Beretta convertible

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1990BerettaGTZ2.3L
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Beretta convertible

Post by 1990BerettaGTZ2.3L »

Does anyone know where these cars went specifically the 3.4s I would love to own one and design an intake design off the one GM used, last I thought that the speedway still had one, what I wanna know is how the heck these failed the crash test when GM still had the cavalier convertible how did these slip by they are pracically the same design and GM couldn't put some of the engineering from the cav into the retta vert what's wrong with this picture :crazy:


1990 Beretta GTZ Quad,226 cams, 3.94 W-41 trans
1990 Beretta GTZ Quad 4, 3.61 muncie 5 speed (project)
1968 Chevelle 300 deluxe 327ci 4 speed M-21, 12 bolt 4.10 posi
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scd88ga
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Re: Beretta convertible

Post by scd88ga »

1995berettaz-26man wrote:Does anyone know where these cars went specifically the 3.4s I would love to own one and design an intake design off the one GM used, last I thought that the speedway still had one
Try this link, it works pretty good! http://www.beretta.net/forum/search.php

I'm going to go out of a limb here and say I don't think the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is going to sell you that car or let you take it apart so you can forge a copy of that one-off 3400 intake manifold at the foundry in your basement... :lol:
1995berettaz-26man wrote:what I wanna know is how the heck these failed the crash test when GM still had the cavalier convertible how did these slip by they are pracically the same design and GM couldn't put some of the engineering from the cav into the retta vert what's wrong with this picture :crazy:
For starters the J bodies and L bodies are not the same platform (obviously), so one having an option for a convertible has nothing to do with the other.

As everyone should know by now, GM didn't design or build the Beretta Indy Convertible, it was farmed out to Cars and Concepts in MI where they cut the roof off and didn't strengthen the chassis causing it to buckle and be unsafe! Cars and Concepts did the same damn thing with the Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme Pace Cars in 1988 with the same piss poor results leading to almost all of them being crushed just like the Indy's 2 years later! My question is WTH was GM thinking??? No wonder C&C went under! What a joke! :deadhorse:


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1990BerettaGTZ2.3L
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Re: Beretta convertible

Post by 1990BerettaGTZ2.3L »

How did you find out about my foundry in my basement :shock: lol jk I would try to shop around some machine shops and ask them if it could be made if I'm not mistaken didn't GM take a corvette intake and customize it, wish c&c was still alive I'd see if the could design a convertible for myself out of a hardtop Indy haha I think though if the retta vert would have been better designed it would have made GM slot of money and some of beretta enthusiasts very happy


1990 Beretta GTZ Quad,226 cams, 3.94 W-41 trans
1990 Beretta GTZ Quad 4, 3.61 muncie 5 speed (project)
1968 Chevelle 300 deluxe 327ci 4 speed M-21, 12 bolt 4.10 posi
1978 Chevy K10 Z77 Sport 4x4
1977 GMC Sierra Classic 25 454 crew cab
-Ryan
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Styluss
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Re: Beretta convertible

Post by Styluss »

You will never own one of the Beretta convertibles. Cope.


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Kris GTwhat?
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Re: Beretta convertible

Post by Kris GTwhat? »

If this was facebook i would like this ^^


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scd88ga
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Re: Beretta convertible

Post by scd88ga »

1995berettaz-26man wrote:How did you find out about my foundry in my basement :shock: lol jk I would try to shop around some machine shops and ask them if it could be made if I'm not mistaken didn't GM take a corvette intake and customize it, wish c&c was still alive I'd see if the could design a convertible for myself out of a hardtop Indy haha I think though if the retta vert would have been better designed it would have made GM slot of money and some of beretta enthusiasts very happy
A machine shop is still not a foundry. But hey, If you want to stop by a few machine shops and ask if they can forge a custom intake manifold with a lathe, hone and a drill press, then all the power too ya, but I'm sure they will look at you like you've smoked a few too many rocks... :D <--(Bold and Direct sarcasm per Styluss's request via facebook) ;) lol

The 3.4 Vert appears to have a Corvette style TPI throttle body, but the rest of the intake is one off and doesn't look like it's based on anything. It just has a ton of airflow and not much in the style department, lol. Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TMsATEX ... re=related
Image

May 27, 1990 rolled around and the Indy 500 crowd saw the bright yellow Beretta convertible drive onto the track. All five yellow Berettas were used in various functions including the parade, as well as – green hardtop coupes, which were driven by officials and press. Reportedly, two of the five yellow convertibles had the production 3.1 liter V6, as did the green coupes, while the three other pace cars were powered by the potent 3.4 V6. Prior to this event, Chevy produced 7500 limited edition Beretta INDY pace car replicas to be sold at Chevy dealerships to commemorate the big event. 6000 of these Berettas were painted green and 1500 were yellow, and had unique interior trim and badging. Of course, none of these were convertibles. Arie Luyendyk won the 1990 Indy 500 and received one of the pace car replicas as well.

The excitement over the Beretta died down, however, in September 1990 when Chevrolet announced that it was canceling the Beretta convertible project. Three years of development and a $20 million dollar investment became history quickly. Chevrolet insiders blamed themselves for not stamping new doors for the convertible project in an attempt to save money as well as the conversion company, Masco/Cars & Concepts for their part in what ended up being a disaster and a colossal waste of time and money. The Beretta convertible failed rear impact tests miserably, and according to GM, suffered from serious body flex with its roof removed. The basket handle style roll bar, although allowing the door mounted seat belts to remain, did little to add stability to the car. Chevrolet was disappointed and embarrassed as they had went as far as adding a model number and RPO code for the convertible, advertising it at the dealerships, car shows and magazines, and even were taking orders for these cars, which were supposed to start production mid-summer 1990.

Go ahead, make your own Vert, but don't cut up an Indy to do it, you can use any Beretta. We all know it'll never happen though, but dreamin is fun, right? :Yahoo!:

Here's another video of the outside and interior with dramatic music! OoooOOooooh! If you read the comments, ignore the one by ricorob100, he obviously has no clue WTF he's talking about when it come to the cars technical facts! LMAO http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ho-EENyVH00


'94 Quad 4 H.O. 5 speed Z26, Red & Rare! 1 of 896 Quad Z26's and of those it's 1 of 167 red paint/gray interior!
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1990BerettaGTZ2.3L
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Re: Beretta convertible

Post by 1990BerettaGTZ2.3L »

Well I outta talk to a few friends of mine that scrap cars and get one that's goin to the crusher and practice on it I'm pretty handy and can turn crap into masterpieces haha I'm a bodyman and pretty good with fiberglass and metal working the easy part would be cuttin the roof off the hard part would be figuring out a convertible frame to use and top, only if that Ken haun guy got his hands on some frames and softtops then we'd be in buisness :beer: , but if I get good practicing on a pos then I would eventually do it an a rare Indy and make it identical to a pace car vert sure I would get a bunch of crap for it but hey I wouldn't be sending it to the junkyard in case something didn't work out, I would just spend forever fixing it to make it right I just don't know if I want to do it to a rare yellow or teal one but if I do it it's gonna have to be a 5 speed car


1990 Beretta GTZ Quad,226 cams, 3.94 W-41 trans
1990 Beretta GTZ Quad 4, 3.61 muncie 5 speed (project)
1968 Chevelle 300 deluxe 327ci 4 speed M-21, 12 bolt 4.10 posi
1978 Chevy K10 Z77 Sport 4x4
1977 GMC Sierra Classic 25 454 crew cab
-Ryan
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Re: Beretta convertible

Post by BerettaLove32 »

I remember some guy getting out the sawz-all and chopping the roof off his Beretta. It might have been on the other message board though. I don't think he did any extra framework and he basically created a poor man's roadster. Plus the door handles were still sticking up lol. But as it usually goes around here, people always talk about doing projects like this or RWD Berettas and until you have pics of the project no one takes it seriously. I always root for projects like this though so it would be cool to see you at least cut one up a bit lol.


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scd88ga
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Re: Beretta convertible

Post by scd88ga »

BerettaLove32 wrote:I remember some guy getting out the sawz-all and chopping the roof off his Beretta. It might have been on the other message board though. I don't think he did any extra framework and he basically created a poor man's roadster. Plus the door handles were still sticking up lol.
No extra framework and the door handles were still sticking up! Sounds just like a real Beretta convertible! :crazy:


'94 Quad 4 H.O. 5 speed Z26, Red & Rare! 1 of 896 Quad Z26's and of those it's 1 of 167 red paint/gray interior!
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Kris GTwhat?
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Re: Beretta convertible

Post by Kris GTwhat? »

a good body guy understands that there is more to a convertable than cutting the roof off.. and fiberglass isnt going to fix the flex that car will have. when parked halfway in a slanted driveway and half on level ground, they couldnt open the doors. thats including the extra "braces" c&c added. so believe me, there's much more to it. not doubting your abilities, but i dont think you have any idea what you're getting yourself into.


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Koots
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Re: Beretta convertible

Post by Koots »

Build an interior cage in a Base Beretta, tying up the b-pillar frames, while also tying into the floor and rear unibody. Then run it out around and in between the front seats and tie it into the firewall/A-Pillar. You would have a useless back seat, but might give you the strength to cut the roof off.

Lots to deal with, but I'm sure it could be done...but it won't look pretty or stock unless you are a whiz and got lots of time/money.


1990BerettaGTZ2.3L
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Re: Beretta convertible

Post by 1990BerettaGTZ2.3L »

Kris GTwhat? wrote:a good body guy understands that there is more to a convertable than cutting the roof off.. and fiberglass isnt going to fix the flex that car will have. when parked halfway in a slanted driveway and half on level ground, they couldnt open the doors. thats including the extra "braces" c&c added. so believe me, there's much more to it. not doubting your abilities, but i dont think you have any idea what you're getting yourself into.
oh the frame would be number 1 priority I can basically build anything with a welder tape measure, plasma cutter and or cutoff wheel and if it's tin work a nice set of snap on shears (evil laugh) muuuuahhhahahahahahahaha lol


1990 Beretta GTZ Quad,226 cams, 3.94 W-41 trans
1990 Beretta GTZ Quad 4, 3.61 muncie 5 speed (project)
1968 Chevelle 300 deluxe 327ci 4 speed M-21, 12 bolt 4.10 posi
1978 Chevy K10 Z77 Sport 4x4
1977 GMC Sierra Classic 25 454 crew cab
-Ryan
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Rodville
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Re: Beretta convertible

Post by Rodville »

My dream (if I ever win the lotto that is) is to have built a replica of the convertible pace car. I am not as concerned with the motor as long as the outside looks correct and has a working top.


Hey, a guy can dream right?


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Styluss
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Re: Beretta convertible

Post by Styluss »

The GTZ that got the top chopped off looked great! The owner knew he was performing a fly by night job on the cut, but he didn't care. He actually did very nice work with the cuts taking care to fold over remaining metal. But he did not do anything for additional body support. But he also mentioned that he didn't have any problems with excessive body flex or the like. I want to say his screen name was True GTZ or something like that.


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lolwut
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Re: Beretta convertible

Post by lolwut »

^^ "truerollers". Someone found his car on CarDomain, posted it on BStuff, and he showed up swinging lol

http://www.v6z24.com/registry/truerollers/

I'm certain they'd be largely useless, but I wonder how much of the flex is mitigated by strut and shock tower bars. Only Cavi 'verts had strut tower bars, correct?


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