Telling The Years Apart

1983

1983 was the first year for 4th generation Monte Carlo SS. Thihs year only the bench seat was available for the SS. It had SS embroided on the headrest. It had the 305 high output (H.O) 180h.p. V-8 engine. The transmission it came with was the TH350C, which was a 3-speed automatic. The exterior color options for this year were white and metallic blue. The only interior color was blue with white trim.

1984

1984 was the first year the SS was in full production. This year the SS got a new "sport" steering wheel. It also came with the option of bucket seats and a center console. It still came with the 305H.O. 180h.p. V-8 engine. There were two transmissions available this year. There was the TH-350C 3-speed auto and the TH-2004R 4-speed transmissions. Only 3 1984 SS's got this tranny though. So it would be almost impossible to get a stock 84 SS with this tranny. The exterior colors available for the 1984 SS were white and metallic blue. The interior colors available were dark blue and dark blue/white which was only availible with the 60/40 split bench.

1985

There were many small changes made to the SS in 1985. A new pinstripe design package was added. Special instruments were also added in the dash. They were the tachometer, functioning oil, volt, water temperature, and choke lights. The available options this years were bucket seats, a center console, positraction, and T-tops were also available late in the year. The engine was still the 305H.O. 180h.p. V-8. The transmission for this year was the TH-2004R 4-speed automatic with overdrive. The TH-2004R improved gas mileage. The exterior colors available fo this year were silver, maroon, white, and black. The interior colors available were grey and maroon.

1986

The biggest addition for the SS 1986 was the Aerocoupe. The Aerocoupe was an SS with a curved back windshield. The Aerocoupe also came with the lay-down spoiler in the rear. The regular SS did get some changes too. This year they added the third brake light, the oval shaped mirrors were changed to D-shaped mirrors, and new Alluminum Alloywheels became standard on the SS. The 1986 SS and Aerocoupe SS got the 305H.O. 180h.p. V-8 engine. The transmission was still the TH-2004R. The exterior colors available were silver, maroon, white, and black. The interior colors that were availiable were grey, maroon, and saddle which was very rare. The fabric this year was changed to velour too.

1987

Like the year before the 1987 SS's had the Aerocoupe package. The most obvious changes in the SS this year were in the rear-end. The gap between the bottom of the trunk and the bumper was elininated. This was done just by extending the trunk lid. The tail lights also extended around the edges of the body around a 1/4". The logo was also changed. Before "Monte Carlo" was in small letters followed by a huge "SS". In 87 the "Monte Carlo" size was kept the same and it had a huge "SS" above it. The pinstriping was changed from 2 lines to 3 lines. The rear spoiler was also was also changed. Halfway through the year the spoiler was changed form the stand-up spoiler to the lay-down spoiler. A 120mph. speedometer was added too. The available engine was still the 305H.O 180h.p. V-8. The transmission was the TH-2004R. The exterior colors for 1987 were silver, white, maroon, black, and they added light metallic brown. It is a very rare color to find on an SS. The interior colors were grey,maroon, and saddle which was still rare.

1988

1988 was the last production year for the Monte Carlo. All 1988 Montes were really built in 1987. The last Monte was made on December 11th, 1987 at 5:29 P.M. at the Pontiac Michigan plant. The reason that the last of the 1987's were sold as 88's is because the Lumina, which was the replacement model, wasn't ready yet. This also gave NASCAR drivers one more year to use the SS. So, because of this the 1987 SS was basically the same car as the 1988 SS. The available engine was still the 305H.O. 180h.p. V-8. The exterior colors were silver, white, maroon, and black. The interior colors were grey,maroon, and saddle which was still very rare.