[paul8488]

okay, V8, rwd lovers can ignore this... we all have different tastes. i'm looking to pick up a dirt cheap car for summer... something laughable, but hopefully not too much of a headache. i came across an '85 celebrity eurosport 2-door. V6 (carburated 2.8, i think) with 235,000 kms, 3 speed auto. it's like the 4-door i learned to drive on, and i think it's a riot! so european! hahaha!

my question is how much driving can i expect out of a celebrity with 235,000 kms? i know it depends on the driving and maintenance history, but is there a good chance the motor or transmission are gonna bite it soon? did these cars ever reach 300,000 kms? i have yet to go look at it, so i can't comment on the actual car, but weren't they typically pretty rusty buggies? any huge problem areas to look out for? if the thing runs alright, the transmission isn't slipping, and it's still holding together (body and chassis wise), i'll pick it up (because it's really cheap). any constructive advice would be appreciated. telling me i'm nuts and to go get an F-body wouldn't be. thanks!

 

[paul8488]

Originally posted by LakeMichigan@May 18 2004, 05:33 PM
235K km relates roughly to 146k miles.....ahh...the 2.8X mill...too bad  it isn't the 2.8W....they had all sorts of drivability issues...carb base heater, A.I.R. issues, ECM issues, carb issues with the IAC and the MC solenoid, the TPS....surprised it is still going.....I know of a 1986 6000 wagon with a 2.8W multiport for sale near me...might be a better deal???

ah thanks man. i'm canadian, so a US car won't do. also, i'm not particularly interested in a wagon. i wouldn't even want a 4-door. i just always liked the 2-door for some reason. this car passed an emissions test recently, but i know that's not a great indicator as to the health of the engine. i'll go see it anyways, but thanks for the heads up. maybe i'll get lucky and the engine will have been replaced with a 3.1! wish me luck! hahaha!

 

[LGRpup]

Wow I never knew that the Celebrity came in a 2 door!? Did they all come that way or was this a Canadian thing? because I know you guys sometimes get varients of US cars.

 

[paul8488]

Originally posted by LGRpup@May 19 2004, 07:32 AM
Wow I never knew that the Celebrity came in a 2 door!? Did they all come that way or was this a Canadian thing? because I know you guys sometimes get varients of US cars.

i have no idea, to be honest. i can't imagine it was a canada-only thing. i know they were pretty rare though. there were definitely pontiac 6000 2-door versions too. not sure about the buick century and oldsmobile ciera though. the celebrity eurosport reminds me of (quit laughing) a mini grand national! hahaha! same overall proportions, scaled to 7/8ths. powertrain scaled down to 1/2, sadly!

of note, i called the guy, and it sounds like it's pretty tired. i'm gonna go see it tonight (it's a great day for a little roadtrip), but i think it's baked. they had nice little buckets and those wicked rally wheels! so i'll let you know just how far gone this little weapon is. i think it's look sweet all black (paint the chrome bumper), with a wide, flat spoiler and deep tint. add some simple rims and a wider set of rubber... and tada! all show, no go! hahaha!

 

[MelvinJ]

All of the A-cars (Celebrity, 6000, Ciera, Century) were available as 2-doors in the U.S. from '82 through '88, at least. The 6000 may have dropped the 2-door after that because of the Grand Prix, but I'm not sure. The Celebrity was wagon-only for 1990, then gone for good. I think 2-door Cieras and Centurys were gone by 1991 or so.

 

[MCGARRETT]

The A bodies were one of the last car lines that actually came as a full-line of cars. There were coupes, sedans and wagons. There even were a few convertibles made from the coupes, through Hess & Eisenhardt, I believe, they were semi-factory, as in they went from the factory straight to the builder, and I believe that GM did add some re-enforcement to the body, but it was the builder that did the roof-ectomy.

Not only were several body styles available, but there was a large selection of trim levels, engines and transmissions(both manual and automatic).

Through the A bodies run there at one time or another there was a.....

2.2 Litre 4
2.5 Litre 4
2.8 Litre V6
3.0 Litre V6
3.1 Litre V6
3.8 Litre V6
4.3 Litre V6-Diesel (no kidding!)

There were AWD versions of the 6000 in 1988. There was an all blacked out 2 door Century with a 3.8 V6 offered in 1987, it was called the Century GS, they are pretty rare. There also was a Celebrity Eurosport VR, with heavy ground effects, it was a limited edition sold in 1987, think Celebrity meets AMG. Oldsmobile had a very nice Cuttlass Ciera International Series, with leather buckets and full instrumentation. One of the nicest A bodies was the Pontiac 6000 STE, it was a hell of a nice sports sedan, and quite respected by most of the car magazines, you know that a GM car from the 80's has to be good to have gotten that many favorable reviews from rags like Car & Driver and Road & Track in the 1980's. It was the 1st Pontiac to have steering wheel radio controls, all the way back in 1986!

 

[paul8488]

man i'm getting pumped! i love amusing easily! i called the guy, and it has the sweet buckets seats and console! booyah! i think i'll be able to get it for a song... so we'll see how the test drive goes.

 

[doh]

We actually used an 88 Celebrity (Tech 4) as a loaner for 150,000 kms it had over 250,000km by the time we retired it and nothing major as repairs go, You know how you drive loaners,

And one of our customer had an 86 Century wagon 3.3l that died after 700,000kms of fairly hard miles.

They were very dependable cars

 

[MCGARRETT]

Yeah thats right, I forgot about the Buick 3.3 Litre V6! Nice little motor, it and the 3.0 Litre V6 were both similar to the Buick 3.8 Litre V6.

Not alot of people remember the 4.3 Litre Diesel V6, it was a pretty decent motor, combined with the A bodies lighter weight, it gave great MPG for a car that size. Too bad by the time it came out the orginal Oldsmobile Diesel 350 and 260 V8's had somewhat soured the markets taste for diesel and gasoline had become cheaper again in the 1980's so the big move towards diesel had stalled. Back when Oldsmobile was heavily into diesels, it had a Cutlass Ciera prototype with a turbocharged 4.3 diesel V6 with improved fuel injection system and a beefed up version of the STE suspension, the car ran 0-60 in the upper 7 second range and still pulled close to 40mpg.

The only car division that did not get a version of the A body was Cadillac, though I think that a Cadillac A body would probably been better than the J body Cimmaron.

 

[GN6]

Here's that 1986 Century GS coupe. I'm not sure if that "BUICK" decal on the side was stock, probably an option. 1029 were built. I almost had one back in '98, but I wasn't in the market for a new car and I didn't realize how rare they were. I'll just file that under "If I knew then what I know now..."

 

[Rex Raider]

I'm sure the Buick script was added. It also looks like he put in Grand National seats.

 

[MCGARRETT]

Yes the Century GS has seats similar to the Grand National, but if you look at the "6" logo on the headrest, it's all red, not red and orange like the Grand National, the red and orange logo was for turborcharged cars and the solid red logo was for n/a cars.

During the 80's Buick had a sporty "T-Type" version of every car in the lineup except for the monster Estate Wagons.

There was a Skyhawk T-Type coupe with and available Turbocharged 2.0 Litre 4 cylinder
Skylark T-Type coupe with a 2.8 V6
Sommerset/Skylark T-Type, after 1985
Century T-Type sedan and coupe and the 1986 GS coupe
Regal T-Type and Grand National
LeSabre T-Type coupe in 1987-1988, and there also was an ultra-rare LeSabre Grand National in 1986 only, it was not turbocharged, but it was the street version of the LeSabre that was being run in NASCAR that year, yes there was a LeSabre and even a Delta 88 in NASCAR from 1986 to 1988, they were used for a few years until the new W body midsize cars were out,(Regal, Cutlass, Grand Prix).
Electra T-Type
Riviera T-Type, which was the only other Buick besides the Regal Grand National to have the Turbocharged 3.8 V6 standard, from 1982 through 1985, though it was not as powerful as the GN's.