My family's 1983 Pontiac 6000 was the first front-wheel drive car I had driven. An amazing ride and feel, and great in the snow. Later, Dad gave me that car and I owned and maintained it for many years. Very solid and reliable...I loved that car!
My buddy had one of these back in highschool, we spent a lot of time driving around aimlessly listening to WEEN, smoking stuff and things...good times, from what I remember... lol
I loved the STE. A friend had a '84 and it was a great car. Another friend's dad worked for GM and he bought a '86 STE. I loved that car! It looked great, drove great and felt like something special. It was impressive that GM, which was great at screwing up good opportunities, actually got this one right.
My parents had a 6000SE wagon with a digidash, my dad used to set the cruise control 1 under the 70mph speed limit and chuckle to himself, it would be years before I got the joke.
When I was a kid growing up in the 80s this was my favorite A-body. I even tried to get my friend's mom to buy one. She decided on a 1985 Nissan Maxima that got me started on 4-door sedans with moonroofs. I loved the digital gauges and the familiar Pontiac styling cues. Being praised by Road & Track and Car & Driver helped, too. By 1990 it was stale and had been surpassed by newer competition. I wound up buying an Accord EX with a manual. Man do I miss the 80s.
My friend’s mom had a new 86 black over grey STE and my 15 yr old self was blown away by it. My mom’s IROC felt like a Flintstones car by comparison. They didn’t miss a trick with the details. The digital instruments, steering wheel buttons, and tons of unusual for the time features (assist handles over the doors, rear seat headrests, etc). It was clear that they really thought about the details. When I got my first car in 1992, I was lucky enough to find an 89 STE AWD in the navy blue. I loved that car and it impressed everyone who saw it or rode in it. I actually preferred the original roofline to the later rounded one, but couldn’t find an 88.5 version, which was the intro of the AWD option and had the original body style. But great memories of that car.
Thanks for making this video I Loved my 1986 6000 STE! Very quirky car, funky display, air suspension with a pump in the trunk. If I went down a steep hill with less than 1/4 tank it would stall out because of the fuel pump location. Drove it till the rust got too bad and the carbon built up in the throttle body so much it would stall at every light. Anyway that car saw me through some very hard times.
This video brought back a multitude of great memories from when I was a kid. I have vivid memories of riding in the back seat of my Grandparent's 1986 6000LE that they had up until 1996. It was a great car. I still think about that car to this day
My dad was a big Ford guy and was president of a company back in the day. He had a 6000 rental and raved about how good of a car it was. He said he was quiet and rode very smooth. When it was time to order company cars for the company he was working for he wanted to get some 6000s but ended up getting Mercury Sables instead I think the deal Ford had on fleet cars was better than GMs at the time. He still talks about how much he liked the 6000 though.
Mom had a 89 S/E. Was a solid car. Learnd to drive in that car. I dont remember it ever having any problems. She gave it to my brother who went over 200k before he got rid of it. Good cars.
In 1982 my Dad ordered a 83 6000 with the diesel engine. Sales manager tried to talk him out of the diesel. But my Dad stuck to it. Took about 5 months for the car to arrive. He drove it about 85k miles and the engine died. He replaced it w/a gas engine and we drove it about another 100k miles. I thought it was a nice car and a little more upscale than the neighbors. In 1990 bought a used base model 87 6000 and used it as our family car. It had the iron duke and the upper cam gear shredded around 115k miles. That was the first engine I rebuilt myself! Drove it another few years and always liked them. They were a good value and fairly comfortable.
While I do remember the Pontiac 6000 there weren't many of them out there in my part of the Midwest US back in the 80s and early 90s. However, I did own a 88 Cutlass Ciera for a couple of years in the late 90s. While my Cutlass was one of the "gutless" 4 cylinder models, it was comfortable basic transportation. If the engine hadn't kept breaking valve guides which resulted in a bent valve each time I would have kept the car for much longer than I did. After the 3rd time it broke a valve guide in just over 12 months I went out and bought a brand new 2000 Chevy Cavalier which I ended up driving for a little over 16 years and over 230K miles.
My wife has her mom's 6000 STE. An 86, black, red interior. Yep. It draws a crowd at local cruise nights. Also get a lot of I owned one/my parents had one, but not like this one. Fun car, because of the memories shared, life events, dumb decisions, things like that. More often than not,.it sits next to the 80 Mercury zephyr, 92 Mustang drive line, worked over, backed with a 5 speed. Set up for road course and daily use. One of our friends has an 89 6000 wagon as well. His wife has her dad's 90 Celebrity's wagon. Last time I saw them on the road regularly was the early 2000s. Thanks for covering the A body GMs. Brings back a lot of memories.
I almost bought one for 400 in 2007. It was Blue/Rusty with grey interior. It was rough, I passed because it was running when I got there and they wouldn't let me test drive it or turn it off.
Great show and review ! I saw far more Cutlass Ciera , Celebrity and Centuries back in the 80s. The A body cars each catered to different customers the 6000 being the most sporty . My parents were @ the time looking @ a 6000 Safari wagon but ended up buying a 84 Parisienne Safari wagon . 😊
Owned a 93 Olde Cutlass Ciera SL. Loved that car. Always wanted a Pontiac 6000. These were very good cars. Should have been developed beyond just one generation. 😊
I bought a Chevy Celebrity used in 2002, and for a fourteen year old car with 200,000 miles on the clock, it had some of the best handling of any car I've ever driven, let alone owned. It served me well for another four years until someone decided to run a red light and total it with 300,000 miles on the clock. I miss that car.... The only vehicle that's come close is my current ride, a 2000 GMC Jimmy SLE...
Memories! Drove an 89 le 6000 for 5 years back in the 90, sweet car, fast, confortable but felt old, still i have good memories about it, the 89 back window and cladding was really cool! Thanks!
My grandpa ordered my grandma a new 1984 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme Brougham , 2dr. It’s Black with very light grey interior, Chrome and full gauge pkgs, wire wheels. It has only 97K original miles. It still looks showroom new.
I bought my mom a 1989 Pontiac 6000 STE in 1996, she loved the car and saw sad to see it go. It talked and told you things wrong with it. it also had an air compressor in the trunk. I later bought a 1990 regular 6000. Both were the dark blue.
I bought a 6000 from a lady when I was a teen… it taught me a valuable lesson in looking under a car when purchasing… the rear axle mounts were rotted out and they had the axle held in with ratchet straps… so I ended up scrapping it… PA salty roads did a number to it… I miss the 90’s sometimes… but not so much the cars…
Had an 89 celebrity eurosport 2.8l 4dr back then. It was some kind of light burgundy champagne color. Had all the gauges and console shift. It was actually a pretty tough car from what I remember. Had really good luck with it. Couple hundred thousand miles and unbelievably it only had to have in tank fuel pump replaced. Staying on top of regular maintenance helped for sure.
I understand that Pontiac had intended to name this car the Tempest - reviving a historic nameplate. But they decided to go with 6000 with the hopes of pitting it against the Audi 5000. In 1982 Road & Track did just that; featuring those two vehicles on its cover. I’m actually glad they didn’t name such a sedate vehicle the Tempest. I would have liked to see it in place of the Grand Prix nameplate. Sadly, the Tempest name was sullied when GM put the nameplate on rebadged Chevy Corsicas for the Canadian market.
Numeric and alphanumeric names for cars go in and out of fashion every 10-15 years I have noticed. It was popular for a period in the 1980's and again in the early 2000's. They are back to traditional names again for cars now, which honestly I think gives a car more character than just naming it a bunch of numbers and letters.
In the 1970's my brother and I were toddlers, so we knew nothing about cars, other than they had that hump in the middle that went all the way back preventing us from hiding on the floor. That was a Pontiac Toronado and it was a front wheel drive V8 car. Living in Michigan, my dad LOVED that car because it was made to drive in the snow. We drove that car cross country. What a great car.
11:00 Was waiting for the obligatory Patrick Stewart "Pontiac Trans Sport" Star Trek reference, but I know you've done it already. Always funny though. Great vid as usual 👍
Thank you for the video! Excellent job once again, I enjoyed the footage and infornation. I did want ti mention a few things. The Safari wagon lived on through the 1989 model year. Once Parisienne sedan was dropped after 1986, the wagon was branded Pontiac Safari. It got the same exterior mirrors as Chevrolet Caprice. The 6000 wagon replaced the G Body Bonneville wagon. The Oldsmobile version of the A Body the Ciera had the ES trim, that became the Ciera GT and the Ciera International Series. It also used the early 3800 V6 too. Pontiac wanted the 3.8 liter V6, for the power to heighten the 6000 STE, and the then Pontiac general manager Michael Losh said no. He later was the divisional manger for Oldsmobile. Thank you for your work as video.
My dad had a Pontiac Grand Am with the Quad 4 he leased to take to work in 1998. It was actually quite the little performer and looked legitimately sporty in comparison to GMs other offerings.
I dunno about that tbh. Their last decade seemed like a genuine attempt to offer performance was finally being made. Cars like the GTP and SSEIs from the late 90s were good offerings with legitimately decent performance. The later gxp models of the g8 and g6 were good additions and the gto was a very good car, as was the solstice. Even a meager grand prix GT was a reasonably distinct looking car with moderate power, it was a good volume seller if nothing else. The reality is with a company as big as gm there was no reason pontiacs offerings couldn't have just been chevys or caddilacs. And their slump in the late 80s early 90s. Didn't help either, they were fighting an uphill battle by 00 but it was a little too late since the economy was set to implode in 9 years anyways.
My dad had a few company cars, a 6000-le that was a huge POS , got an STE and that was a great fun car. My bros and I learned to drive in it. Then ended up with Bonneville se that was good. This episode episode really nostalgic
Growing up a Mopar guy, I had a Dodge Daytona Turbo at the time these were out. I would have picked a Dodge 600 or Lancer ES instead of the 6000 STE had I needed 4 doors. My only A body experience was a Buick Century rental. I went into my favorite on-ramp at the usual Daytona 45 mph only to slide out the front end and almost wrecked! It would squeal the tires at 35 mph. I did later test drive a nice ‘90 Grand Prix Coupe but bought a Thunderbird SC instead. Crazy that all of that was 35-40 years ago!
The Cutlass Ciera was everywhere, even well into the 1990’s, whereas the Pontiac 6000 was far less common. Back in the day Olds sold a ton of everything that they slapped a “Cutlass” badge on.
I'd love to see an episode on personal luxury vehicles. The large 2door land yachts that dominated the highways in the 70s. I owned several Pontiac versions Grand Am and Catalina. You've touched on these vehicles as they relate to their 4 door brethren but the 2 doors are unique and are unlikely to ever return to the marketplace 😢
Truly impressed with the Wikipedia like narration of this model. We got a Cavalier over a Celebrity at Ed Cordero Chevrolet in Pacifica CA. That Pontiac 6000 was the one to get along with the Celebrity Sport deal. The Cavalier got better fuel mileage during California going unleaded and reformulated fuel plus geo OPEC issues regarding Oil output. Pontiac 6000 was a nicer car with safer suspension tuning than Cavalier.🚗🚘
I remember my friends family having this as their daily. Ran outside one rainy day after school and stopped them, had asked if he could sleep over and if i could get their number, the dad ripped off the lid of his pack of smokes and wrote their number on it for me. Good times. Miss it
Interesting coincidence that both you and Adam from Rare Cars featured a Pontiac 6000 on the same day. One of my best friends' father in 1986 had an STE and he was absolutely smitten with it.
Loved my ‘84 STE, was very high mileage when I got it in ‘95 as my first car, but was still peppy for the time and ended up being very reliable, and I thought the digital dash was pretty cool as well.
I just bought a 1987 Oldsmobile Ciera Gt from the original owner. 81,000 mi on it.. it's beautiful! I can't find if you have a episode regarding the Ciera? I'd love to see the old commercials from that generation! As I was 13yrs old in 87,so I rode in a lot of those cars growing up! Thanks.
These were great cars. We never owned a pontiac but my family went through 3 Celebritys. My mom totalled 1 on a deer, i totalled one in a downtown pile-up, and my brother totalled the 3rd one but I can't remember how. Anyway, we bought back the 3rd one and had it rebuilt and it ran for another 100k. These cars sure weren't sexy but they were roomy, reliable and incredible in the snow. I had a buddy with a celebrity as well and he wanted rid of it so he stopped maintaining in the hope that it would die. It took him almost 3 years and 60k miles of no oil changes/topoffs to finally crack the block. Ahhh, the good 'ole days...
My first car in 1997 was a 6000 LE although I don’t remember the year. It had to be near the end. That car was nothing special but it was ultra clean and ran great. Words can’t describe how I loved it.
I had an either '88 or early 90's 6000 SE with a 5 speed. It was very odd for that kind of car to have a manual trans. It wasn't fast, but it was quicker than you would think it was. I got t-boned coming out of our apartment complex a few days after hurricane Fran. My parents gave me their '87 BMW 325 after that which I miss very very much.
My high school classmate's (late 1990s) first car was a low mileage Pontiac 6000 from probably 1987-1989 IIRC, the model that has just went to composite headlights. It was a bench seat up front, and we did pack it with 6 on occasion. I remembered it being more of a roomier, but dowdier Grand Am...but still a pretty reliable sedan for what it was. Sporty, not really...but the accelerator worked, so there's that. Those horsepower numbers, LOL...but I don't remember it really lacking the 'get up' needed.
My dad had a 1989 6000 LE and always said that was his favorite car he ever owned…he had to get rid of it in 2003 when it wouldn’t pass PA inspection/emissions
My folks went from a late 70's Bonneville to an 85-86 6000. Both cars were in that gawd-awful light blue. Some things from the 80's are not so cool. Thanks for the vid!
I had one !!! Sold it to my auntie for 5 bucks and a beer. And then they drove it for another 6 years before somebody stole it and totaled it. It was running nicely until then. That V6 motor had kick. I think you failed to mention the the rear window got curved after I think 1987.
I had a 1988 Buick Century Limited with the 2.8 L V6 that was fuel injected that year, and everyone that drove that car wanted to buy it from me and I refused to sell it. I could get 30 to 32 miles to the gallon on the highway, and it only had a three speed automatic instead of the four speed and it was so comfortable and so quiet. You could put four adults in it with comfort And ride for several hours without getting tired.
Wow. Great show and many great GM A-Body memories, as two exes, a cousin and an ex-coworker all had one. (a silver Chevy Celebrity sedan and a maroon Buick Century coupe, Olds Cutlass Ciera coupe in gold and a deep blue, Pontiac 6000 LE sedan, respectfully.) But, as much as I loved the 6000 S.T.E., that was the car that put Pontiac executives in a false sense of being in competition with BMW, which in turn killed the brand in 2010. I really hated that 4-door Grand Prix, though. My 8th grade teacher's rear-wheel-drive, 400 c.i.d. V8 powered, sleek- black, 1973 Grand Prix LJ coupe made too strong of an argument not to! Mr. Hinton was the pimpest of all teachers in Chicago! 🐰
My cousin worked dispatch for a local towing company. I remember she told me they got a call to pick up a “gree pontac Gooole” one day. She had no clue what they were talking about but sent a truck to the address. Turned out to be a grey Pontiac 6000 LE 😂
As a serial S**t Box owner (60-90’s) I really enjoy your productions. How about the mighty 20R 4 cylinder Toyota engine vehicles from the 70’s? I had a few, the awesome “How to Keep Your Toyota Alive “ illustrated book was my bible for more than a decade for 3 different 20R Toyotas. Cheers 👍
My 2nd car was a white 4 door Pontiac 6000 SE and damn did I love that car. For an economy type sedan she really did have a lot of get up and go. My 1st car was a navy blue 1986 Chevy Celebrity Eurosport. What’s interesting is I detested the Eurosport, but I adored my 6000. 🤷🏼♀️🤣🤦🏼♀️
Ah yes, the 6000 (along with the Cutlass Ciera), such memories of my travel days. Can’t tell you how many times I was so disappointed at the Avis counter when they handed me the keys to one of those things. The only thing worse was getting handed the keys to a Corsica. But here’s a fun fact, for some reason, GM equipped all A bodies with driver and passenger power reclining seats as standard. Everything else (I mean practically EVERY thing else) was an option. I mean you had to pay extra on a Cadillac to have driver and passenger power recliners, but with the A bodies, it was standard. The control switch was at the leading edge of the side seat trim plastic piece, right at the front, and was completely hidden from sight. Go figure GM in the 1980’s.
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My family's 1983 Pontiac 6000 was the first front-wheel drive car I had driven. An amazing ride and feel, and great in the snow. Later, Dad gave me that car and I owned and maintained it for many years. Very solid and reliable...I loved that car!
My buddy had one of these back in highschool, we spent a lot of time driving around aimlessly listening to WEEN, smoking stuff and things...good times, from what I remember... lol
I loved the STE. A friend had a '84 and it was a great car. Another friend's dad worked for GM and he bought a '86 STE. I loved that car! It looked great, drove great and felt like something special. It was impressive that GM, which was great at screwing up good opportunities, actually got this one right.
Love my 1986 Century T Type. Never had a 6000 but fondly remember them.
The Century T-Type was very cool.
My parents had a 6000SE wagon with a digidash, my dad used to set the cruise control 1 under the 70mph speed limit and chuckle to himself, it would be years before I got the joke.
When I was a kid growing up in the 80s this was my favorite A-body. I even tried to get my friend's mom to buy one. She decided on a 1985 Nissan Maxima that got me started on 4-door sedans with moonroofs. I loved the digital gauges and the familiar Pontiac styling cues. Being praised by Road & Track and Car & Driver helped, too. By 1990 it was stale and had been surpassed by newer competition. I wound up buying an Accord EX with a manual. Man do I miss the 80s.
My friend’s mom had a new 86 black over grey STE and my 15 yr old self was blown away by it. My mom’s IROC felt like a Flintstones car by comparison. They didn’t miss a trick with the details. The digital instruments, steering wheel buttons, and tons of unusual for the time features (assist handles over the doors, rear seat headrests, etc). It was clear that they really thought about the details. When I got my first car in 1992, I was lucky enough to find an 89 STE AWD in the navy blue. I loved that car and it impressed everyone who saw it or rode in it. I actually preferred the original roofline to the later rounded one, but couldn’t find an 88.5 version, which was the intro of the AWD option and had the original body style. But great memories of that car.
There were way more Cutlass Cieras and Celebrities on the road from what I can remember.
Sane here. Oldsmobiles were everywhere, Chevys were close. But I did see a few Pontiacs. Don't remember seeing any Buicks though
Agreed! Wasn't the Cadillac Cimarron also more popular and LOOKED just like these? Seem to remember seeing a lot of those as well
Yep
The Cimoron was smaller.
It was a Rebadged Chevy Caviler
I just remember that anemic 2.8 and a transmission that hunted to compensate for the lack of torque
Good ol' Irv Rybicki styling. "What if every car was a '76 Seville?"
And then they were...
Thanks for making this video I Loved my 1986 6000 STE! Very quirky car, funky display, air suspension with a pump in the trunk. If I went down a steep hill with less than 1/4 tank it would stall out because of the fuel pump location. Drove it till the rust got too bad and the carbon built up in the throttle body so much it would stall at every light. Anyway that car saw me through some very hard times.
This video brought back a multitude of great memories from when I was a kid. I have vivid memories of riding in the back seat of my Grandparent's 1986 6000LE that they had up until 1996. It was a great car. I still think about that car to this day
My parents leased a 1987 Pontiac 6000 LE. it was our first new car. We felt pretty fancy.
This is literally my old car. My first car was a 1982 Pontiac 6000LE with the Iron Duke. Nice to see it again!
I'm in my 50s and I discovered the AWD 6000 STE just a few days before the premiere of this video. Good job as always.
Saturday morning here we are.
My dad was a big Ford guy and was president of a company back in the day. He had a 6000 rental and raved about how good of a car it was. He said he was quiet and rode very smooth. When it was time to order company cars for the company he was working for he wanted to get some 6000s but ended up getting Mercury Sables instead I think the deal Ford had on fleet cars was better than GMs at the time. He still talks about how much he liked the 6000 though.
Imagine if he had ever driven a Lexus or an Acura.
@@negativeindustrial he did end up buying a Town Car for himself later on lol
@@negativeindustrialthis guy Hates July 4th 😅
@@negativeindustrial or a Lincoln or Cadillac 🙃. He's talking about standard consumer cars for fleet use, not luxury brands.
@@PenskePC17says who,he’s one of those anti American car dudes
I had a 92 Buick Century and that thing ran forever
Mom had a 89 S/E. Was a solid car. Learnd to drive in that car. I dont remember it ever having any problems. She gave it to my brother who went over 200k before he got rid of it. Good cars.
In 1982 my Dad ordered a 83 6000 with the diesel engine. Sales manager tried to talk him out of the diesel. But my Dad stuck to it. Took about 5 months for the car to arrive. He drove it about 85k miles and the engine died. He replaced it w/a gas engine and we drove it about another 100k miles.
I thought it was a nice car and a little more upscale than the neighbors.
In 1990 bought a used base model 87 6000 and used it as our family car. It had the iron duke and the upper cam gear shredded around 115k miles. That was the first engine I rebuilt myself! Drove it another few years and always liked them. They were a good value and fairly comfortable.
While I do remember the Pontiac 6000 there weren't many of them out there in my part of the Midwest US back in the 80s and early 90s. However, I did own a 88 Cutlass Ciera for a couple of years in the late 90s.
While my Cutlass was one of the "gutless" 4 cylinder models, it was comfortable basic transportation. If the engine hadn't kept breaking valve guides which resulted in a bent valve each time I would have kept the car for much longer than I did. After the 3rd time it broke a valve guide in just over 12 months I went out and bought a brand new 2000 Chevy Cavalier which I ended up driving for a little over 16 years and over 230K miles.
Thank you for putting one out about this car. My first car was an '86 STE and still holds a place as one of my favorite vehicles.
My wife has her mom's 6000 STE. An 86, black, red interior. Yep. It draws a crowd at local cruise nights. Also get a lot of I owned one/my parents had one, but not like this one.
Fun car, because of the memories shared, life events, dumb decisions, things like that. More often than not,.it sits next to the 80 Mercury zephyr, 92 Mustang drive line, worked over, backed with a 5 speed. Set up for road course and daily use.
One of our friends has an 89 6000 wagon as well. His wife has her dad's 90 Celebrity's wagon.
Last time I saw them on the road regularly was the early 2000s. Thanks for covering the A body GMs. Brings back a lot of memories.
I almost bought one for 400 in 2007. It was Blue/Rusty with grey interior. It was rough, I passed because it was running when I got there and they wouldn't let me test drive it or turn it off.
Two of the best cars I ever owned... Pontiac 6000STE and Bonneville SSEi.
Great show and review ! I saw far more Cutlass Ciera , Celebrity and Centuries back in the 80s. The A body cars each catered to different customers the 6000 being the most sporty . My parents were @ the time looking @ a 6000 Safari wagon but ended up buying a 84 Parisienne Safari wagon . 😊
My favorite car was my 1986 Pontiac 6000 STE...loved that car. This video brings back some wonderful memories!
Owned a 93 Olde Cutlass Ciera SL. Loved that car. Always wanted a Pontiac 6000. These were very good cars. Should have been developed beyond just one generation. 😊
I bought a Chevy Celebrity used in 2002, and for a fourteen year old car with 200,000 miles on the clock, it had some of the best handling of any car I've ever driven, let alone owned. It served me well for another four years until someone decided to run a red light and total it with 300,000 miles on the clock. I miss that car.... The only vehicle that's come close is my current ride, a 2000 GMC Jimmy SLE...
Memories! Drove an 89 le 6000 for 5 years back in the 90, sweet car, fast, confortable but felt old, still i have good memories about it, the 89 back window and cladding was really cool! Thanks!
You never forget your first and the Pontiac 6000-STE was the car I first learned to drive on!
My grandpa ordered my grandma a new 1984 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme Brougham , 2dr.
It’s Black with very light grey interior, Chrome and full gauge pkgs, wire wheels.
It has only 97K original miles.
It still looks showroom new.
3:38 Ain't it adorable how back in those days they called those almost flat seats "bucket" seats 😁
Is it just me or was the 6000 SUX car design from RoboCop (1987) a look I would love to have seen any car maker create (?)
I love the looks it has.
Your videos are the best! My son and I look forward to them - all the time! Keep going!
I bought my mom a 1989 Pontiac 6000 STE in 1996, she loved the car and saw sad to see it go. It talked and told you things wrong with it. it also had an air compressor in the trunk. I later bought a 1990 regular 6000. Both were the dark blue.
I bought a 6000 from a lady when I was a teen… it taught me a valuable lesson in looking under a car when purchasing… the rear axle mounts were rotted out and they had the axle held in with ratchet straps… so I ended up scrapping it… PA salty roads did a number to it… I miss the 90’s sometimes… but not so much the cars…
I had a 1978 Dodge Magnum XE. It shared the cordoba platform. Had it and drove it till about 1998. I’d love to see some of that again.
Had an 89 celebrity eurosport 2.8l 4dr back then. It was some kind of light burgundy champagne color. Had all the gauges and console shift. It was actually a pretty tough car from what I remember. Had really good luck with it. Couple hundred thousand miles and unbelievably it only had to have in tank fuel pump replaced. Staying on top of regular maintenance helped for sure.
I understand that Pontiac had intended to name this car the Tempest - reviving a historic nameplate. But they decided to go with 6000 with the hopes of pitting it against the Audi 5000. In 1982 Road & Track did just that; featuring those two vehicles on its cover. I’m actually glad they didn’t name such a sedate vehicle the Tempest. I would have liked to see it in place of the Grand Prix nameplate. Sadly, the Tempest name was sullied when GM put the nameplate on rebadged Chevy Corsicas for the Canadian market.
GM was notorious for giving historic names on not-so-deserving cars; Nova, LeMans, Malibu, even recently with Blazer.
Dodge did the same with Dart
Numeric and alphanumeric names for cars go in and out of fashion every 10-15 years I have noticed. It was popular for a period in the 1980's and again in the early 2000's. They are back to traditional names again for cars now, which honestly I think gives a car more character than just naming it a bunch of numbers and letters.
In the 1970's my brother and I were toddlers, so we knew nothing about cars, other than they had that hump in the middle that went all the way back preventing us from hiding on the floor. That was a Pontiac Toronado and it was a front wheel drive V8 car. Living in Michigan, my dad LOVED that car because it was made to drive in the snow. We drove that car cross country. What a great car.
Thanks for the memories. Parents had a green 1986 6000...
I miss Pontiac
11:00 Was waiting for the obligatory Patrick Stewart "Pontiac Trans Sport" Star Trek reference, but I know you've done it already. Always funny though. Great vid as usual 👍
This was a great episode. I remember seeing these in middle/high school.
Thank you for the video! Excellent job once again, I enjoyed the footage and infornation. I did want ti mention a few things. The Safari wagon lived on through the 1989 model year. Once Parisienne sedan was dropped after 1986, the wagon was branded Pontiac Safari. It got the same exterior mirrors as Chevrolet Caprice. The 6000 wagon replaced the G Body Bonneville wagon. The Oldsmobile version of the A Body the Ciera had the ES trim, that became the Ciera GT and the Ciera International Series. It also used the early 3800 V6 too. Pontiac wanted the 3.8 liter V6, for the power to heighten the 6000 STE, and the then Pontiac general manager Michael Losh said no. He later was the divisional manger for Oldsmobile. Thank you for your work as video.
Drive my parents 1984 6000 during the late 80s and loved the quiet plush seat ride.
Can you please do a video on the Acura Vigor/2.5 TL? Only 5 cylinder Honda sold in the US.
I miss Pontiac, you can tell that division was under-funded for the last several years before their demise.
Yep! When I was in high school I always wanted gtp then the GTO.
My dad had a Pontiac Grand Am with the Quad 4 he leased to take to work in 1998. It was actually quite the little performer and looked legitimately sporty in comparison to GMs other offerings.
I dunno about that tbh. Their last decade seemed like a genuine attempt to offer performance was finally being made. Cars like the GTP and SSEIs from the late 90s were good offerings with legitimately decent performance. The later gxp models of the g8 and g6 were good additions and the gto was a very good car, as was the solstice. Even a meager grand prix GT was a reasonably distinct looking car with moderate power, it was a good volume seller if nothing else.
The reality is with a company as big as gm there was no reason pontiacs offerings couldn't have just been chevys or caddilacs. And their slump in the late 80s early 90s. Didn't help either, they were fighting an uphill battle by 00 but it was a little too late since the economy was set to implode in 9 years anyways.
"SUX" would be the acronym for "Superior Unparalleled Excitement."
actually it was supposed to mean Good Sucks
Has an 86 Pontiac 6000 was a champ in the Buffalo snow when I was in college in the 90s
My dad had a few company cars, a 6000-le that was a huge POS , got an STE and that was a great fun car. My bros and I learned to drive in it. Then ended up with Bonneville se that was good. This episode episode really nostalgic
Wow. That's a car I haven't thought about since it was new. Thanks.
I miss the old music the previous videos had.
Growing up a Mopar guy, I had a Dodge Daytona Turbo at the time these were out. I would have picked a Dodge 600 or Lancer ES instead of the 6000 STE had I needed 4 doors. My only A body experience was a Buick Century rental. I went into my favorite on-ramp at the usual Daytona 45 mph only to slide out the front end and almost wrecked! It would squeal the tires at 35 mph. I did later test drive a nice ‘90 Grand Prix Coupe but bought a Thunderbird SC instead. Crazy that all of that was 35-40 years ago!
The Cutlass Ciera was everywhere, even well into the 1990’s, whereas the Pontiac 6000 was far less common. Back in the day Olds sold a ton of everything that they slapped a “Cutlass” badge on.
I'd love to see an episode on personal luxury vehicles. The large 2door land yachts that dominated the highways in the 70s. I owned several Pontiac versions Grand Am and Catalina. You've touched on these vehicles as they relate to their 4 door brethren but the 2 doors are unique and are unlikely to ever return to the marketplace 😢
Love to do an episode on the Jeep Commander...
Love ur videos and keep up the great work
We had a 1990 6000 S/E wagon in grey we bought used in 94. I drove it for a while after I got my license. It was a good car.
Truly impressed with the Wikipedia like narration of this model. We got a Cavalier over a Celebrity at Ed Cordero Chevrolet in Pacifica CA. That Pontiac 6000 was the one to get along with the Celebrity Sport deal. The Cavalier got better fuel mileage during California going unleaded and reformulated fuel plus geo OPEC issues regarding Oil output. Pontiac 6000 was a nicer car with safer suspension tuning than Cavalier.🚗🚘
I remember my friends family having this as their daily. Ran outside one rainy day after school and stopped them, had asked if he could sleep over and if i could get their number, the dad ripped off the lid of his pack of smokes and wrote their number on it for me.
Good times. Miss it
I never heard of the pontiac 6000 before so im intrested in hearing about it
whipernapper!!😅
I loved my 1984 Pontiac 6000 wagon and my 1985 Pontiac 6000 STE
Interesting coincidence that both you and Adam from Rare Cars featured a Pontiac 6000 on the same day. One of my best friends' father in 1986 had an STE and he was absolutely smitten with it.
I loved my Pontiac 6000! That car was built great!
My Dad had a Chevrolet Celebrity Eurosport when I was in college It was fun to drive.
Superb car. The wagon was so useful.. Highway cruiser that got great mpg and was a smooth as buttered toast 4:28
Actually the full size Safari lasted until 1989. The 4 door Parasienne ended after 1986.
Thanks for doing this car. I had one of these while in college
Yours are my favorite videos on TH-cam.
Loved my ‘84 STE, was very high mileage when I got it in ‘95 as my first car, but was still peppy for the time and ended up being very reliable, and I thought the digital dash was pretty cool as well.
6000 was my favorite A body. Missed a nice 84 STE for sale here a few weeks back
I just bought a 1987 Oldsmobile Ciera Gt from the original owner. 81,000 mi on it.. it's beautiful! I can't find if you have a episode regarding the Ciera? I'd love to see the old commercials from that generation! As I was 13yrs old in 87,so I rode in a lot of those cars growing up! Thanks.
My 2nd car was a 1986 6000 base model that I bought in 1990. As a 19 year old, I was just happy to have a reliable car.
These were great cars. We never owned a pontiac but my family went through 3 Celebritys. My mom totalled 1 on a deer, i totalled one in a downtown pile-up, and my brother totalled the 3rd one but I can't remember how.
Anyway, we bought back the 3rd one and had it rebuilt and it ran for another 100k.
These cars sure weren't sexy but they were roomy, reliable and incredible in the snow.
I had a buddy with a celebrity as well and he wanted rid of it so he stopped maintaining in the hope that it would die. It took him almost 3 years and 60k miles of no oil changes/topoffs to finally crack the block.
Ahhh, the good 'ole days...
Awesome episode!
Pontiac 6000 was a great looking car.
I'd love to see you do a segment on the 70-73 Pontiac Firebird.
Love that hidden headlamp station wagon.
So close to that silver play button!
My first car in 1997 was a 6000 LE although I don’t remember the year. It had to be near the end. That car was nothing special but it was ultra clean and ran great. Words can’t describe how I loved it.
10:32 Feared that was our old 6000 STE for a moment. Then I remembered ours didn't have mud guards.
Would love to see an episode on the Ford Maverick/Mercury Grabber. We had those when I was growing up and I one as my first car
I had an either '88 or early 90's 6000 SE with a 5 speed. It was very odd for that kind of car to have a manual trans. It wasn't fast, but it was quicker than you would think it was. I got t-boned coming out of our apartment complex a few days after hurricane Fran. My parents gave me their '87 BMW 325 after that which I miss very very much.
The Pontiac 6000STE AWD is the one that I would want. It had standard antilock brakes. It's a family car worth having.
My high school classmate's (late 1990s) first car was a low mileage Pontiac 6000 from probably 1987-1989 IIRC, the model that has just went to composite headlights. It was a bench seat up front, and we did pack it with 6 on occasion. I remembered it being more of a roomier, but dowdier Grand Am...but still a pretty reliable sedan for what it was.
Sporty, not really...but the accelerator worked, so there's that. Those horsepower numbers, LOL...but I don't remember it really lacking the 'get up' needed.
My dad had a 1989 6000 LE and always said that was his favorite car he ever owned…he had to get rid of it in 2003 when it wouldn’t pass PA inspection/emissions
here in Canada, the T1000 was sold as the Acadian Scooter (Acadians are from New Brunswick here in Canada, and Cajuns are descended from them).
My folks went from a late 70's Bonneville to an 85-86 6000. Both cars were in that gawd-awful light blue. Some things from the 80's are not so cool. Thanks for the vid!
GM is the king of throw away cars
I had one !!!
Sold it to my auntie for 5 bucks and a beer.
And then they drove it for another 6 years before somebody stole it and totaled it. It was running nicely until then. That V6 motor had kick.
I think you failed to mention the the rear window got curved after I think 1987.
I had a 1988 Buick Century Limited with the 2.8 L V6 that was fuel injected that year, and everyone that drove that car wanted to buy it from me and I refused to sell it. I could get 30 to 32 miles to the gallon on the highway, and it only had a three speed automatic instead of the four speed and it was so comfortable and so quiet. You could put four adults in it with comfort And ride for several hours without getting tired.
Wow. Great show and many great GM A-Body memories, as two exes, a cousin and an ex-coworker all had one. (a silver Chevy Celebrity sedan and a maroon Buick Century coupe, Olds Cutlass Ciera coupe in gold and a deep blue, Pontiac 6000 LE sedan, respectfully.) But, as much as I loved the 6000 S.T.E., that was the car that put Pontiac executives in a false sense of being in competition with BMW, which in turn killed the brand in 2010. I really hated that 4-door Grand Prix, though. My 8th grade teacher's rear-wheel-drive, 400 c.i.d. V8 powered, sleek- black, 1973 Grand Prix LJ coupe made too strong of an argument not to! Mr. Hinton was the pimpest of all teachers in Chicago! 🐰
My cousin worked dispatch for a local towing company. I remember she told me they got a call to pick up a “gree pontac Gooole” one day. She had no clue what they were talking about but sent a truck to the address. Turned out to be a grey Pontiac 6000 LE 😂
Pronounced Pontiac Goo-ōle perhaps?
English was obviously not the caller's primary lingitty?
I love the 6000 so much! Have you done the Pontiac Sunfire?
As a serial S**t Box owner (60-90’s) I really enjoy your productions.
How about the mighty 20R 4 cylinder Toyota engine vehicles from the 70’s? I had a few, the awesome “How to Keep Your Toyota Alive “ illustrated book was my bible for more than a decade for 3 different 20R Toyotas. Cheers 👍
My 2nd car was a white 4 door Pontiac 6000 SE and damn did I love that car. For an economy type sedan she really did have a lot of get up and go. My 1st car was a navy blue 1986 Chevy Celebrity Eurosport. What’s interesting is I detested the Eurosport, but I adored my 6000. 🤷🏼♀️🤣🤦🏼♀️
Good stuff always liked these😊
Ah yes, the 6000 (along with the Cutlass Ciera), such memories of my travel days. Can’t tell you how many times I was so disappointed at the Avis counter when they handed me the keys to one of those things. The only thing worse was getting handed the keys to a Corsica. But here’s a fun fact, for some reason, GM equipped all A bodies with driver and passenger power reclining seats as standard. Everything else (I mean practically EVERY thing else) was an option. I mean you had to pay extra on a Cadillac to have driver and passenger power recliners, but with the A bodies, it was standard. The control switch was at the leading edge of the side seat trim plastic piece, right at the front, and was completely hidden from sight. Go figure GM in the 1980’s.
My friends parents owned the 6000 Safari wagon and I thought it was so cool to sit in the rear facing 3rd row
Remembering school teachers that had owned a Pontiac 6000 or either Volvo's. It was an ordinary Plain Car.