GM’s A-body front drivers were excellent sellers, decent all around automobiles, and more boring than hanging around with Grandma on weekends when you were a kid. The Oldsmobile version, the Cutlass Ciera, together with the Buick Century managed to last fourteen years barely changed before they were finally taken around the back of the shed and shot. They weren’t bad cars, but there wasn’t anything that really made anyone into performance perk up.
The most sporty version of the Ciera was the GT model, available only in 1986-87, and it mostly was an appearance and trim package that made the two-door Oldsmobile look a bit like it’s 442 older brother. It doesn’t look bad at all…in fact, for a GM front-driver, it’s one of the better looking ones we’ve seen…but there is one notable bright spot on this car:
The original motor for this particular 1986 model is the 150 horsepower LG3 3.8L V6. Stop rolling your eyes, there is good news here. That is, that the L67 V6…the supercharged version that was found in the 1997-2004 GM W-bodies should be a straight-up swap. A dead-stock L67 would add another 100 horsepower or so, and a little tuning and work would easily bring this Ciera GT up to around the 300hp mark. Who would ever see you coming? You could even call it a Pro Commuter build. Hmmm…
eBay Link: 1986 Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera GT
People have done far crazier things that what you are suggesting……
Clean looking car, needs a tube chassis and a 455 OPB in it……..
Pro-commuter. You just coined something so epiclly horrific that’s it’s awesome. As for the car, it’s a cool-looker that I always wanted to see north-southed.
Always like the look of these, too. Along with the performance upgrades (don’t forget the brakes like most people do), get rid of that lame luggage rack on the trunk and tack on a small spoiler instead.
I’ve helped a friend work on his daily driver Taurus. It’s put me off transverse engines permanently.
It is wrong wheel drive, period.
My little sister had the Buick version (Somerset Regal) with a 5 speed manual. Must have been rare, butt they’re out there…well, they were out there….
You could make a Yugo “haul the mail” but you’d still be stuck in a Yugo. I’d rather sink pointless dollars into a Civic (yuck) than this turd.