1990 Pontiac Trans Sport SE Quick Look

[91 s-10baja]

+ YouTube Video

also some other new ones added today

[CadiEldo67]

Oh, this brings back memories, my dad bought one of these in like '95 or something. My mom hated it, as when you were in the drivers seat, it felt as though you were piloting an airplane. For the time period, it was a decent van, definately more futuristic than the offerings from Chrysler.

[61BelAir]

I remember seeing the original concept at the L.A. Auto Show and it was actually pretty cool looking.. The front was very round and short in comparison to the Dust Buster look of the production vehicle.

[PocoToro]

OMG It's the "Dust buster with wheels"

[91 s-10baja]

Originally Posted by 61BelAir

I remember seeing the original concept at the L.A. Auto Show and it was actually pretty cool looking.. The front was very round and short in comparison to the Dust Buster look of the production vehicle.

[F14CRAZY]

My family bought a Silhouette, almost new, in 1990. The throttle body injected 3.1L had enough to tow our pop up tent trailer fine (or so my dad and brother say...I was born in '87...). He said though that the front rotors warped easily and were improved on later vans, which I think is similar to the A bodies with the JA1 (crappy) and JA2 "heavy duty" brake package.

I know the '92 Trans Sport with the 3800 was the "GT" .

Were the '97+ minivans on the same old platform? I wonder because in '96 the 3800 (which wasn't offered in Series II form) was replaced by the 3.4L...why would they reengineer it for one model year?

I know of someone that swapped an L67 into a Trans Sport. Stock it was in the high 15s

[slowinthefastlane]

I actually thought that the Lumina APV looked pretty cool. To me, it looked really futuristic - almost like a something that you'd see on Star Trek. I have no idea how people parked those things, though. The nose was huge and the dashboard was a big as my back porch.

[minnfang]

We used to have a '90 Silhouette. My wife got the mini-van bug, and I couldn't stand the thought of driving around in a Mopar box. I really liked the plastic body - it never dented or rusted. (Kind of big gaps though.) I also really liked the seven bucket seats - very flexible seating arrangement for different needs. (I wish the 2nd and 3rd rows relined though.
It was the worst handling vehicle I've ever owned - enter a driveway at an angle and you got major neck snap. Overall, not a bad vehicle - just needed more development.

[MCGARRETT]

Yeah but the front was plastic, so you could kind of park by braile.

I remember selling these when I first started selling Pontiacs, they were so strange to drive, it was like piloting a car from the back seat, and the wipers were HUGE!

[E. Haskell]

The front glass and short hood remind me of the newer Honda Civics.

[2005 Equinox LS]

From what I heard they held up better than the Chrysler products too.

[megan]

Had a 1990 Lumina APV. Put 135,000 miles on it with hardly any problems. Changed plugs at 97,000 and a water pump at 109,000. Other than that, nothing. Changed oil evey 3500 miles and tranny fluid at 60,000. Best vehicle I ever owned as far as versatility. Ran great in the snow.

[camaro_freak]

ha ha dust buster indeed!

horrible front end... horrible plastic cladding... horrible wheels..

wow this vehicle showed EVERYTHING wrong with GM in the 90s... woof

[camaro_freak]

Originally Posted by 91 s-10baja

amazing how a design can get so watered down that when it finally hits production, it barely resembles it!

[Uzzy]

Originally Posted by slowinthefastlane

I actually thought that the Lumina APV looked pretty cool. To me, it looked really futuristic - almost like a something that you'd see on Star Trek. I have no idea how people parked those things, though. The nose was huge and the dashboard was a big as my back porch.

I learned to drive on a '95. I usually backed it into parking spots, because that was WAY easier than trying to pull in forewards. I beat the tar out of that thing, and I saw it at a house near my friend's out in the country last year sometime. It was there for a few weeks, but un-plated, then I never saw it again. i'm not sure what happened to it. I know it was mine, there were some unmistakeable tell tale marks (the shifted front fog lamp from when my mom hit someone that ran a stop sign, the trim package was somewhat unique and the Pontiac arrowhead logo on the hood broken a certain way).

I actually took that thing to a prom. I was a girl's date. No, we didn't get to use the expansive cargo area. She was tired and wanted to go home. I should dig up the pics of me in my driveway in my tux with my mommie's freshly detailed (by me) minivan.

I used to do the parking lot slalom in between the islands at speeds that looked like I could tip it at any moment. I used to squeeze it in and out of the tightest spots too. I drove the thing like it was compact car, but clearly it was not. I had some fun in that stupid thing. I guess it wasn't that werid to me, since I haden't really driven anything else before. My very first times behind the wheel were behind that thing.

Oh ya, can say "Neutral Drop?!"

The van, like all of the others in the family, started out as a company vehicle that my dad drove for 3 years, or 100,000kms first. We bought it cheap when the company lease was up. It was the first company lease vehicle we bought out to keep. Previous to that he had a Plymouth Voyager, GMC Safari and Ford Aerostar. Since then my dad has had a 1997 Trans Sport (newer style, but not Montana); 2000 Chevy Venture; 2003 Chevy Venture; and currently drives a 2006 Pontiac SV6. So far, it seems the vans have gotten worse and worse. The cirrent SV6 is not that bad, but there are build quality issues with it, like the left manual sliding door not closing properly most of the time. After the '95, we bought out the '97, but I had my own cars by then, so I didn't drive it much, except camping and such. It wasn't as solid as the '95, but not bad. We sold it to my uncle and he drove it until last year with only a few issues. We had a head gasket go on it while my mom had it (actually I was driving back from Toronto at the time ). The 2000 was the last one we bought out. It was racked with issues, from brakes chewing themselves to death, wiper motors, and just a multitude of small items like that. I convinced my mom to trade it in and get a brand new 2005 Saturn VUE and end the company lease buy-out cycle, since the 2003 my dad was driving at the time was a stripped down version of our loaded 2000 and it seemed problem ridden already. She loves her VUE and hasen't looked back. The SV6 will be going back to the leasing company as well. thanks, but no thanks. Good bye U-bodies. My dad will miss his GM vans (he loves driving mini-vans for some reason) I will not. I'm hoping he get a GMC Acadia next.