Chevrolet Malibu

[crisis]

Just when BMW was finally getting rid of that awful rear end style....

[Duell]

Post #26 picture #1, that looks like real quality plastic, ROFL

[Ferrer]

Such a flop it has needed a facelift after barely a year #27

[Ferrer]

Such a flop it has needed a facelift after barely a year #28

[Ferrer]

Such a flop it has needed a facelift after barely a year #29

[Ferrer]

First Generation (1978-1983)

For the 1978 model year, the Malibu name, which had been the bestselling badge in the lineup, replaced the Chevelle name. This was Chevrolet's second downsized nameplate, following the lead of the 1977 Chevrolet Caprice. The new, more efficient platform was over a foot shorter and had shed 500 to 1,000 pounds (230 to 450 kg) compared to previous versions, yet offered increased trunk space, leg room, and head room. Only two trim levels were offered - Malibu and Malibu Classic. The Malibu Classic Landau series had a two-tone paint job on the upper and lower body sections, and a vinyl top.

Three bodystyles were produced (station wagon, sedan, and coupe), and the design was also used as the basis for the El Camino pickup truck with its own chassis. The sedan initially had a conservative six-window notchback roofline. This was in contrast to the unusual fastback rooflines adopted by Oldsmobile and Buick divisions which would later revert a more formal pillar style. To reduce cost, the windows in the rear doors of four-door sedans were fixed, while the wagons had small moveable vents. No doubt this design contributed to the number of factory air conditioning units sold with the cars, to the benefit of General Motors and Chevrolet dealers. For the 1981 model year, sedans adopted a four-window profile and "formal" pillared upright roofline. The two-door coupe was last produced in this year. For 1982 the Malibu was facelifted with more squared-off front styling marked by quad headlights with long, thin turn signals beneath them. The look was very reminiscent of the also recently facelifted Chevrolet Caprice. For 1983, Malibus gained a block-style "Malibu" badge on the front fenders to replace the cursive-style script located on the rear quarter panels of previous model years.

The four-door Malibu was commonly used in fleet service, especially for law enforcement. After the Chevrolet Nova ceased production in 1979, the mid-size 9C1 police option (not to be confused with the full-size Chevrolet Impala 9C1 which was also available) was transferred to the Malibu, filling a void for mid-sized police vehicles. A 9C1-equipped Malibu with an LT-1 Z-28 Camaro engine driven by E. Pierce Marshall placed 13th of 47 in the 1979 Cannonball Baker Sea-To-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash, better known as the Cannonball Run.

There was no factory Malibu SS option available from 1980. The SS only came in the El Camino. The very rare 1980 Malibu M80 was a dealer package for only North and South Carolina in an effort to revive the muscle car era. It was, however, mostly aimed at NASCAR fans who regularly traveled to Darlington Raceway. To this day, the number actually produced is unknown; estimates place this around 1,901 cars. All M80s had to be white with dark blue bucket seats and center console interior. The base of the M80 was a two-door sport coupe equipped with the F41 Sport Suspension package and the normal V8 (140 hp) drive train. The M80 option added two dark blue skunk stripes on top and a lower door stripe with the M80 identification. The package also added front and rear spoilers and 1981 steel rally wheels.

In Mexico, General Motors produced this generation in the Ramos Arizpe plant, which was sold during three years (1979 to '81). Mexican versions came in three trim levels (Chevelle, Malibu and Malibu Classic) and two body styles (sedan and coupe) with the 250-cubic-inch (4.1 L) I-6 as basic engine and the 350-cubic-inch (5.7 L) 260 hp (194 kW) V-8 as the optional; this engine was standard on Malibu Classic models during those three years. This was possible because the Mexican emissions regulations remained relatively free at the time.

Iraqi Taxi

In 1981, General Motors of Canada in Oshawa produced a special order of 25,500 four-door Malibu sedans for Saddam Hussein's Iraqi government. The deal was reportedly worth well over $100 million to GMCL. These special-order Malibus carried the unusual combination of GM's lowest-power carburated V6, the 110 hp (82 kW) 229-cubic-inch (3.8 L) engine mated to three-speed transmission with a unique on-the-floor stick shifter. All of the cars were equipped with air conditioning, heavy duty cooling systems, AM/FM cassette decks, front bench seats, 200 km/h speedometers, tough tweed and vinyl upholstery and 14-inch (360 mm) stamped steel wheels with "baby moon" hubcaps.

However, only 13,000 units ever made it to Iraq, with the majority of the cars becoming taxis in Baghdad (once the cab-identifying orange paint was added to the front and rear fenders). With the remaining balance of about 12,500 additional Malibus either sitting on a dock in Halifax or awaiting port shipment in Oshawa, where they were built, the Iraqis suddenly cancelled the order in 1982. Excuses reportedly included various "quality concerns", including the inability of the local drivers to shift the finicky Saginaw manual transmission. This issue was eventually identified as being due to an apparent clutch release issue that eventually required on-site retrofitting by a crew of Canadian technicians sent to Iraq to support the infamous "Recall in the Desert". Later speculation was that the Iraqis were actually forced to back out for financial reasons, due to their escalating hostilities with Iran requiring the immediate diversion of funds to support the Iraqi war effort. Then GM of Canada President Donald Hackworth was initially quoted as stating GMCL intended to still try to sell the Malibus overseas in other Middle East markets; however in the end, the orphaned "Iraqi Taxi" Malibus were all sold to the Canadian public at the greatly reduced price of about C$6,800. Over the years, they have acquired a low-key 'celebrity' status, sometimes being colloquially referred to as "Iraqibu".

Source: wikipedia.org

[Ferrer]

Iraqibu #31

[Ferrer]

Iraqibu #32

[Kitdy]

Quality work from Oshawa Assembly. I never knew about that.

Fun fact: the junior hockey team in Oshawa is named after General Motors, and was so something like 80 years ago. GM was a very early multinational.