple the vacuum hoses that smog carb engines had.
As I remember, Hondas had a non-interference engine. People who didn't know what a timing belt was would only be out the cost of a tow and a belt installation. In Nissans, a belt could cost you an engine.
@@skylinefever never had problem with carb or vacuum lines - always serviced by Honda dealership.
Car was reliable and ran very well.
Beautiful car, beautiful interior, beautiful name.
I had a girl friend who purchased an 83 Berlinetta and had so much trouble with the digital dash. That car was always in the shop for something. She finally traded it in on an 85 red Dodge Daytona Turbo coupe. That was such a nice upgrade. Loved that Daytona. Cool video though Adam.
I had both. The camaro was the superior car. There was one shop near me that specialized in gm digital dashes. One shop in the whole city.
The dodge wasn’t a turbo coupe, it was a turbo or turbo z. Turbocoupe was specifically a ford thunder chicken moniker.
@@christopherhuff3123 you’re insane. My step dad had the Daytona turbo Z, his best friend had a tricked out 84 z28, the Dodge would smoke the Camaro every day, and twice on Sunday. The only time he’d ever lose was when they’d race up this grade, Jimmy would slow down to like 15 and then romp it. The V8 Camaro would shoot off to a decent lead, until my stepdad could get the turbo spooled. He’d reel in that Camaro quick as shit when curves came. He smoked my moms z28 too. That had headers, edelbrock rpm intake, and a Holley 750 double pumper with a five speed. The Daytona didn’t care.
'83 did NOT have the digital dash. She must have had the '84 model.
I think it was an 84. Long time ago.
The ‘84 Cavalier Z24 had all these 80’s quirks also. I loved the double hump hood scoops inspired from the Vette, also it had the Vettes suspension connection bushings with different rods. 5speed manual, fun car.
Corvette bushings…I fuckin love you guys. The z24 was trash bro, a citation in drag.
My wife and I test drove a ‘85 Berlinetta, I think it was black with gold trim. My wife really did like it but as you mentioned there were a lot of rattles and shakes over bumps. I nixed it and we ended up with a Celebrity EuroSport 2-door.
I'll never forget reading (or watching?) a review of those cars back in the day with the reviewer stating "...it is neither Euro nor Sport...".
@@Paul1958R road test magazine I think it was called.
Haha road something something 😂
I do have episodes pop up on here quite a bit in my feed.
"I guess you don't want to accelerate too hard and have the garage door opener fall out." Well, that's why they only gave you 145 horsepower. See? GM--always thinkin'.
haha! nobody sweats the details like gm!
Loved the dash in my IROC and was really a good driving car. The multi port injection was another story
A kid I went to school with had a camero brelineta. I was enamored by the the funky interior. Another kid had a Pontiac firebird Redbird. Wow, those were sure some weird cars.
funky indeed.
Fascinating. Lots of interesting ideas that should have been brought to other models.
That whole dashboard reminds me a small bit of the 767 that I fly for a living; Just paint it coffee brown...
Great video!
Thank you again Adam. I remember Berlinetta. I thank you for explaining. I thought it was interesting too. You know I think about the 1986-1989 Buick Riviera when I see this interior. That one was changed for 1990. I think about the other 80's GM interiors that attempted to incorporate high interiors and you named one of the from Buick. I know you could get the Firebird/ Trans Am with digital gauges also. I know that Buick used a similar floor shifter too. I was told the tv series Knight Rider influenced a lot of interiors in the 1980's. What is interesting is they are using high tech interiors and screens in cars now in 2022.
I have an '89 Reatta, same cluster and screen as the Riviera but hand assembled. It's held up well over the years all things considered, no real creaks or shakes when driving and nothing has broken. If only GM extended that to their other cars of the time, we'd still have the spaceship Grand Prixs rolling around
@@Vivi-tz2rl Indeed....
I’ve got a 85 with pristine interior. It really was a cool look
I remember when the Starship control center was introduced- it was in ALL the car magazines, and it was an obvious ploy to cash in on Knight Rider (that show had a huge influence on car design in the mid 80s). You'll even see similarities with KITT and the colored button module in the center, a screen in the center, driver centric dash...Chrysler started doing similar things.
You would have thought they would have offered this on the Firebird but the Firebird didn't get it's own digital dash until 1987, by then Knight Rider was already off the air
Loved my uncle's new '84 Berlinetta until I got my license and got to drive an '81 Z28 4 speed. That was fave until I got ho drive a '65 Impala... The earlier the better it seems.
I think the manual "date" function is to remember when the car next requires service. At least that's how I would use it. In the field next to engine, chassis, etc., you could set the milage interval. Then you have both.
Great video, I follow cars a lot and as a teenager in the 80’s I never saw the interior of the Berlinetta, thanks for showing us!
I had a Mitsubishi Cordia in the mid 80s which also had some spacey little items. HVAC controls had a pictogram of a person's head in profile with a very pointy nose. I told my girlfriend (now wife) that it was personalized since I have a similarly sharp schnozz. We love these vids focusing on funky, funny design - Keep up the good work Adam!
My wife bought a new 84 Berlinetta, it was not a very good car lots of warranty work. Digital dash went out after about 4yrs. Lots of interior rattles. At about 70,000 miles 2.8 blew a head gasket with that I was done never bought another GM product since.
The 2.8 was awful and the interior quality was abysmal on most 80's GM's
Wasn't the 2.8 famous for something breaking and dumping coolant into the oil?
@@mikekokomomike Yes. The intake manifold gaskets on the 2.8, 3.1, and 3.4 were awful. The silicone rubber seals were held in place with a plastic frame. The plastic was sure to crack. When it did, the silicone rubber seal would deform and leak coolant into the oil.
The 4.3 V6 with spider injector had the same stupid intake manifold design.
I hated those engines very much.
@@skylinefever happened to a co-worker's S10 truck, blew up at a stoplight finally 10 miles from hom.
My mom and dad bought a new Camaro in ‘84 while my dad was in college. It had the Iron Duke inline 4 cylinder and I believe it was a manual transmission. It was bright red so it at least looked fast. My dad drove it to work until 1996 when he blew the head gasket. He painted it aqua marine blue at one point in the early 90’s and I remember my mom got him a hot pink steering wheel cover😂
lol 👍
I laughed at kids in their parents Duke Camaros, as we flew past I’m mothers tricked 84 z28.
I love these interiors in these cars. Looks unique
Of course I realise you are speaking from a US perspective, but funnily enough there are quite a few english speaking places where any citroen is waaay more mainstream than a Camaro. Such as England, for example.
Cool video, had no idea such an interior existed.
This interior looks REALLY similar to the interior of my 1984 Isuzu Impulse, except that it had analog gauges.
I remember reading in a car audio magazine at the time about a lawsuit against GM that cited the Buick version of this car’s stereo. The aftermarket manufacturers association took issue with the non standard stereo chassis mounts in the dashes that did not allow fitment of their products. I saw nothing more about the suit so I assume it went nowhere. Two-knob mounts are gone but under the dash skin of some lower level trim modern cars, there are still standard double DIN stereo mounts.
Aftermarket makers pitched a fit over the early Citation radios too. They were a 2 knob style but mounted vertical .
In regards to the pods next to the steering wheel. Check out the interior of the Isuzu Impulse from 1984-1989. They had some very wild interiors. I know, I had one. That was until I got married and needed a car that did not always break down and needed expensive parts.
I was going to mention the Isuzu Impulse of this time frame. Very similar control pods. The 1989-1992 Ford Probe, while not having such elaborate control pods, did have a gauge cluster that would tilt with the steering wheel, and it featured a mini turn signal lever as part of that overall gauge pod.
The Impulse was made by Holden/GM, so I wouldn’t doubt these are the same gauge pods as in the Impulse.
Had an 83 with that teeny little 4 banger. It ran like new till the body died of rust at almost 300,000. Loved it.
I had a 1986 Buick Somerset limited in 1991..Digital dash same radio pod as you pictured..(thank you for including the Somerset too btw!) The digital dash was a pain in the arse too let me tell you! It would go on and off and you would have to hit the top of the dash top to make it come back on again! This car had like 65,000 miles which to an 80's GM car was equal to 165,000 miles today! Mine had the 2.5 Tech IV engine..Mine was the dark blue with dark blue crushed velour interior with the Concert Sound II stereo speakers on the doors..Just a beautiful car that I later traded in on a 1984 Sedan DeVille Cadillac in 1991 when the water pump went out while pulling into the dealer! They actually let me trade even for the 1984 Deville which did have more miles but was MINT..triple yellow..leather and the well loved HT4100 V-8 that I had no problems at all with..
The Audi 100CD (Audi 5000 in the USA) of circa 1983 had a similar 'OK' feature that would flash up in the middle of the gauges on start up (if things were all good). It would change to the relevant symbol if something went wrong - such as a thermometer if the engine got too hot.
I actually new 3 people that bought these brand new. I dont remember hearing complaints most certainly there were.
Unvaccinated and uneducated
On the plus side, you could just leave your anniversary date in it under the celebration wheel. Though you’d probably still forget or miss it LOL
The Pontiac Sunbird GT Turbo also had thumb dial reminders on the lower shift selector console.
Ha, I should have looked one comment down where you mentioned the same thing I did, lol.
The F body design was exciting when it came out. As a surprise, my friend rented a brand new 1980 red on red Camaro to use for a camping trip. I used half a roll of film taking pics of it; it only had 16 miles on the odometer. We saved opening the hood for last and to our surprise, painted right onto the grill drain under the windshield wipers was a wadded up paper towel with some food still inside. Right next to that was plastic bottle which also had been painted and stuck to the grill. Worse, on the passenger side dash board was some kind of goo or glue bleeding out from the bottom of the windshield and the stitching on the seat cushion was undone about 3 inches.
had an 87 iroc-z, looking back now they were soo dam slow , but it felt fast even in the 90s when i had it. still love the 3rd gen f bodies
Excellent video Adam. Berlinetta's do not get enough love. Like the fact you used some footage from Curious Cars for a good example of a clean Berlinetta.
Had 1 loved it, forgot about most of those features, thank you for the refresh..
I had a Berlinetta - loved it. Replaced it wth an IROC Z which I loved even more
I remember these when new, but was totally unaware of this control layout. As you mention it is similar to the 1970s Citroen CX, and I think a few contemporary Nissans or Mitsubishis had some control pods of a similar nature. I’m glad this fad passed.
I don't know if Nissan ever used that control scheme, but I know the Mitsubishi Starion did.
I worked on a few Z cars, and as I remember, they had an ordinary turn signal and light switch. That was kind of surprising, as the 300ZX Turbo had one of the most complex digital displays of the time.
I remember the cruise control button was up in front of the radio too.
The Starship interior along with the designer seats with the huge CAMARO print repeated all along them would be my ultimate 80s ride.
My cousin had one of these back in the day but hers was a 82 or 83 before the starship interior. I pass one of these regularly on the way to my moms house. It sits in the carport of a very nice home and appears to be in very good condition
Great video on the Berlin Berlinetta camaro I remember it replaced the LT after 1979 My aunt purchased the same car back 85 when she was in the police academy hers had the carbureted 305 v8 it was pretty cool back then reminds me of a space pod like dash I drove it a few times this brings back great memories 👍👍
Be have had some of these, never saw or heard of these options. Thanks for sharing!
My brother had an 85 Z28 5.0 automatic with 3.08 gearing. We timed it at 12 seconds to 60. He was showing off to a girl in a 2000 or so accord and when the light turned green she gapped him by several lengths and I know she wasn't trying. He said "Man this is embarrassing" But we were teenagers and he put hedman headers on it with a y pipe. It sounded cool but the chevette we had was probably faster. Looking back 3:73 gears was the mod to do.
Oh, this brings back memories! My 1st new car! Everyone who rode in it said it looked like a spaceship inside. It was a leaky lemon, so I got rid of it after 2 years.
82 Z28 305 manual 4 speed was my ride back in the day. Bought it used with 20k miles in 1984. Kept it till it was all used up. Multiple 350 engine swaps and a th350. Several paint jobs and many speeding tickets. Glad I got that out of my system when I was in my 20s.
When I was a high school co-op student at Buick Motor Division in the mid-80's , I drove one of these funky Camaros with the unique turn signals (once). I kept trying to push the lever right and left, instead of up and down! LOL!
An acquaintance had an 80s Camaro with the Iron Duke 4-banger and a manual trans. It had a more conventional dash but had that silly date minder thing. I remember thinking it was cool until I played with the wheels on it and found it to be a non-electronic plasticky thing like some kind of progress counter from a board game. I remember him furiously shifting while an older muscle car lounged its way by him at perhaps 1/4 throttle.
I had an 86 and a half IROCZ that had all the overhead stuff. Flashlight, dials, etc.
Amazing video. Thank you ☺️
I remember as a kid in the 80s noticing the interior of Pontiac’s look very odd with their cassette and radio panels being separated, as well as control buttons for entertainment right on the center of the steering wheel.
My 1992 Chevy truck has its cassette player a good arms length away from the stereo lol. GM did some neat things back then but they sure did cheap out on interior quality, especially dashes!
I had bought my 1984 berlinetta and loved the pod stereo( mine didnt wobble ) if you extended the pods with your hands at 9 and 3 you could operate the ac wipers climate control headlights and hazards. Since it had no turn signal stalk the cruise was on the 3 spoke steering wheel. Very convent.
The anemic 150 hp lg4 305 would launch anything out if the overhead
pouch.
The gauges were complemented with a warning group of lights on the right of the dash. Very insightful.
T tops i got three sets of seals free, each with a design change.
They leaked less each time.
I placed a thin layer of plastic insulation so the gasket would expand around the lip of the 3rd version . No more leaks... over i loved that car untill it was totaled ...
Truly ahead of its time..
Is that an ode to Bill of Curious Cars?
My aunt had one of those when I was kid. I have very fond memories of us going down the highway in the summer with the t-tops off with the stereo blaring Alice in Chains.
My Dad retired from GMAD Norwood, he HATED the Berlintta. It was the dashboard that he said gave the most problems
I had one of these as a company car in 1984. I enjoyed it, and thought it was cool. The turn signal was easy to get used to, even though a bit unconventional. It was a medium periwinkle blue metallic, a color that was only available with the Berlinetta.
😂 I own a 1983 Camaro Sport with the 2.5 iron duke with a 4 spd manual transmission. The weak suspension with 14 inch wheels and skinny tires makes it feel like driving a drunken cow. Would love to have you drive and evaluate it. It’s only got 11, 386 original miles on it. Love your channel
You got me, Adam. I didn't know anything about that spaceship interior.
The pods behind the steering wheel are much like the ones on the first generation Isuzu Impulse/ Piazza
Congratulations for this video. I like cars a lot, and I know a little about their history, but I had no idea that this existed in these cars. Hugs from Brazil.
Abraços
I was a passenger in one of those Belinettas once when I was 19 about 1983, I could quit staring at the instruments esp the stereo. I've never seen another one I can recall.
I certainly found one in a junkyard, almost 20 years ago now.
I wish on the new LCD panels that are in cars now that they’d redo versions of their old digital cluster counterparts as an option, like the old one from the regal that had two cool hockey stick tach-style gauges for the speedo and tach with cool triangle graphics for the ancillary gauges. It’d be so cool to see that without the background glow you’d get in parts from being vfd and have the correct gm dashboard fonts from the button labels for the speedo and tach readouts instead of generic 8-segment vfd numbers. Could you imagine the crazy 6000ste with that compass and systems monitor readouts if you could redo them in lcd?
You made me think of what might happen in the new Nissan Z if the LCD screen drew inspiration from the 1984 300ZX Turbo.
The Isuzu Impulse from that era also had pods, and a similar turn signal switch.
My mom had a 1988 Camaro, the RS, I believe. 2.8L fuel injected V6, 5 speed. But my dad ordered her the spoiler kit that had the "three piece wing". I came to find out as an adult that it was actually pretty rare. I've seen ONE in person since, may have been Mum's old one. I can barely even find photos of it on Google! Got stolen twice, and both times the cops asked if the car was modified, because it was quick. Nah. Just a decent power band.
Miss that car so much. Second dream car.