Pontiac 6000: the A-body that carried Pontiac through the 1980s

The Pontiac 6000 is a mid-size car sold by Pontiac from the 1982 to the 1991 model year. It replaced the LeMans as Pontiac downsized its range and used the front-wheel-drive GM A platform shared with the Buick Century, Chevrolet Celebrity and Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera.

Pontiac 6000 at a glance

History of the Pontiac 6000

The 6000 was introduced for 1982 as Pontiac’s downsized mid-size car, the successor to the LeMans. It shared the front-wheel-drive A platform with the Buick Century, Chevrolet Celebrity and Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera, and with the Cutlass Ciera it also shared its roofline. Initially there were two-door and four-door notchback sedans; a five-door 6000 station wagon arrived for 1984. Pontiac was moving towards numeric model names in the 1980s, and the 6000 became the largest line to use one.

The car was built by GM Canada at Oshawa from 1981 to 1988 and afterwards at Oklahoma City. It became Pontiac’s best-selling line in 1984, with more than 122,000 sold. The 6000 and its A-body sisters also became the standard example of GM badge engineering: Fortune magazine’s cover of 22 August 1983 used them to illustrate “genericized uniformity”, which embarrassed the company.

The 6000 STE

Introduced for 1983, the 6000 STE (Special Touring Edition) was a sport-tuned four-door with front captain seats, power windows, a high-output 2.8 L V6 of 135 hp, a special steering rack and suspension tuning with self-levelling rear air suspension, four-wheel disc brakes and 195/70R14 Goodyear Eagle GT tyres. It was named to the Car and Driver 10Best list from 1983 to 1985, and Road & Track called it one of the top twelve enthusiast cars for 1984. Its 1984 digital instrument cluster had a bar-graph tachometer and a driver information centre monitoring lights, doors, tune-ups and tyre rotations. In 1985 the carburettor gave way to multi-point fuel injection, still at 135 hp.

Year by year

The 1985 facelift brought a new fascia with a body-coloured centre section around the Pontiac badge. For 1986 the fuel-injected 2.8 reached the base and LE models at 125 hp, and an S/E arrived with the STE drivetrain and fewer features, also as a wagon. In 1987 the quad rectangular headlamps became composite units and the tail lights gained separate amber indicators; the coupe was dropped in 1988. Canada received an Olympic edition on S/E models for the Calgary Winter Olympics, in white with white trim and a saddle interior. The 1989 facelift brought a more rounded roofline and new lights, and from 1990 the 3.1 L V6 replaced the 2.8 across the range while the S/E took over the STE’s all-wheel drive option.

The last Pontiac 6000 was assembled on 22 July 1991. For 1992 the line was replaced by the Grand Prix sedan, and the 6000 Safari was the last station wagon Pontiac ever built.

Design and features

• Front-wheel drive A-body: a practical mid-size package shared with three other GM divisions.
• 6000 STE: self-levelling rear suspension, four-wheel discs and a digital dash on the sporting version.
• 6000 Safari wagon: added in 1984 to replace the rear-wheel-drive Bonneville Safari.
• All-wheel drive: available on the STE and later the S/E, dropped for 1991.

Pontiac 6000 versions

• 6000 and 6000 LE (1982–1991): the standard and mid-range cars.
• 6000 STE (1983–1989): the sport sedan with the high-output V6.
• 6000 Safari (1984–1991): the station wagon, with woodgrain trim from 1987.
• S/E (1986–1991): STE running gear with fewer toys, also as a wagon.
• Olympic edition (1988): a white Canadian special for the Calgary games.

The 6000 replaced the LeMans, and its wagon gave way to the Trans Sport; the sporting theme continued in the G8. More models are in the Pontiac collection.

Video: 1989 Pontiac 6000 STE AWD 1 Owner 85k Miles 4X4 All Wheel Drive

Video by Cereal Marshmallows on YouTube.

Sources

• Pontiac 6000, English Wikipedia: dates, engines, year-by-year changes, STE