Big, Simple, And Cheap, There Were Reasons To Love The 1984 Chevrolet Caprice CL

[cawimmer430]

What a work of priceless art. One of these days it should be next to the Mona Lisa in the Louvre. 


Big, Simple, And Cheap, There Were Reasons To Love The 1984 Chevrolet Caprice Classic

In 1984, the Chevrolet Caprice Classic was something of an oddity. An old-school sedan, it was geared towards big families who needed a big car. First introduced in 1977, by 1984 the third-generation sedan already seemed out of step with the times, according to Motorweek's John Davis.

In this retro review, though, Davis laments the disappearance of big sedans, saying this one came at a time when most cars were shrinking. "It seems that downsizing has become a national epidemic," said Davis. "And this poses a problem for the big family. They just can't fit into the incredible shrinking car."

www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmXtwzFUjnU

The Caprice Classic, though was a member of the third-best-selling lineup in the U.S. in 1983, proving that American families have always wanted big vehicles, be they sedans, minivans, or, more recently, SUVs and crossovers.

At 17.5-feet (5.3 meters) long, the Caprice Classic was big enough to carry six passengers. Powered by a 5.0-liter V8 that sent its power to the rear wheels, though, it was certainly a throwback when considered next to the increasingly FWD marketplace. And yet, Chevrolet was able to do enough to allow the Caprice to just hang on.

Despite its thirsty V8, the EPA rated the Caprice Classic at 17 mpg in the city and 28 on the highway. Although that's not really impressive today, Motorweek says that the 1984 car got twice as many miles per gallon (21) on its test loop as the equivalent model did in 1974, so it was certainly an improvement.

Even in driving dynamics, the big sedan manages to drive acceptably for the times. "The Caprice feels more agile than it should for its size," said Davis. "While still soft, it displays a decent amount of chassis competence."

What's perhaps most surprising, though, is that despite Davis writing this review almost like an obituary, the third-gen Caprice would stick around for another six years, until it was replaced by another Caprice whose basic recipe didn't change all that much.


Link: https://www.carscoops.com/2021/12/big-simple-and-cheap-there-were-reasons-to-love-the-1984-chevrolet-caprice-classic/

[Eye of the Tiger]

28 mpg  highway is actually very impressive

[Soup DeVille]

28 mpg  highway is actually very impressive

The EPA ratings in 1983 were- well let's say optimistic (because that sounds better than bald-faced lies).

In reality these are 18-19 MPG cars.

[Submariner]

My great uncle had a 2 door Caprice sedan.  An absolute dog from day one.

[veeman]

My parents's '84 Chevy Celebrity, which had an anemic 2.5 L 4 cylinder engine (Iron Duke), gave a few miles better gas mileage.  And that car was shittier than the '84 Caprice in almost every other way.  New, the base model Celebrity cost 8 thousand something.  New the base model Caprice cost 9 thousand dollar something.  Caprice was good value.  RWD winter fears and the fact that it was the standard COP car prevented more from being sold. 

[shp4man]

Whatever good that was in that car was just the desecrated remains of the full size Chevys of the 60s. The 305 small block was a crap box beancounter perversion of the 327, the interior had way too much cheap plastic trim.
Malaise indeed.

[GoCougs]

Though considered revolutionary (and really it was, for 1977), I was never a fan. The Caprice that came before and after (whale tail) were better, if not more interesting.

Also, the 305 was indeed an absolutely awful motor (bore way too small = too small valves), but FWIW it was a version of the 350 - same 3.48" stroke with a (much) smaller bore. The old Chevy 307 was an analogous version of the classic 327 - same 3.25" stroke with a (slightly) smaller bore.

The reason why these cars were gutless was because of gearing - most had 2.41 or 2.56 rear gears. Change to 3.23 or even just 3.08 gears, and it'll feel like a different (far quicker and more responsive) car, and color me unconvinced that mpg would drop little if any in the real world, as these cars were so gutless (0-60 in 13.9 sec in the vid) that one had to drive it A LOT at full throttle to eek out what little acceleration and climbing power was on tap. 

[CaminoRacer]

The 305 that was in El Camino was OK with the 3.31 gears. Other than the rod knock
307s were pretty good. Not nearly as cool as a 327 but better than a 305. I think it was partially due to the time periods, though. 307s had less smog gear and usually had better gearing, like you mentioned.