Like-New 1989 Chevy Beretta GTU Sells For $26K
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The Chevy Beretta is an often forgotten compact coupe that was manufactured from the late 1980s to the mid-1990s. Offered as a sporty alternative to the more mundane sedans of that time period, a 1989 Beretta GTU in like-new condition recently sold on Bring a Trailer for $26,000.
Currently located in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, this Chevy Beretta GTU features the FE7 suspension package, which includes Z51 suspension components, ground effects, a rear spoiler, and 16-inch alloy wheels. With only 19,000 miles on the clock, this vehicle has spent a majority of its life in Iowa before the selling dealership acquired it in February 2023.
As a GTU variant, this Beretta was available with the aforementioned FE7 suspension package, which helped to distinguish this trim level from other trims in the lineup. On the exterior, this meant ground effects and graphics, as well as additional visual pieces like the Beretta-branded windshield banner and fog lights.
Moving to the interior, this unit features front bucket seats and a rear bench, both of which are finished in grey cloth upholstery with darker piping and striped inserts. Additional features include a two-spoke steering wheel, Delco cassette stereo, cruise control, and power windows and door locks.
In regard to powertrain, the Beretta GTU was offered with the 2.8L V6 LB6 gasoline engine. Rated at 130 horsepower and 160 pound-feet of torque, output was routed to the front wheels through a five-speed manual transaxle transmission.
The selling dealer included the original window sticker that this 1989 Beretta was sold with. According to said window sticker, this Beretta posted a retail price of $12,657. With a recent sale of $26,000, this represents more than a 100 percent increase from the original asking price, not accounting for inflation. You can check out the Bring a Trailer ad here.
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Ah yes, the all show no go fwd era of “Sporty” cars from Chevy. Never understood why gm went in that direction.
The GTZ was a fine running car for this era. Nothing was fast. But it could top 130.
When I first saw this BaT listing, I thought to myself “too bad this isn’t a red GTZ”…that would have tempted me to buy something I really don’t need.
Why? These cars sucked back then. Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.
True !! I had one !! Piece of crap then, why would you buy one now????
and there sooo ugly! just give me a Z28
The Berretta really wasn’t a bad car at the time (30+ years ago). Sure, by today’s standards they’re pretty weak, but back then the Berretta had a cool style and had some decent “pep” when hitting the gas. You could get off the line pretty quick but they were lacking in top end performance, so no…you weren’t winning many races against the “sports cars” of the time. $26k seems like a lot for this, but the condition and possible nostalgia for the right person could make sense. Hard to believe this is the same car as it’s ugly 4 door version ( Chevy Corsica). I remember the first time I saw a Corsica and saying, “what happened to that Berretta!
: -)
Everything is all out of whack. This is a $2,000-$5,000 car all day long. For crying out loud it’s a Beretta. People with their disposable incomes are screwing up the auto industry for us normal people, by making this hobby unaffordable.
Yep, its crazy. Summer of 2020 I sold my mint 96 Beretta Z26 with 27K for under 7 grand…and it took me awhile to find a buyer. Obviously wish I would have waited, never imagined this insanity would happen.
That is hilarious! If this is a 2-5000 car get me all you can and I will make you a very rich man.
Funny thing is this example, while a rare and desirable spec (GTU/manual/factory sunroof) for a Beretta fan, is not “like new”. The dash and front bumper are warped from the southern sun/heat. Good luck finding a replacement dashboard…
Makes the price that much more outrageous.
The dashes did that new. And……
Yea my neighbor had one when I was young. Thought the looks were ok but it was a crap box. Here in the Midwest of course it was rusted to hell.
While not perfect these cars lasted a long time. They always ran and were cheap to fix. They are on the road longer than most Honda and Toyotas of the era.
Yeah, maybe with the 4 cylinder, certainly not with that garbage Chevy 60° V-6. I sold my ’88 Corsica LT 2.8L with a blown motor at 88k miles. It was running fine when I went into the bank. Came out, it threw a rod as soon as it cranked. No reason. Well maintained, adult owned, never abused.
A 4 cylinder Corsica would run forever, if you could live with the peeling cloth seats and the wavy dashboard. It was better than the Cavalier from which it was derived and better than the God-AWFUL 1997 Malibu that replaced it, I’ll give ya that.
Get real you may have had a bad one but most 2.8 engine ran forever.
No these cars were not perfect but you could still see them on th road daily in the rust belt 20 years after the last one was built.
In fact one pops us yet today now and then.
FYI we used to service a fleet of 2.8 engines for years. No failures and no internal issues.
I wish I could say the same on half shaft boots and cv joints.
Second time I’m agreeing with you in one page CR.8…yes, I had a ‘89 Z24 with the same 2.8 engine right after high school…drove it all across the country, and sold it with well over 100k mi…only probs I ever had was a shop that over-torqued a spark plug, and hitting a deer. Then I got a ‘92 Z24 with the 3.1 and road-tripped that to over 150k mi, then sold it to a friend that put another 100k…only prob with this one was a sensor one time. Both cars needed a quart of oil added every few months in the higher mileage, but if you kept up with it, they were reliable.
We sold thousands of used GM’s, Fords and Chrysler’s during the 90’s and 00’s and I honestly can’t think of one bad 2.8/3.1 Chevy V6 we ever had in the lineup. Now the Cavalier 2.0/2.2 engines were head gasket munchers and occasionally we got one that was abused and had to do a motor swap but otherwise they weren’t bad either.
So a few of the very negative comments above seem a little far out. These were actually fairly god cars and had a nice look that was near the top if not at the top for that time. This is a very nice example with extremely low miles and with a desirable package and in a desirable color combo. Outside the dash, it looks to be near perfect. Funny to look at that steering wheel and know it’s not with an airbag. When the cars first came out with them around this time, those things were huge and IMO the steering wheels got really ugly for a while. Now today they are more compact and this one could pass for having an airbag in it.
As for the price? If someone has that money and really wants one, why not? Yet it seems over-priced by about 11 grand to me. Heck, there’s a 1988 Cadillac Cimarron on Hemmings with only 7K and in mint condition that’s been sitting for sale a long time at $19,995. I know the Cimarron was a different platform, but they are close and with the same engine. I think that Cimarron would have sold by now if it didn’t have the awful red sim/con top and horrid fake spare time on the back bumper! Anyhow, this brings me to question what a person would have in hand today if they invested $13,000 in 1989? I’m sure it would be more than $26,000 but a person also wouldn’t have been paying insurance, lic fees, gas, upkeep and all over those years. So why would this random car be kept like an investment?
They didn’t look that bad but the fwd was/is a joke especially if it’s a performance car. Fwd is a joke. Guess they are a cheap package?
I’d still take it over any EV.
Cavalier Z24 was better
At the time the national society of automotive engineers chose the baretta Corsica as the easiest cars to work on and their general design excellence
19 thousand for a Beretta? I can’t stop laughing!
Door handles could be a problem.
Outside door handles.
Yeah GM had some weak door handles back then. I replaced two or three on my 91 Astro van.
We replaced a ton of exterior door handles on these cars along with the W-body coupes during the 90’s and early 00’s so that is totally correct. It was usually on the higher mileage cars.
Like in the late 1980s Camaro needs a break and something like Beretta would be a great inexpensive sports car for the early EV era. A coupe like Avista could easily be made 4 door especially with frameless windows.
Chevrolet on occasion needs to mix things up, try something new, especially when chasing conquest buyers.
What you have to understand is what Ford had to complete ( Only the Mustang)
I had the 87 Grand Am and a friend had the Chevy Cavalier Z24 both cars had the 5 speed.
GM did a great job bringing cars that were considered well above what any other American car company had. That 2.8 was no slouch around the racetrack ether.
You could of had a Ford Tempo/Topaz
Considering they came with aluminum wheels and 60 series Eagle GT tires they were cool cars for the time.
The 2.8 had a really cool sound especially with the cowl induction on the Z24
The Berreta was an ugly car with an ugly interior
Again cool cars considering the times and the absolute crap Ford was offering.
One thing I noticed about Fords off that era. For a given class of car, they managed to have the smallest interiors.
Sorry but I gotta agree that the V6 was junk. I bought a brand new Beretta GT as my first new car, and had it in for engine problems 4 times before the warranty was up, all 4 times the cam was wiped out, the last time they replaced the entire short block still under warranty, idk how that turned out because a month later I traded it in, spent more time in the shop than any car I’ve ever owned
Proof that car prices are way out there these days. Not very long ago one could obtain these types of cars, even with low mileage for less than half this amount in pristine condition too. Back in the 80’s and early 90’s these were a great lower priced alternative to Mustangs and Camaro’s with FWD traction as an added benefit in foul weather. Ford had it’s Probe and Chrysler sold the Daytona’s with turbo 2.2’s with 150-174 HP so things weren’t all that bad on the performance front back then.
I had a 1987 Grand Am SE. I really liked it. Very well appointed. Great interior. It was an upgrade from Chevy,
I know that 90’s Berettas and Corsicas had quality issues but I must say, I love their design and style. 80’s and 90’s GM designs were beautiful and somewhat elegant. That was until 90’s bubbly designs, IMHO