Had this exact car as my first ever car. Got it after high school in 2012 for $500. Massive nostalgia.

It is such a throwback to see all those buttons in an automobile.

I remember when these came out....back then they were a head of their time...and in styling. Very cool. I still remember my neighbor buying a green one brand new and complaining about car payments. LOL a simpler time!

I had a 1992 Grand Prix GTP and it had an interior pretty close to this, without a doubt my favorite car... seats were amazing.

I miss all those Pontiacs. they were the best cars ever

There is something about 90s GM that i just love

If the 3800 supercharged engine was under the hood, it'd hit 60 in at least 7.5 seconds.

3:47 John: THERE’S NO DISAGREEMENT ABOUT THE INSTRUMENTS, HOWEVER! LOL

I miss my 91 Grand Prix almost over 20 years ago 🎉

Pontiac of this era really loved buttons.

It’s great to see these throwback shows and seeing Pontiac again which is no longer around

Look at that quality hood fitment in the beginning of the video🙄🙄🙄

I love how MotorWeek are bringing back these. Makes their channel funner to watch, thanks MW!!

Thank you for another GM video. Thank you that you have kept them coming. I remember when this replaced the Pontiac 6000 STE They could have easily called this sedan 6000 STE, but it was a Grand Prix sedan. This car did have some unique features as well. Driving Grand Prix... get in your Pontiac and drive! Pontiac drive! This car and the Bonneville SSE were too close in features and size. They did share many features. Thank you again.

As an Oldsmobile Intrigue owner whose car was built at the same GM Fairfax Assembly in Kansas City, I applaud and appreciate those of you (retired and active) who built these sedans over the years 😍

I had 2 of those cars, they were quick for the time and very comfortable. Reliability was an issue as was typical for the era. The Achilles heel today for owning one is the unobtanium Powermaster III braking system master cylinder. Very hard to find outside of eBay and eBay is not a place a car owner wants to lean on.

who needs an airbag when u got buttons!

4:35 whenever he says "satellite radio controls" in these old reviews, I have to remind myself hes not talking about "satellite radio" 😅

The Holy Grail of ALL Grand Prixs...................YES!!!!!!!!!!!

If you were old enough to remember in the early 90s, you know exactly how Pontiac exhausts sounded. A friend had a 1992 Grand Prix sedan with the 3.1L (not turbo). It was so weirdly floaty and soft with a split bench seat and a column shifter, which made no sense to me considering this was supposed to be the sportiest version of this platform compared to the Regal, Lumina, and Cutlass Supreme. GM did a good job differentiating the 4 cars with styling, but a terrible job differentiating driving dynamics.

I remember being amazed at that interior when I saw it at the car show in '89.

I remember seeing one of these STE Turbos in a junkyard in 2009. Same color as this test car. I barely knew what it was. Grabbed the door badges and left because I was there to grab parts off an '86 6000 STE. The yard also had a non-turbo Grand Prix STE. Haven't seen a GP STE Turbo since.

This is a nice car that came for a limited time with the option of a 5 speed manual when GM introduced the optional 3.4 liter 24 valve dual overhead cam V-6. Imagine, back in the nineties, prowling around the streets looking for a BMW 5 Series. With that engine to tranny combo, it's doable.

It's no wonder the SHO was the choice for American performance sedans in that era.

The Grand Prix two-door of this era always caught my attention. I was always torn between this or the Cutlass Supreme International. I always laugh when I see the steering wheels of the Grand Prix and Bonneville of the late 80s/early 90s loaded up with those buttons. But they are precursors to the loaded wheels available on most cars these days. Its always strange how whats old is new again. Full width taillamps and light bars up front are all the rage these days. One other thing is I can never understand why GM saved Buick and killed Pontiac. That could've been their total performance brand. Buick no longer had that differentiation of Wildcat, Type-T, GNX, etc. But Pontiac was importing outstanding Holden-built cars and could've been expanded(even the small Solstice with the 2.0T was a fun little car, as was the 2.0T G5s)from there.

I would take a cutlass 3.4 twin cam anyday

you guys should have retro marathons on a loop, i love those marathons you do.

A daily driver for the stay at home types, Pontiac knew how to transform Euro styling into American performance, nice combination.

That steering wheel. 🥴

205 hp and 220 lb ft of torque to get a 9.0 sec 0-60? That's impressively terrible. I thought the steering wheel buttons were incredibly cool as a kid, though. Just make sure you lock your doors when you're driving - it might be the only thing that stops the door from opening in a crash and tossing you into the road with those door-mounted seat belts.

This car shouldn’t have been slower than the comparable coupe.

Rented a 92 Grand Prix on a trip in 92, it rode well and was comfortable. The 90 SHO was a better value for the money back then

RIP Pontiac!

Only GM could put a turbo on a V6 and still only get 200hp and 9 second 0-60 lol

Friend bought one new in 90 with the six. He kept it for about ten years sold it with about 150 grand on it. Very well maintained detailed it yearly. Have not seen one in a very long time.

Lackluster quality and substandard fit and finish was the name of the game for GM then. But, these GPs were quiet and very comfortable.

Those buttons on the steering wheel are so weird looking but interesting. I like the '98 model, it was like from the future and so sporty.

Hate to break it to you John, but the hood vents aren't for air induction, they're heat extractors

Never had one of these (unicorn 3.1 turbo) but had a 89 6000 STE AWD and a 98 Bonneville SSEi supercharged. Both were far from new when I got them yet were both great cars.

My parents had an Olds with a Quad 4. Biggest pos ever made. It went through 3 head gaskets in about 80k miles.

To give everyone here a frame of reference, this Pontiac Grand Prix STE had an MSRP that was comparable to the Toyota Celica All-Trac that was also brand new for that model year. To compare the Celica to this Grand Prix in automotive performance and long-term quality is about as clearcut as comparing the military strength of NATO versus the island fortifications of Crete.

During the late 1980s to 2000s, Accords and Camrys were the vehicles my parents bought and used as our “family car”. Though whenever a car rental was needed, it’d usually be a Pontiac, which I thought looked waaaay cooler than the Accord and Camry, inside and out!!!

My cousin Cole had one of these, I don't believe it was an STE, might have been an SE. I remember it when I was about 10 years old or, so, I'm 30 next year, and that was 20 years ago. R I P cousin Cole, miss you.

SHO > STE. The Taurus SHO was 2+ seconds faster 0-60 and 1/4 mile, stopped shorter and handled the slalom better. The comparison at the end with it seems forced to find negatives because in the actual MW test of the 1989 SHO John said "Torque steer is not a problem" yet here it had "significant torque steer" ??

I prefer the STE Turbo sedan over the Turbo Coupe. This would make a great family car during the week and a performance car for the weekend.

We had an '89 base model in black. Great car, especially when the dash lit up at night. We had to have it replaced, as it was under a recall at that time.

Bought a '92 back in 2004 for $1100 that was loaded and definitely ahead of its time

These cars had so much character!

Them big buttons on a pontiacs were so cool.

Sedan With Stamina

Love that steering wheel

These came out when I was a kid and it was straight up my dream car. I loved the full width headlight treatment. Also Im curious about the hod vents. He mentions they are there to add additional ventilation for the engine, however, when they pop the hood, the insulation looks completely solid without any cut outs for the said vents. So are they truly functional?

My parents had a 90 Grand Prix Se 2 door with the 3.1. Was a great car

Put in a cold air intake on top of the 3.1L turbocharged intercooler and it'll add 15 more HP with a total of 225, up there with the Ford Taurus SHO. I'll take it along with the outgoing 1990 Pontiac 6000 STE with that same engine layout and AWD. Pontiac went hard on this one back then.

I had a 1993 one ,white with burgundy interior,but the transmission is on steering wheel column as I preferred better !

I can’t look at this car without seeing rust. Saw so many of them totally wrecked.

Happy mother's day to all mothers!!!

I wanted one of these when I was a kid 😂

4:35 I was confused when he said satellite radio for a second until I realized he was referring to the radio controls on the wheel.

Always wanted one if these ,just like a Bonneville SSE♥️♥️♥️♥️

That interior is 🤝🥫😭❤️😀💯!!, My 91 LE had dark cloth bench seats and a column shift, delco am FM cassette, an power windows n locks..... 😀😭

Why are 1980 and early 90s usa passenger cars so freaking rare now?

I'm guessing this car shares it's body frame or most of it with the VN/VP Commodores in Australia.

the ford SHO cam with a Yamaha built v6 with no rev limiter which made them go boom.i replace 2 in 1 sho

Same chunk o sheeite as cutlass supreme. Good seats though. World class seats.

Interesting performance numbers, 2 years later my 1992 Acura Vigor with a 2.5 5 cylinder did the exact same times at a track in AZ. That's with 0.6 less liters and no turbo.

I had the 3.1 v6 in my 92 lumina. Great engine

"Reliable 3.1 V6" 😂😂😂

Wouldn’t you LOVE to see this cars history? This exact car! Who ended up owning it? What kind of life did it have. How long did it last? When was its final mile? What happened to it? Is it still around perhaps? Wouldn’t you love to know?

I never knew the STE 4dr could be equipped with the Turbo

They are bringing back the “full width light bar” , it’s on the new Ford Escape and VW Atlas 😂

Having a hard time seeing this car as progress, even in an early-1990s context. GM and other US automakers threw billions into their front-wheel-drive "downsizing" projects, converting most of their fleet away from larger cars and rear-wheel-drive. This is the best they could do? Those video clips of the slalom look scary. And this is only a couple of years after the demise of the Buick Grand National, whose turbo 3.8-liter V6 nearly brought the house down. In the late 1980s, Pontiac had a successful stab at the so-called Euro Sport Sedan market with the better-than-average 6000 STE, which came in front- and all-wheel-drive. But the lackluster W-body cars were a minivan full of "meh", even by that day's standards. DEspite Mr. Davis' optimistic narration, the visuals tell the real story.

R.I.P. Pontiac.

It was replaced with a 3.8 supercharged that was faster then a 2.3 i4 in the grand am instead of slower… so it definitely made it better

I had an '02 gt and wish i still had it. Sold it in 2014.

What's sad is that a few years later you would have GM's 3800 series 2 V6 which matches the power of this complex turbocharged 3.1. and we're not just talking horsepower hear the 3800 makes the same 225 in torque

I dated a girl in my junior year of high school who had THIS car. Thing was a tank. Her grandpa bought it new

Man that SHO was the car to have

The engine that replaced the 3.1 was the 3.8 bulletproof engine.

Where is the Z24 Cavalier? GM used the 3.1 in a lot of cars at that time

In 1992 a Mustang 5.0 5speed LX was around $14 grand on the showroom floor, WTH

I do not miss my 3 speed.

I had no idea a turbo 3.1 existed. This motor should have gone into the Beretta

....i missed the "sharp handling" part of the video. :)

This car nor most american cars couldnt rival the Hondas,Toyotas, Nissans & Mazdas for fuel economy & stylish & interior quality.

Wonder if anyone has done an LS4 fwd v8 swap or 3800 s/c into one these

the 3800 in the grand sport coupe was the best of this mix and id take that over a 3.1 turbo

In the 90s Pontiac was the 'fun' domestic brand albeit a little trailer park. Was always a click over Chevrolet, especially the 80s Grand Am coupe. Olds & Buick had good vibes, too, but Honda gave more for less money. Pontiac was always better than Ford and Dodge, tho

What the hell where they thinking putting the seat belt mounts ON THE DOOR?? You get hit hard enough in the drivers door that belt is gonna go slack on you when you need it to be strapped to you tight. It does make it interesting to get in the car and not hafta put the belt on. But not trustworthy in door impact crashes. The steering wheel buttons where kind of ahead of the time. I remember messing with them working at a pontiac dealer.

They were a good looking car in the day but the buttons and knobs tended to break or fall off. The performance though, pretty sure a prius or mini van could be it now.

The first 4 dr Grand Prix , which was only the beginning 1997-08 were definitely the best., don't care for the GXPV8 though.

Was never really a fan of Pontiac but this is a pretty cool little car its performance times should have been a little bit faster maybe it was the transmission or something who knows

So many buttons wow lol 😂 in the interior

The Pontiac looks like it was designed at the gulags in Siberia. And the front was inspired by the Mercury Sable. It doesn’t even come close to the Ford Taurus in looks. The Taurus alone was in production from 1986-2019. The Pontiac division went belly up in 2010.

Speedvision nostalgia

My favorite generation stylewise was the following generation that came out in 97. Prefer its smoother more muscular lines. But even the facelifted version of the generation in this video from around 1996 had cleaned up the look a bit.

Lovely nails ma'am.

Those door mounted seat bealts were GM's cynical workaround to the federal requirement for passive restraints. Rather than pay for airbags, GM claimed that the door mounted belts should remain buckled and the passenger would slide in. That's why the woman in the video looks so ridiculous while she attempts to fight the seat belt. Almost everyone unbuckled the belts for routine use.

If I won the lottery this is the car I'd search out to get.

This 1990 Pontiac Grand Prix STE is the whole reason why the future was in the 1990's.