Joined
·
1,509 Posts
I was looking back through some old files and found an article from 2 years ago about the GM-80 program at GM, which was supposed to be a FWD F-body. I figured since it was not posted in the forums, and there was currently no link to it elsewhere, I would repost it below- Hope you all enjoy!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
06/03/02-Branden Farthing
GMInsidenews gets the inside scoop on the proposed 1980's FWD F-body!
GMI Would like to thank Guy McCoy and Ted Krygier for their large contributions to this article!
![]()
Well it is very scary to think that we almost had a FWD Camaro, but the story behind why and how is a very interesting one.. In the mid 1980's with FWD Sports Coupes swaying traditional F-body buyers GM was presented with an interesting dilemma for, whether to remain true to the heritage of RWD F-body or make what they thought the market demanded at the time. It was this situation that led to the billion dollar GM80 program.
The GM80 started in a time when F-body development was much more brisk than it is today. The cars were major sellers and considered integral to the brand portfolio, thus GM took great pride in them. The third generation chassis it was decided would have a freshening in 1986, it's 4th year on that platform. It was here that GM chairman Roger Smith decided that he didn't like the direction that F-body was going and decided changes needed to be made in order for the car to be in a viable business situation down the road. It was here that it was decided since most of GM's cars would be FWD by the end of the 1980's and FWD sport coupes were becoming the craze it was time to develop a FWD F-body for debut in 1989.
This was all that radical an idea as it is today since Ford had seriously toying with the idea of replacing the Mustang with the car that eventually became the Probe. Also in another lesser known project Ford even considered moving their big coupes, the Thunderbird and Mercury Cougar, to the new in 1986 Taurus platform. That changed once they decided to sink $1 billion into making a world class RWD chassis to replace the Fox platform, which became the MN-12. The MN-12 was envisioned to not only include the T-bird and Cougar, but also various Lincolns, the Mustang, and was even engineered to Australian standards for possible export! It was this over engineering that destroyed the program, making it too heavy to replace the Mustang and too costly to export overseas. The MN-12 platform thus never achieved it's multi-carline intentions and was largely a financial mistake for Ford..
By 1986 work was going full tilt on the GM80 program which the FWD F-body came to designated. The car would have been the best performing FWD car in it's price class and would bring a level of engineering to the F-body never before seen. Lighter than the current car everything about the car would have been high tech from plastic body panels to high-tech powertrain choices. The base engine was set to be a 180-200 HP 16 valve Quad 4 which at the time was still in development. The top of the line engine was set to be the 24 valve 3.4L DOHC V6 that GM had developed from the 2.8L engine block. At the time it was making 285HP+ in development and if a transmission could be made to handle it GM fully intended to go into production around that figure. What is interesting is how similar those figures are to the initial 4th generation offering in 1993. One can't help but wonder if the FWD F-body might have been faster than the RWD one we craved. The 3.4L also is significant because though it was the basis for the Cadillac Northstar and 3.5L "Shortstar", development costs were staggering making it GM's most expensive V6 ever. All these advances cost money but the projected $22,000 dollar cost for the time of introduction in 1989 isn't so bad when compared to the $24,000+ that the 1989 20th Anniversary Trans Am sold for.
![]()
As the program neared completion costs started to mount, making it a $1 billion plus program, a very large sum for the day. What finally killed the program was GM buying Hughes Aircraft and Roger Smith's obsession with starting the Saturn brand. The Saturn project which was particularly expensive, cost GM over $5 billion in development costs. Thankfully GM couldn't support all these projects and the GM80 program was cancelled in 1987 leaving the F-body to die. That was until some enthusiasts in GM decided that the car needed to go on pushed the idea of evolving the third generation chassis into the forth generation making the car we have today. It is scary to think that GM almost butchered the heritage of the F-body by going to FWD, but it is just a reminded that cars are business and GM is there to make money selling what the market wants.
The above images are from an 80's vintage magazine...I am unsure which though
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
06/03/02-Branden Farthing
GMInsidenews gets the inside scoop on the proposed 1980's FWD F-body!
GMI Would like to thank Guy McCoy and Ted Krygier for their large contributions to this article!
Well it is very scary to think that we almost had a FWD Camaro, but the story behind why and how is a very interesting one.. In the mid 1980's with FWD Sports Coupes swaying traditional F-body buyers GM was presented with an interesting dilemma for, whether to remain true to the heritage of RWD F-body or make what they thought the market demanded at the time. It was this situation that led to the billion dollar GM80 program.
The GM80 started in a time when F-body development was much more brisk than it is today. The cars were major sellers and considered integral to the brand portfolio, thus GM took great pride in them. The third generation chassis it was decided would have a freshening in 1986, it's 4th year on that platform. It was here that GM chairman Roger Smith decided that he didn't like the direction that F-body was going and decided changes needed to be made in order for the car to be in a viable business situation down the road. It was here that it was decided since most of GM's cars would be FWD by the end of the 1980's and FWD sport coupes were becoming the craze it was time to develop a FWD F-body for debut in 1989.
This was all that radical an idea as it is today since Ford had seriously toying with the idea of replacing the Mustang with the car that eventually became the Probe. Also in another lesser known project Ford even considered moving their big coupes, the Thunderbird and Mercury Cougar, to the new in 1986 Taurus platform. That changed once they decided to sink $1 billion into making a world class RWD chassis to replace the Fox platform, which became the MN-12. The MN-12 was envisioned to not only include the T-bird and Cougar, but also various Lincolns, the Mustang, and was even engineered to Australian standards for possible export! It was this over engineering that destroyed the program, making it too heavy to replace the Mustang and too costly to export overseas. The MN-12 platform thus never achieved it's multi-carline intentions and was largely a financial mistake for Ford..
By 1986 work was going full tilt on the GM80 program which the FWD F-body came to designated. The car would have been the best performing FWD car in it's price class and would bring a level of engineering to the F-body never before seen. Lighter than the current car everything about the car would have been high tech from plastic body panels to high-tech powertrain choices. The base engine was set to be a 180-200 HP 16 valve Quad 4 which at the time was still in development. The top of the line engine was set to be the 24 valve 3.4L DOHC V6 that GM had developed from the 2.8L engine block. At the time it was making 285HP+ in development and if a transmission could be made to handle it GM fully intended to go into production around that figure. What is interesting is how similar those figures are to the initial 4th generation offering in 1993. One can't help but wonder if the FWD F-body might have been faster than the RWD one we craved. The 3.4L also is significant because though it was the basis for the Cadillac Northstar and 3.5L "Shortstar", development costs were staggering making it GM's most expensive V6 ever. All these advances cost money but the projected $22,000 dollar cost for the time of introduction in 1989 isn't so bad when compared to the $24,000+ that the 1989 20th Anniversary Trans Am sold for.
As the program neared completion costs started to mount, making it a $1 billion plus program, a very large sum for the day. What finally killed the program was GM buying Hughes Aircraft and Roger Smith's obsession with starting the Saturn brand. The Saturn project which was particularly expensive, cost GM over $5 billion in development costs. Thankfully GM couldn't support all these projects and the GM80 program was cancelled in 1987 leaving the F-body to die. That was until some enthusiasts in GM decided that the car needed to go on pushed the idea of evolving the third generation chassis into the forth generation making the car we have today. It is scary to think that GM almost butchered the heritage of the F-body by going to FWD, but it is just a reminded that cars are business and GM is there to make money selling what the market wants.
The above images are from an 80's vintage magazine...I am unsure which though
