QOTD: Change Is a Bad Thing?

On the Junkyard Find post at the start of this week, conversation turned to vehicle models which resisted change from the designer’s pen (or ruler) and the engineer’s… tools. Today we talk about the good old days, and how sometimes things stay the same.

The very subject of the Junkyard Find is my example for a vehicle resistant to change: the Chevrolet Caprice Classic. Chevrolet’s third Caprice album for the full-size Malaise customer was introduced for the 1977 model year.

Originally a trim of Impala, Caprice gained independence as its own model for 1966 when it became the most expensive full-size Chevrolet. After changes every couple of years, a second generation debuted for the ’71 model year. Again, changes and revisions occurred every couple of years as the design experienced subtle reworking. Time for downsizing.

1977 saw a new, third generation model called Caprice Classic. General Motors spent a lot of money (to the tune of $600 million) developing its new downsized models. The resulting sedans were 10 inches shorter outside, but had more interior room. From here on out, things remained largely unchanged for the Caprice Classic. The three-box design was minimally revised for 1980, and there was a new 4.4-liter V8 as the base engine option (115 hp). Throttle body fuel injection for 1985 was accompanied by minimal visual changes in 1986, as Caprice Classic soldiered on in its third generation. The Eighties drew to a close, and Caprice Classic was still there. It had one final glorious and boxy year in 1990, and was replaced by the divisive whale B-body model for 1991. Caprice Classic was not for turning, or changing.

Your uh, turn. Which vehicles had the fewest changes over the longest period of time?

[Image: GM]