Looking back: 1982 Pontiac J2000 Promo

[91 s-10baja]

Everything you wanted to know about what GM wanted you to know about the 1982 J2000 Launch! Over 42 minutes of footage.

J2000 was the Alphanumeric title for Pontiac’s version of the new 1982 GM J-car, offered in the same four body types as the Chevy Cavalier....
Video: 1982 Pontiac J2000 Promo

[WoodieLongRoof]

The poor thing was renamed every Model Year, '82-'85!!!

1982 - J2000

1983 - 2000

1984 - 2000 Sunbird

1985-2004 - Sunbird

More aliases than a jail-Bird...

[TORRED1]

I owned one, 4 door sedan, stick with no air conditioning, Put 197,000+ miles on it, only had to put in 2 clutches and 2 air pumps. Never had to touch the engine, and it did not burn a drop of oil. That 1.8l Iron duke was bullet proof. That was a good little car and served me will till the day I traded it on a 90 Sillhouette.

[johnstarnes]

I remember like the nose somewhat resembling that of the Firebird. Hard to believe that Pontiac is no more, I loved them as a kid in the 60s.

[RoyG]

Had a 1984 Sunbird with the 1.8 L OHC sourced out of Brazil. Other J cars like the Cavalier had a push rod 4 cylinder but I went with the OHC. Pretty decent engine but buzzy; but worked well with the getrag sourced 5 speed. Poor cooling system design led to overheating which led to some head gasket issues. Fun car especially with the 5 speed.

[mikmak]

Friend of mine had the local version Holden Camira. It was a gutless heap of ****! We had to back down the street and get a run up to leave our road!

Still wanted the lter version 2.0 litre mainly because of the cool pin striping

[91 s-10baja]

Friend of mine had the local version Holden Camira. It was a gutless heap of ****! We had to back down the street and get a run up to leave our road!

Still wanted the lter version 2.0 litre mainly because of the cool pin striping

I had no idea that car existed, or if i did, i had no idea that it was J-body based. Primarily because of the amazing job Holden did at disguising its roots, particularly in the front and rear treatments, along with the much nicer interior. Thanks for posting this!

[Smaart Aas Saabr]

The wheels are so square!

"Camira" is an interesting word. In Australian accent it sounds pretty nice for a car name. In basically any other accent it sounds like a heap of dog poo (imagine in southern US drawl or from a Bavarian)

[Bluetrekrider]

I owned one, 4 door sedan, stick with no air conditioning, Put 197,000+ miles on it, only had to put in 2 clutches and 2 air pumps. Never had to touch the engine, and it did not burn a drop of oil. That 1.8l Iron duke was bullet proof. That was a good little car and served me will till the day I traded it on a 90 Sillhouette.

You were lucky as mine wasn't bulletproof. Had to put in a new head gasket at 45k miles, and after warranty. Found that to be a bit disappointing. Otherwise served us well to 95K.

[zythr]

1982 models were underpowered and slow, esp with the "slurring" auto tranny.

[bmwboy2007]

yeah.. I remember those.. Those were kind of strange. lol

[Neanderthal]

I owned one, 4 door sedan, stick with no air conditioning, Put 197,000+ miles on it, only had to put in 2 clutches and 2 air pumps. Never had to touch the engine, and it did not burn a drop of oil. That 1.8l Iron duke was bullet proof. That was a good little car and served me will till the day I traded it on a 90 Sillhouette.

My old man and I drove a few of these when they were new. For what they were I thought they were nice cars. I never lived with one for a long time.

I always favored the Pontiac, the Pontiac look was most pleasing to me.

Had a 1984 Sunbird with the 1.8 L OHC sourced out of Brazil. Other J cars like the Cavalier had a push rod 4 cylinder but I went with the OHC. Pretty decent engine but buzzy; but worked well with the getrag sourced 5 speed. Poor cooling system design led to overheating which led to some head gasket issues. Fun car especially with the 5 speed.

[Tre-Tre]

The poor thing was renamed every Model Year, '82-'85!!!

1982 - J2000

1983 - 2000

1984 - 2000 Sunbird

1985-2004 - Sunbird

More aliases than a jail-Bird...

That was the only consistency it had, as well as visiting the repair shop. Then the Sunfire came and one more name change (G4/G5 Pursuit) for the compact segment entry until the death of Pontiac came with GM's bankruptcy. Just a very sad chapter. I remember because my parents bought a new car every few years and had one of each of those God awful things.

[91 s-10baja]

Didn't the Sunbird end in 1994, replaced by the 'Fire in 95?

[Tre-Tre]

Didn't the Sunbird end in 1994, replaced by the 'Fire in 95?

You're right the Sunfire ran from 1995 to 2005. The sad thing is that the Sunfire was improved to where it should have been towards the end of it's run. The name changing never stopped, in my opinion it never had the marketing strength that Toyo and Honda have leaned on for a long long time.