Photos from the Cohort by Slant Six.
Talk about a 1980s 1990s car! The ever-present GM J-cars, so common once upon a time! And this one, a droptop! Probably the most desirable of the J-cars, and looks as good as an early ’90s GM J-car could ever do. How many can survive in this condition?
I admit, desirable and J-car don’t necessarily go together in my book. But their current scarcity makes the heart go -slightly- fonder. So if I must pick one, why not this Sunbird convertible, from the “We Build Excitement” division?
Around the time these Sunbirds were new, I often rode on a Chevy Beretta that belonged to my college roommate. GM interior plastics of the time looked suspect to me, but the ones in this Sunbird are still in place. Was I too quick to judge them back then?
Not that it takes away from the multiple grades of the material seen at first glance. Or the dubious gray/brown/beige combination.
Still, convertibles had made a comeback in the 1980s. And if one was in need to join the droptop wave, was a GM faithful, and had a limited budget, a J-car one could be the ticket.
As for me, if I must choose an American droptop of the period, I’ll pick a LeBaron. But even if I’m not quite a J-car fan (far from it), the condition of this one is indeed a nice time capsule to the early ’90s.
Related CC reading:
Car Show Classic: 1992 Pontiac Sunbird SE Convertible – The Most Appealing J-Car?
Curbside Classic: 1990 Pontiac Sunbird LE – Ornithology 101
GM North America’s FWD Platform Proliferation of the 1980s – A Guide To All Platform Codes
I was a Pontiac salesman on the mid-late 90s and I remember these everywhere. I was more of a GT Turbo (later v6) guy, but the convertibles weren’t bad. The Sunfire that replaced these in 95 were nothing but trouble in convertible form. GM couldn’t seal them correctly the first few years. Angry customer line forms on the left!
Every honeymooner arriving in Hawaii, expecting to get a romantic convertible for their stay on the Islands, got one of these. We had maybe a thousand of them, every one of them on the road. Sorry – you thought you were getting a Miata or a Mustang? Hmmm, we can’t offer you that, but we do have a Sunbird in red, blue or white for you.
We loved them because they were cheap. We got Mustang and Miata money for them. Fact is, anywhere you went on these islands, with the exception of the Big Island, you were only 30 minutes away from the airport. You didn’t need a robust car. You just needed something like these Sunbirds.
CHEAP! Cheap-cheap-cheap! The interiors were covered in some kind of tan or gray mousefur that washed nicely but felt like a polyester bath towel dried in the sun. Crispy and dry carpeting, the dashboard shook and bounced over bumps, and they worked for us because our customers were having too much fun being in Hawaii to notice their substandard driving experience.
Best things – it was a convertible, it wasn’t ugly, and you just pushed the big yellow button in the middle of the dash to use the radio. Worst part – it was a Cavalier with the cheapest interior materials available.
These rusted quickly. The lower door skins freckled with rust within three years, the rocker panels disintegrated, and the car body basically shook itself into pieces. Good solid mechanicals, but the corners were cut regarding everything else.
We made boodles on these cars. Hawaii gave us 50% of our national profit, with Florida coming in second, Illinois and Texas third, and the Northeastern US fifth. Big bucks.
There was another one of these I found at a car show recently as well. In was in the glorious GM metallic teal that so many Beretta’s Cavaliers, as well as other small Buick’s and Pontiacs wore in the mid 90’s to early 2000’s
I cannot remember If I posted to the cohort or not. It my be languishing away on a memory card in my camera. I will check on that.
The Pontiac J-body went through “faces” like no other car I can think of. The original had that 1978 Firebird look (and was probably the best) which by 83 had the six lights instead of four, then in 87 it got those weird half-hidden lights and the word PONTIAC in the middle where the arrowhead should’ve been, which by 1990 had morphed into the generic visage on this example unless of course it was the GT then it was a rounder, more gentle half hidden headlight setup but with the arrowhead. In fact I think the fascias might’ve always varied by trim level but I’m only sure about the 90-95 looks.
It was just a weird car in general, with it’s split radio and unique engine (in the turbo). At the time I remember thinking that the General sure put a lot of work into this car which in the end wasn’t really that compelling against the Cavalier, much less its external rivals which far outclassed it.
My only real memory of this car (not a convertible) , was a new one parked at a business next door. The trunks lid sat about an inch up above the fenders. A testament to poor assembly.
I did like the look of the car in general.
I once drove (as a passenger) in one of these, going from Washington DC to Ganesville, FL in 1993. It was numbingly boring. The brown plastic is what I recall most.
That front end design looks less modern than the Holden Camira we saw the other day.