(first posted 5/25/2017) Welcome once again to our journey into the world of shockingly low volume production cars. Today, we are moving out of the low-priced field a smidgeon by looking at Pontiac.
As before, this scrutiny is centered around the time period of 1946 to 1995. While this list is fairly extensive, it isn’t necessarily comprehensive as it’s always possible one slipped through the fingers. Interestingly, Pontiac does not report anything below the magic threshold volume of 1,000 until much later than most; in fact, it’s in the midst of the Nixon Administration.
1971 The Judge convertible
Production: 17
With a name pulled from a routine on the television show Laugh-In (later played by Sammy Davis, Jr. but originating with Pigmeat Markham), The Judge was an option on the GTO. The body for the GTO was shared with the mid-sized LeMans. Confused yet?
The Judge option was an additional $395 over the cost of the $3,676 GTO (this is a convertible price). The GTO convertible cost $200 more than a basic LeMans sport convertible.
Choosing The Judge gained one more than just a name – it brought a 455 cubic inch (7.4 liter), 335 gross horsepower V8, rally wheels, hood air inlet, assorted decals, and a black textured grille.
The hardtop version was relatively more popular with 357 being sold.
1974 Luxury LeMans Safari two-seat wagon
Production: 952
Sitting on the midsize A-body, the Luxury LeMans was accompanied by the LeMans, LeMans Sport, and Grand Am. The two-door hardtop Luxury LeMans was by far the most popular of its line with just under 26,000 being sold.
Look in the upper left-hand corner
Interestingly, some of the literature for the Luxury LeMans indicates no wagon was available. Might that be an indicator of its paltry sales (the three-seat version only sold 1,178 examples) or buyers flocking toward more base model offerings?
It’s hard to say as none of Pontiac’s midsize wagons exceeded 4,800 sales in 1974.
Sedan shown
1979 Phoenix hatchback
Production: 923
The X-car cousin of the Chevrolet Nova, the Phoenix wasn’t always a Phoenix. When an X-car Pontiac was introduced in March 1971, it was called Ventura II. The Roman numeral was discarded for 1972, then in 1977 Pontiac offered a Phoenix trim on the Ventura. For 1978, the X-car was now simply a Phoenix. Nothing generates consumer comprehension quite like having three names on the same car in seven years.
The Phoenix did indeed rise from the ashes of the old names.
The 1979 Pontiac X-body hatchback was a only mildly changed Nova hatchback, and both cars had been around since 1973. This version of Phoenix went away for the new front-drive X-body Phoenix in mid-1979.
1980 Catalina sedan shown
1981 Catalina coupe
Production: 1,074
Contrary to how it may seem, not all B-body GM products were champions on the sales charts – which is why a minor exception to a self-imposed rule about volumes is being made.
The reasons for this meager showing are many, but a distinct factor is the big Pontiacs never were as popular as the Olds and Buick cousins after 1977. Incorporate it being a base model two-door and an explanation starts to form.
It was also during this time the United States was having pronounced economic foibles, meaning repressed auto sales. Plus, Pontiac was showing itself to have an unclear market position at this time which further eroded sales, with 1981 sales falling precipitously from 1980 levels.
Two-door shown; all were dressed similarly
Phoenix SJ five-door hatchback
Production: 268 in 1982; 172 in 1983
Few cars have been launched with greater fanfare, only to disappoint as much, as the fabled GM X-bodies.
Reusing the Phoenix name from the old, outgoing X-body Pontiac, the new Phoenix, just like the B-body Pontiac, was never as popular as its Buick and Oldsmobile cousins. Sales for the Phoenix in inaugural 1980 were 178,000 and dropped to below 50,000 by 1982. Volumes dropped further for 1983.
The SJ was a good concept, but nothing unique. Coming with a distinct appearance package and a high-output (for the times) 2.8 liter V6, the combination of a five-door, gussied up hatchback simply didn’t resonate with buyers. These five-doors are the most extreme examples for sales; none of the SJ models broke 1,000 units in either 1982 or 1983. The 1982 coupe seen here is the most populous at 994.
1983 2000 Sunbird convertible
Production: 626
By its own admission, availability of the 2000 Sunbird convertible was limited. These, along with the nearly identical Chevrolet Cavalier, were transformed into convertibles by ASC, American Sunroof Corporation.
This year marked Pontiac’s return to the convertible market.
1985 Sunbird SE Turbo
Production: 965 (coupe), 658 (sedan), 535 (hatchback)
While Pontiac may have built excitement, it sure didn’t sell with some of their cars.
On paper, these sure looked attractive for the times. A four-cylinder engine banging out 150 horsepower combined with a more assertive appearance was certainly more enticing than a pedestrian looking Sunbird with a weak-kneed 88 horsepower. One distinct downside was price; at $9,275 for the coupe, it was $1,740 more than an LE trimmed coupe and was in Grand Prix price territory.
Another factor was internal competition. The front-drive Pontiac Grand Am introduced in 1985 was visually sportier from the outset – not a car dolled up as such. Neither explains the entirety of the Sunbird Turbo’s tepid showing, but these go a long way toward it.
1987 Sunbird GT hatchback
Production: 415
The Sunbird GT coupe (similar to the SE seen here) sold 12,060 copies to the 415 of the mechanically identical hatchback. The $400 premium for the hatchback doesn’t explain the difference, although the American market’s lack of enthusiasm for hatchbacks probably does.
6000 SE wagon
Production: 887 in 1989; 423 in 1990
Might it be attributed to the $2,900 premium over a regular LE wagon? Might it be a ride and drive that was firmer and tauter than the regular 6000? Or is it another case of building excitement worked for getting people into showrooms and not translating into actual product?
Regardless, the sales of the 6000 SE wagon was but a small fraction of regular 6000 wagon sales.
There’s a lot more to come, so stay tuned.
The 6000 S/E actually looks like something I’d be excited to buy, certainly in station wagon form. But what really sticks out as something genuinely interesting is the Sunbird SE Turbo. It’s the styling, oddly enough, that seals it for me. It looks like it’s pretending to be sporty. It’s kind of cute. Like a child wearing its parent’s shoes.
Too bad we can’t include prototypes on the list who are more rarer like this 1973 Grand Am wagon prototype. https://www.flickr.com/photos/16645250@N00/15878941635
Great series! Please keep them coming. The two-tone Phoenix SJ looks nice. I can only imaging the lack of structural rigidity in that Sunbird convertible. My parents had a couple of Pontiacs in the late 70s before switching to Oldsmobile (a Grand Prix and a Bonneville were replaced with a 98 and a Toronado). No issues with the Bonneville but the downsized GP never seemed to sit level, when viewed from the front or rear. Dealer didn’t admit it was an issue (within factory specs). Hence the move to Olds.
Torque steer was bad enough with the non-boosted engines in the J cars – can’t imagine what it was like with a 150hp turbo engine…
Fascinating series, though. It would be interesting to have a look into the economics behind making some of these variants available. Some might have been easy (paint-on performance packages), where some clearly required substantial hardware changes and their attendant added parts and logistics requirements.
I drove the Buick version of this turbo J-car. Torque steer, combined with understeer and ample turbo lag made for surprising behavior. Throttle response was definitely non-linear making smooth spirited driving a challenge. The engines’ power was modest until a second or two after you put your foot down. Then the boost gauge would swing over and the power came on all at once, steering and pushing the car in directions you didn’t want to go. I thought it was quite entertaining , but not in the way GM intended.
A friend of mine had a Sunbird Turbo back in high school, and it was certainly quick judging by the way he drove. Whether driving style or quality control had more of a role in his engine blowing out a year or so later is an open question.
I knew someone who had a turbo Sunbird as well and blew up the engine. She too had a FOOT TO THE FLOOR driving style and lived here in mountainous NM.
I had a 1990 Pontiac Sunbird with an LT2 2.0 producing 96hp when new. I can assure you I never had an issues with torque steer.
Hard to believe…
RWD converted or wishful thinking?
So my first “new” car was a 1988 Sunbird Turbo convertible and it was an absolute blast to drive. Yes, it was sluggish until the turbo kicked in but when it did, mamma mia did it fly. Like press you into the seat acceleration, the kind I’ve only ever felt again with a tesla. But you’re right, you needed a wide berth to control it at first.
A high school friend of my Dad was a GM dealer and he picked out the car for me at a dealer auction. It had been a summer driver for someone high up and I was the first to title it with 4,900 miles on it, but for the price of a new standard cavalier. I donated it to a charity in 2003 after the third top got slashed and a friend hit a pole and cracked the front end fascia. It broke my heart to see it go and now I know how rare they are. I’ll never find another….
Although a GTO Judge convertible seems like a pretty desirable car now, Judge buyers at the time were all about low E.T.’s in the quarter and convertibles weren’t as desirable as coupes for that purpose….
Not necessarily. During their heyday in the sixties, musclecar convertibles sold quite well, particularly Goats. I’d say the later, early seventies’ versions (like the featured Judge convertible) were more a victim of the insurance premium surcharge that put a kibosh on any car with a high power to weight ratio. The convertibles just suffered more since they were initially more expensive than the coupes. I’d wager that a 1971 Judge convertible was pricey to begin with. Then, coupled with the insurance, explains why the take rate was very low, just like the quite unworthy Hemi-Cuda convertible, which now commands seven figures at auction.
Also, convertibles generally were dead in the market by 1971. Pontiac already had decided in 1971 not to build them in the colonnade generation scheduled for 1972.
This article is a sad reminder of how Pontiac kind of lost its identity after the 1960s.
After the 1970s, was there really a reason to buy a Pontiac?
Maybe a couple of interesting cars in the eighties and nineties. But after that?
Agreed. After the 1970s, there was no particular reason to buy a Pontiac. I say this having grown up with the following new Pontiacs, by virtue of my parents’ friend being a Pontiac sales manager: 1963 Catalina wagon; 1965 Bonneville wagon (first car with factory air); 1965 Bonneville convertible; 1967 Executive wagon (dealer demonstrator, fully optioned except for brakes); 1967 GTO (automatic on column – essentially a 1967 Luxury LeMans coupe); 1974 Luxury LeMans coupe. My only car from 1975 to 1987 was a 1966 Bonneville convertible with a/c, power seat, etc.
With that background, all I could do was view with regret what happened to Pontiac from 1970 through 1985 – by which time a typical Pontiac was a crummy, plastic-clad Grand Am FWD coupe.
There were some Pontiac bright spots in the 80’s. The ’87 to early 90’s Bonneville was superior to the other full size fwd GM cars, with performance and sporty interior and looks simply not available elsewhere.
Also the AWD Pontiac 6000 was a unique offereing.
But they were bright spots. Pontiac used to be continually bright.
Pontiac should’ve been in the top rank in the golden age of sport compacts – it was right up their alley – but suffered badly from GM’s unwillingness to put in the cost-per-unit to make a premium car *feel nice*.
With the Sloanian ladder rotted away, the overlaps in GMs mid[-priced brands were especially unsustainable, and each brand seemed to get a decade in the sun at the expense of the others – for Pontiac, it was the performance sixties, for Olds, the pseudo-luxury 70s, and for Buick the neo-conservative eighties. By the nineties all three were in real trouble, and all would be gone today if it weren’t for Buick’s strength in China. Curiously, Buick was the one division that never tried to become the “American BMW”, and that probably helped, too.
The entire 74 Luxury LeMans line was in the sales doldrums. Other than the sedan that my mother owned, I very rarely saw another. Cutlasses Regals and even Malibus seemed to be everywhere, though. The ad picture refreshes the image of that LML dash that was burned into my teenaged memory as the first car I legally drove on the street. And the first car I wrecked.
Here it is about 6 months before my mother traded it in, photobombing the photo I took of my 59 Fury. And for R L Plaut, this was Honduras Maroon. 🙂
Like a previous poster, the car that really appeals to me is the 6000 wagon. Unfortunately, my sister and BIL had an early G6000 (the original name, IIRC), and it was a colossal piece of garbage. The front end always felt loose/like it was about to come apart.
I owned a J2000 (aka Sunbird), and somehow I don’t remember the torque steer, but do remember the lackluster power and recalcitrant shifting action. The J-cars had introduced cable operated shifting to GM, and the cables always felt like there was too much slack in the mechanicals.
Almost bought a RWD Phoenix, but it had high miles from many cross country trips, but the real “killer” was the Oldsmobile engine in bc a Pontiac.
I wonder if the low sales for the FWD Pontiac X-body could be attributed to the “unusual” 5 door hatchback body. It would seem that 90% of the X-bodies you still see are 4 door sedans.
Those “unusual” 5 door hatchbacks sold like hotcakes as Chevy Citations though. Makes me wonder if the consumer of the day was a little more savvy than maybe given credit for. The Phoenix (in FWD X-Car guise) was rather nicely styled, IMO, with a nicer looking front end treatment and a more upscale dash layout, etc. I just wonder if the price premium over a comparable Citation made it a proposition most buyers (who were reeling from sticker shock, while probably still confused about the downsizing, new-fangled drivetrains and expected zillion dollar gas bills) just weren’t able to justify to themselves.
1982 was A6000, not J6000…Pertaining to the A body chassis, the 6000 was part of.
It’s always been a mystery to me why the LeMans didn’t sell better than it did during the collonade era. I always thought it one of the most nicely styled and appointed mid-level collonades. My paternal grandparents had a ’74 LeMans Sport Coupe, with buckets and console, vinyl half roof and opera windows (as opposed to the more common larger rear window design) and Rallye II wheels. It was a really nice car, with a high-quality-feeling interior. In contrast, my mother’s ’77 Monte Carlo looked and felt cheap in comparison. I’ve never studied the pricing structure on the Pontiac collonades, but I wonder if the numbers for decently optioned LeMans’ put them too close to Cutlass, Monte or Grand Prix figures.
Comments on some of these:
The Judge: This was really an option package, not a distinct model, as noted in the text. The Standard Catalog shows convertible production below 1,000 all three years it was offered (1969-71). At least in 1969-70, this was more of a car with limited appeal due to its nature and pricetag than a car that was “unpopular”. Sales apparently crashed in ’71 with the muscle car era ending, and that was its last year.
1974 Luxury LeMans Safari two-seat wagon: For the previous couple of years, Pontiac’s mid-size wagons had come in only a single base trim level, so the Luxury LeMans Safari was new for ’74. If it’s missing from some product literature, perhaps it was a late arrival. That wouldn’t have helped its sales numbers. Neither would the effects of the first energy crisis and its attendant recession, which kept car sales down in general, and drove many of those still buying to smaller cars. This model’s inclusion on this list also “benefitted” (if that’s the right word to use) from the fact the Pontiac reported wagon production separately this year for two- and three-seat wagons, which they didn’t always do in this era. By 1976, the Luxury LeMans Safari had become a much better seller.
1979 Phoenix hatchback: After some initial buzz when they were first introduced as 1973 models, the RWD X-body hatchbacks proved to be poor sellers over the long haul. 1979 X-body production was low across the board due to a truncated model year, as GM prepared to switch over to these cars’ FWD replacements. That served to push the hatchback below a thousand units. Many of the models that have appeared on Jason’s lists have represented specific trim level/body style combinations that were poor sellers, but other versions of that body style existed that sold at least somewhat better. That’s not the case here. There were two trim levels of 1979 Phoenix, but the hatchback only came in base trim. The figure quoted in the article represents the entire production of all Phoenix hatchbacks for 1979.
1981 Catalina coupe: A perfect storm of several factors, some of which are noted in the article. Pontiac’s full-size cars had been mediocre sellers over the past several years, and the division in general seemed to be struggling with its market position, with none of its models really selling well. There were also long-term trends of full-size Pontiac sales shifting away from the Catalina towards the Bonneville (likely due to a combination of buyers at one end of the Catalina’s class abandoning full-size cars for something a little smaller, while those at the other end were enticed to migrate to the broughaminess of the Bonneville), and away from two-door coupes towards four-door sedans. Add in the effects of the second energy crisis and its attendant recession, which caused sales of full-size cars in general to crater, and here we are. The Catalina was dropped after 1981, and no Pontiac model marketed as a full-size after this year would ever include a 2-door body style.
Phoenix SJ: I guess the Phoenix SJ concept just didn’t resonate with buyers, and FWD X-body sales were plummeting during this period anyway due to publicity around numerous quality issues with the initial models. The Standard Catalog shows that the SJ three-door actually returned for a third year in 1984 (the five-door didn’t), when it was once again below 1,000.
1983 2000 Sunbird convertible: IINM, the similar Cavalier convertible was a mid-year addition, which have been the case with the Sunbird, too. In any event, this model’s low sales is probably more reflective of an issue on the supply side (the manufacturer needing to ramp up production capacity on a new, complicated-to-produce model) than the demand side.
1985 Sunbird SE: It looks like the SE was never really very popular, then the Sunbird in general had a down year in ’85, possibly due to the introduction of the Grand Am, as suggested in the article.
1987 Sunbird GT hatchback: The J-body hatchback was never very popular, and was dropped after 1987. This seems to be a case of a specific trim level variant managing to drop below 1,000 in the body style’s final year before GM killed it off.
For a few years in the mid-to-late ’90s, I drove a 1987 Cavalier hatchback. My wife owned it when I first met her, and I later inherited it when we bought a new car for her use. At the time, many people seemed unaware that such a thing as a Cavalier hatchback existed. In telling people that I owned a Cavalier hatchback, I would often get the response, “They made Cavalier hatchbacks?”. On at least one occasion when I owned the car, someone viewing the car from the back (but at a distance where the badging was not legible) asked me what kind of car it was, and was surprised to learn that it was a Cavalier. They knew what a Cavalier looked like, but weren’t familiar with it in hatchback form.
1989-90 6000 SE wagon: another one with multiple factors involved. The 6000 wagons in general were never great sellers; in the ’80s, it seemed like none of Pontiac’s wagons really were. Few 6000 buyers selecting the SE trim level in particular seemed to want a wagon (even before 1989, there was never a year when Pontiac sold more than a few thousand SE wagons). And by 1989, 6000 sales in general were in decline, as the FWD A-body design aged and faced stiff competition from multiple directions. The SE wagon was dropped after 1990, and the 6000 was dropped completely after 1991.
I am puzzled with your mention of a “3-door” (I.E. 2-door hatchback) FWD X-body Pontiac Phoenix SJ. My family had a 1980 Phoenix 5-door, or hatchback sedan. I collected car brochures back then, and always thought it odd that Pontiac offered 2-door trunked sedans (O.K., call it a coupe), and a 5-dr. sedan (hatchback). Olds and Buick sold only FWD X-bodies with traditional separate trunks (not a rear liftback). Whereas Chevy offered 3- and 5- door hatchbacks, and, some years, a 2-door “club-coupe” (Chevy calked it that!).
Was it really a two-seat wagon, or a two-door wagon? The literature shown talks about the solid foam rear seats. Which begs another question, is solid foam even possible?
“Is solid foam possible?” You have probably slept on at least 1 or 2 solid foam pillows in your life, and the same or more solid foam chair cushions.
So what would NON solid foam look like? Suds on top of a sink of dishes or in a clothes washer.
Before foam in auto seats, I believe (though I’m sure folks will correct me) car manufacturers used things like horsehair.
And cotton.
No split seats. so the back seat is an all or nothing affair, either all the way down or up, and the front seat had a solid back, with no armrest or cutouts for anything else.
So it was a 5 door, six passenger wagon, not much different than a 4 door 6 passenger sedan, just with more cargo space.
Pontiac’s only two-door wagons were the original Star Chief Safari (ur-Safari?) and 860 (’55-6)/Chieftain Safari (’57) (Chevy Nomad and Handyman) and the ’75-79 Astre/Sunbird Safari (Chevy Vega/Monza).
As always, different north of the border…
Yup, and Canda got the Astre a few years before it showed up south of the border.
My father used to have a Pontiac 6000 S/E wagon in white, very much like the last pic — but it was a 1986 model. About 3000 made, IIRC. We even brought it back to Europe. Must have been the only one on the continent. Then, after about 150,000 miles, the transmission died, and it was curtains for the 6000.
Love learning about obscure cars. Thanks a lot for this series, Jason.
‘…two-seat wagon’
When I looked at that name and number of seats, I was befuddled why would anyone wanted a four-door estate with two seats. Then, I realised it was two bench, not bucket seats. Duh!
Can anyone identify the vehicle to the left of the “The Judge” in the second photo?
I first thought it was a roadster of some sort, but now I’m thinking it’s a speedboat…
I think boat as well
Seems like you missed the 1957 Bonneville convertible, of which only 630 units were produced, according to Wikipedia, although it was intended as a limited production halo car and was a high performance version of the Star Chief model.
If the Bonneville was part of the Star Chief line, it may very well have been reported as part of the Star Chief line, thus not showing up here.
This series has been an exercise is deduction and frustration as sources vary and I’m using three of them. Some sources will clump models together, such as two- and three-seat wagons, whereas another may have them split apart. One instance, and it was with one of the wagons, said there were x two-seaters and y three-seaters, with either x or y below my magic 1,000 threshold. In turn, another source may show x+y wagons being made in that trim – which supports the reporting of the first source.
It was because of this I’m including my caveat early on about the list not necessarily being comprehensive or all-encompassing. As we’ve learned sources do vary, but I’ve tried to deduce what I can. Working on Oldsmobile currently (which has been the toughest yet), I’ve simply eliminated a few models due to not being able to find an answer I was happy about.
For what it’s worth, Olds had nearly 10 candidates for 1950.
I can appreciate your angst, and can imagine the amount of research you have done. This has been a really interesting series. As a 10-year old when these original Bonnevilles came out, I was fascinated with them, even though they were rare in Southern California. It was the first thing that came to mind when reading this installment. Looking forward to the Oldsmobile chapter.
Your labors are appreciated. This is a great series.
I’m thinking by the time you get to the Imperial convertible, you may just want to note the years when they managed to sell over a 1,000…
Speaking of unloved Pontiacs here are a couple that someone needs to give they love they deserve or at least park them in a barn for another 20 years and see if there is some love for an orphan then.
https://www.publicsurplus.com/sms/all,wa/auction/view?auc=1862280
https://www.publicsurplus.com/sms/all,wa/auction/view?auc=1862314
These were definitely not a popular car to check out, I’d say they only went out when all of the Escorts and then Focus vehicles were already checked out. Sure they were owned by a school district so they probably sat for at least 2 months out of the year. However even when you normalize for that we are talking only ~4,000 mi per year.
Even the Neons the local county had were more popular. They only racked up 50-60K on average before they were aged out after 12 years. Meanwhile the Escorts and then Focus vehicles would rack up 100K and mile out before they were 10 years old.
If I had been in the car market in 1980 (i.e., more than 7 years old), I would have seized the chance to buy a Catalina 2-door!
What amazes me about the low production #s for the ’80 Catalina here is how quickly sales of this specific model tanked. I bet that in 1977 about a quarter of Catalina sales were 2-doors — and the Catalina itself sold strongly in comparison to the Bonneville. Both the Catalina and the overall concept of a 2-door full-size car really took a beating in the short time between 1977 and 1980.
Seems like by 1980 this:
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-american/curbside-classic-1978-pontiac-grand-prix-gms-deadly-sin-14/
would have pretty much rendered a 2-door Catalina redundant. After all, how much more useable passenger or luggage space would you get in the Catalina? And the drivetrain and feature content were fairly comparable between the 2. Who’s gonna buy an entry level “full sized” Pontiac when for close to the same money he can pick up what was once the ‘premier’ Pontiac, with just about the same space and feature content? Now the buyer gets the prestige of a former top-line model name without giving up a thing (or gaining a thing, obviously).
Although the revised exterior of the 1981 GP may have attracted some would-be Catalina buyers, I think anyone who drove both cars would find the Catalina to be much more substantial; the wheel size difference alone (15″ versus 14″) would make me a Catalina buyer, irrespective of the prestige of the model name, or lack thereof.
During my college years, around 1997 I believe, the 1977 Aspen wagon I drove was starting to get very temperamental. I thought about just leaving it with my dad and getting another car. I wanted something a little more modern, and a little bit more fuel efficient. I loved having a wagon, and had a soft spot for the FWD A-body wagons (aunt had a Celebrity Eurosport wagon).
Casually browsing Autotrader, I found an ad for an 88 silver 6000 wagon at a dealer lot in a not very nice part of town. The lone picture showed that it was an SE with the GFX pacakge. Price was at the top end of what I would have considered. I called up the dealer to ask about the car. Everything sounded OK over the phone. The salesman said that there were “some minor scratches” along the right side of the vehicle. I knew in my price range nothing was going to be perfect visually, i just wanted something sporty looking that was mechanically sound.
I drove over on the weekend to take the car for a test drive. I pulled into the lot, got out and found the car. The “minor scratches” were the words F*CK YOU keyed into the side of the car, from the tailgate to the leading edge of the front door. It was gouged pretty deep, down to the metal. It was a huge turn off, turned around and left without even driving it.
Kicking myself now, for two reasons. It would just be a couple of years later that I would do a full repaint on my Topaz. Hindsight being what it was, I probably could have picked that car up for a song and repainted it with my dad. Second, now i’m seeing how rare that car was…. sheesh. Really wish I had gotten it then.
Oh well, another one on the list of the could-a, would-a, should-a.
Mi dad had a ’61 Pontiac Tempest wagon with the 4-cylinder engine, 3-speed manual transmission (shifter on the floor; I think it was factory). He rebuilt the engine.
I wonder how many of THOSE were made? I’d love to have another one!
How about a 6000STE wagon with a 5 speed ? I met a Navy officer who had special ordered one. I told him he probably had the only one.
I remember a consouler at my camp in the 90s had a pontiac grand am “Sail Boston Edition” which I imagine must be quite rare considering I can’t find any info on it.
It sounds like it was most likely a dealer or sales zone type of car based upon a specific trim. The name alone is going to greatly limit its appeal on a geographic scale. 🙂
Wait a minute… Life imitates art?
What about the 1980 Pontiac Grand Am?
Very rare at only 1,647 produced.
1987 Sunbird GT Hatchback
This was the very last Sunbird GT Hatchback built on special order for me. It was ordered on the very last day that the order books were open.
Wow, 1987 was also the last year General Motors allowed a la carte custom orders, with 50+ item option lists not uncommon. Buying a new car just hasn’t been the same since – now about all the choice you get is whether you want the DX, LX, or GLX prepackaged trim/equipment levels with your choice of five shades of grey (and a lone red and occasionally blue) for exterior paint. So you bought one of the last special-ordered GM cars ever built.
(special orders are usually still allowed, but with only a handful of variations, and a huge dealer lot that (normally) has several of each, there’s not much point in placing an order, waiting a few months, and paying more for it.)
Total sales of the 1984 Phoenix must have been incredibly low – I’ve only ever seen one and it was in a junkyard. I remember that year Pontiac changed from trim levels ending in ‘J’ (LJ, SJ) to trim levels ending in E (LE, SE, STE), claiming in Automotive News that SE or LE designations are more in keeping with Pontiac’s image than SJ or LJ. I’ll forever be baffled by that, but someone at Pontiac clearly thought for whatever reason the J had to go because they got rid of it for good across the board. What would have been the Phoenix SE 4-door hatchback was discontinued (but unnecessary since the its key feature, the high-output V6, was now available as an option on any Phoenix, and the LJ/LE got similar black-accented exterior trim starting in 1983.
I always assumed the Luxury LeMans got the nicer Grand Prix/Grand Am dash just as the later Grand LeMans did, but I see that’s not the case.
The 1980 Catalina, for the first time in a long time (ever?) got the same grille and front appearance as the Bonneville. To verify there wasn’t some small difference I did a Google image search and found this video from one of those places that fixes up and sells classic cars – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioIS2HV92TE – and found my answer (yes, same grille) and also that they didn’t notice the lower bumper grille extensions were from a 1981 and don’t match the 1980 main grille. That car has an LT swap, nice since the fuel gauge indicates it originally had the Olds diesel. Also, why can’t we have interiors like this on modern cars? I offer the 1980 Bonneville as evidence that Broughams aren’t always tacky.
GM had a 90 day UAW strike that hurt production. Leading to delay of Colonnades to 1973 MY. Judge trim was discontinued as soon as the strike ended. Also, the insurance surcharges hurt sales. There is a registry for the 17 Judge convertibles, can search online.
The recession and gas crisis of 1979-81 hurt Catalina sales. Those who would get a lower trimmed full size car went to smaller cars, or didn’t buy at all. Impala trim also declined in the early 80’s, dropped for ’86. When Parisienne came in ’83, was no low trim model.
I remember the 17 number from the 80s when a friend was looking for one. He bought and sold so many Pontiacs and their parts from that era that I can’t remember if he ever found and bought one. We took a road trip in his ’69 Judge convertible that gave me skin cancer on my burnt exposed thigh 7 years later.
I had a 90 6000 SE wagon, white with white wheels. Just like the picture except it had the 15 inch wheels from the 6000 AWD. Best car I ever had. Drove it for almost a decade until rust took its toll. Had I known they were that rare I would have chosen something else to drive in the winter. Then again I was only 19 or 20. Later on I had an 89 LE wagon.
The 6000 SE looked sharp, however the nose looked like a last minute design job. Very sloppily put together, with gaps galore, compared to the other A bodies. But a plus was you could pop out the grille and headlights with zero tools.
I always liked the looks of the Sunbird, in all forms except the coupe after they rounded the rear roofline. To me they were the best looking J body.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a FWD Phoenix with the trunk, and only seen one Citation that way. But I’ve seen more Phoenix hatchbacks that Citations around here in the day. I even saw one a year ago.
That 79 Phoenix looks like a morph of old and new. Reminds me of the GM square body Suburban for a few years after the new pickups came out in 88.