1984 Chevrolet Celebrity Eurosport | Retro Review
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- Опубліковано 26 вер 2024
- Say whatever you want about GM, but you can't deny the head turning magic that happened when they started blacking out trim in the early 80's, and ultimately giving us the king of blacked out trim....Buick Grand National.
Show 317 | Original Airdate 03-06-1984
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Motor Week did us dirty making us think this was about the wagon version. 😄
No shit
Yeah WTF
Why they gotta be so rude
Back in the mid 1980's, I had a coworker who bought a 1985 Chevrolet Celebrity Wagon at about the same time I bought a new 1985 & 1/2 Ford Escort. I had looked at the Celebrity lineup but they were out of my reach financially. I remember admiring her car for its good looks and roomy interior. I still think, even after all of these years, that these cars are good looking.
1984 is good era of the wagons with Chevy Celebrity, Cavalier and others
Which car held up the best under use?
@@gregorymalchuk272 The Celebrity ran better. The Escort I had developed a miss in the engine before it was two years old. I was informed it was my fault because I had been using "cheap," gas. I had a tune up done but the engine still ran poorly. I traded the car off to get rid of it.
My biggest memory of my 1985 Celebrity with the 2.8L V6 was the fact that it was virtually unstoppable in snow. There were times where I could step hard on the gas and it would take off without spinning the tires. This was my first front wheel drive car having owned 4x4s the 16 years before. Yes I convinced myself I needed 4 wheel drive until one day I did the math and found I only kinda needed it about 1 percent of the time.
We were driving the Celebrity down a country road in winter when we clearly should have been safe at home. Snowing with 45mph wind gusts. The wind kicked the back end of the car around just enough that it put us into a slide. When the front tires hit a dry spot on the road we quickly spun around and went backwards into the ditch. It was quite violent, the engine stalled and the ditch was deep with snow. I started it back up, put it in gear and it moved forward about a foot. Reversed it then put it back in drive and we drove up and out of the ditch with ease. I was shocked. I swear this thing did better in snow than any of my 4x4s. Drove it for 13 years.
The narrow tires of the 80s just cut through the snow. I had a 81 X-body Omega and I was busting snow drifts. 👍
Every GM FWD vehicle I ever had would just dominate in the snow. I had an '87 Delta 88 on Blizzaks that I'm mildly confident could have summited Everest.
I had an STE and it still is one of the best cars I ever drove in the snow. A 97 Ford Taurus with snow tires was almost unstoppable, but the STE had std tires.
When you was a teenager you cared a rubber, just in case. Just like 4wheel drive.
Was the 85 2.8 carbureted or fuel injected?
Growing up in the 80’s these cars were so common on the roads!
Yes!!!!! And in all variations (4-door sedan, coupe AND wagon). Nuns at my school had one and also many parents.
These A-bodies were everywhere! Chevy Celebrity, Pontiac 6000, Buick Century, and Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera. There was one (or several) on every street, for sure.
My parents had a maroon 1982 Celebrity with a 2.8 liter V6. The Celebrity had the best trunk lid to use as a seat. I'd love to have that car today. It replaced our 1973 Chevy station wagon. Good memories of both cars.
When I was a kid, I always wanted a Eurosport coupe with the 3.1. Say what you want about these A bodies, many people I knew had Cutlass Cieras and Celebrities that went well over 200K - they were pretty reliable once they got rid of the carbureted 2.8's.
I remember this show as well as motorweek show
What year did the 2.8 get fuel injection?
Back in the 1980s I lived in an apartment right next to a Chevy dealership that was owned by my landlord. The only car he had trouble keeping on his lot was the Eurosport. I saw one there for about a week once and that was the longest I remember seeing any of them there before they were snapped up
Always loved the look of the Eurosport… like a mini Grand National
Ha exactly what I just posted
I feel .....heard
It does look adorable and very speedy, like a little brother to the Monte Carlo at the time.
130hp out of the "high output" V6. 😁 Actually not bad considering the V8s were putting out 160hp around the same time.
It was not that bad. The thing only weighed around 3000 lbs and made decent enough torque right off idle. All that on 14 inch tires and zero driver aids or speed limiters.
@@ericharrison619 yup the numbers are not great compared to today...but the old cars weighed less,so the difference is not nearly as big as it seems...at 3000lbs that celebrity weighs about the same as the 2024 nissan sentra i just got...granted the new sentra is a lot bigger and more heavily equipped than any sentra they had in the 80s,but its still nowhere near as roomy as a celebrity was..but it weighs about the same and only has 20hp more..straightline performance is likely not much better if any better at all...those v6's had far more low end torque to get it's mass rolling
It really didn’t put out 130 HP though. It was extremely underpowered especially in the S10 Blazer. It couldn’t tow very well at all.
@@user-tb7rn1il3q It did in 1985 when they switched to Fuel injection.
The 3.3 pulled great
My first job was delivering a small weekly newspaper. The circulation manager had a Celebrity Eurosport wagon. Hers was black in color with the orange Eurosport trim.
Bet you that looked "rad"!!!!! 😀
Are you me? My first job was delivering weekly flyers and our boss drove a Celebrity, we would pile about 5 kids like myself in it and he would drop us off at each corner and pick us up at the next.
@@christopher88719, with mine it was a conventional paper route and I used my bike, but she did drive a Chevy Celebrity Eurosport wagon. If you think about it is a vehicle that makes sense for a newspaper circulation manner to drive. (There was lots of room in it!) The weekly paper was called the Graphic.
As a European car enthusiast growing up around these, I can honestly say that, although there's nothing European about the Eurosport, I did enjoy driving these A-bodies back when I started driving in the early nineties.
These looked very badass for a suburban family saloon back then. Loved them.
Thanks Joyce now get out.
Ah Ha Ha Ha Ha Haaa!! 😂😂😂
She can't, she's chained to her desk
Brutal 😂
With the hi output, you get an extra 18 horsepower.
In 1979, cars were door jamb wedge shape bodies, square headlights,tail lights,windows etc. The Flintstone family car had better lines. 🙄
The star of the show is not Joyce, nor is it John, not in this case,
the star of the show is the station wagon 1:24, hiphip horaay for station wagons! :)
yes I like station wagons, can you tell? :)))
I have no idea why but when my aunt got her brand new celebrity Euro Sport I was obsessed with it. My parents had the blue V6 spec in ‘89 but the ‘88 Euro Sport was an instant hit, so much so that six months later they bought a second ES to match the first. When those two finally bit the dust, they made a B-line for the newly released Lumina Euro Sport and again bought a second one about a year later. Those cars all got passed down to the kids and when the last Lumina finally gave out it had nearly 342,000 miles on it! I’ve never seen anything hit those numbers since.
Fuel injection brought lots of engines to life especially the 2.8. The 3.1 was really responsive. Same thing happened to the Mustang 5.0 when it went fuelie. I love old school stuff I grew up on points and condenser cars but electronic fuel injection and associated transmissions were a definite improvement in power and fuel economy.
The 3.1 in the Corsica I had was pretty quick. Sounded cool too
Whst year did the 2.8 get fuel injection? The 3.1 was a screamer. When my mom stomped on the the gas, that thing made lovely noises. 🎶
Retro reviews make me happy. It's nice to see a time when cars and the enjoyment of driving weren't ruined by electronics. Back around 2005 an old lady traded in her 1987 Celebrity Eurosport wagon at my used car dealership. It had 234k miles on it. Everything still worked and it still ran well. The 2.8L wasn't powerful, but it was very responsive. I liked that car and used it to commute until someone bought it on the lot. Celebrity was a mundane, but comfortable and nice driving car for the money. Even in hindsight, I'd go back and buy one of these A-body GMs new over a Camry or Accord. Cheaper, more comfortable, and quite dependable. The 2.5L "Iron Duke" in these cars was also an excellent engine.
Yeah, the Camry and Accord weren't yet what they would become.
Pale Beach Bum Auto. Sounds like a good place to trade in a used car for another used car.
I bet she injured her ribs when you bent her over the sharp edge of the front fender.
🧍🏼♀️🚗🧍🏼
Gotta say, I've heard/read/seen a lot of descriptions and reviews regarding the "iron duke", many right here on UA-cam, but I honestly don't believe I've ever seen or heard the word "excellent" used when describing that engine. I've seen "terrible" to "not that bad" and everything in between. I know GM made a blue million of them and put them in everything, and I had one in an 86 S10 my dad handed down to me (I wasn't a fan). They did have their good points I guess, simple design, easy to work on and relatively easy and cheap to fix.
@@dannyvernon1098 a buddy of mine had the iron duke in his Olds Cutlass Ciera. He did not maintain his cars, but managed to squeak 180k miles out of it. I'd say that's quite good for an '80s era GM.
I agree. The Camry and Accord are füçkïng shitboxes 🙄
Thanks Joyce!
We had 3 Celebrity Eurosports, they were nice and all of them had the 2.8 liter V6. I loved the Eurosport 2 door with the bucket seats and the Eurosport Wagon, ours had the 3rd seat with the rear vent windows and two way tailgate with the seperate lift up rear window.
They were a nice car. The 2.8 was peppy and smooth. Car drove well.
5:58 Kitty Cat!!!!
Took my license test in a brand new 87 Eurosport sedan with the 2.8 v6. White with dark red cloth. It was a badass looking little unit that was quick as hell.
This was my grandmas first car when she first got her license when I was a kid, she then got a lumina Eurosport and then finally a Cadillac Deville Touring, she loved all three sporty cars!!!
That’s crazy my family did almost the exact same thing!!! These cars sadly did end up being a one off after the first Lumina came out it was all downhill from there. If I knew then what I know now, I’d have scrimped and saved to buy a backup lumina Eurosport to replace the first one when it finally died. Of course there was no chance anybody would’ve had the foresight to do so.
Wow, my grandma also had a Celebrity Eurosport (not her first car though) that she replaced with a Lumina Eurosport.
I had an 86. Went 300,000 miles on original engine and transmission. The only thing that stopped it was it couldn’t pass SMOG.
This "Eurosport" sure has a lot of body roll.
Actually that car looks pretty composed for those times. I've seen some cars that looked like they would scrape the door handles on the slalom.
@alexanderkennedy2969so? They had sway bars then lol
I thought it was good! I just watched the 1985 Lincoln Continental video before, lol, *that's* body roll! The Celebrity seemed to have been tuned pretty close to the Passat or Accord by 1984.
Thank you for another GM review. It is appreciated. People remember the Pontiac 6000 STE, the Oldsmobile Ciera and Buick Century. The Oldsmobile and the Buick versions eventually got the early version of the 3800 V6 ( was just 3.8 liter V6 ) at the time. I think the Pontiac 6000 STE should have had the 3.8 liter V6 also. There was a 3300 V6 that was based off the 3800 V6 too. The STE trim package lived on the W Body Pontiac Grand Prix for a few years. The A Bodies lived on until 1996 model year. The Oldsmobile and Buick versions were still selling well although they had become dated. They were replaced by the W Bodies. The Eurosport Celebrity eventually was replaced the the Lumina 3.1 Euro The Lumina did offer the 3800 V6. I thought the best packages were the Pontiac 6000 STE and Oldsmobile Ciera GT. It had everything. The A Bodies were some reliable cars. It is hard to believe they started out life from the X Body platform.
My sister had one with a 4cyl and bench seats. It was a surprisingly comfortable and simple car to drive.
I had a Pontiac 6000 S/E sedan, the poor man's STE. I loved that car. It was well equipped and had the same engine and transmission as the STE.
Celebrities would get pretty good by the time they scraped most of them for the new W cars. The std and lousy brakes borrowed from the X cars would finally go away, and the available 2.8 would get MPI good for 135hp and also could have a 5 speed ( which few ordered) . Most recall the very loud 'blat' almost glass pack sound from the muffler on 2.8s with the Eurosport package.
One of the few everyday engines one could identify by exhaust note. Subaru had a unique note during the time also.
I'm surprised MotorWeek didn't spend more time with that wagon, since the FWD A-body wagons were new for '84.
I had an 89 with the 2.8L V6, closer to the H/O for this 84. Paired with the 4 speed auto it was pretty quick for what it was!
My parents had a Celebrity Eurosport. It was a great car, and my parents loved it!!
Chevrolet had a knack for hilariously ironic car names in the '80s. They called the thing a Celebrity when that was the last thing you'd ever be mistaken for when you drove one. And then there was the Chevrolet Citation, which couldn't possibly go fast enough for the driver to ever get pulled over for speeding.
Even as a high school kid when these came out I thought they were some nice looking cars, especially with the rally wheels.
Sure, rear beam axle and that 2.8, it is EUROSPORT.
"Eurosport" gotta love these old GM names lol
Decent effort by GM. I always liked the Europe Sport trim over the base. One of my friends had one. The seats and room were OK.
A used 1986 Eurosport was my first car when I was 19. The 2.8L fuel injected V6 sounded great on these cars....that deep throaty rumble at low RPM's still sounds better than most cars on the road today.
My parents owned an 1987 Chevy celebrity. It was a used 1 owner ( lady with dog), and the interior has dog hair inside. It was decent in Nova Scotia weather during the snow and ice. However, during the summer it always kept eating alternators, bad A/C, and lots of underbody rust (mostly salted roads). It wasn’t very fast with its ironduke 4 cylinder engine, and it didn’t look that pretty, but we kept it for long drives, and mostly 4.5 years.
I learned to drive in my grandpa's celebrity
It was a nice ride, reliable, good power in mountain roads, as I`d prove it here in Colombia with my formerly own 1984, 4 Speed manual Celebrity 2.8 CL V6, top of the line sample. One of the units assembled in Bogota`s GM Colmotores Assembly plant, moderate low cost maintenance and plenty of spare parts as well.
2:25 Looks like Off-road 4x4 truck tires!
Love that wagon though! Never saw many in the ‘80s!
Boy how times have changed!!
Some of yall were made in the back of the wagon.
'Hi AMC? Yeah I heard you're on your last leg, so I was wondering if I can completely plagiarize the front end of your Eagle and call it a Chevy? We're a little desperate over here for ideas.."😂
They built millions of these. Where did they all go? Would love to see a nice example on Bring a Trailer or Cars and Bids.
Unlike Hondas they didn’t stand the test of time
That’s how I got my Ciera. Out of the four types, Olds seems to come up for sale in decent shape most frequently, though the Buick Centuries should be at least as good. My Ciera is low mileage and an excellent car all around.
I saw a Pontiac 6000 on the road maybe six months ago. It look like it was on its last legs, in very bad shape, but still somewhat impressive someone managed to keep it going.
Love that Zoom at the end into nothing in specific... it's like when someone is telling you some absolute dreck, and you just space out staring at nothing. Perhaps a sign of what the car might be like :DDD
I like how a cute kitty just wanders past.
I miss these cars. ❤ Loved seeing them as a kid.
These are like the Dodo nowadays, especially this body style. I think the last one I had seen was my neighbours wagon, and that was the mid 90’s.
Is that the actual "Owing's Mill" building?
The estate wagon variant looks better than today's minivans and suvs.
I remember in 1998 watching a Eurosport come speeding down my street, lose control, and wipe out a fence and telephone pole. The lady driving was extracted on a back board. I have no idea if she was OK.
That slalom is going to cause morning sickness on that A body rack pretty soon .
The #1 favorite car of the 80s Orlando Airport rental fleet
I did not know back then that GM was doing, 'MSRP is for poverty spec, a nice version costs double.' I thought that was just a 2020s thing. I had a 6000 as my first car with the 2.8L. These things actually sounded great if you put a low restriction exhaust on them, but that was the only redeeming quality of all cars riding on the A platform. They were pretty awful otherwise.
When this body first came out, I was taken aback by how high the deck lid was and how abruptly it terminated. Did anyone else have that reaction?
That's better for aero and it is a compact car, after all.
I would love a wagon with the 4 speed manual and iron duke.
Thank you for uploading this I love the celebrity
My grandma had one of these, the refreshed version with the composite headlights.
I had several of these in the 90s Never a Eurosport though. But the Celebrity was a great car for America. They were affordable, the 2.5 Iron Duke, while rough, was indestructible and got smooth when they added a balance shaft. Ther V6 had ample power for a car that size. I ran pizzas all over town in the late 90s with these cars. They were workhorses.
love my 86 Cebtury T Type
In the 80s, when I saw these wearing "Eurosport" badges, it made me wonder what the hell they benchmarked as a European sporty sedan. If they didn't try to present this as anything "Euro", it would have been fine. But...they were too ambitious and this severely under-delivered on the badges.
It was because of firmer suspension. Performance tires. Black trim instead of chrome. Bucket seats available. Center shifter available. Alloy wheels instead of basic wheel covers. So basically less floating American type of car and more sporty type with European influence. So a Eurosport. Truth be told these A body cars were probably better built than most European cars of the era. These could very much be the most dependable cars GM ever built.
My parents and grandparents had Celebrities. Underpowered and they both dissolved into rust.
Almost everything from the 80’s dissolved into dust😂
A client of mine had a V6 Eurosport, it went over 200,000 relatively trouble free miles.
I wish that I can find one
My sister almost bought a 1988 Eurosport sedan for her first car in 1996, but instead bought a 1987 Cavalier.
You know it's the 80's when they're using 130hp and 'quite a sports sedan' in the same sentence
My mom had an 84 Celebrity wagon with the carbureted 2.8 V6. Wasn't a Eurosport. But still a great car. Would love to have one now
Had an 85 Celebrity wagon when my kids were small. A great family car that had some annoying niggles. Worst was the sagging headliner.
My dad had an 85 coupe. It had the same issue.
He also had an 83 Firenza that had the same issue. I wonder why that was.
@@chrisp679 GM was notorious for cheap headliners from about 79-92
Wish I could see one of these irl
Who would have known the celebrity wagon would be such a classic
My parents had an '89 Celebrity Eurosport and quite liked it. Other than the rust. :(
@alexanderkennedy2969Some vehicles lacked sufficient rust prevention from the factory. Toyota paid out billions for a class action lawsuit due to insufficient rust prevention.
@alexanderkennedy2969where did you hear that???? I have friends who never wash their cars and they don’t have a spec of rust. Rust can come from a variety of places, including road salt (we lived in Ontario, Canada at the time and they use a lot of salt there in the winter).
Wow, 40 years ago. Where did the time fly....
The 6000 STE was the best A body. Never understood why Chevy make bucket seats optional as for the gauges and floor shift
How cool would it be to find a pristine Eurosport today... They're all in the junkyard now.
😂😂😂😂😂😂
Think about this... these cars are now 40 years old. A pristine one could turn heads at a carshow/ cruise night... maybe 😂
Everyone would be saying, "I remember those, my mom drove one. Thought they were all in the junkyard by now".
Weird to say, but 80's cars are the next restorers, folks.
I want a wagon just like the one Beverly Sutphin drove.. it was just a blue car man.
Just an interesting fact. 1990 was the last year for the Celebrity and it was only available as a wagon. It was also the only year it was available with the 3.1 ltr V6. Celebrity Eurosport wagon, anyone?
Never heard a transmission referred to as a “Slush Box”, haha
Get out more
Nothing European or sporty about the Eurosport.
You row? Sport!
Typical of the 80s through 90s domestics, anything with black out trim, stripes, bigger tires and some sort of 'handling package' were called ES. It was just a spin off of the late 70s 'Sport' packages done to try and assume something they were not, on the cheap, for a few more sales.
L😂😂L
😂
I bought one for 60$ back in 1999, gave it to my gf parents and they drove it for a year before the engine threw a rod. I towed it to the scrap yard with the chain breaking 4 times! I got so mad I told by buddy at the scrap yard to Destroy that car while I watched. It won't piss anybody off ever again!
Just thinking how from when this car was made to now is the difference from when this car was made and the middle of WW2. Makes it seem more reasonable that we’ve come so far since this car was reviewed.
I grew up in the 80's. A lot of boring, underpowered crap. Your best bet back then was to find a late 60's or early 70's model before they started the "smog" packages and catalytic converters.
This is better than the cutlass supreme grand sport with the rally fun pack - of course, it handles corners like a bucking horse.
The 2.8L V6 engines in these GM A Bodies were always good engines, especially the fuel injected ones. Plus, it was peppy at the time because the A Bodies were not that heavy either.
My ex-wife had a Celebrity when we were in college. It was the most bland, unexciting car that I have ever driven. It got you to your destination but it would bore you to tears on the journey. My Honda Civic wagon was much more fun to drive.
I don't want to like these, but I can't help it! The Celebrity Eurosport was my 2nd favorite, after the Pontiac 6000 STE.
These used to be everywhere and now they are just gone. Probably the reason for our rose colored glasses with them.
ready to step up from the cavalier, but not quite ready for the luxurious and ostentatious carprice? may we be pleased to introduce the celebrity.
INTRO: " That 130 hp engine will make the new Jetta quite a sports sedan". Lol. How far cars' hp had fallen in the early 80's. You didn't realize how dismal the performance was back then. I remember when my 1986 Dodge Omni GLH with an 8.5 sec 0-60 mph time was considered quick for a small car. How things have changed.
What a good looking car!!!
Roll-down rear windows were a $10,000 option.
*"America's best seller for a reason"*
Ah the 80's, trying to polish a turd, you did your best sir :)
It's an excellent example of the 1980s American car: a collection of flat panels, not a curve in sight. That's why I liked the Porsche 928, there isn't a flat surface to be found.
To be fair, European cars like the Aston Martin Lagonda, Lancia Gamma, Alfa Romeo 90, Bitter SC and so on also embraced (if not originated) the flat surface style.
The wagon was the best looking body style for these.
My mom bought 1982 brand new. 2 door no AC ….. ran 2 years until it rusted out lol
20 years! Sorry
When discussing the drivetrain options and mentioning the test vehicle rated at 112 HP for a whichever size V6 only to upsell for the best option at 130 HP unspecified V6 and the 4 cyclinder model no HP rating was given because straight over the production floor it has less than 100 HP for a 2.5 liter 4 cylinder. Most old cars from decades into the past has very low horsepower ratings even for the bigger V8 engines of those decade's.
4 banger had 90hp
0 - 60 in 11 seconds was considered acceptable, bit now you have to be under 8 seconds and many cars are 6 or under - really too fast and may be contributing to the accident rates going up....
The intro has me confused.. I had an 86 Jetta and where were the 130 Horsepower? The Celebrity Eurosport is GREAT I remember these cars. I want an older car...
I had a celebrity..solid 🚗 🚘 👍
Take my money!
Fun fact: The Chevrolet Celebrity was the best selling car in the US in 1986 and the last time ever GM offered the best selling car.