The Red Arrow had some great cars during their final years, the Firebird/Trans Am, Bonneville SSEI/GXP, 04 GTO, Solstice, and G8 GT just to name a few, and I liked the G6 Coupe & Convertible...but anyways, GM chose to keep Buick because they sell so well in China, effectively selling out the American customers to China.

The wrong people are running Ford and GM now

@@hakeemsd70m Chinese buy american cars Americans buy japanese cars What a world we live in

@@hakeemsd70m American buyers turned their back on American vehicles. The Chinese embraced them and bought them in the hundreds of thousands. GM did exactly what any other company would have done. It concentrated on the profitable market and left the non profitable one. I bet a majority of people slamming GM and boo hooing the demise of Pontiac are driving Toyota and Honda products.

@@williamegler8771 Americans turned their backs on the big three because they allowed the bean counters to build cars that didn’t last. I’ve been a mechanic for 22 years, grew up on chevy small blocks, still own an s-10 with an iron duke and a 2000 z28, and I also own both a Toyota and an Acura, why you ask? Because they don’t break down like GM products. Can’t blame people for wanting a car that doesn’t need work every few months, especially when they are on a budget and not mechanically inclined.

Not to sound insane but if the people who decided on that happening were mysteriously killed in a car crash I would not be upset.

@@devintariel3769 Oldsmobile has always drawn me in. They've been gone almost my whole life. Even an Alero draws my eye when it goes by

GM went bankrupt due to poor quality and corporate mismanagement. If Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Saturn, Saab and Hummer were actually making any money, they would have probably remained alive at GM. They almost killed GMC and Buick as well, but Buick sells great in China and GMC sells Denalis to people who can't afford an Escalade. GM is dead. 100% of their product line is either manufactured in China or is a rebadged Asian vehicle. Their factories in North America are now "assembly plants," because they no longer meet the legal definition of a factory. Even the supposedly "American" Alpha platform Camaros and Cadillacs are manufactured in China and assembled in North America from knockdown kits. GM has been dead for 40 years; they've just been surviving in zombie form thanks to Chinese millionaires and US tax dollar subsidies.

I hate they killed Pontiac, because they were the only ones doing something different. I just hate how much we don't have a modern Firebird - because you can find Camaro conversions and the Firebird skin on that body just looks so much better. Then you had interesting cars like the Saturn Sky / Pontiac Solstice, which just aren't made anymore. The Pontiac GTO and G8 were awesome cars, when Chevy did it, they jacked up the price so high that it didn't make any sense for a sedan being sold at a Chevy dealership. Overall its been a real cluster. Oh, and I forgot that Buick exists -- and that's a real issue for them since most people feel that way.

Good call, I missed it until i read your comment and looked again.

I noticed that too! I think it's the first time I've seen that happen in one of these MotorWeek videos.

Ed Ricco Music like a dog lifting its leg next to a fire hydrant.

I somehow imagined what would happen if the driver cut the wheel while braking! I think he would lose control!

I have had 4 of these. Still have one left. The brakes are usually what puts them in the scrap yard. Can’t find the parts. (Partly because I hoard them all). But when they work, that heavy car stops hard.

That explains the squirlley feeling ...

I bet the rear brakes locked up and made it jump

😃😃😃

@Joshua Knighten "Well you see, after the accident the doctors had no choice but to replace my nose with the Mute button embedded in my face from the steering wheel"

Well that is exciting

Frank Burns Also available on the Oldsmobile Tornado Troféo, which costed about the same in 1990. The one I own retailed for $25k new.

Also an option on the '89 Nissan 240SX.

@@Lrules364 I believe the Troféo also had a touch screen at this time as well, if I am not mistaken

@@Lrules364 I loved the look of those toronados. I think the Corvette had a type of keyless entry central locking available in the early 90s.

Pontiac was actually the first brand to offer this feature. I think it debuted on the 6000 STE or Bonneville SSE.

working on stuff like that on my unit. never seen a windshield leak and a roof rusting out so badly.

Yeah all of these cars are meth head specials these days

@Chad Wilkins I had a 95 GTP and miss it.

Thays what happens to a 33 year old Pontiac lol

@@aaronp9835 Where do you get 33 years old? Are you from 2023?

I had a 97 gtp and now it's my brother's and it still gets up and goes ! 3.8 supercharged.

When I was a high school gym teacher, I bought a 1992 grand prix turbo in black with the gold wheels. R. Lange begged me to take him as my date to prom, so I did, he looked great in that gown!

@@markk3652 LMAO

Very well said. I think people are getting HUD mixed up with the touch screen systems that displayed mileage, navigation, climate, radio, and other various functions on a TV like display. HUD or Heads Up Display projected information onto the windshield such as the speedometer and other simple functions so that the driver didn't have to look down at the cluster to see vital engine functions and the MPH. Yes, once again, the Cutlass Supreme/General Motors was the FIRST automobile to offer this feature in 1988 on 50 1988 Cutlass Supreme Pace Car convertibles. Many were destroyed but some did survive due to weak body structures when GM recalled them back. The SECOND vehicle to offer HUD was the Pontiac Grand Prix/General Motors in 1989, the Pontiac Grand Prix Turbo. There were two HUD versions offered, the first one used a taller body unit on top of the dash and the adjuster for the height of the information projected onto the windshield in the 89-90 Turbo Grand Prix's was mounted on the unit itself. The same unit found on the 88-90 Cutlass Supreme had the adjuster mounted on the left side of the dash/steering column. The second generation HUD which came out in 91-93 on the Grand Prix and the 91-94 Cutlass Supreme was a shorter unit and had the adjuster mounted on the right side of the dash/steering column on the Grand Prix, and down in the center dash bezel underneath the climate controls/ashtray compartment on the Cutlass Supreme. The color of the font or information displayed onto the windshield is a bluish green color on both models which matched well to the dash light color on the Cutlass but didn't match the orange dash lights on the Grand Prix. Could have been a cost saving idea from GM or the fact that the human eye picks up the color green better than orange and therefor has a bigger safety advantage.

@@vicaras1 i miss my 96 bonneville ssei

You can still buy a used one

@@Kgio-2112 Sadly they're becoming harder to find for sale. I'll be honest though, I still see the final gen Grand Am almost daily here in the Ohio Valley. So you're right, they're out here but people just aren't selling them. I was surprised to find my 2005 Grand Prix GT.

I used to watch Motorweek all the time as a kid (it was a show produced locally in Maryland and aired on PBS). It's fun to go back and watch reviews of these older cars when brand new. Plus, I started watching probably right around 1990 or so, so the older episodes are even more interesting, as are the ones I missed when they originally aired. There's such a huge, interesting back catalog of these great reviews, I'm so glad someone decided to upload these to KZfaq. I can lose DAYS watching nothing but Retro Reviews.

@@itsjohnsonjackson I lived close by in Fairfax VA in 1990

Retro reviews is my program diary

Jarek Nowak It’s one of our most underrated brands.

Definitely not a fan of Pontiac but Kit was a great car.

Wise Guy I remember I went to Universal Studios where you can talk to kit A lot of times they wouldn’t admit that it was a Pontiac just a Kight Industries such and such One time this guy was on point. When I asked if he was related to the firebird he said that Knight Industries in order to offset his development costs licensed his likeness to General Motors. Equated it Jorden and his shoe deal with niki. I was like dude they aren’t paying you enough

@@adamlemus7585 Knight Industries Two-Thousand (KITT) That's funny, good cover story licensing it to GM.

Jarek, the really stupid thing was GM decided to kill the brand right as they started making their best cars in recent years (same with Olds). You had the GTO, which was a great V8 RWD coupe based off the Holden Monaro, and the Pontiac Solstice, a great roadster based on the Opel GT. Oh, and we can't forget about the G8. And none of these cars were beaten with the ugly stick by adorning them with way too much body cladding like Pontiac used to do all the time in the past. As for Oldsmobile, the Alero and Aurora were great cars, and I thought surely the sign of a new resurgence of Oldsmobile making products worth buying, but again, shortly after, the plug was pulled.

... and confusion.

By 94 they got it down.

Crazy

🤣🤣🤣🤣

Still less confusing than most modern screen infotainment/control systems. At least you could learn all the buttons by feel.

It cant because gm signed a contract to goverment when they ask for a debt to the government if im right if it is the government and the change is they must reduce car companies/shut down their other car companies FOREVER.The government do that do reduce cars in roads in the future and less more roeads to make too but that gives Toyota and friends advantages now.The Dodge now is a try hard Pontiac based on my observations but I think they just removed dodge instead of pontiac because pontiac is better than Dodge.If pontiac company is still on going today it will probably faster than Dodge and GM already have a car company to fight Buggati's speed

...let's trade Buick for Pontiac.

@@jGRite they wouldn't do that, Buick makes too much money in asian markets

@@capybaravangogh7427 Fuck the government. I hope some rich guy with big oil money from Texas buys the rights to Pontiac and brings it back as a separate entity from GM.

@@jGRite Agreed! GM should have kept Pontiac instead of Buick.

In a car it is fancy... But the technology is from the 50s.

@Donald trick Trump Has STD's from Stormy D. It's a cool car. If I had one today I'd be proud of it.

@Donald trick Trump Has STD's from Stormy D. That's a lot of kit....by contrast i'l never buy a brand new car because I take all my cars through the forest and get them banged up. But my current car detects people speeding behind me and warns me not to change lane into their path... That's fancy.

I did not know that it was so expensive.

Sticker on mine was almost $27k in 89.

Blue06LT sounds like tons of money now but you have to consider the 80s superior salaries back then too

Roddy Dykes I was a kid in the 1980s so I have no idea who was paid what back then. Although with the current trend of money staying at the top so executives can have eight figure salaries while the average joe scrapes by, that doesn’t surprise me.

Donald trick Trump Has STD's from Stormy D. Few grand more you could have a vette.

That was their signature :)

Imagine if it had an airbag. Then in a wreck they would find your face impaled with plastic buttons. It would look like you motorboated a bucket of Legos.

@@billgateskilledmyuncle23 ... or waffle iron.

And awkward position too fot the buttons even for the horns.

Like the Banshee!

Now the question is how long did those seat adjusters last, especially the bolsters. Always a problem spot, even on many Japanese cars.

Steve V. that was scary to watch! That car definitely needs higher spring rates and more bound dampening on the front! No wonder why it was able to rotate in corners with a throttle off in put.

That must be some sticky tires, also!

it's called gymkhana autocross racing xD

Same, I have never seen a car do a Stopy before

😂😂

Please clap

@@artbyty Hilarious and relevant 😂

Yeah - all 205 horsepower. . . .

@@herman452 That was a lot back then you goon.

@@wullahblack6452 That wouldn't have been a lot in 1956. Spare me your drivel.

Yeah, to the point of almost flipping the car over! 😆

You could buy an Eclipse turbo for something around $15k back then, which was a faster car despite having two fewer cylinders and less horsepower.

You could get 2 '90 Daytona ES's that I just watched for that loot. And smoke the tires in braking too.

Or a Ford Probe LX V6 for a bit less

I only paid $42k for supercrew cab 2.7L twin turbo F150 with 302A package or whatever it's called. Has a rear locking differential and has a transfer case in it. With 93 octane, I can it 60 in 5.9 seconds. I wasn't aware there was a turbo Grand Prix in 90. I bet the 3.1L block was a weak as POS that would split if you add 20 more horsepower.

@@charleslowe522 You say that when you drive a Fix or Repair Daily, Driver Return On Foot vehicle?? LOL

Trust me you’re not wrong, but more extensive in reality. Only place that seemed to hate it’s employees and customers alike. Everyone lived in fear of losing their job. Engineers often ignored. Unproductive meetings that you can’t imagine. Sad, because there were some talented folks who knew their stuff.

@@DatMat Pontiac did in fact make their own version of the Corvette, GM declined the first concept of said car, due to its lightweight body style (weighed as much as a Miata) and rear mid engined turbo 4 banger design. The car was still made and outsold its Japanese rival, the MR2, but eventually failed under GM's crushing weight on Pontiac. So, 35 years later, the Fiero is nothing more than a rare to find "what if?". Like "What if GM had allowed the Fiero to be built with Pontiac's newly designed turbo 4 banger like the japanese do so well?" Judging by Pontiac's figures, that new engine in the new car would have most certainly wiped the floor with the Corvettes of the time. In fact, that original concept could have very well put the car in elite status, with Ferrari like looks and Ferrari like power, but from a tiny, lightweight car. Instead, the car got a 98 HP Iron Duke not designed for a low 2 seater, car fires that ruined the reputation(entirely not Pontiac's fault, the engine should have never ever been in that car), and an estimated 45 mpg from a car that needs all it has to beat a Prius, maybe.

ruen125 It was such a royal shame. Pontiac finally got the Fiero right and then it was killed. For being a car parts bin car, it was still something special. Pontiac deserved a better parent company. I wish they could have gone independent or maybe got bought out by another company. I know this is blasphemy but imagine a trans am based on the Mustang platform with Pontiac styling cues

@Frank White I owned two Fieros: Mint 1987 GT and a 1986 GT. All stock with the 2.8 v6. A girl hit my 87 and totaled it right before I was going to put it in storage. My 86 was not mint and I sold it in 2006. I wish I would have kept it. I enjoyed the Fieros more than my 1976 Datsun 280 Z. GMC= Good Man's Car.

I agree, this thing looked better than even the Firebird IMO

Gel was more of a mid to late 1990's thing ! Heck,I still use some otherwise my hair is crazy !

@@01trsmar Gel never goes out of style!

Crack as well

@@elonmust7470 Yes, the perfectly level glove box door that opens up was a hold over from the GM coke days.

la la lalalala ooh

Good catch!

@@curt.p.4363 Thanks buddy!

@@curt.p.4363 70s, 80s, 90s, and early 2000s music is better than today's garbage.

I agree on that, pop music has really gotten lame and redundant!

thats just a typical european lack of size of hands xD got french hands in there, boy?

Jack, I agree; in my mind I could see myself banging on those buttons as if it were a bongo.

Yes

Yes, the same Hoovie that will build a 75,000 sq ft garage to house 30 year old pieces of crap like this car

Lol looks like it

@jason9022 you must be fun at parties...

@jason9022 You're correct, but that doesn't excuse Maclaren for putting their name on a GM W-body

Hello Road / Ethan Tufts the vacuum swaps are popular on them. I prefer the PowerMaster.

i bought a Sedan model here in Finland for 300€, it a freeze plug issue, still havent gotten around to getting it fixed, but in every other way its mint, mint interior, and apart from a few minor scratches on the paint, its Bueno.

boss12 Agreed!

Exactly! Especially the Olds-Bodied Cup cars.

I agree. In the 80's the G body Cutlass was a huge seller, that would have continued if they kept a rwd Cutlass. Anybody wanting front wheel drive already had the Ciera, Calais/Achieva, Toronado, and the bigger cars to cross shop with. A rear wheel drive Cutlass would have stood out.

No kidding even though I had the 97 GTP it really was disappointing for the wide body to be front wheel drive

If Luminas were RWD, couple thousand more people would be dead or injured over the years

Love the FOUR bucket seats, also!

The outside looks great, the inside looks good but the instrument panel switches and other doodads look flimsy and too busy though.

thats because it looks like a 200 buck R32 Skyline:D

It looks like Mercedes sent a W124 coupe to GM to americanize it. And I love it. It looks so badass.

Not sure. I think I turbo setup is more expensive to manufacturer. There are more components, an intercooler required even in low boost, and harder to tune. Alot harder to tune without modern wideband oxygen sensors like they use now on turbos.

This car is turbo charged.

They supercharged them later. Pontiac Grand Prix GTP and Buick Regal GS and I think the Park Avenue Ultra.

@@86twin they did but that was the 3800 motor.

they did put a turbo in it

Anonymous User As a current crosslace owner for the last decade, holy shit are you correct. Absolute bullshit to clean.

Especially because the one I bought was from Kansas and Ohio, so there was a lot of road salt in them...

I had them on my 87 Grand National and you're not lying I had to spray an extra coat of clear on there so I can wipe it off easier

Use a parts cleaner brush

i'll take that. But trying to find oem wheels. love them.

My goodness. Say it is not so.

No, no they didn’t. Cheap looking with hideous body cladding.

Beretta

BWX. Yep the Grand Prix, Lumina, Cutlass Supreme, and Regal all shared the same platform at that time.

At first I thought so, not so sure now. Might be same platform as Beretta? Just looking at the weights of the cars it seems that's the case. I dunno.

@@bwxmoto The Grand Am, Achieva/Calais, Beretta/Corsica, and Skylark all shared the same the platform.

You're right..Beretta was the L platform, I was wrong.

Thats how they tested cars then..Porsche 911's wheels always came off the ground in older tests !

Valkyry5 Unfortunately, that’s been my experience with GM. You probably made the right decision to go foreign as a great number of people did. I went the other way and stuck to Ford

It's funny you say that, I'm swapping a 5 speed into my 91 Beretta with the 3.1. when that motor goes, I'm gonna attempt to find a wrecked one, and swap the motor and do a few small things with it. I don't have the heart to tear apart a good one.

William Singer don’t bother. You’ll get far more bang for the buck out of a 3400/3500 and far easier to find.

Not really what car's in 1990 were as fast as this? Not many at all and if you had one today in great shape and low miles you could get as much as $13,000 to $15,000 so that's a pretty good return on your investment!

@@davidhesington3490 SHO made this look slow. Also what do you mean an investment??? This car was $25,000, if you invested that in an index fund in 1990 and even used a VERY conservative 5% rate of return, you'd have over $110,000 today.

I have to agree my mom had one exactly like this and got rid of it because of so many electrical issues. It did turn alot of heads when we had it.

Your SE had to be an 88 or newer. First year for the GP W-body platform cars. Also first year for the 5 speed option for the W's.

I had the 95 GTP and it was the slowest piece I ever owned !!!

The 3.4 was a bastard engine, even if you found a mechanic capable and comfortable working on one you'd pay out the ass to get anything done on it. The regular 3.1 liter models were far more common and would get well into the 170-200k mile range with standard maintenance. Not to be confused with the 3100 engine that had the intake manifold issue

@@303nitzubishi4 Ive got a 3.4l 5 speed in my 94 firebird, It HAD cooling issues but i fixed it. It wasnt a blown headgasket but it was overheating, and if you swap out the dexcool for green coolant its a solid motor its at 203k currently... Its not the best or most powerful but it does move the car off its ass

90s American interiors! everyone run for the hills!

@Donald trick Trump Has STD's from Stormy D. What would you consider right & tasteful? I don't associate either of those with Pontiac typically, lol

Haywood Giablomi Indeed! I love the retro reviews simply for the comments alone. You have very clever sarcasm, and then you have the blind, deaf, borderline mentally handicap brand loyalty folks vehemently defending these almost criminal subpar products. It is like discovering your wife is working at a brothel behind your back, and defending the behavior because "times are hard. China took all the jobs." 😆

Cowards talk shit behind someones back

@@jessjohn6157 and talk shit in the KZfaq comments section.

Faux Craig Singhaus Basically Top Gun, just replace the F-14 Tomcats with NASCAR stock cars and there ya go. Oh and a scene of Tom and another guy racing and slamming into each others rental cars on public streets and even a beach.

This thing really does seem like a total POS... Even by 90s standards.

goose wasnt a looser yo. iceman was.

I'd rather have this than a Maxima or a Volvo. Those are boring and everywhere, this is flashy and rare.

@@GobotWars The Grand Prix Turbo was a flashier and rarer car, I'll give you that. I'd describe it as gimmicky and tacky, though.

The only thing bloated and floaty is your opinion, foreign car fanboy😆

@@Lucille69caddy praise where praise is deserved. Pontiac died for a reason.

They died because GM lost focus on what the brand was, and started making random boring cars with no style out of it. Nobody cared.

torque engine, the gm hi-value economy unit, that one

Same here. But well they died and even before that I'd laugh at rebadged Chevys. and now I own a Chevy myself. lol

For 95, no GT coupe was available. The GT trim was only offered on the sedans. For a 95 coupe, it would have been an SE or GTP.

Not the turbos. Highly unlikely. Pontiac used the tacky cladding on non turbo cars as well.

@@LynxStarAuto Still very much alive and thriving in parts of the U.S.

Dungzoo I assume 3.8. That was the only one that came supercharged.

Ah. Yes. It was the 3.8L.