Curbside Classic Outtake: Packing A Hot Beretta Edition

Paul Niedermeyer
by Paul Niedermeyer

It’s time to use up some of the leftover shots from the recent trip to the Bay Area (not that I’m running low; no worries). I admit that the ’68 Chevy truck caught my attention first, although I have several of that vintage and they’ll be coming soon to TTAT. But then I noticed the white coupe hiding behind the truck wasn’t just any old boring Beretta, but a pretty hot little piece…

The Beretta is one of the many GM cars of that vintage that is quite forgettable. Built from 1987 through 1996, it was of course a course coupe version of the equally forgettable Corsica. Built on the L-platform, the Corsica, Baretta and Canadian Tempest were a slight variation of the N-Bodies; the difference being that Chevy did the lead work on these, and Olds on the N. Wonderful stuff, all of them, and a subject we’ll plumb in greater depths when we’re up to it. Most Berettas packed either the Cavalier’s dreadful little whiny 2.0 OHV four, or the Citation’s 2.8 or 3.1 V6s with their unmistakable roarty drone that suggested performance but rarely delivered. But this is a Beretta of a different stripe.

The GTZ was only built from ’90 through ’93, and was Chevy’s designated player to mix it up with the hot coupes of the day. Drop in Olds’ Quadraphonic-thrashy 2.3 liter 16 valve four packing 180 ponies and a Getrag 5 speed, and shod it with beefy tires and the FE7 suspension, and you have a…slightly cheaper Camaro. Zero to sixty in 7.6 seconds. According to a contemporary MT test, it was supposedly the fastest FWD car in the slalom in its time, besting even the Camaro’s time. Only one problem with that: like so many of GM’s skid pad/slalom time wonder cars (think C4 Corvette), those results were accomplished through very stiff springs and a punishing ride. Hustle one down a rough and broken-up road quickly, and between the coffee-grinder engine sounds and the punishing ride, this is a Beretta that you might be happy to drop off at the next gun turn-in program.

Paul Niedermeyer
Paul Niedermeyer

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  • BerettaGTZ BerettaGTZ on Mar 12, 2010

    Hey, you found my car! I owned a 1990 white GTZ just like in the picture. It was my first new car out of college and it brings back many fond memories. The Quad 4 had great power, with a very good Getrag 5 speed manual and excellent balance of handling and ride. I did SCCA autocross and several track days at venues such as Mid-Ohio. I got lots of comments from onlookers that the throaty wail of a Quad 4 at full throttle was a very sweet sound. The car held up really well over the years. I came to appreciate its excellent seats (best seats ever in a GM vehicle, and I've owned lots of them over the years) but cursed its lack of a cupholder. I loved the coupe styling but hated the long, heavy doors. And so it went, an ongoing love-hate relationship with the car over 6 years and 75,000 miles. Despite its many flaws, the GTZ was one of the favorite cars I've owned. It was one of the few GM cars that had real spirit.

  • Paul Paul on Mar 25, 2010

    My first new car was a 1990 Beretta GT with a 3.1 V6. I absolutely loved that car. One of the most reliable cars I have ever owned. I had it for 14 years and 358,000 KM (220,000 miles) before the engine gave out on it. I had none of the problems others have talked about. The biggest problem for me was that I had to replace the alternator about every 3 years.

  • CanadaCraig You can just imagine how quickly the tires are going to wear out on a 5,800 lbs AWD 2024 Dodge Charger.
  • Luke42 I tried FSD for a month in December 2022 on my Model Y and wasn’t impressed.The building-blocks were amazing but sum of the all of those amazing parts was about as useful as Honda Sensing in terms of reducing the driver’s workload.I have a list of fixes I need to see in Autopilot before I blow another $200 renting FSD. But I will try it for free for a month.I would love it if FSD v12 lived up to the hype and my mind were changed. But I have no reason to believe I might be wrong at this point, based on the reviews I’ve read so far. [shrug]. I’m sure I’ll have more to say about it once I get to test it.
  • FormerFF We bought three new and one used car last year, so we won't be visiting any showrooms this year unless a meteor hits one of them. Sorry to hear that Mini has terminated the manual transmission, a Mini could be a fun car to drive with a stick.It appears that 2025 is going to see a significant decrease in the number of models that can be had with a stick. The used car we bought is a Mk 7 GTI with a six speed manual, and my younger daughter and I are enjoying it quite a lot. We'll be hanging on to it for many years.
  • Oberkanone Where is the value here? Magna is assembling the vehicles. The IP is not novel. Just buy the IP at bankruptcy stage for next to nothing.
  • Jalop1991 what, no Turbo trim?
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