GTP Cool Wall: 1983-1989 Pontiac 6000 STE

[Wiegert]

1983-1989 Pontiac 6000 STE nominated by @Aerocoupe

Body Style: 4-door sedan
Engines: Carburated 2.8L V6 (1983-1984), Fuel-Injected 2.8L V6 (1985-1989), 3.1L V6 (1988-1989 AWD versions only)
Power: 135 hp (Carb. 2.8L), 140 hp (FI 2.8L), 140 hp (3.1L V6)
Torque: 165 lb-ft (Carb. 2.8L), 170 lb-ft (FI 2.8L), 185 lb-ft (3.1L V6)
Weight: 1360-1540 kg
Transmission: 3-speed automatic (1983-1985, 1988-1989 AWD only), 4-speed automatic (1986-1989), 5-speed manual
Drivetrain: Front-engine, front-wheel drive / all-wheel drive
Additional Information:
Introduced for 1983, the 6000 STE (or Special Touring Edition) was Pontiac's attempt to once again be seen as GM's sporty division. It featured a more powerful version of the 2.8L V6, sport-tuned suspension, more aggressive exterior, standard ABS, four wheel disc brakes, and grippier tires. Pontiac billed this as a competitor to European sport sedans from the likes of Audi and BMW, for about half the price. It was also available with a full-time all-wheel-drive system for 1988 and 1989, which no other A-Body had as an option; it featured a locking center differential with high and low modes, and sent 40% of the power to the rear wheels. AWD also upgraded you to a 3.1L V6 over the 2.8L unit. It should also be mentioned that the 6000 STE was featured on Car and Driver's 10Best lists for 1983, 1984 and 1985.​

Spoiler: Additional Pics

 

[MisterWaffles]

What's this? Some sort of GM K-car?

 

[Aerocoupe]

What's this? Some sort of GM K-car?

Eh, sort of. It didn’t save GM from the brink of bankruptcy like the K-car did for Chrysler, but the X-Body-based A-Body more or less served the same role as the bread and butter front-wheel-drive Sedan (and coupe).

The STE was a weird one; Pontiac fiddled with the suspension, gave it the engine from the Citation X-11 (of all cars), and tried passing it off as a competitor to the best of the best European sport sedans of the day for a fraction of the price. It didn’t really compare to 3-series and Audi 5000, but for what it was, it could've been worse. Of course, once the Taurus SHO came about with a more powerful, exotic engine and better sorted chassis (not to mention Pontiac themselves throwing more weight behind the new Grand Prix that was about to release with its own STE variant), the 6000's time was up.

But, for being better than anything on a platform stemming from one of (if not the) worst chassis in the Generals history has any right to be (plus the experimental AWD versions), I'll be generous and give it a Cool.

 

[xyloscissor]

Cool because it did what it was supposed to do with a bit of pontiac style.

 

[05XR8]

Cool. Being 12yo in 1983 and seeing this at the NY Auo Show, those headlights! I collwctedao many brochures from Pontiac back then. Plus, an automatic on the floor? Buttons on the steering wheel? The '80s man.

 

[Obelisk]

What is with all of the buttons?!

 

[LivingWithGames]

Too many buttons at the steerign wheel but more I look at the car overall, doesn't seem that bad, actually.

I'm be honest, giving a fairly low cool. Just skimmed the Meh vote on this one. Other than the buttons on the wheel, I might actually not mind having this as a normal car. Not too pretty, but for being 80's? I'd allow this. I'm risking myself here but, screw it.

 

[TB]

Better than an Aries but that's not saying much.

I loved the Pontiac I had but still can't go higher than a Meh for this.

 

[LM7325]

It's a shame Pontiac didn't use the 3.8 in this car, but considering they had their hands full fixing the Fiero it's not a terrible car overall. A 6000 fared well in an infamous Car&Driver road test. It seems like this was pretty much the best Pontiac could do with this platform, AWD was surprising coming out of '80s GM.

Overall I give it a Meh, it's definitely a car pf the period, but hey, they tried...

 

[Dennisch]

Weight: 1360 kg

I'm having a hard time believing that to be correct. Especially for an AWD lump of Americana.

 

[Wiegert]

It may not have aged as gracefully as its... uh, I suppose Japanese equivalent, but the 1988–89 cars didn't look half as bad as the other A-bodies. At least they had the tiniest hint of something "special" there unlike the generic FWD product that happened to have STE badging earlier in the decade.

Uncool.

I'm having a hard time believing that to be correct. Especially for an AWD lump of Americana.

Add ~200 kg for the AWD STE. Not sure if the earlier models were a bag of sugar under 3000 lbs but those are the numbers I'm finding.

 

[Sage Ages]

Indiscrete background car that's probably been destroyed by now.

 

[CarBastard]

Malaise-spec econobox with no redeeming features. An appereance you could mistake with 90% of the other cars on the road and performance that could kill you out of boredom.

It's so bland, so 'Meh'. But, for me, being 'Meh' is the worst kind of uncoolness so Seriously Uncool it goes.

 

[Tornado]

What's this? Some sort of GM K-car?

A-Bodies were a size class up.

 

[Legro]

Okay, they do deserve some credit for actually trying something different with the dashboard. It looks so completely bizarre and utterly inconvenient with all those tiny buttons that it could almost be from a Citroën.

 

[05XR8]

Okay, they do deserve some credit for actually trying something different with the dashboard. It looks so completely bizarre and utterly inconvenient with all those tiny buttons that it could almost be from a Citroën.

Look at a Porsche.

 

[Cowboy]

What is with all of the buttons?!

Pontiac had a thing with their cars in the 80s/90s where they had a thousand buttons on the steering wheels, which I find utterly repulsive.

 

[Turbo]

What is with all of the buttons?!

GM wanted to make their Pontiacs appeal to European car buyers by making their interior "techy".

 

[INEEDNAWZZZ]

 

[LM7325]

Leave it to GM to later make good on that 8.2 MPG with the H2, it even had a 6L under the hood...

That actually was a rip on the Pontiac 6000 according to movie lore, the car was a modified '77 Cutlass sedan, probably 350 equipped, the 403 being somewhat rare.

 

[GTP_Ingram]

My eyes were drawn to the button-fest steering wheel, then I noticed the S-Class in the background...

 

[Dennisch]

then I noticed the S-Class in the background...

 

[UltimateYosh]

Bland.

Uncool

 

[Beeblebrox237]

I'm sorry, according to Pontiac the body style should be changed to "Euro-style touring sedan."

 

[Turbo]

Probably the coolest of of the several "Euro" GM sedans of the 80s. It actually had the right drivetrain to compete with sporty European 4-doors. Sounds good so far, right?

Nope. GM ruined it's chance of having the 6000 STE rival cars like E30 M3, since it was underpowered, had a tacky exterior, ergonomically frustrating interior, and the ride quality was awful compared to the M3.

Uncool, but not seriously so. An 80's American 4WD sports sedan was "out of the box" for its time and may become a minor collectors' item as it ages some more.

 

[axletramp]

I'm actually going to vote cool on this one. Boxy 80's brilliance with a button-fest dash that even Rover or Citroen would have been proud of.

 

[Cano]

Never knew the AWD thing existed. These Maialse-era oddballs are cool, lol.

 

[Tornado]

I ultimately have to go with a very low cool on this one. GM in the 1980s was one of the most hopeless companies possibly in the history of the industry, so the fact that Pontiac (on what was almost certainly a nonexistent budget under Roger Smith) was able to operate seemingly as autonomously as they had in the 1970s and come up with things like this and the Trans Am and Grand Prix Turbo even the Fiero gets this car some legitimate cred.