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CHEVY MONTE CARLO - Everything You Need to Know | Up to Speed - YouTube
Channel: Donut Media
[4]
- Hey kid, you wanna go fast?
[5]
You wanna be real comfortable too?
[7]
You wanna be a NASCAR driver?
[9]
Well, I got what you need right here.
[14]
It's got two doors, and it's named after
[16]
an administrative area of principality
[18]
of Monaco in the south of France.
[20]
This is everything you need to know
[22]
to get up to speed on
the Chevy Monte Carlo.
[32]
Sometimes, you're just
too tired to do the job,
[36]
whether that's hosting a
show, writing a script,
[39]
or washing your car.
[45]
But thanks to NOS Energy,
[47]
I got that good energy that
helps me get the job done.
[53]
♪ Power baby ♪
[55]
♪ More power baby ♪
[58]
♪ More power baby ♪
[61]
♪ More power ♪
[66]
- It was the mid-60s and
Chevy was doing well.
[68]
With 12 different models for sale,
[70]
like the Camaro, Impala, and Malibu,
[72]
it seemed like them bow tie
boys and girls had it all.
[76]
But the grass ain't always greener.
[77]
Sometimes, it has big yellow spots
[79]
where your dog's been doing his business.
[81]
Chevy had a problem, and that problem
[84]
was named the Ford Thunderbird.
[90]
Ford's luxury two-door had
been selling well enough
[93]
since the mid-50s to force GM brands
[95]
like Pontiac and Buick
to respond with cars
[98]
like the Grand Prix and the Riviera.
[99]
GM brass was stoked, but back at Chevy,
[102]
there was another story.
[103]
Chevy general manager, Pete Estes,
[106]
remember him from the Camaro episode,
[107]
he's literally (bleep) nuts.
[109]
He was pissed off.
[110]
If Pontiac and Buick were allowed to have
[112]
personal luxury cars, why shouldn't Chevy?
[115]
Chevy division sales manager,
Lee Mays, didn't agree.
[118]
He was like, "No means no, Estes.
[120]
"Jesus, literally walking out the door.
[123]
"I gotta get to a frickin'
recital, don't you know?"
[125]
So there wouldn't be a Chevy
competitor to the Thunderbird,
[127]
not for a few more years.
[129]
Then, it was 1968.
[131]
John Z. DeLorean, you ever heard of him,
[133]
was now the general manager at Chevy.
[136]
He was hot off his success at Pontiac
[138]
where he made the Grand Prix a
worthy Thunderbird competitor
[141]
and helped start the muscle car
wars with the legendary GTO.
[145]
DeLorean was a marketing fricking genius,
[147]
who knew that making young
people like your brand
[150]
was the key to success,
[151]
kind of like how the Champion brand
[153]
used to be for your Uncle Jeff,
[155]
but now Ryan Tuerck wears them
[156]
and they sell for 75
bucks at Urban Outfitters.
[159]
I bought four.
[162]
Tuerck's cool.
[163]
So in walks John DeLorean with that BDE,
[167]
and he didn't get along
with Lee Mays either.
[170]
DeLorean goes to the top GM brass and says
[173]
that Mays is straight
up getting in the way
[175]
of DeLorean's success.
[177]
Mays was reassigned to Buick
general manager shortly after.
[181]
Now that he was out, no
more Mays, no more problem.
[187]
That's how you gotta be, man.
[189]
If someone's in the way
of where you gotta be,
[192]
get them out of there.
[192]
That's the Kentucky cobra way.
[197]
With Mays gone, the Chevy team got to work
[200]
on their new personal luxury vehicle,
[202]
code name, Concurs.
[205]
Here's how it's spelled.
[206]
That's how I'm gonna say it.
[207]
The car was based off
of GM's G-body platform.
[211]
Coincidentally, the same
as the Pontiac Grand Prix.
[215]
To make sure buyers knew that Chevy's new
[217]
personal luxury vehicle was luxurious,
[220]
the Concurs team took inspiration
[222]
from another one of GM's luxury cars,
[224]
the 1967 Cadillac El Dorado.
[227]
And when I say inspiration,
[229]
I mean they basically traced the design
[231]
and changed a few things
like the headlights.
[233]
Cadillac was like, "What the heck, bro?"
[235]
But the Concurs team kept working.
[237]
They were like, "Don't even
freaking worry about it, dude."
[240]
They dressed up the recycled bits,
[241]
so people wouldn't feel bad
about dropping more coin
[245]
on what was basically
a dressed up Chevelle
[247]
wearing a Cadillac fur coat.
[249]
Before the Concurs, again how it's spelled
[252]
and how I say it, went on sale,
[254]
they gave it a new name.
[255]
What better name for a big
bodied coupe built in Detroit
[259]
than that of a principality at
the base of the Maritime Alps
[263]
nestled in the south of France?
[265]
In 1970, General Motors
debuted the all new
[269]
Chevy Monte Carlo.
[276]
The buzz was undeniable.
[278]
Car and Driver said it's
a composite of Buick,
[281]
Oldsmobile, and Cadillac.
[282]
That's what I call high praise.
[284]
Along with the base Monte Carlo,
[286]
Chevy also made a performance
model with the SS badge,
[291]
The main difference
between the base and the SS
[293]
was the engine.
[294]
The SS was equipped with
a 7.4 liter, 454 V8,
[298]
making 360 hrsprs.
[304]
To help this beefy boy get around turns,
[306]
the SS was outfitted with wider tires
[308]
to get the power down
[309]
and heavy duty, self-leveling suspension.
[312]
To critics, the Monte
Carlo might have been
[314]
an odd mish-mash of GM parts and styling,
[317]
but to customers, it
was the most affordable
[319]
personal luxury car in
America at the time,
[322]
and it sold well in the
first two years of its life.
[326]
- [Announcer] Monte Carlo, number one
[328]
in the personal luxury car field.
[330]
- And since the Monte didn't
have a lot of bespoke parts
[333]
that were expensive to make,
[335]
it made Chevy a lot of money.
[337]
Unfortunately for some fans,
the SS was not here to stay.
[341]
Chevy bigwigs thought the
idea of a quick luxury car
[344]
was a contradiction and axed
the Monte Carlo SS in 1972.
[349]
However, that contradiction
did not stop them
[351]
from making the Monte
Carlo custom package,
[354]
which was basically an
SS without the badges.
[356]
Speaking of badges, Chevy loves them.
[359]
And they were so committed
to making the Monte Carlo
[361]
a luxury mainstay that
they kept the number
[363]
of Chevy badges on the car to a minimum.
[366]
- Hey Craig, what is that car over there?
[370]
It looks like a Chevy but nice.
[373]
- I don't know, Jerry.
[374]
- I guess we'll never know.
[375]
Anyway, we're late for our
reservation at Applebee's, whee.
[379]
- I'm gonna be frank.
[381]
Throughout the rest of the 70s,
[382]
the Monte Carlo wasn't that exciting.
[386]
It was making GM money, sure,
[388]
and it was getting some
fancier touches along the way.
[391]
Engineers fitted the MC with
front seats that could swivel
[394]
sideways to make getting
in and out easier.
[397]
I would love if seats
swiveled back and forth
[400]
that make it easier to get out.
[402]
Cut to a super cut of me
getting in and out of cars.
[415]
Despite one of the coolest technologies
[417]
ever in automotive history,
the old gas crisis hit.
[421]
And that wasn't Chevy's only problem.
[422]
Japanese car makers were
making life hard for Detroit.
[426]
Japan's cars were reliable, economical,
[428]
and most importantly, very affordable.
[431]
The Monte Carlo was literally
none of those things.
[435]
So, (sighs) they would
have to make it smaller.
[439]
The third gen Monte was produced
[441]
from 1978 all the way to 1980.
[445]
That's 12 whole years, 12
whole years, 12 whole years.
[447]
1978 all the way to 1980.
[451]
That's 12 whole years.
[453]
The flat grill was familiar
to the Chevy faithful,
[455]
but the rest of the car
was downsized and reshaped
[457]
into a sleeker form.
[459]
It wasn't a bad car, but the Monte Carlo
[462]
had yet to really reach
its full potential.
[464]
And this.
[465]
Is this where you talk about the part
[467]
where the Monte Carlo
reaches its full potential?
[470]
Am I really that predictable?
[473]
I mean, your content is entertaining,
[476]
but let's be honest, you
really do have a formula.
[479]
Well, if you've figured out that formula,
[482]
feel free to submit to
write for this show.
[484]
Go to donutmedia.com, and
then there's a clicky spot
[488]
where it says, "Join the team."
[492]
1981, the Monte Carlo was leaner
and meaner than ever before
[498]
and still retained the
signature personal luxury.
[501]
There were a ton of choices
when it came to engines.
[503]
Buyers could choose from small
V6's, Oldsmobile 350 diesel,
[508]
and even a turbo-charged V6 from Buick.
[515]
The variety was proof Chevy
wanted the Monte Carlo
[519]
to be the luxury car for everyone.
[521]
There was just one problem.
[523]
That (bleep) Ford Thunderbird.
[529]
For the 1983 NASCAR
season, Ford introduced
[533]
a new Thunderbird stock car.
[535]
It was a super sleek
and aerodynamic design.
[538]
Some people started
calling it the Aero-Bird.
[541]
The Aero-Bird would break 200
on an oval on the regular,
[545]
and it even set a race
lap record at Talladega
[548]
that still stands today, today.
[551]
Chevy responded by petitioning NASCAR
[554]
to let them run a new
nose on the Monte Carlo
[557]
for the 1983 season, which NASCAR allowed.
[560]
We got friends at NASCAR.
[561]
Shout-out Matt Sommers.
[563]
But since it was stock car racing,
[566]
that meant the Monte Carlo road car
[568]
had to be produced with
the new nose as well,
[570]
and that wasn't all.
[571]
Since the Monte Carlo was
now an aerodynamic race car,
[575]
it needed
[577]
performance to match.
[585]
Chevy dropped a 305 cubic
inch V8 under the hood
[588]
and brought back a long lost trim level.
[592]
Super sport.
[594]
Yes, the Monte Carlo SS was back
[597]
for the first time in 12 years
and looked better than ever.
[600]
The new SS was a huge hit with customers,
[603]
outselling the more luxurious LS package
[606]
and becoming the most
popular Monte Carlo trim.
[608]
It also didn't hurt that the Monte Carlo
[611]
was kicking (bleep) in NASCAR.
[614]
That's what you call kickin' Nass.
[618]
The Monte Carlo was holding
its own against the T-Bird,
[620]
but holding its own wasn't good enough.
[623]
As Monte Carlos screamed around the track,
[625]
the dramatic drop of the rear window
[627]
created a high pressure zone,
[629]
which pulled backwards on the car.
[630]
If they could make that
angle smoother, the car
[634]
would go faster, so that's what they did.
[636]
Chevy engineers made a
three-piece rear window
[639]
that significantly decreased
the slope to 25 degrees.
[643]
They called it the Aerocoupe.
[645]
Chevy had to build 200 of
these things for the public
[648]
to meet homologation rules.
[649]
So in 1986, that's what they did.
[652]
But something weird happened.
[653]
People really liked them.
[654]
So in 1987, they didn't
limit Aerocoupe production
[657]
and ended up selling more
than 6000 of them that year.
[661]
But wait, what about your friend, Dale?
[663]
Dale Earnhardt was a one-time
Winston Cup champion.
[667]
He spent the mid-80s behind the wheel
[669]
of a Ford Aero-Bird but switched
to a Monte Carlo Aerocoupe
[673]
for the 86 season.
[674]
Good move, Dale.
[675]
He took the blue and
yellow Wrangler Jeans Monte
[677]
all the way to the tippity top
[679]
and earned his second
championship that year.
[681]
The next year, he followed it
up with another championship.
[685]
That makes three, which was fitting
[686]
because that's also his number.
[688]
Dale's in your face driving style
[690]
and nearly unquenchable need to win
[692]
earned him the nickname, The Intimidator.
[694]
The intimidation factor
was made official in 1988
[697]
when Dale got a new sponsor.
[699]
His Monte Carlo went from
the jovial blue and yellow
[702]
to a new paint scheme that
truly embodied his nickname.
[706]
It was painted black.
[707]
If that didn't make other drivers puh-poo
[711]
in their puh-pants, nothing would.
[713]
Earnhardt would win
four more championships,
[717]
bringing the total to seven.
[719]
As the 80s came to an end,
[720]
Dale had made the Monte Carlo a legend.
[723]
Unfortunately, that wasn't enough
[725]
to justify the car's
existence in the real world.
[727]
Those Japanese cars the
Monte Carlo had downsized
[730]
to fight 10 years earlier were getting
[733]
really, really, really good.
[741]
So 1988 was the last model
year for the Monte Carlo
[744]
and would be replaced by the
front wheel drive Lumina.
[747]
But this wasn't the end
for the Monte Carlo.
[752]
All right.
[755]
By 1995, the Lumina's image was
[761]
very, very, very boring.
[762]
So to spice things up, Chevy
renamed the two-door Lumina,
[766]
the Monte Carlo.
[767]
Whoo, we're back, baby.
[768]
But not really.
[769]
The new Monte didn't
really have anything to do
[772]
with the old one.
[773]
Aww, man.
[776]
Chevy did eventually introduce
a new SS model in 2004
[780]
featuring a supercharged
V6, making 240 horsepower.
[786]
In an attempt to relive the glory days,
[788]
Chevy also released a Dale
Earnhardt edition Monte Carlo,
[791]
available in either black for Senior
[793]
or red for Junior.
[794]
The Earnhardt edition had a bunch
[796]
of other NASCAR style touches,
[798]
like either Senior or Junior's
number plastered inside
[801]
and some race inspired gauges.
[803]
Most importantly, the black one came
[806]
with an Intimidator badge on the back.
[808]
You could only buy one of those
[809]
if you were truly most
definitely doing it for Dale.
[813]
Shouts to Cleetus
McFarland, what's up, man?
[816]
I like you a lot.
[817]
We should hang out.
[819]
The Monte Carlo got its
final refresh in 2006
[823]
with its most notable
improvement under the hood.
[826]
The Monte Carlo SS was
once again powered by a V8
[829]
the first time in 18 years.
[830]
That's right, a V8.
[832]
I don't know, yeah, they do it.
[841]
Chevy announced that the Monte
Carlo would be discontinued
[844]
for 2007, citing low consumer interest,
[847]
i.e., no one cared.
[849]
And fears that the Monte might steal sales
[851]
from the upcoming Camaro,
[856]
which I don't really follow along with.
[863]
I just want to give a quick
shouts to (bleep) helmets,
[865]
I'm gonna have to bleep
your name on the episode,
[867]
This guy painted this
really cool helmet for me,
[869]
and he talked to me about it
[870]
and he let me design it with him.
[873]
I'm very happy with it,
so check out his Instagram
[876]
and his website, I'll put the
link in the description below.
[881]
I love you.
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