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I had a Shadow with the issue. from my research, this is what I found:
The manufacturers had to switch to low VOC (volatile organic compound) paint to meet EPA regs. most went to a basecoat clearcoat system. However, they were really just learning about the vagaries of this system. early paints needed 45 minutes drying time before the clearcoat was applied. When the factories needed more product, they didn't wait as long as they needed to, so the paint wasn't truly dry. this caused adhesion problems as the paint aged.
The only solution is to strip all the paint and re-apply properly.
That's consistent with what I've heard. But I'm not an "industry insider" so all I have is what I've heard.
I would think the paint looks good inside where the UV didn't get to it, and looks bad outside where it got irradiated good by the sun.
I was doing paint and body work part time during this era, the galvanizing of the panels was one issue, I remember classes on new, different metal prep solutions to use on galvanized panels. The paint would peel off them if not properly prepped, but the panel would at least not rust. So you could re-paint it at your leisure, so long as you didn't care that it was ugly.
Captain Worley's explanation would be typical of Detroit, particularly GM.
Actually it had to do with the removal of lead from the paint in the late 70's. The technology was not available to test for and design for all conditions it had to handle. On top of that people also wanted that always shine look. So instead of waxes helping protect it, it instead removed top coats. So for the 80's there was alot of trial and error testing. But cars still had to come out to market. So thru time we went from peeling to fading to dull looking to actually holding a shine. But as time on and technology changed the process got better. The problem started to dissappear in the 80's. But in the 90's it started up again due to the base metal (or fiberglass) changed (you rarely see a newer car with rust). And some cars peeled or faded or the paint switched over to the color of the base coat. Some of this was due to manufacturing errors others were to do aftermarket waxes. But as time went on the technology to create the paint, pigments, clearcoats, bonding have gotten much much better. But as the environment changes the problems may come back again in certain parts of the country (acid rain, higher UV, etc).
The paint would peel off them if not properly prepped, but the panel would at least not rust. So you could re-paint it at your leisure, so long as you didn't care that it was ugly.
Man I sure hope so. I've heard primer is porous so anytime water gets on bare primer, all it's doing is eventually making it's way down to the bare metal. And we all know what happens when bare metal is exposed to water.
I had that problem with my 1988 Ford mustang where the paint just flaked off it. There was a recall in 1994 or so and after much turbulation Ford wrote me a check for $1500.
Our neighbor in the late 1980s, bought a brand new 1988 Chevrolet Beretta. I remember the day she bought it. A brand new gleaming and new styled car, she was the envy of the neighborhood. In 1991, the cars beautiful gray paint started peeling and whats worse is that the dash board started warping and by 1994, the top of the rear seats started tearing.
By 1995, the car had lost its wheelcovers and had battle wounds.... in 2002 (we no longer lived in the same neighborhood), I saw the car in a storage lot with the front end badly smashed.
Not all GM cars had bad paint in the late 80s/early 90s, but many did have their paint issues.
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neglilent behavior
In 1991, the cars beautiful gray paint started peeling and whats worse is that the dash board started warping and by 1994, the top of the rear seats started tearing. 
