1980 Pontiac Sunbird HB Maine C/L $5100

Discussion in 'Car & Truck Talk' started by cammerjeff, Jul 1, 2019.

  1. cammerjeff

    cammerjeff Longroofs Rule!

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  2. jwdtenn

    jwdtenn Well-Known Member

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    Looks super nice -:cheers: almost 40 years old!
     
  3. cammerjeff

    cammerjeff Longroofs Rule!

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    Just for reference this is what 90% of Sunbird HB's Taillight panels look like. Anouther Unicorn

    [​IMG]
     
  4. OrthmannJ

    OrthmannJ Always looking for old ford crew cabs

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    Looks like it's in fantastic condition. These cars just scream 70's to me ( I know it's an 80)
    Not the best looking car IMO but they were doing the best they could with what they had to work with. Pretty neat survivor.
     
  5. cammerjeff

    cammerjeff Longroofs Rule!

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    If it had a V6 & was a Manual Trans, either 4 or 5-speed I would be interested in this one, but after driving a few Iron Duke powered examples, even with a 4-speed they are just to slow for me. I would be to tempted to put a V8 in it and ruin it as a survivor.
    To bad the last year they put SBC's in these was 1979, no V8 H-bodies in 1980.
     
  6. annap01gt

    annap01gt Blue Safari

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    The Iron Dukes were definitely no powerhouse (maybe 100hp) -but the one in our 86 Pontiac 6000 lasted 180K. Was still running fine when the body rusted out.
     
  7. Krash Kadillak

    Krash Kadillak Well-Known Member

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    I laughed at the dealer sticker: Pontiac, Fiat and Mercedes-Benz. What a combination.
     
  8. Silvertwinkiehobo

    Silvertwinkiehobo "Everything that breaks starts with 'F.'"

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    American dealers we're certainly attempting to stay in business back then; grabbing foreign marquees was a way to do it.
     
  9. cammerjeff

    cammerjeff Longroofs Rule!

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    Shortly after this car was sold, Fiat would have left the US Market, so it would just be Pontiac-Mercedes-Benz.

    Yeah the 79 & later Iron Dukes were pretty bullet proof, just so slow. This car has the looks that it should at least be able to get out of its own way. But I bet it got over 30mpg highway, and that is what it was really built for to help Pontiac meet its Divisions CAFE standards. The same reason the Big Pontiac B-bodies were cut a couple of years later, even though they were selling well.
     
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  10. annap01gt

    annap01gt Blue Safari

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    cammerjeff's comment that the "car has the looks that it should at least be able to get out of its own way" jogged my memory. Wasn't this series of cars designed for the never built GM rotary engine ? If so, they would have been runners.
     
  11. OrthmannJ

    OrthmannJ Always looking for old ford crew cabs

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    You know what annap, that sounds familiar. I think you may be correct about that.
     
  12. cammerjeff

    cammerjeff Longroofs Rule!

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    You are correct, if the Monza Bodied cars would have had a Rotary, this would have been the badge

    [​IMG]
     
  13. cammerjeff

    cammerjeff Longroofs Rule!

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    Hard to make out but this is the best Picture I have of that emblem on one of the 75 Monza test cars, this car also has round head lights.
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    Compared to the final production car

    [​IMG]
     
  14. Krash Kadillak

    Krash Kadillak Well-Known Member

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    And when GM killed their Rotary, it threw AMC for a loop, because they were supposed to buy some GM rotary engines for the Pacer....... VERY easy to fit a rotary in a short Pacer engine compartment. NOT so easy to shoehorn a straight 6 in there. It was actually easier for them to engineer the later V8. In reality, the Pacer SHOULD have been a front-drive vehicle, but front-drive development in the U.S. for a smaller car was not quite there yet. In fact, AMC never did design their own front-drive automobile.
     

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