Editing General Motors B platform (section)

==History==
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 platform was downsized in length by approximately 10&nbsp;inches in 1977 and reduced in weight by an average of 800 pounds.

In 1991, the platform received its last major redesign, regaining several inches in length and featuring numerous frame improvements and reinforcements, while the shorter wheelbase remained unchanged. The last B-cars rolled off the line in 1996, leaving only [[Ford Motor Company|Ford]] producing domestic large rear-wheel-drive sedans until the [[Ford Panther platform|line]] was phased out in late 2011, with Chrysler reentering the market with their [[Chrysler LX platform|LX platform]] in 2005.
[[File:Buick Roadmaster Wagon.jpg|left|thumb|250px|1996 [[Buick Estate|Buick Roadmaster Estate Wagon]]]]
Known for being durable and reliable, most B-platform cars used suspensions utilizing coil springs in the front and leaf springs in the rear until 1958, when they switched to coils in the rear; one exception is the 1959–60 Oldsmobile 88, which used coil springs in front and multi-leaf springs in the rear. All B-platform cars since 1965 used perimeter frames with side rails, along with the 1961–64 B-platform Pontiacs and Oldsmobiles. The 1958–60 Buicks and 1959–60 Oldsmobiles used a ladder-type frame, while an X-frame without side rails was used on 1959–60 Pontiacs, 1959–64 Chevrolets, and 1961–64 Buicks.

The B platform was the last platform design to have the [[gasoline]] tank filler port behind the [[license plate]] after 1958. Exceptions included all station wagons, as well as all 1961–64 cars (which had the tank filler in the rear fender on the driver's side) and 1965 Buicks (which had their fuel filler door above the license plate). Also, the B-platform vehicles from Pontiac, Oldsmobile, and Buick from 1941 to 1948 had the fuel filler door in the rear fender on the driver's side.



By 1986, the [[Buick LeSabre]] and [[Oldsmobile 88|Oldsmobile Delta 88]] moved to the [[GM H platform (FWD)|GM H platform]]. And in 1991, Chairman [[Robert Stempel]] said:<ref name=Bonsall />{{cquote|There are some corporate things we're going to drive; we are a front-drive corporation.}} He also stated that the rear-wheel-drive 1992 [[Buick Roadmaster]] and [[Chevrolet Caprice]] had been produced "over my dead body."<ref name=Bonsall>{{cite book|last=Bonsall|first=Thomas|title=The Cadillac Story: The Postwar Years|year=2004|publisher=Stanford UP|isbn=978-0804749428|page=167|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kCglolj3W_oC}}</ref> No direct successor for this platform was made after 1996, when the Roadmaster and Caprice ceased production. However, the Caprice would be revived and built on the [[Opel]]-developed [[GM V platform (1966)|V platform]] for the Middle East but built by [[Holden]], while years later, the Caprice for police use along with the Impala SS successor, the [[Holden VF Commodore|Chevrolet SS]], would return to the United States, built on the [[General Motors Zeta platform|GM Zeta platform]] developed by Holden in Australia.