Minneapolis Street Sighting: Pontiac 6000 LE

Car enthusiasts born into the muscle car days will know the GM A-bodies as large, rear-wheel-drive cars equipped with a wide variety of V8 engines that can be tuned to churn out excessive amounts of horespower. If one was born in the 1980s, and grew up in the 1990s, the term "A-body" has an entirely different meaning.

Launched in 1982, the GM A-body was a series of vehicles shared with all major GM brands in the USA; bodystyles were sedans, wagons, and the fairly rare coupes; like most of GMs 1980s and 1990s offerings, the A body did have sporty versions; however, most of the A-bodies sold were more generic versions with common trim names, LE, SE, CL, and SL. This one is a standard Pontiac 6000 in the LE trim with full-face wheelcovers shared with the Pontiac Grand Am and Sunbird, and probably a paint code shared with them too.

I usually don't go for post-modern vehicles, but the 6000 is a vehicle I remember from my childhood; they used to be everywhere, but lately, I haven't seen very many at all. As with most GM vehicles made between 1980 and 1990, the A-bodies had severe rust issues, particularly in the rear door sills and front wings. Luckily, this example exhibits none of that; the paintwork, while a tad dull, is in reasonable condition, especially for being a non-sought-after color. All the badges are intact, and interestingly enough, so is the trunk-mounted luggage rack.

This is a later 6000, as evidenced by the headlights and taillights, but unlike many of the early 1990s cars, this one rocks a set of whitewalls; I've never seen one with whitewalls, and I rather like it. It appears that this one is owned by an older person, who likely bought the car new. I applaud them for keeping this one is splendid shape.