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The aluminum V8 was replaced by conventional cast-iron block V8s of 300 cubic inches for the Buick Special/Skylark and 330 inches for the Oldsmobile F-85/Cutlass, while Pontiac carried over its 326 cubic-inch V8 to the '64 Tempest/LeMans line while switching the base engine from the four-cylinder to a 215 cubic-inch inline six-cylinder.
In 1962, the Special was the first American car to use a V6 engine in volume production; it earned Motor Trend ' s Car of the Year for 1962. [21] This 198 cid Fireball was engineered down from the 215 and used many of the same design parameters, but was cast in iron.
The GM B platform was introduced in 1926 with the Buick Master Six, and the Oldsmobile Model 30, and had at least 12 major re-engineering and restyling efforts, for the 1937, 1939, 1941, 1949, 1954, 1957, 1959, 1961, 1965, 1971, 1977, and 1991 model years; along with interim styling changes for 1942, 1969, and 1980 that included new sheetmetal and revised rooflines.
The original "Type A" fluid that these transmissions take is available only at O'Reilly Auto Parts. There were two models of the Roto Hydramatic: the lightweight Model 5 , which weighed 145 lb (66 kg) and had ratios of 3.03, 1.58, and 1.00, and the larger Model 10 , which weighed 154 lb (70 kg) and had ratios of 3.50, 2.93, 1.56, and 1.00.
It weighed about 35 lb (16 kg) more than the aluminum engine, but was far cheaper to produce. Dubbed the Fireball V6, it became the standard engine in the 1962 Buick Special. In their test that year, Road & Track was impressed with Buick's "practical" new V6, saying it "sounds and performs exactly like the aluminum V8 in most respects."
The A-body designation was resurrected in 1964 for a new series of intermediate-sized cars including the Chevrolet Chevelle, Pontiac Tempest, Oldsmobile Cutlass, and Buick Skylark. These later A-bodies underwent a switch in drive layout from rear-wheel drive to front-wheel drive in 1982. The switch in the drive layout spawned the G-body.
The GM A platform (commonly called A-body) was a rear wheel drive automobile platform designation used by General Motors from 1925 until 1959, and again from 1964 to 1981. In 1982, GM introduced a new front wheel drive A platform, and existing intermediate rear wheel drive products were redesignated as G-bodies.
From 1964-1967, Buick and Oldsmobile versions of this transmission used a torque converter with a variable-pitch stator called Switch-Pitch (by Buick) or Variable Vane (by Oldsmobile). The stator blades moved from high to low position by an electrical solenoid and a stator valve , controlled by a switch on the throttle linkage.