Looking back: 1982 Pontiac J2000 Promo

[91 s-10baja]

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.

Exactly!
See: Sprint/Metro/Aveo/Sonic, or Cavalier/Cobalt/Cruz. Perpetual beginnings.

[VS Ute 5Litre]

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 can't take any discussion of any version of the J car seriously knowing how big a turd of a car this was

They finally got it right by the last version with the 2.0 litre but it was too little too late

Holden lost thousands of customers with that turd of a car it was worse than any Daewoo that was ever made

And thats saying something

[vcs2600]

Friend of mine had a "2000 Sunbird" wagon and he beat the living crap out of the thing. It. would. not. die.

He didn't change the oil for ten years, never did anything more than bare maintenance and put gas in, and it drove forever. Sure the interior disintegrated, but those J Cars were pretty solid beasts.

[Jesda]

A car that foreshadowed the eventual end of Pontiac.

[RedVee8]

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

The one in my sig was really nice and performed well, 1.8 efi + 5sp manual. Tweed seats in the SLE, very tasty. Perfectly reliable until I stacked it and the repairers didn't replace the power steering which started to fail coming down Buladelah - ####!!! - coaxed it home and guess what? The smash repairers charged the insurance coy for the power steering unit they didn't replace... Oops.

[poncho1982]

I've owned 2 1989 Sunbirds, and a 1985 Cavalier. J cars were not the speediest of cars, but they were reliable, and easy to work on.

Both of my sunbirds had the same interior issue though. The dash pad would separate from the dash frame right above the radio, to the right of the gauges.



everyone I've ever seen in the junkyard is the same way. Can't imagine how bad it must be in the desert states!

[91 s-10baja]

A car that foreshadowed the eventual end of Pontiac.

you could say that about any pontiac, if it didn't perform well, OR you didn't like it.

[Neanderthal]

A car that foreshadowed the eventual end of Pontiac.

ALL GM divisions had a version of this car. So GM is doomed.

[cdp326]

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!

In the fascias yes, but in side profile the C-pillar and sedan's rear door line/coupe's rear window indicates the J-body roots of the Ascona/Cavalier/Monza and Camira to me.

Although I suppose the Camira was doing a black plastic C-pillar piece before the current Cruze made it cool.

[Jesda]

you could say that about any pontiac, if it didn't perform well, OR you didn't like it.

Indeed, though the J-cars (in addition to the Korean Le Mans) were especially cruel to Pontiac's performance image.

[El Burro Camaro]

I had a 92 Sun Bird for my first car in 1997 and it was the shortest tenured car I ever owned. These were awful cars and mine gave me nothing but repeated problems.

[zythr]

Why the talk about a defunct brand, Pontiac?

[Smaart Aas Saabr]

Indeed, though the J-cars (in addition to the Korean Le Mans) were especially cruel to Pontiac's performance image.

The 120 hp TransSport and Parisienne were not?

[ksr]

I had two first generation j bodies and never had a minute of trouble with either. Not the most refined cars, but reliable. They were hatchbacks and could haul a ton of stuff.

My dad had an '82 J-2000. It was nice looking. I was still living at home and was anxious to drive it. Pretty much a letdown though. Very slow. The tranmission would also kick hard when it shifted; you'd feel the whole car kick forward. My friends referred to it as the "warp drive." My dad took it in for service but was told that it was normal. Other than that, the car gave him no problems, though my dad never kepts cars for long.

Coupe, sedan, hatch, and wagon all released at the same time. And eventually a convertible. Gotta love that.

[ksr]

A car that foreshadowed the eventual end of Pontiac.

I don't know. Pontiac had far worse moments in the Lemans, Aztek, G3.

For all the talk about Pontiac's performance image, it was a full-line brand. Something had to be the entry-level car. And the J2000s and Sunbirds weren't that bad, as American small cars went. At that time, for various reasons, much of which were related to labor costs, American small cars weren't going to be at the top of the heap. When you have to be price-competitive with Corollas and Civics and you're already losing money on every sale, you're in a bind.

The J-bodies were mostly reliable and they did sell a staggering number of them. I thought in particular that the refresh that happened in 1987 made for a very attractive entry-level car (if memory serves, the Sunbird might have been refreshed one year sooner than Cavalier).

If this car was as bad as it got for Pontiac, Pontiac would still be around.