The G-body designation was originally used for the 1969–1972
Pontiac Grand Prix and 1970–1972
Chevrolet Monte Carlo personal luxury cars, which rode on longer wheelbases than A-body coupes. For 1973, the Grand Prix and Monte Carlo were related to the A-body line, with all formal-roof A-body coupes designated as
A-Special (and, after 1982,
G-Special). These special coupes included the
Monte Carlo,
Grand Prix,
Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme, and
Buick Regal. For the 1982 model year, GM introduced a new
front-wheel drive A platform for its mid-size car lines. The rear-wheel drive platform that had been in use since 1978 was re-designated as the G platform, and select models remained in production. The Chevrolet Malibu and Pontiac LeMans coupes were dropped; on sedans and wagons the LeMans nameplate continued only in Canada while the formerly full-size Bonneville replaced it in the U.S. 1983 was the last year for the Malibu sedan and all station wagons, leaving the G-Special coupes; Buick, Oldsmobile, and Pontiac formal-roof sedans; and the Chevrolet El Camino/GMC Caballero. For 1988, most remaining G-body models were moved to the new
front-wheel drive W platform. The
Pontiac Bonneville had been moved to the
H platform for 1987, the El Camino was dropped without a replacement, and there would be a one-year gap before the W-body Chevrolet Lumina coupe replaced the Monte Carlo. GM later used the
G-body designation for unrelated
full-sized front-wheel drive cars. The G-bodies were some of the last cars to follow the front-engine, large V8 and rear-wheel drive
muscle car formula, remaining popular while most mid-sized cars moved to front-wheel drive. They were also among the last production-based vehicles raced in
NASCAR (and competitively, with the Buick Regal in particular dominating many races in its time). NASCAR regulations continued to stipulate production body parts until 2003 (namely, the hood, roof, and deck lid), but since most of the vehicles that bodies were derived from during this period had a
transverse front-wheel drive layout (many even lacking a V8 as an option), the drivetrain and all running gear were either custom-built or sourced from other (usually, older) models. ==Vehicles==