The 1970s were a difficult decade for American car manufacturers. We are in 1970, in fact, and the newborn EPAthat is, theUnited States Environmental Protection Agencyis charged by the Government with finding a way to reduce air pollution.
The newly founded agency thus issues new and severe laws on emissions and imposes the transition to unleaded petrol. Car manufacturers have only five years to adapt and begin to study ways to contain the particulate matter emitted from the exhaust of their cars, giving rise to some projects that have become famous over time for their poor reliability.
Thanks to the experience and some research conducted by our American colleagues at Motor1.com US, Today we have the opportunity to look back on this automotive decade, remembering what has gone down in history as the worst car ever produced in the United States. Make yourselves comfortable because there is really a lot to say.
A political story too
As we said, we are in the 70s. In this decade, overseas car manufacturers are struggling to find ways to make their new cars able to to respect the new restrictions imposed by the EPA.
A complex problem which, in the same period, is also added to the new embargo OPEC on oil caused by the crisis between Egypt, Syria and Israel, which in a single day caused crude oil prices to soar by 300%.
Because of this “unfortunate” conjunction of events, in 1975 the laws were approved in the United States CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy), which mandated improved fuel economy for all new cars: something European cars were already more capable of doing than big American engines.
From an automotive point of view, the set of these problems, according to our colleagues, gives rise to the saddest page in the history of American cars. In fact, in these years some of the most famous engines were produced less powerful designed by American car manufacturers, with low compression ratios due to the need to lower the octane number of petrol, which is no longer leaded.
At the same time, the first cars arrive catalytic converters which begin to further “plug” the engines, further reducing power, but without increasing efficiency.
Due to the huge investments in mechanical components, car manufacturers are also reducing the budget they can invest in designresulting in new cars with old-fashioned bodywork.
To try to solve the issue once and for all, General Motors begins designing an entirely new V8 diesel engine.
An already old project
As a starting point for its “new” engine, GM chooses the Oldsmobile gasoline V8. Instead of developing a more compact and fuel-efficient engine, in fact, it chooses to convert the large 5.7-liter 8-cylinder, creating enormous problems.
The choice of diesel instead of petrol comes from the fact that in those same years diesel engines were not yet subject to the same normative on emissions or CAFE, so the conversion allows General Motors itself to “bypass” the new EPA rules. In the 1970s, moreover, the diesel It is still much cheaper than gasoline in terms of purchase.
The Oldsmobile Diesel hits the market in 1978 after five years of research and development, with as few changes as possible to the existing design.
In the first marketing period it was a real success, thanks to the moderately improved fuel economy and despite the extra cost of 800 dollars (about 10% of the average cost of a sedan at the time). But problems came a few months later.
Slow and heavy
The extremely hasty launch of the diesel engine on the Oldsmobile sedan brought with it some serious flaws. First of all the powerextremely low for an 8-cylinder diesel and equal to approximately 120 CVa value that dropped to around 105 HP in 1981, then the weight of large cars and, finally, the slow three-speed automatic transmission.
The Oldsmobile Delta 88 that you see in the photos and that our colleague of Motor1.com US for the writing of this article weighs approximately 3.600 kg.
As an ’81 model, it was boosted to 105 hp, a figure that allows it to sprint from 0 to 100 km/h in about 20 seconds; during the test, on some steep hills in Seattle, it reportedly refused to accelerate beyond 25 mph, or the 40 km/heven with only one passenger and an empty trunk.
During testing, like most 1970s diesels, it blew visible soot from the exhaust pipe and made a clanking noise at idle.
Unreliable like few others
When the Oldsmobile engine in question is launched on the market, cost reduction forces it to be sold without water separator for the tank: a significant problem.
Diesel in America in the 1970s, in fact, is generally of poor quality and even a small amount of water can quickly cause rust in the engine and malfunction of the high-pressure, low-tolerance injectors.
In addition to this, there are other problems, such as the presence of an undersized distribution chain and the three-speed automatic gearbox which is not able to handle the couple of a diesel engine with constant stresses on the transmission.
All of this has led to very high failure rates in the history of this ill-fated model, with the California EPA not allowing the Olds diesel to be sold in the state for two years after its release, not because of its emissions, but because every one of the nine cars the EPA purchased had failed before it could complete testing.
The number of class action lawsuits involving the engine over time was so high that in 1983 buyers even flooded the post office box of the Federal Trade Commission. Because of this, the resale value of diesel-powered cars plummeted, leaving owners stranded with worthless vehicles and generating further lawsuits.
Due to the media frenzy surrounding the car, General Motors did not design another diesel car until the mid-2010s, with the Chevrolet Cruze. At the time, a highly efficient and very reliable clean diesel was in high demand on the market, thanks to the newly high cost of gasoline and the financial crash of 2008: over time, critics praised the incredible fuel economy and smoothness of the engine.
Source: it.motor1.com
