A naukri.com initiative
The Truth About Cars
19h
307
Image Credit: The Truth About Cars
Abandoned History: GM's Unitized Power Package, you Down With UPP?
- GM introduced the Unitized Power Package (UPP) for the Oldsmobile Toronado in 1966, which marked the first front-wheel drive American car since the 1930s.
- GM began work on the UPP nine years earlier, led by John Beltz, who drove several important projects to production, including the Olds 4-4-2.
- The UPP was tested for over 1.5 million miles in more than a dozen test vehicles by GM.
- The Toronado won several awards immediately upon debut and caught the attention of the industry due to its front-wheel drive.
- The powerful UPP was also used in GM's Motorhome, which was assembled by Pontiac West Assembly between 1973 and 1978.
- Between 1979 and 1984, the UPP was slimmed down to work under the downsized E-body coupes with engines ranging between 4.1 and 6.0 litres.
- GM released its fully downsized cars company-wide in 1985 with front-wheel drive, leaving their proud UPP behind.
- The UPP's design and brand differentiation had been exceedingly compromised, leading to a difficult transition.
- The UPP had a long nine-year development period starting from 1958, and Oldsmobile planned to convert the F-85 line to front-wheel drive.
- However, the project extended longer than planned, and costs ballooned due to the challenges arising from fitting a V8 engine, an automatic transmission and all the other drivetrain components into the space usually reserved for the engine.
Read Full Article
18 Likes
For uninterrupted reading, download the app