Two weeks ago, I wrote this piece on a 1992 Chevrolet Cavalier. While not the usual BF fare, the review received some interseting comments – no surprise, but a lot of people owned and drove Cavaliers, and many had fond memories. With that being the case, I thought today I’d cover the Cavalier’s cousin, the Pontiac Sunbird, a 1991 convertible example, to be exact. This 39K mile drop top is located in Warwick, Rhode Island and is listed here on craigslist for $6,950. Zen wins the Kewpie doll for this tip!
“Power, Performance, and Excitement for 1991,” proclaims the Pontiac sales brochure from 35 years ago. I’m not sure I’d define the Sunbird by any of those descriptors, but I understand the message – it was an approach to highlight Pontiac from the rest of the more staid GM herd, and that excitement included the basic compact “J” car. Three body styles- two-door convertible and coupe, and a four-door sedan- spread across three trim levels, LE, SE, and GT, comprised the Sunbird’s ’91 lineup. Being a convertible means our subject car is in LE trim and is one of 119K Sunbirds assembled at Lordstown, Ohio, or Ramos Arizpe, Mexico that year. The Sunbird name had been in use since 1976, but it wasn’t until 1982 that it appeared as a front-wheel-driver, known initially as the J2000, then the 2000, followed by the 2000 Sunbird, and then finally the Sunbird in 1985. The Sunbird J-platform architecture covered two generations, ’82 to ’87, and ’88 to ’94.
This example shows well; its red finish gives no indication of sun fade, and the body appears to be straight and free of any obvious crash damage. The seller states, “Only flaw is the convertible top has a couple of tiny holes that have been fixed; original paint is perfect.” The top repair job is not obvious, and I’d like to know a bit more about it. I once owned a ’66 Impala convertible, and the previous owner used iron-on patches to repair two holes – not an approach I recommend.
Under the hood, this Sunbird employs a 96 net HP, 2.0-liter, inline, four-cylinder engine which drives the front wheels via a three-speed automatic transaxle. The seller suggests, “runs like a dream.” For ’92, the Sunbird’s 2.0-liter engine would get a power bump, but it remained the standard powerplant and not a 2.2 as employed by the Cavalier. I would have thought both divisions would have shared the same engine.
This Sunbird’s interior appears to be super clean – no mean feat with oyster-hued fabric upholstery. The material is not exactly high-grade stuff, one ding that GM cars earned in this era, but the entire environment, at least what can be seen in a single image, looks fine, with no evidence of wear, discoloration, or too much fun-in-the-sun time.
This is a nice find! The low mileage and wind-through-the-hair features make this one stand out a bit from other entry-level compacts, though admittedly, a J-car isn’t exactly a common find these days, 30+ years after the fact. Let’s talk price, with an ask of $6,950, would you say this Sunbird is priced right, or not quite?
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