GTP Cool Wall: 1988.5-1994 Pontiac Sunbird

1988.5-1994 Pontiac Sunbird

  • Total voters
    132
  • Poll closed .
White & Nerdy

White & Nerdy

4,209
United States
Wasilla, AK
The moment everyone but me has been waiting for is finally here...

1988.5-1994 Pontiac Sunbird nominated by Joey D

800px-Pontiac-Sunbird-coupe.jpg


Stats:
Production: 1988.5-1994
Style: 2-door coupe, 2-door convertible, 4-door sedan, 5-door wagon
Engine: LT2 122 ci/1,998 cc naturally aspirated OHC inilne 4 (rated 96 HP & 118 lb-ft), LE4 122 ci/1,998 cc naturally aspirated OHC inline 4 (rated 110 HP & 124 lb-ft), LH0 191 ci/3,196 cc naturally aspirated OHV V6 (rated 140 HP & 185 lb-ft), LT3 122 ci/1,998 cc turbocharged OHC inline 4 (rated 165 HP & 175 lb-ft)
Transmission: 5-speed manual, 3-speed automatic
Layout: Front-engine, Front-drive
Related: Buick Skyhawk, Cadillac Cimarron, Chevrolet Cavalier​

My take? I know it ain't cool. Probably pretty uncool. However, I'm bumping it to Meh because 1. it's definitely cooler than most FWD compacts because available V6 and 2. to give it a head start on the inevitable flood of people who will call it SU just because I've said the V6 makes it better than other compacts.

Also note that the V6 was faster than the turbo 4 due to better low end. Also the turbo did not have an intercooler.
 
It never really occurred to me until I saw that picture in that shade with those wheels that the Sunbird is, essentially from the belt line down, a 3 door one of these:

vauxhall-cavalier.jpg
 
^ I can see where THAT'S going. :P

I'll place it at uncool, cause i don't give 2 bleeps about it. And everyone (not everyone i know, but just bear with this word, alright?) seems to have some sort of bleep about it. I'm not impressed at any Pontiac aside from the Trans Am. This is coming from an American Muscle enthusiast.

Preparing for the incoming tsunami of hate..
 
Is it related to the Opel Manta in any way?

Anyhow. Total M'eh from me. The styling is pretty bland and it still suffers from the issue of displacement vs. power for me, all round a pretty bland american car.


Also.. Dat SRi :D :lol:
 
Famine
It never really occurred to me until I saw that picture in that shade with those wheels that the Sunbird is, essentially from the belt line down, a 3 door one of these.

*Vectra/Cavalier pic.
Click to expand...

Is it?

If so, what's below seriously uncool?
 
This, along with the Aztek is probably among one of the worst cars GM ever made. Worse than Seriously Uncool.
 
W&N connotations aside, it's... a car. Something you don't look at twice going down the road. About as meh as you can get.
 
Every time one of these pulls up next to me in the Prius, I laugh my head off at the way that the idiot driving it is revving their engine massively in some desperate cry for attention.
 
Meh because we shouldn't validate W&N's assumption that we'd vote it straight into SU oblivion, which he's based upon his obsessive perception that the world (and GTP) revolves around antagonizing him.

And it could be worse. Like the Oldsmobile my sister drives that shares the same wheezy 3.1 V6.
 
Not really a cool car, but when it comes to late 80's-early 90's sport compacts (?), you could do worse. Meh.

I am, however, quite partial to the convertible version of this car (mostly because the name is more fitting).
 
I would vote uncool, but the only person I know of who has one is W&N, and his attitude about it is seriously uncool. So, using the same logic that was used in the Prius thread, seriously uncool.
 
Meh. The V6 paired with a manual in the 2 door configuration is ok, and that'd be the only way I'd "want" it, but otherwise I'd take something like a Grand Am before this. Looks wise it's not atrocious like say the Prius, but it's definitely not the cream of the crop when it comes to cars from General Motors. It's not exactly cool, but given the chance to pick between an import such as a Camry or this, I'd take the "American made" car all day long. Color isn't half bad either. Power output is pretty average for the time. I can't really sway either way.
 
Badasp5.0
Isn't the Cavalier the same exact car? Good ole GM badge engineering.
Click to expand...
Probably similar in the core but I think the chassis is entirely different despite looking pretty similar.
 
Uncool.

It would be meh, but the only way I would ever see one is if someone went to the trouble of importing it, and we have plenty of mediocre cars here already.
 
Slash
Probably similar in the core but I think the chassis is entirely different despite looking pretty similar.
Click to expand...

The C(h)av was the exact same car underneath (and, mostly, outside as well).

Epitomized some of the laziest thought processes from a car company that thought the mediocrity of the 80's was some sort of race they needed to win. A dark spot in an exceedingly dim decade for American car companies in general. I never see one that isn't driven by a questionable individual, and while it's relative the Beretta has a similar clientele, at least that thing had some racing pedigree. This did nothing to nothing to push the class forward, either for the cooking models or the sporty ones (in the face of competitors helping shape the compact scene, for better or worse), and its legacy of mediocrity lasted two decades.

Not voting it SU because of our resident anti-equestrian; voting it Seriously Uncool because it's a hateful hunk of scrap metal.
 

Latest Posts

Back