When the Beretta arrived at Chevy dealers in 1987, I really campaigned hard for my dad to buy one. He was due for a new car, and as a Ford man, it was a foregone conclusion that he would get a newly-restyled T-Bird. I tried everything, including poking fun at the T-Bird’s “tin-can” taillights. Dad bought the T-Bird anyway, and in retrospect, I am fine with that. He handed that car down to me and I still think Aerobirds look great today. Still, those early Beretta GTs were cool to my 10-year-old sensibilities. After a while I forgot Chevy still made them, but this clean ’95 model reminds us all that yes, yes they did.
The seller of this New Jersey-based Beretta says it belonged to their grandmother. It has only 66,000 miles on the clock, and “it was garaged and seats covered for the first 25 years of its life.” It shows. While ’80s and ’90s GM fabrics were nearly indestructible, this interior looks like new, and the color combination is fantastic. But then again, I like blue.
Under the hood is Chevy’s 3100 V6. According to GM’s Heritage Archive, it produced 155 horsepower for 1995 and was backed by a four-speed automatic. The 3100 is well-known in my local circles as being hard on intake manifold gaskets, but my wife had two cars with this engine architecture and we never had a problem. We did, however, keep the antifreeze flushed with reasonable regularity. Both engines managed 30+ mpg on the expressway.
The trunk doesn’t appear to have been used for much over the years, and it still has that handy cargo net for those tippy grocery items.
For being a car that has all but disappeared from the roads, it’s important to remember that Chevy sold a lot of Berettas. Even at that late date of 1995, 71,762 found homes, down from a staggering 275,000-plus in 1988. That’s a lot of cars. It’s easy to make fun of GM’s innocuous styling on some of its ’80s and ’90s models, but the Beretta looked sharp and it still looks futuristic in that late-’80s, early-’90s way. I still think the B-pillar-mounted door handles are wild.
The seller of this Beretta says it’s rust-free and ready to drive. Is it a collectible? Well, anything’s collectible if you want it badly enough. If you want to relive those daily-drivers of the ’90s, this is not a bad way to do it, and it’s currently on Craigslist for $6500. Thanks to Rocco B. for sending it our way!
For the time I thought these were a well styled car. That Chevy six with maintenance is a solid engine and the car performance is decent. Now the elephant in the room, I don’t think 6500 is a realistic number but that’s me. Somebody just might think it’s a great idea to buy a 1995 compact for that, but not I.
I had a 1988 Beretta GT. It only had the 2.8 litre V-6 and 14 inch cast aluminum wheels. It was okay, considering what else was available in those years.
Toth you did the wise thing. This era GMs needed timely maintenance at a minimum. Change all the fluids.
If so, i saw a few rack up mega trouble free miles.
These were good looking and good running cars, especially for the time. I know that by the 80s and 90s there were a lot more choices for the buyer- A result of the 70s Japanese invasion.. but it’s amazing to me that 60’s Falcons, Novas, Darts and even Larks and AMCs are more plentiful than Corsica/Beretta’s ,Tempo’s, Spirit/Acclaim’s etc… plenty of parts, club support, and ease of maintenance certainly contribute…. Not complaining I love my 50s/ 60s/70s cars, but when you see a Beretta like this, you kind of wish there were more around
This car is a clear example of everything that sucked about the US car industry in the 80s. Classic American styling gave way to copying what the Japanese were doing – there is no doubt this is just a Honda Accord copy. I didn’t want one back then, and I don’t want one now. It is in good condition for its age and has low mileage but… $6,500?? Yeah, I don’t think so.
Rented one of these back in the early 90’s for a vacation trip. I was quite impressed with it then. I, too, like the B pillar door handle, was unique for the time. I also rented a Eurosport Celebrity one summer for vacation, impressed again. Looking back I assume I was easily impressed. The price on this one seems appropriate with the current pricing of anything old. Someone who drove one then is probably looking for one to relive their youth. There in fault lies the problem with looking reward with rose colored glasses on. All in all though, this one would be a good example of one to buy.
I had a Celebrity Eurosport wagon and loved it.
I bought a new 95 one for the wife and it was a cheaply built car. After 5 years, 2 head gaskets, dead ABS, broken door handle, we sold it to a kid for his first car and lasted almost a year with under 100 thousand miles….