Here's one you don't see much of anymore

[pstehle]

I don't recall the Vega getting the Iron Duke, only the Astre. At first, Pontiac painted the Vega engines red, so the salesmen could lie about them "not having a Vega engine", then put the 2.5L in them. For some reason, there was a monumental difference between the V6 versions of the H's and the 4- bangers. I had a 1980 Sunbird that was a total piece of crap out of the box, rough as a corn cob, and a friend with an earlier model that had a V6 that was like driving a Cadillac. Even mine ate a cam and a set of lifters at 50,000 miles, though that might have been due to using Arco Graphite oil in it for a while.

Funny thing, I got hosed big-time by a flat-out liar Finance Officer back then, and it's still happening today. They just can't bring themselves to be honest...

 

[vacerator]

Pstehe, your above post searches differently. The Astre' was introduced in 1973, and the engine was blue., then Pontiac metallic blue for 1975, and corporate blue for '77. The Vega aluminum engine was an unpainted block, with grey heads and valve cover. Later 2.5 Dukes were black after 1984.
So if Pontiac was going to lie, they'd have painted it blue, not red.

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

We had a Ford Pinto with a tiny trunk...

My sister ran up to this rather plain, yellow small car in the showroom, when we were in the market for a small, second vehicles, so this was it, but only kept it for about four or five years...

I used to get car sick in it because a hatchback model would have had a lot more room in that small backseat...

Just about everything small with a hatchback, I think was good, even those Ford Mustang II's to some extent, and the GM-built competitors: The Chevy Monza, Pontiac Sunbird, Buick Skyhawk and Olds Starfire...

 

[kenwashesmonday]

A Biscayne with a 427 engine is known as a Bisquick.

 

[pstehle]

Pstehe, your above post searches differently. The Astre' was introduced in 1973, and the engine was blue., then Pontiac metallic blue for 1975, and corporate blue for '77. The Vega aluminum engine was an unpainted block, with grey heads and valve cover. Later 2.5 Dukes were black after 1984.
So if Pontiac was going to lie, they'd have painted it blue, not red.

M-kay... well those were sold in the 1970's, and it's 50 years later, I'm 65 now and evidently was mistaken about the color... I have to look at my day timer to know what city I've woken up in some days! I'm fer-shur they came with the 2.3 alloy overhead cam oil burners though! and as far as any GM salesman-finance officer-marketing rep, lying is all part of the job! (for the most part, that permeates every brand, to be fair!)

 

[vacerator]

I'm 65 as well, and my memory is good, if not selective a little. I remember from age 3. I too was a young uneducated car buyer and got taken to the cleaners at 21. I loaded up the gmac loan for my new Cutlass Supreme with the work loss coverage.
As I learned about dealer invoice, holdback, and what it costs to have cars sit in inventory, I know they like to move them out the doors. If a dealer chose to waste the time painting engines that costs them money. I doubt that Pontiac would be able to keep a repaint rip off scam under wraps if they paid dealers to do that. Same if done at the engine plant. Maybe they did paint them and it wasn't hidden but known fact. Most buyer's could care less about the color of the motor. Maybe the sales teams didn't even know either.

 

[swestoyz]

I bet it was originally made as a Police interceptor. Biscaynes were all dark colored but they were right there to catch the bad guys.

My original thought was that the car was special ordered for quarter mile drag racing. The original mileage and condition are fairly typical of survivor racers.