Did the 'H' body design continue on?..

[h-bot]

From: Monzabudd_REMOVE_497690_THIS_@yahoo.com


"The split evolution"

...of the 'H'
body..at least from what I can see.


As we all
know...production of the 'H' body cars ceased after an extended
model run,in November of 1980..Technically making some
models '81s ,but they are still considered '80s


The Lordstown Ohio plant,was then dismantled
and
reconfigured to produce the 'J' body car.

With this
you could assume that the 'H's were left to '70s
history, and all was new for the '80s
As times changed
from flamboyant and perponderous 'psychadelic
expirience '70s'..to the
uptight,reformed,conservative,electronic '80s.

But nothing is without a cycle of
growth and change.. an 'evolution' if you will.


And the 'H' cars fit right into the evolvement of the
GM corparate lineup of vehicles In the Subcompact,
And, the 'Pony'car segment.
(I would have used the
term 'muscle car' segment ,but I believe that more
acuratly describes the type of vehicles preceeded the 'H'
cars. from say..'66 to '73)...Although Todays 'Pony
cars' have finally far outclassed there predecessors in
performance,and reliability.

So ,getting back to the
evolution of the 'H'..
It appears that after their
run..the 'H's split into two line-ups..

The '82
Cavalier&J2000..are what came after.
as you can see by the 'J'
body designation,this was/(still is) a completely new
platform.
Poke around one and you'll be hard pressed to
find any mechanical similarities other than the
basics, like 4 wheels and headlights..lol
The change
over front wheel drive had the biggest effect on the
design.
Although 2 things were retained...Its concept of
comming into the market as an affordable,import
alternative, subcompact car.
And its availability as a
2-door hatchback(it was still a 2+2 although the term
wasnt used anymore,and 2 door 'trunk' model.
So
here the 'H's...primarily the Monza and Sunbird
cars...lived on in concept. A few years later on the J2000
reclaimed its 'Sunbird' name.
Today, the sunbirds
changed its name again to a more stylish 'Sunfire' and
the cavalier retains its name. And the 'H' roots show
up in the overall appearance of the 'Cav.' The
'alien eye' side window profile is back.. and the front
headlight wrap around to a point reminicent of the monza
2+2 taillights,among other small details.


Back to 1981...

Also around the same time, was
the introduction of the 'newly redesigned'
Camaro/Firebird..'F' body platform.
And it is here you can see
many traces to this day,of the design concepts
initiated into the GM lineup by the 'H' body cars.
It
is even believeable for me to think that the 'F'
body is the 'H' body platform beefed out. Or at least
they started with the 'H' blueprints,then vastly
improved on them. It is obviously now no longer an 'H'
piece,but the list of similarities goes on..and to this
day..that simple 'tourqe arm' suspention design,started on
the 'H's when there was a design hurdle to
controlling tourqe and axle twist in unitbody cars with
powerful engines..has still proven to be a worth while
design....

Overall, the 'H' bodys provided a test bed for
many features you'll find in use in current GM
vehicles...

Long live the H body!!..
Marco.


Care to add to this?? feel free...


[This is message #13 by user Monzabudd on Yahoo! Club Marco's Monza Messageboard: http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/marcosmonzamessageboard ]