VIDEO: Chevy dealer training film from the Eighties makes you wonder how GM sold any cars back then
1989 Chevrolet Celebrity Dealer Training Video - click above to watch the video
Yesterday we got to look (and LAUGH) at the Robocop-inspired goofiness of some late-Eighties Ford dealer training videos. Ha ha ha! But, you just know that given the chance, General Motors will up the both the corn and cheese factors by several hundred percent. Case in point, the 1989 dealer training film for the Chevrolet Celebrity. Here's the premise: A very successful CEO (the one in the killer pants) takes his young, just out of MBA school new hire golfing in his Chevy Celebrity. Which gives you some key insight into how mentally deranged General Motors could be two decades ago. Like, why not put a successful CEO-type in a Cadillac or an Oldsmobile -- even a Buick?
Anywho, the junior exec asks the CEO, "Don't you think it's, well, too conservative?" To which Mr. Silly Pants scolds, "Too conservative? My boy, in the financial business it's hard to get too conservative." But he then calls the Celebrity "as modern as they come" before bragging about its performance.
Once on the links, they meet up with a total stranger that happens to be a hardcore Ford Taurus hating Chevrolet Celebrity fan. Then big boss man and the perfect Chevy stranger take turns dissing on the young guy's 1976 Plymouth Fury. And then there's the twist at the end, featuring a Eurosport Celebrity. Its Eurosportiest feature? A heavy duty battery. And we haven't even mentioned the amazing, six-and-a-half minute guitar solo laden 1987 Camaro training video. You are going to want to watch both, after the jump. A hearty tip of the tam o'shanter to Daniel and Michael.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 6)
the4thheat 8:16PM (8/21/2009)
What kind of training are dealers supposed to get out of these videos anyway?
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TigerMil 10:44PM (8/21/2009)
Wotta joke. CEO has man-boobs. Instant non-entity, noncredible.
e46_M3 12:04AM (8/22/2009)
THAT WAS HILARIOUS
"THIS IS AS MODERN AS THEY COME"
AMcA 11:26AM (8/22/2009)
I think they were just filling space because there wasn't much to say about the car. So they had the stupid video about how modern and successful you'll look in a Celebrity. Dumb.
And ironic. A big-shot banker driving a mid-size Chevy? Sorry, that doesn't scream success.
Clueless is too kind a word for this.
Farmboy 8:21PM (8/21/2009)
My cousin had a Celebrity in high school. It was the worst car ever. I still stand by that the Celebrity is the worst car ever to come out of any Chevy dealer's lot.
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Tony 9:51PM (8/21/2009)
No, I wouldn't go that far lest we not forget the 1976 Corvette with it's 165 hp 350 V8 or the X cars like the Citation. Then there's the Vega, the Oldsmobile 350ci diesels, the Caddilac Cimaron, Aztek, early Fiero's that caught fire. I could go on but you get the picture.
Atomicbri 9:50AM (8/22/2009)
Hey Tony, you can't leave off the Chevette! THAT WAS HORRIBLE!
Greg 12:56PM (8/22/2009)
I had a Chevy Corsica company car...easily the worst car I ever drove.
Farmboy 1:22PM (8/22/2009)
@Greg. There are support groups for drivers of Corsicas.
tonydanza 2:32AM (8/23/2009)
Farmboy.. you're cousin owned a Chevy Celebrity during high school? Must've got alot of p***y.
calebe 12:03PM (9/01/2009)
What kind of idiot wrote those. oh wait. they were selling to the type of people in the videos
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why not the LS2LS7? 8:30PM (8/21/2009)
I liked the Celebrity Eurosport wagon. Probably just because it was a wagon though.
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steveH 8:05PM (8/22/2009)
We had a Celebrity Eurosport Wagon.
Last GM vehicle we ever plan on owning. Period.
*Four* alternators in one year? Ignoring for now the repairs required by damage caused by them.
Mitchttj 8:30PM (8/21/2009)
Even the training video is suggesting that the celebrity is a sub par car and you should only buy one if you cant afford the taurus. I love how when they suggest a "Mauzduh" the only recourse was in typical hillbilly fashion to reject it because it was Japanese.
And as for the Camaro, those really are shocking cars, i can't believe the top of the line 5.7 made all of 220 horsepower. Go to europe in that time period and see what type of performance the turbo cosworths offered.
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jb 9:00PM (8/21/2009)
Actually around 200 hp just as well. It's not because people think that they need 200 hp in a Camry or Accord these days that it is not a whole lot of power... It was top of the line in the 80's, and it would be nice if the horsepower race was slowing down these days.
why not the LS2LS7? 10:32PM (8/21/2009)
The Sierra Cosworth, which shook up Europe in the 80s, made 200HP. 1989 Ferrari 328? 270HP. 1989 IROC-Z 5.7? 240HP (not 220HP). Even the RS200 only made 250HP in street trim.
A regular car in Europe? Like the regular Sierra? 59HP-104HP in regular trim. 112HP if you got the 2.3L V6. A booming 148HP with the XR4i engine.
Power is way, way up lately. Now people say bonehead stuff like their Accord can't get out of its own way because it only has 200HP.
tankd0g 1:33AM (8/22/2009)
Say it with me....."Power to weight ratio".
why not the LS2LS7? 3:21AM (8/22/2009)
tankd0g:
59HP-104HP
You think cars are twice as heavy now? Or perhaps four times? The answer is neither.
And besides, 0-60 figures don't lie. A Camry does a 0-60 like a Ferrari used to do. Despite the weight being higher, the power is much much higher.
JJBattoe 3:44PM (8/22/2009)
It may not be quite double, but it's getting close with all the safety equipment that is necessary nowadays, and with cars just generally getting bigger. An 80's Sierra weighed 1100Kg, or around 2400 lbs. The sierra's North American equivalent was the Ford Taurus, and the 2010 Ford Taurus weighs 3750 lbs. I understand that's only about 1.5x the weight of the sierra, but yes, cars are generally getting heavier.
Shiftright 3:16PM (8/27/2009)
Amazing that GM didn't go bankrupt 20 years ago, when they really deserved it. What humongous pieces of crap. They made Russian cars of the time look pretty decent.