Pontiac 6000

The Pontiac 6000 is a mid-size car that was introduced by Pontiac in 1981 for the 1982 model year, positioned between the smaller Phoenix and the slightly upscale Bonneville (previously the LeMans). It shared its platform with the Buick Century, Chevrolet Celebrity, Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera, and the Oldsmobile Cutlass Cruiser station wagon.

Overview

In 1978, GM had introduced downsized RWD midsize cars on the A-body platform (Chevrolet Malibu, Pontiac LeMans, Oldsmobile Cutlass, and Buick Regal). Then in 1982, a new line of separate FWD midsize cars were introduced, also referred to as A-bodies, but actually based on the compact X-body platform. Since GM had not monetized the tooling costs of the RWD A-body platform, they were forced to continue producing them alongside the newer FWD models.

The 6000 was built at the Oshawa Car Assembly plant in Ontario, Canada from 1981 to 1988 and in the Oklahoma City Assembly plant in Oklahoma until production ceased in 1991. They were also made in Tarrytown, New York for a few years. By 1984 the 6000 was Pontiac's best seller, with over 122,000 units sold. Since the demise of the 1000 after the 1987 model year, the 6000 was the last remaining Pontiac to bear the "000" in its name (the 2000 Sunbird was the first Pontiac to drop it in 1985).