General Motors J Platform
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The General Motors J platform, or J-body, is an
automobile platform A car platform is a shared set of common design, engineering, and production efforts, as well as major components, over a number of outwardly distinct models and even types of cars, often from different, but somewhat related, marques. It is prac ...
that was used by
General Motors General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...
for
compact car Compact car is a vehicle size class—predominantly used in North America—that sits between subcompact cars and mid-size cars. "Small family car" is a British term and a part of the C-segment in the European car classification. However, before ...
s from the 1982 to 2005 model years. The third generation of compact cars designed by GM, the J-body marked the introduction of front-wheel drive for its compact model lines, simultaneously replacing the rear-wheel drive H-body and the European U-body platforms, the latter being a stretched version of the original rear-wheel drive T-body. The J-body was marketed as a world car, with GM brands selling versions of the platform in North America, Europe, Australia, and Japan; in markets outside of North America, the model line was packaged as a
mid-size car Mid-size—also known as intermediate—is a vehicle size class which originated in the United States and is used for cars larger than compact cars and smaller than full-size cars. "Large family car" is a UK term and a part of the D-segment in ...
. Outside North America, the use of the J platform was phased out after the 1980s in favor of the Opel-based
GM2900 platform GM or Gm may refer to: Companies * General Motors, US automobile manufacturing company which was founded in 1908 ** Motors Liquidation Company, the US automobile manufacturing company known as General Motors Corporation from 1916 to 2009 * ...
. In North America, the introduction of the Saturn S-Series would lead to the consolidation of the J-body to the Chevrolet and Pontiac brands. Following several major revisions, the J platform remained in use into the 21st century; in June 2005, the final example (a Pontiac Sunfire) was produced. Introduced by Saturn for 2003, the
GM Delta platform Delta is a General Motors compact front-wheel-drive automobile and crossover SUV platform, originally developed by Opel Group. It was a successor to the Opel T platform; it also replaced J platform and the Z platform used by the Saturn S ...
is the fourth generation of compact cars from General Motors.


Background

The design of the J-car began in 1976. Originally, the J-car was only intended for the Chevrolet and Pontiac brands, but soon thereafter Oldsmobile and Buick were added. At the time, GM-controlled divisions in different parts of the world manufactured totally different
rear-wheel drive Rear-wheel drive (RWD) is a form of engine and transmission layout used in motor vehicles, in which the engine drives the rear wheels only. Until the late 20th century, rear-wheel drive was the most common configuration for cars. Most rear-whee ...
C-segment cars – the
Chevrolet Vega The Chevrolet Vega is a Subcompact car, subcompact automobile manufactured and marketed by General Motors, GM's Chevrolet division from 1970 until 1977. Available in two-door hatchback, notchback, station wagon, wagon, and sedan delivery body st ...
in America, the
Vauxhall Cavalier The Vauxhall Cavalier is a large family car that was sold primarily in the United Kingdom by Vauxhall Motors, Vauxhall from 1975 to 1995. It was based on a succession of Opel designs throughout its production life, during which it was built in ...
/
Opel Ascona The Opel Ascona is a large family car (D-segment in Europe) that was produced by the German automaker Opel from 1970 to 1988. It was produced in three separate generations, beginning with rear-wheel-drive and ending up as a front-wheel drive J-c ...
in Europe, the
Holden Torana The Holden Torana is a mid-sized car that was manufactured by Holden from 1967 to 1980. The name apparently comes from a word meaning "to fly" in an unconfirmed Aboriginal Australian language. The original HB series Torana was released in 196 ...
in Australia and the
Isuzu Florian The Isuzu Florian is an intermediate class car manufactured by Isuzu in Japan from November 1967 until 1983. The Florian's body remained essentially the same through its unusually long life cycle, being afforded only two moderate facelifts. The Is ...
in Japan. It was decided that a common replacement would be developed to eliminate duplication of engineering effort and ensure parts interchangeability – a practice known as
badge engineering In the automotive industry, rebadging (also known as badge engineering, an intentionally ironic misnomer in that little or no actual engineering takes place) is a form of market segmentation used by automobile manufacturers around the world. T ...
or platform-sharing. In November 1979, subsequent to the second fuel crisis and only 14 months before the car’s introduction, it was decided to create a
Cadillac Cadillac Motor Car Division, or simply Cadillac (), is the luxury vehicle division (business), division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM). Its major markets are the United States, Canada and China; Cadillac models are ...
derivative as well. Aside from a hefty price tag, the hastily developed Cimarron had little to distinguish it from the other J-car offerings. In continental Europe, the car was sold as the
Opel Ascona The Opel Ascona is a large family car (D-segment in Europe) that was produced by the German automaker Opel from 1970 to 1988. It was produced in three separate generations, beginning with rear-wheel-drive and ending up as a front-wheel drive J-c ...
. In Britain, it was known as the Vauxhall Cavalier. Irrespective of badging, European production of the J-body occurred in plants in Germany, Belgium, and Britain. It was generally well received but was narrowly beaten to the
European Car of the Year The European Car of the Year award is an international Car of the Year award established in 1964 by a collective of automobile magazines from different countries in Europe. The current organising media of the award are '' Auto'' (Italy), '' Aut ...
accolade by the
Renault 9 The Renault 9 and Renault 11 are small family cars produced by the French manufacturer Renault from 1981 to 1989 in saloon (Renault 9) and hatchback (Renault 11) configurations — both were styled by the French automobile designer, Robert Opron ...
. The Vauxhall Cavalier version was particularly successful in Britain, where it was the second best selling car in 1984 and 1985 and managed around 800,000 sales across a seven-year production run. At the time, it set new standards for performance and economy in this size of car in Europe; for instance, the 1.6 petrol engined Cavalier for the British market had a top speed of 105 mph, compared to the 101 mph top speed of the 2.0 petrol engined
Ford Cortina The Ford Cortina is a medium-sized family car manufactured in various body styles from 1962 to 1982. It was the United Kingdom's best-selling car of the 1970s. The Cortina was produced in five generations (Mark I through to Mark V, although of ...
– its key competitor for a year until the
Ford Sierra The Ford Sierra is a Mid-size car, mid-size/D-segment, large family car manufactured and marketed by Ford of Europe from 1982–1993. It was designed by Uwe Bahnsen, Bob Lutz (businessman), Robert Lutz and Patrick Le Quément, and was noted for ...
was launched in 1982. Due to the exterior dimensions, and the engines offered being in compliance with Japanese regulations, the platform was classed in the favorable "compact" designation allowing the
Isuzu Aska The Isuzu Aska was a nameplate used by Isuzu of Japan to denote its mid-size sedans from 1983 to 2002. Originally the Aska was a version of General Motors' J-car produced by Isuzu, but after Isuzu pulled out of manufacturing passenger cars the ...
to compete with other Japanese made products sold in the domestic market at the time. Isuzu also supplied kits for Holden's J-car version, the Camira., whilst correspondingly - Holden manufactured the
GM Family II The Family II is a straight-4 piston engine that was originally developed by Opel in the 1970s, debuting in 1981. Available in a wide range of cubic capacities ranging from 1598 to 2405  cc, it simultaneously replaced the Opel CIH and Vaux ...
engines installed in J-body cars manufactured worldwide, and also the
station wagon A station wagon (American English, US, also wagon) or estate car (British English, UK, also estate) is an automotive Car body style, body-style variant of a Sedan (automobile), sedan with its roof extended rearward over a shared passenger/cargo ...
bodywork for the Camira was supplied to Vauxhall in the UK for its estate version of the Cavalier II. The fourth character in the
Vehicle Identification Number A vehicle identification number (VIN; also called a chassis number or frame number) is a unique code, including a serial number, used by the automotive industry to identify individual motor vehicles, towed vehicles, motorcycles, scooters a ...
for a J-body car is "J".


Development

The platform received two major cosmetic redesigns, in 1988 and a more thorough makeover in 1995, along with major powertrain revisions. The 1995 makeover was only sold in North America, as General Motors subsidiaries in other countries had replaced it (mainly with cars based on the
GM2900 platform GM or Gm may refer to: Companies * General Motors, US automobile manufacturing company which was founded in 1908 ** Motors Liquidation Company, the US automobile manufacturing company known as General Motors Corporation from 1916 to 2009 * ...
). This makeover had originally been planned for the 1992 model year when work begain in 1988, but General Motors' bad finances forced them to postpone it twice. Keenan & Smith, p. 36 A variety of convertible versions were developed as well, from fully official to purely aftermarket. In all cases, final assembly of convertibles was subcontracted by General Motors; in North America by American Sunroof Corporation (ASC); in Brazil by Envemo and Sulam, and in Europe by
Keinath Keinath Automobilbau was a car manufacturer based in Reutlingen, Germany owned and operated by Horst Keinath. The company began by producing a convertible variant of the Opel Monza, and the Vauxhall Cavalier Mark 2. Along with Hammond & Thiede a ...
and . Hammond & Thiede's version originated with the Karosseriefabrik Voll, which was taken over by H&T in 1985.


Models

Over its 24-year production run, the GM J platform would be sold under 16 different nameplates (five under the Pontiac brand alone). During the 1980s, a version of the J platform would be marketed by every division of General Motors in North America (with the exception of GMC). Over 5.8 million of the original (pre-1995 facelift) J-cars were sold in North America. Approximately 10,150,000 GM J platform cars were sold across eleven marques on six continents from 1982 through 1997. Consequently, it is the fifth best selling
automobile platform A car platform is a shared set of common design, engineering, and production efforts, as well as major components, over a number of outwardly distinct models and even types of cars, often from different, but somewhat related, marques. It is prac ...
in automotive history.


References


List of GM VIN codes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gm J Platform J