1984 Pontiac Parisienne Diesel Station Wagon

Ah... the infamous GM LF9 diesel. Maybe one of the most hated engines ever. They were noisy, smelly, loud, SLOW, and, worst of all, completely unreliable. Popular Mechanics called it one of "the top automotive engineering failures." GM built the LF9 from 1978 through 1985. They actually built over a million of them. It is said that some design changes made the 1981 and up engines better, but, really, they were still pretty awful engines.

There were lawsuits, and many cars using them were converted to conventional gasoline engines. They were nearly worthless as used cars and many made their way into junkyards pretty early. (An aside: If you're a fan of the YouTube channel Hoovies Garage, you know his mechanic, a man they call The Wizard. The Wizard now has his own YouTube channel and is dropping a LF9 into an old Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham. He talks about ways of making the LF9 fairly reliable.)

The Parisienne was only sold in the United States from 1983 to 1986. It was built in Canada, where the Parisienne name had been used since 1958.

The Parisienne is GM badge engineering at its worst. (Or finest, I guess, if you admire that.) It's essentially a Chevy Caprice with some slight trim differences. It represents what the U.S. used to think a luxury car should be; big, floaty and tacky.

What makes this car so remarkable is the it still exists and appears to be in really nice shape. The velour and plastic wood interior looks the be in great condition, as does the fake wood-grain clad body. The seller does not list an asking price.

I can think of only one reason to buy this car. It's a piece of automotive history. A flawed, but interesting piece of history. If you're into that (and, if you've read this blog in the past, you know that I am) this car is worth checking out.

Located in Dubuque, IA, click here to see the Craigslist ad.