The 1990 Chevy Beretta GTZ Was A Vehicular Gem Among Filthy Vehicular Turds

"Margin Of Error" (marginoferror)
09/18/2015 at 15:36 • Filed to: FORGOTTEN CLASSICS, FC, ESSAY

The Chevrolet Beretta was an ambiguous car. First of all, it was the coupe version of the equally ambiguous Corsica, slotted above the Cavalier and slightly under the N-body cars, the Chevy-engineered L-body cars were like “almost midsize” or “near compact”. It was like in its own category, and they had door handles that were integrated in the B-pillars. Sweet.

Welcome to Forgotten Classics

As demonstrated in the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , the goal of this series of essays is be to bring cars that are getting no love back in the limelight. FC is also a thorough analysis of why such cars remained obscure and never got the praise they deserved.

The 1990 to 1993 Beretta GTZ was the high performance version of the Beretta. It replaced the 1988-1989 GTU model. The Beretta/Corsica in their standard form were not really impressive cars, except for the GTZ ...

First of all, the engine. To power this beast, Chevy borrow the famous Oldsmobile Quad4, a 2.3L 4banger that produced 180hp. That is only 4 horses short of the the new Mazda’s 2.5L SkyActive engine, but 25 years ago. One word : Impressive.

To send the power to the wrong wheels, GM engineers installed a German made Getrag 5 speed manual transmission. With its standard GM FE7 suspension, the car was capable of 0.92 G on the skid pad, better that all FWD car ever tested by Motor Trend at this time. It’s also worth to mention that the GTZ was able to sprint from naught to sixty in only 7.6 seconds, which was also faster than its competition.

Inside, designers left nothing to be desired. The minimalist equipment, the heavily bolstered racing seats and and the meaty (for the era) steering wheel made a very strong statement.

Unfortunately, the early 90’s was not a good era to be a coupe, and the Beretta saw its sales figures plummet year after year. The GTZ was canceled after the 1993 automotive season in favor of the Z26, which a none of the goodies aforementioned but offered a 3.1L Multiport V6 engine that was good at impressing gullible customers.

Very few GTZ models were produced, in fact they are so rare that even finding pictures for this article was complicated. If you can put your hands on a example, do not hesitate, these babies will start to appreciate very soon.

Thanks for reading.

DISCUSSION (17)

Party-vi > Margin Of Error
09/18/2015 at 15:46

Kinja'd!!!

EW CARPET-DASH

Swayze Train GTi > Margin Of Error
09/18/2015 at 15:47

“Chevy borough the famous...”

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

Other than that pretty good little read

Margin Of Error > Swayze Train GTi
09/18/2015 at 15:50

It wouldn’t be a proper forgotten classics essay without a few typos.

Thanks for letting me know, it has been corrected. Jalopnik is not paying me for these so I had to fire my reviewer.

Margin Of Error > Party-vi
09/18/2015 at 15:54

It’s to protect the plastic surfaces from cracking.

Swayze Train GTi > Margin Of Error
09/18/2015 at 15:56

I understand, I post my own articles up here sometimes. But damn dude. Buroughs? Amazing.

Margin Of Error > Swayze Train GTi
09/18/2015 at 15:56

I’m a Wordsmith

Party-vi > Margin Of Error
09/18/2015 at 16:00

It’s so you can put your feet on it.

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > Margin Of Error
09/18/2015 at 16:05

Chevy knows how to make a great handling FWD car. When they feel like it. They also know how to use the beigest part of their range as a base vehicle, largely undermining its reputation before it even begins.

eg. see above, Malibu/Malibu Maxx SS, Cobalt SS...

mazda616 > Margin Of Error
09/18/2015 at 16:06

As a former (and secretly current) GM L-body lover, I support this article. My first car was a Beretta. At my insistence. It was not the GTZ I wanted, though. My grandpa figured out how fast they were and ruled that out quickly. Instead, I got a 1992 2.2 four-cylinder rental car spec base model Beretta for $1,250.00. My teenage self was disappointed but I loved my slowpoke Beretta anyway.

I basically grew up in a Corsica. My mom bought it new in 1991. It was an LT with the Z51 sport package, which included a full gauge cluster (tach, oil pressure, battery voltage were all included with the package), Corsica LTZ wheels, and a slightly firmer FE3 suspension compared to most Corsica’s FE1 setups. I miss that car. It was rock solid for us right up until my stepdad sold it after my mom’s death in 2001. It was supposed to be mine someday. :-(

mazda616 > Margin Of Error
09/18/2015 at 16:08

It’s actually to hide the dash that has already warped. All Berettas, from ‘87 to ‘96, will have their dashboards warp and pop up and crack when exposed to the sun longer than about five minutes. A non-warped dashboard is like gold to Beretta enthusiasts.

BigBlock440 > Party-vi
09/18/2015 at 16:11

It’s soft touch

shop-teacher > mazda616
09/18/2015 at 16:41

My wife’s first car was an inherited ‘93 Corsica. She kept it for 13 years, and it never failed her once. I should have kept it for a daily beater.

JeepJeremy > Margin Of Error
09/18/2015 at 18:08

My first car was an ‘89 Beretta GT. I LOVED that car.

09GT - now boosted > Margin Of Error
09/18/2015 at 18:55

My dad had one of these, with the upgraded dash which was a little nicer. It had great tweed-like material on the seats (very expensive-looked and durable) and a lumbar support control that was like inflating a blood pressure cuff. The Quad 4 made little power (and noise) until ~4000 rpm, then it was like a Saturn V booster (with a racket to rival a Saturn V as well). A fun, sleeper car for the times.

MM54 > Margin Of Error
09/20/2015 at 14:04

My friend had (and recently was finally able to rid himself of) a basic Beretta. A few points:
1. It did not go very well
2. It did not stop very well
3. Everything about it was incredibly cheap
4. The door handles on the pillars is neat
5. The seatbelts are tied into the doors, so you can open them and get in/out of the car without undoing the seatbelt.

Tez20 > Margin Of Error
11/15/2016 at 22:55

I still have my 90 GTZ in maroon. Runs great still fast as hell! I wish the inside was new and I’d be in heaven..I’ll keep working on her. I like your post

DanteGTZ > Margin Of Error
01/03/2017 at 15:31

That blue GTZ you used in the article was actually my car. I took that picture back in about 2001 or 2002. I sold that car back in 2005 and never saw it again. For years I regretted that decision and back in 2012 I began searching for another. I actually found almost identical car to my original one in Wisconsin. Amazingly, it had been well cared for and had never seen a winter. I bought the car and brought it back to Tennessee where I have kept it ever since. I know these cars are a bit of an oddity, but that’s kind of what I like about them. Back in 2014, I had the opportunity to purchase a very rare 93 GTZ in medium Garnet metallic. They were only 50 of those produced in that color in 1993. I actually had to fly up to Canada, import the car and drive it back home. Just like my other 93 quasar GTZ, this one had never seen winter either and was in exceptionally good shape. I will be listing the 1993 Garnet GTZ For sale soon. If anyone is interested, feel free to contact me.