GM A platform (1936)

The General Motors A platform (commonly called A-body) was a rear wheel drive automobile platform designation used from at least 1936 until 1958, 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.

1936-1958

The earliest GM A-bodied based cars shared a common platform with the Chevrolet Superior, with Pontiac replacing Oakland during the early 1930s. Oldsmobile also used the A-body for the 1936-39 Oldsmobile Series F and 1940-48 Series 60. All Chevrolets produced during this period, to include the Chevrolet Master and the Chevrolet Deluxe, and all 1936-39 Pontiacs, the 1940 Pontiac Deluxe, the 1941 Pontiac Deluxe Torpedo and all Pontiac Torpedos produced from 1942 through 1948 were A-bodies.

From 1949-1958, only Chevrolets (150, 210, Bel Air, Del Ray, Biscayne, and Impala), Pontiacs (Chieftain, Star Chief, Super Chief, Bonneville,), and Oldsmobile models 76 and 88 in 1949 and 1950 and Oldsmobile 88-A in 1951, were built on the A-body. These cars were moved to the new B Body shared with some Buicks and Oldsmobiles in 1959.

GM A platform

The General Motors A platform (commonly called A-body) was an automobile platform, and was GM's original, and oldest, platform used by all early GM products, beginning with the Chevrolet Superior. From this platform, all North American platforms B, C, and D were developed.

Starting in 1936 through 1958, GM used four different designations for various bodyshells/platforms with the A-body for Chevrolet, most Pontiacs, and the Oldsmobile Series F and Series 60. The A-body was temporarily suspended in 1958 until it was reintroduced in 1964.

For the 1959 model year, the previous A and B bodies were built on the new B Body that lasted until 1996.

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 drive layout spawned the G-body. In 1997, every A-body car line was cancelled, but new nameplates on the GM W platform have taken their place.

GM A platform (1982)

The General Motors A platform (commonly called the A-body) was a mid-size car automobile platform designation used from 1982 to 1996. Previously the A body designation had been used for rear wheel drive mid-sized cars. The Chevrolet Celebrity and platform-mates were introduced in the 1982 model year which were essentially similar in mechanical design and interior space with the troubled X-car compacts, but long enough to be classified as intermediate cars with more traditional styling. They were initially offered alongside, but eventually supplanted rear-drive nameplates such as the Malibu for the intermediate niche.

The A-body consisted of 4-door sedan, 2-door coupé and a 4-door station wagon It was updated in 1989 with a slightly longer wheelbase and a more rounded roofline (except for the Celebrity whose roofline remained unchanged as it was to be phased out in 1990). It also briefly saw duty as an All Wheel Drive platform for the Pontiac 6000.

Later GM platforms (specifically transaxle based, i.e. four-wheel drive and mid-engine rear-wheel drive) benefited from components and systems developed with the A-Body. Additionally the first generation U-body minivan (1990–1996) was constructed utilizing lightly modified A-body chassis.