Images from the brochure collection of Hemmings Motor News
Big things happened at General Motors for model year 1977, including the hugely successful redesign of the full-sized models that saw them dropping inches and pounds… up to 12 inches and more than 600 pounds, to be more specific, all in the name of improved economy. GM engineers and marketers weren’t sitting still for 1978, though, when they offered still more that was new and interesting for Chevrolet, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Buick, Cadillac and GMC.
Chevrolet celebrated the Corvette’s 25th anniversary with a suitably colored Silver Anniversary model that wore a new wraparound rear window design.
Also new in Chevrolet’s stable were the the attractively downsized Malibu, which could be had with a small block V-8-derived 3.3-liter V-6, and the Malibu-based El Camino. Pontiac was selling the heck out of Firebirds and Trans Ams in 1978, and the new WS6 handling package allowed those models to live up to the sporty performance their looks promised. Oldsmobile’s Cutlass was still white hot, with the smaller Cutlass Supreme selling more than half a million units. Buick had two aces up its sleeve with the new G-body Regal Sport Coupe and the turbocharged V-6 that made that car, and the LeSabre Sport Coupe, surprisingly quick. An outlier in Buick showrooms was the cute but complicatedly-named Buick Opel by Isuzu, a Japanese-built T-platform derivative related to the Chevette and T-1000.
At the top of the range, Cadillac debuted a new Elegante trim for its premium Seville that brought two-tone paint and bolt-on chrome wire wheels. Even the advanced GM Motorhome remained available, and was celebrated in this 38-page brochure.
Have you owned or driven any of the 1978 models celebrated in this brochure?
Click on the thumbnails below to enlarge.
