Many articles about General Motors are overly negative. Of course, these articles are justified, but General Motors do deserve recognition for some of the great cars they have made.
General Motors has been around for what seems like an eternity, and yes, they have made some great cars. From game-changing cars to loud, angry muscle cars, GM has done it all. Here are ten of the best cars General Motors has ever made.
10 Corvette C8
The latest Corvette is a fantastic car. If you covered the badges on the Corvette C8, one would assume that it is some Italian supercar rather than a Chevrolet. It looks fantastic from every angle, even though the rear wheels are a bit too tucked into the arches. Inside, it is all very driver-focused. The steering wheel looks like a racing wheel with its square design.
The C8 is powered by a 6.2 liter V8 with 490hp normally (or 495hp with the Z51 pack) and 465 lb-ft of torque (470 lb-ft of torque with the Z51 pack). The 0-60 time though is the real sweet spot. It hits 60 in 2.8 seconds, which is just phenomenal, and you get all of this for under $60,000. If this isn't looking like a baller on a budget, then we don't know what else is.
9 Corvette Stingray C2
The Corvette C2 Stingray is one of the most iconic cars ever made. Just look at it, have you seen any other American car as beautiful as a C2 Corvette? Probably not. The C2 generation Corvette was launched back in 1962, and it became an instant hit. This car was loved by everyone from famous Hollywood actors to NASA astronauts.
Engine sizes ranged from 5.4 liters to 7.0 liters. All engines were naturally aspirated V8's, too. The interior was also beautiful, with a stunning black leather rim and chrome steering wheel.
8 Lotus Carlton
Our first European GM car here and arguably the best car here. The Lotus Carlton was the fastest sedan in the world back in the early 1990s, doing a top speed of 177 mph. It was in the top ten fastest cars in the world at the time, and that list included cars like the Jaguar XJ220, Ferrari F40, McLaren F1, etc.
The Lotus Carlton featured a 3.6-liter twin-turbo inline-6 with 377hp, which, back in 1991, was a ton of power. The Sierra Cosworth could not touch this thing at all, just like the police. By the way, this is the only car in UK history that was debated in parliament since it was just so fast, and there were calls to ban it.
7 Chevrolet Camaro
The 1960s was a great era for GM. The Camaro was launched back in 1967 and ran until 1969. It appeared two years after the Mustang's launch, and yes it wasn't as successful as the Mustang, but either way, it still sold well. Over 200,000 of these Mk1 models were made in the first year alone, which shows that this car was pretty successful.
The exterior design of the Camaro is just so iconic. In our opinion, it looks far better than the Mustang, but don't tell Mustang fanboys that! The Camaro has held its value very well, and they are also very popular cars for resto-modding.
6 Pontiac GTO Mk1
The Pontiac GTO is a seriously cool car, and the Mk1 is our favorite generation. It was built from 1964 till 1967, and under the hood is a crazy 6.4-liter or 6.6-liter old-school V8. This car is a proper muscle car, and it looks good from every single angle. The car originally had 325hp in 1964 but by 1967, this car had a 6.6 liter V8 with 335hp.
The GTO, like the original Camaro, is a very popular car for resto-mod conversion enthusiasts. It is also very popular amongst collectors due to how rare they're getting.
5 Cadillac Eldorado Mk4
The Cadillac Eldorado was at the top of the Cadillac range. The 4th-gen is probably the most iconic Eldorado generation there is, with its rocket ship taillights and huge fins. This car is a proper head-turner, and it is bold in every single way. The size is insane since it's just so wide and so long. The interior space too is similar to that of a large room in a mansion.
No need to talk performance figures or any of that nonsense with this car, since it is a cruiser. However, it did feature a 6.4-liter V8. This Eldorado is a very rare car, and it was available in four-door form, two-door form, and convertible form.
4 Cadillac CTS V
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This was Cadillac's answer to the BMW M5 and Mercedes E63 AMG. In 2008, the second-generation version of this car even set a Nürburgring record for fastest production sedan at the time, setting a record of 7 minutes 59 seconds. This sedan then is no lazy slouch of a muscle car. It is a proper performance-oriented machine.
The third and final generation of CTS-V featured a 6.2-liter supercharged Corvette C6 ZO6 V8 engine. It has 640hp which is wild and this was back in 2016. It could hit 60 in 3.5 seconds and hit a top speed of 200 mph.
3 Corvette C4 ZR1
The Corvette C4 was by far the most unloved Corvette generation. It was also in our opinion the worst. Now, that's not, a bad thing at all. The Corvette is a fantastic car, and it's just every other generation offered something more. Anyways, enough of that, the C4 ZR1 is a completely different car from the standard C4.
Under the hood is a 5.7 liter LT5 V8 with originally 375hp but later on it was increased to 405hp. This car was a proper supercar doing a 0-60 time of around 4.4 seconds and flat out it could do 180 mph. This was back in the early to mid-1990s, so it sure was one of the fastest cars in the world.
2 Corvette C7 ZR1
The C7 ZR1 is a properly aggressive car. It features a different front bumper, a different hood, and a huge spoiler at the rear. This is a proper race car for the road, with a 6.2-liter V8 with a 2.6-liter supercharger. This means that this beast pushes out 755hp and 715 lb-ft of torque. The whole downforce system itself pushes out just over 430 kg of downforce at top speed.
The ZR1 will also hit a top speed of 208 mph. It's very over-the-top in every single way, and that's why we love it so much. It will hit 60 in 3.4 seconds too, which is also crazy.
1 HSV Commodore GTS-R W1
The only Aussie on this list, this car is an absolute animal. This car was a last hurrah for Holden Specialist Vehicles (HSV) and they did work miracles. Under the hood is a 6.2-liter supercharged V8 with 603hp and 627 lb-ft of torque. It's a menacing car, and it feels old-school with its 6-speed manual gearbox.
Only 300 of these beasts were ever built. It weighs almost two tonnes, so it needs the power to shift all of its weight about. The noise too is also spectacular thanks to the engine, which is shared with the Corvette ZR-1. A full-on crazy Aussie muscle car that we wish we got here.