Fifteen years after the original NASCAR aero wars, General Motors revived the strategy with the Pontiac Grand Prix 2+2 and Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS Aerocoupe.
General Motors didn’t sign on with Ford and Chrysler for the original NASCAR aero wars of 1969-71. GM had no involvement in organized motorsports at the time, officially anyway. But by the 1980s, the automaker was all in on auto racing, including in NASCAR, where four of its car divisions were fully engaged. However, GM teams eventually found themselves at an aerodynamic disadvantage against the slick ninth-generation ’83-’89 Ford Thunderbirds. The blocky rooflines of the GM G-body coupes generated too much drag and too little rear downforce, limiting their speeds and making them a handful in traffic.
For 1986, the Buick and Olds teams switched to front-drive LeSabre and 88 coupe bodywork to address the issue, but Chevy and Pontiac chose another direction. They developed two fastback homologation models specifically designed for competition: the Monte Carlo SS Aerocoupe and the Pontiac Grand Prix 2+2. To keep things square with NASCAR, the cars were offered to the public.
The production version of the Grand Prix fastback was available in just one exterior combination: Silver Metallic with charcoal lower panels and red stripes with vinyl badging. All were equipped with the LG4 305 cubic-inch V8 rated at 165 hp, coupled to a 200R4 automatic transmission and a 3.08 rear axle. Aero enhancements included a slopenose front fascia and a giant backlite that required a tiny deck lid—constructed in fiberglass due to the short production run.
Standard Grand Prix coupes were shipped from the Sainte-Thérèse, Quebec assembly plant to Auto-Fab Inc. in Ortonville, Michigan for the conversion. Adding more than $7,000 to the cost of a base Grand Prix coupe, the official sticker price was $18,200. Most were sent to Pontiac’s southeast region, including a run of 200 Richard Petty editions. According to GM, 1225 cars with the Y97 2+2 package were assembled for MY 1986, but a very few cars at the end of the run were not equipped with the big backlite as the as the parts supply ran out.
The Monte Carlo SS Aerocoupe, on the other hand, displayed more ambitous production intent from Chevrolet. It was available in four colors, there was a serious ad campaign, and some 6,252 examples were produced over the two-year ’86-’87 model run. Based on the Monte Carlo SS notchback coupe, the Aerocoupe was equipped with a 305 CID V8 with dual exhausts and 180 hp, a four-speed automatic, and a 3.73:1 final drive—considerably sportier than its Pontiac counterpart. The price was considerably lower as well at less than $15,000. Design and assembly were managed by Cars and Concepts of Brighton, Michigan.
The most remarkable thing about the two GM aero specials is that while they shared an identical aerodynamic strategy, they share no components. As we can see above, the backlites, decklids, and rear spoilers are completely different. Clearly, the Chevy and Pontiac factory race operations regarded each other as competitors rather than collaborators. Both setups were the product of wind-tunnel testing, with the Chevrolet scoring an improvement in drag coefficient of 0.375 to 0.365, while Pontiac reported a Cd of .368.
Both aero cars dispensed with the squared-off, formal-look front ends of the GM G-body coupes in favor of slicker, slopier front fascias. The Aerocoupe used the same piece as the Monte Carlo SS notchback coupe, while the 2+2 adopted a similar approach but with the familiar Pontiac twin-nostril styling theme. Although both NASCAR specials are commonly referred to as Aerocoupes, it appears that only Chevrolet officially used that designation.
While both the Chevrolet and Pontiac aero specials were competitive in NASCAR Winston Cup, the Chevys were far more successful, due to greater numbers and stronger teams as much as anything. Pontiac teams campaigned the 2+2 as their lead entries through 1987, switching to the smaller front-drive Grand Prix body for ’88, while the Chevy camp raced the Aerocoupe through 1988, adopting Lumina bodywork for ’89.
If they were both tested, presumably in the same GM wind tunnel, it’s interesting how they came out as differently as they did.
It is interesting.
Pontiac chose a longer roofline, which required a taller spoiler. Chevrolet saved some deck area, allowing a shorter spoiler. It appears they each obtained a similar net result.
Several years ago, one of the racing magazines (I don’t remember which one) published an article on these cars. The article said that the reason each car used different rear glass was due to divisional differences in approach to dealing with the T-birds – Pontiac’s solution was designed from start to finish in the wind tunnel with input from their Winston Cup teams, while Chevrolet’s solution was designed as quickly and as inexpensively as possible with Chevy telling their Winston Cup teams to “make it work.” Dale Earnhardt certainly found a way to “make it work,” as he won the 1986 and 1987 Cup titles with the Aerocoupe. I don’t know how much of the article was rumor versus actual fact, but it explains the differences between the cars.
I’ve always like that Pontiac 2+2 …
Quite so. There was even a story that the Chevy aero package was never run in the tunnel until the teams received the pieces. I was unable to verify it so I didn’t include it here.
I was working at a Chevrolet dealer when these arrived. Tough to sell because of the lack of horsepower under the hood !
The Chevy was pretty weak but the Pontiac was even worse with its 3.08 axle.