Car and Driver subscribers in the late ’80s expected cool cars on the cover. The October 1988 issue featured a yellow C4 Corvette ZR-1 with flames underneath and the headline, **“The Corvette From Hell!”** Those C4 Corvette ZR-1s are cheap now, but still monstrously cool.
November 1988’s cover boasted a new Lamborghini Countach with roses laid by the passenger door—perhaps left in an attempt to woo the V12 beast. Then, in February of 1989, we got Otis the Avocado sitting in a Buick Reatta. Artistically, it was a step down. Yet the strangest thing about that issue was not that Car and Driver thought readers cared about Buicks or guacamole ingredients, but the **“Beretta vs. Beretta shoot-out”** article inside.
The story focused on a Chevrolet Beretta going head-to-head with Italian gunmaker Beretta’s 92 pistol (or the military equivalent, the M9)—a semi-automatic handgun which is famously not a car. Surely, this would be the only time these two unrelated products would cross paths, right? There’s no way a firearms manufacturer in Italy would ever give a darn about an American front-wheel-drive coupe made on General Motors’ L platform, right?
Well, Fabbrica d’Armi Pietro Beretta S.p.A. was quite irritated that GM had the gall to use the name, which had been trademarked in the U.S. since 1954. Beretta is over 500 years old, still owned by the family who founded it, and doesn’t want anyone to think the company allows other entities to use its identity without express permission.
This is how a lawsuit between two heritage businesses resulted in a Chevy Beretta GTU Coupe being placed inside Beretta’s U.S. headquarters in Gallatin, Tennessee.
### The Lawsuit
While lawsuits these days are generally aimed toward gun manufacturers, the situation was flipped back in July 1988. That was when Beretta went to a federal courthouse in New York and demanded **$250 million in damages** from General Motors.
The automaker had put the venerated Italian name on a car that was the luxury equivalent of a frozen pizza. Also, $250 million (almost $685 million in 2025 dollars) seems a bit excessive, doesn’t it?
Well, it’s not like GM hadn’t been warned. The Chevrolet Beretta debuted in 1987, and right away, the gunmaker sent GM cautionary notices. As for GM’s response? This was the company that took a decade to address Cadillac Northstar engine design issues and got upset when it couldn’t use whale oil in transmission fluid anymore. So, unsurprisingly, it ignored Beretta.
Then came the lawsuit, and GM realized that putting its fingers in its ears and going “la-la-la-la-la” wasn’t going to work. GM’s lawyers contacted Beretta to address the situation in a way that wouldn’t result in a quarter billion dollars disappearing from the corporate coffers.
### The Settlement
The settlement played out in a surprisingly amicable manner. GM donated $500,000 to the Beretta Foundation for Cancer Research and Treatment, and Chevrolet’s coupe got to keep its name, though catalogs had to indicate that Beretta granted permission.
As tokens of hatchet-burying, each company gave the other a present. Beretta gifted a shotgun and a rifle to GM’s then-CEO, Roger Smith. The gift from GM was a Chevy Beretta featuring the gunmaker’s logo and **“Beretta U.S.A.”** painted on the side.
Since 2016, that car has lived in Beretta’s Gallatin office in factory-new condition.
### The Chevrolet Beretta’s Journey
The Beretta sold decently for the first few years, and a convertible version even served as the pace car for the Indy 500. In 1988, GM produced **275,098** units of the Beretta. But, like the Pontiac Fiero before it, excitement died down quickly. In 1989, production dropped to **180,242** units. It was the last time the model’s annual production numbers crested 100,000.
The Beretta was discontinued in 1996.
Unlike the Fiero, the Beretta didn’t improve with age. The most powerful engine, the Quad 4, went from 180 hp in 1992 down to 170 hp in 1994. The V6 was only available with an automatic transmission, and it lost 5 hp in 1995 and never got it back.
Berettas aren’t exactly collector’s items, either. A yellow, 52-mile, manual transmission 1990 Chevrolet Beretta GT came up for sale in 2025—arguably the nicest in existence—and it wasn’t even asking $30,000.
### Meanwhile, the Beretta 92 Handgun Thrives
Conversely, Beretta’s 92 handgun is still in production and enjoying a modern renaissance. The Beretta 92/M9 is a common sight in movies, TV shows, and video games. But the most interesting version is its rare, 3-round burst-capable sibling, the 93R (R standing for “raffica,” or “burst” in English).
The 93R is probably most famous as Robocop’s sidearm of choice. The gun’s extended trigger guard was needed to fit the robot suit’s fat fingers.
### Pop Culture Notes
Speaking of pop culture, maybe GM could have avoided a lawsuit if it had changed the spelling and gone with something like **“Baretta.”** Oh, wait—that name was used for the show *Baretta*, starring actor-turned-accused murderer Robert Blake. Never mind.
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From fiery Corvettes to Italian supercars, and an unexpected clash between cars and firearms, the story of the Chevrolet Beretta and Beretta the gunmaker remains one of the quirkiest chapters in automotive and trademark history.
https://www.jalopnik.com/2006339/chevy-beretta-at-beretta-hq/
