Had an '80 Chevy Monza Coupe as well. I've owned probably something like 12 different GM products and this was my least favorite. But it does bring back good memories.
I had one..amazing tough little car..snow, mud, mountain roads, flash floods..it never let me down..the Iron Duke wasn't fast or powerful but it was unstoppable. I even drove it 90 miles thru the desert in summer with a busted waterpump..it actually air cooled! I later walked away from a head-on collision that totaled the new Nissan that hit me and I drove it home. I went to a junk yard, found a front clip for a monza and bolted it on and painted it..That was an interesting looking notchback.. I finally sold it with 250k miles..still running strong..
Thank you for posting I enjoyed this very much. As a little kid growing up I remember seeing these on the street during the 1980s and into the early 90s back when the women and the cars were both good looking!
My wife had a 80’ notchback with 4 speed manual. I stunned my brother and his 350 ci 73’ Cutlass Supreme when we drag raced. I was out in front all the way thru the 1/8 mi and some only to get passed above 75 mph. It was fun car for what it was.
In the summer of 1980, my sister Paulette traded her 1973 Ford Mustang for a 1980 Pontiac Sunbird. She bought a standard coupe (dark blue with tan interior) with four-speed manual, A/C, and AM radio. I was disappointed when she got rid of the Mustang, and I actually came around to liking the Sunbird. In the fall of 1989, Paulette traded the Sunbird for a 1989 Toyota Tercel. I actually have a thing for the "cheesy" cars of the 1970's and 1980's (Ford Mustang II, Chevrolet Monza, Buick Skyhawk, Oldsmobile Starfire, Pontiac Sunbird, and the second-generation Toyota Celica)!
GM Holden in Australia launched the Holden Sunbird in 1977. It was a four door sedan that was later joined by a three door hatchback. It had the same badge as the Pontiac in this video and "Radial Tuned Suspension" made it's first appearance on a Holden with this car too. Finish and build quality on this car was top notch, as was the handling, steering and braking. The performance and fuel consumption though were on the wrong side of dismal. It started life with a 1.9 liter Opel engine. It rattled like a diesel and you had to time it over the quarter mile with a calender. It was replaced by an Aussie designed four cylinder engine that was just about as useless.
@@LearnAboutFlow just before the cassette player was shown, the radio before did have an 8 track. The radio dial was on the door, which was hinged and pushed in.
My uncle had one he used as a commuter. A red one powered by a Buick 3.8. He had it for a long time before trading it in for another red Sunbird. ‘88 or ‘89 2 door coupe - another long lasting car.
yeah, I don't get what people hate about this car. I have an '84 Sunbird Turbo. Red paint, white ragtop convertible. Sure, the 3-speed auto makes it only go to around 60MPH, but it's an absolute blast to drive, and honestly the rear-lightbar style taillights are something I wish to see on more modern cars.
@@Andyface79 Let me preface this by saying I am in the northeast: Mine has yet to rust, and gets a decent ~25 MPG. Only problems I've had are the previous owner never replaced the brake fluid, and the convertible hydraulics needed ATF.
@@spod2998 I bought a 74 Vega with 12,000 miles on it. Total piece of crap. I drove it to around 55k miles when it started crop dusting everyone behind me. My sister had an 88 Sunbird Turbo GT, which has nothing in common with an 80. It was a good car and fast too.
@@MrSpartanPaul so then the turbo models were good. Alright, that helps tie it together. It looks like the 70s models were pure malaise. Almost no power or quality, but the later 84-91 were fairly fast and better quality.
Are you kidding me? From a side view nearly every car was indistinguishable by normal passers by. The only real variation in car design in the 70’s and 80’s was the front end, rear end, and window rake, and even those were limited. Cars nowadays are no less distinguishable than they were 40 years ago, if anything they’re even more identifiable, you just don’t care enough to learn the differences between them.
Was a Chevy 305 V8 a factory option for this model year? I know the commercial mentions the 2.5L inline four (known as the "iron duke") as well as the Buick 3.8L V6, but no mention of a V8 which I thought was a factory option. I know on the Monza (Chevy's version of the same car) it was definitely a factory option.
Final model year. The wagon was gone - pure Vega to the end with the last Pontiac Astre nose with single round headlights - but the other Sunbird, Chevy Monza, Buick Skyhawk and Olds Starfire models were built as "1980" models up to the end of calendar 1980. The J-bodies that replaced them were rolled out in early calendar 1981 as 1982 models.
Not before becoming dirt track racers. They were RWD with a very short wheelbase. When equipped with the handling package he mentioned plus the V6 (or V8), they were great dirt track drifters.
@@Trance88 My '76 was on the road until 2002, when I was involved in a four car pileup. The other unfortunate driver behind me was just saying "you don't see those on the road much anymore" before he got plowed into and pushed into me.
My uncle had one of these, car past to me, clutch cable was so tough, it pushed out the firewall causing grounding issues, other than that it was a decent car, no trunk space and a collapsed spare tire that had a gas cartridge to inflate it
Funny little car that, when powered up as if it were a Firebird gives the Firebird a run for its money. Truly the 1980 version of the 1970 Chevy Nova to the Chevelle
I had a Monza, basically the Chevy version of this. Nice looking car, but that's the only good thing I can remember about it. EVERYTHING about it was just horrible. Handling and ride were sloppy, reliability was nonexistent, power was anemic, fit and finish was like it was put together by drunken monkeys, began rusting on day 1, and the gas mileage was ok, but not nearly as good as it should have been.
I remember giving an obese friend a ride. When she grabbed the door pull she yanked the handle clear off the door. Other fun bits, the clutch burned out every 35,000 miles and eventually burst the cable through the firewall. And the door welds rusted through so the two halves of the drivers door weren't connected. Add to that the dry rotted window channeling and it's a miracle the window never shattered. Oh, and the seat belt guide broke, so you had to lean sideways while driving lest it crush your windpipe. Mine was a '76, so it still had the odd fire V6, which was more dependable that the later couple of years, but idled rough as a cob.
idk how to tell u this, but, i think i was that fat girl. i know it was 40 years ago but i remember tearing the doorcard off of a crappy Garbage Motors car. we were leaving a KFC drive thru... it seems like yesterday. if that was you, please accept my apologies. Aunt Barbara adores you!
That's a stretch. Big time lol ... every smaller late 60's and 70's car had that weird narrow and thin back end. From Vegas to BMWs to Citroen to Corvair to Pintos, on and on. But you didn't think about that : )
@@raycoe2927 Fair enough as I've never been much a Jag fan. Seriously though, back then it was indeed a styling trend of sorts although historically it was the Americans copying the Europeans in the 70s. Ford Granadas trying to be like full size Mercedes, all the ads said "european style", even the 73 Cutlass was paired with a Mercedes and offered with a center console automatic shifter and 2+2 seating instead of the normal bench seats at the time. The imports were weighing heavily on the minds of a big three manufacturers. It's pretty interesting stuff
Hahaha I wish there was a law against lying in advertising. I had a 74 Vega which the Monza/Sunbird was based on. Total junk, it was reliable but that’s it. My 69 Fiat 124 sedan blew it out of the water. GM should have tried out the competition before designing such garbage.
@@MrSpartanPaul Many a Lada have been built on the 124 platform, which proved to be pretty good. The Vega was simply crude and just clueless, as so many American cars were at the time. Personally, I never looked below Olds 98 and Buick Electra. Had 3 of them. Marvelous cars, 2 stolen.
@@paulparoma I was surprised at how great my 69 Fiat 124 felt on the road. I bought it for $30 and it was my first car. Learned to drive in my dad’s 76 Lincoln Town Coupé which we bought new and was mint, but the Fiat felt so much tighter on potholes. Sure it was rusty but 4 wheel disc brakes and nimble handling made it sporty and really fun. That car taught me how to REALLY drive. I’ve been a nut behind the wheel ever since!!
@@MrSpartanPaul I am sure many who grew up in the USSR/Eastern bloc could relate to that (sans the Lincoln). For $30, any car would be a Porsche! My first one was a '72 LeMans for $200. It was an old piece of garbage, but a car nonetheless! Much better than taking the subway or bus. In the '70s, Fiat was very good at making no-nonsense, simple cars that drove well and had some flair. They haven't produced anything worthwhile lately. Neither have the Big Three, come to think of it.
My mom had a 79 Red hatchback with black interior. I loved that car so much. I was a kid but still remember it well 🌻
I had a 1980 Chevy Monza (basically the same car). Not a bad car.
Had an '80 Chevy Monza Coupe as well. I've owned probably something like 12 different GM products and this was my least favorite. But it does bring back good memories.
Good looking basic car..I was 18 in 1980...Remember tons of these on the road...Affordable ,unlike cars of 20222
I had one..amazing tough little car..snow, mud, mountain roads, flash floods..it never let me down..the Iron Duke wasn't fast or powerful but it was unstoppable. I even drove it 90 miles thru the desert in summer with a busted waterpump..it actually air cooled! I later walked away from a head-on collision that totaled the new Nissan that hit me and I drove it home. I went to a junk yard, found a front clip for a monza and bolted it on and painted it..That was an interesting looking notchback.. I finally sold it with 250k miles..still running strong..
My first new car was a 1990 Pontiac Sunbird. What a great and reliable car. A much better car that my 2003 Toyota Camry.
This must be the first time in history those words have ever been uttered in that order. Ever.
@claybarnett6350 wrong.
Thanks Cory!
Dad bought one new, and I drove another 80 for years
The music make me feel like I was at Disney World Frontier Land.
Thank you for posting I enjoyed this very much. As a little kid growing up I remember seeing these on the street during the 1980s and into the early 90s back when the women and the cars were both good looking!
I had a 1980 Sunbird notchback coupe with the manual transmission and the Rally RTS handling package. Fun little car
The hatchback looks kind of nice but I know these were junk. The blonde and brunette at 3:25 were the best part of this video.
Wild thought, this should have been an'80 GTO variant with a H.O. 301.
My wife had a 80’ notchback with 4 speed manual. I stunned my brother and his 350 ci 73’ Cutlass Supreme when we drag raced. I was out in front all the way thru the 1/8 mi and some only to get passed above 75 mph. It was fun car for what it was.
Thanks for posting this, I still have a '78 and an '80 Sunbird.
Sunbird nose so much better looking than monza.
1980 Oldsmobile Starfire And Buick Skyhawk Front Ends GODAWFUL!
The Best One Of All Was 1979 And 1980 CHEVY MONZA SPYDER!
In the summer of 1980, my sister Paulette traded her 1973 Ford Mustang for a 1980 Pontiac Sunbird. She bought a standard coupe (dark blue with tan interior) with four-speed manual, A/C, and AM radio. I was disappointed when she got rid of the Mustang, and I actually came around to liking the Sunbird. In the fall of 1989, Paulette traded the Sunbird for a 1989 Toyota Tercel. I actually have a thing for the "cheesy" cars of the 1970's and 1980's (Ford Mustang II, Chevrolet Monza, Buick Skyhawk, Oldsmobile Starfire, Pontiac Sunbird, and the second-generation Toyota Celica)!
GM Holden in Australia launched the Holden Sunbird in 1977. It was a four door sedan that was later joined by a three door hatchback. It had the same badge as the Pontiac in this video and "Radial Tuned Suspension" made it's first appearance on a Holden with this car too. Finish and build quality on this car was top notch, as was the handling, steering and braking. The performance and fuel consumption though were on the wrong side of dismal. It started life with a 1.9 liter Opel engine. It rattled like a diesel and you had to time it over the quarter mile with a calender. It was replaced by an Aussie designed four cylinder engine that was just about as useless.
Build and quality top noch?
I’m sure we can’t be speaking about the same car
@@COYGunners According to media reports from the day they were top notch, equal to and better in some areas than the Toyota Corona and Datsun 180B.
1980, the last gasp of the Vega plaform.
…. “And optional AM/FM/8-track stereo”.
Shows an AM/FM/Cassette head unit.
@@LearnAboutFlow just before the cassette player was shown, the radio before did have an 8 track. The radio dial was on the door, which was hinged and pushed in.
My uncle had one he used as a commuter. A red one powered by a Buick 3.8. He had it for a long time before trading it in for another red Sunbird. ‘88 or ‘89 2 door coupe - another long lasting car.
yeah, I don't get what people hate about this car. I have an '84 Sunbird Turbo. Red paint, white ragtop convertible. Sure, the 3-speed auto makes it only go to around 60MPH, but it's an absolute blast to drive, and honestly the rear-lightbar style taillights are something I wish to see on more modern cars.
@@spod2998 Rusty, ineffecient, outdated, did I say rusty?
@@Andyface79 Let me preface this by saying I am in the northeast: Mine has yet to rust, and gets a decent ~25 MPG. Only problems I've had are the previous owner never replaced the brake fluid, and the convertible hydraulics needed ATF.
@@spod2998 I bought a 74 Vega with 12,000 miles on it. Total piece of crap. I drove it to around 55k miles when it started crop dusting everyone behind me. My sister had an 88 Sunbird Turbo GT, which has nothing in common with an 80. It was a good car and fast too.
@@MrSpartanPaul so then the turbo models were good. Alright, that helps tie it together.
It looks like the 70s models were pure malaise. Almost no power or quality, but the later 84-91 were fairly fast and better quality.
Yo tube uno
1979 pontiac sunbird v8 5.0 lts std 4 velocidades...exelente auto..muy correlon
When automobiles had distinguishing look, feel and style. Nowadays, every car looks exactly the same .
That’s the point
That’s what they want
They are going to ban them soon
Wake up
Are you kidding me? From a side view nearly every car was indistinguishable by normal passers by. The only real variation in car design in the 70’s and 80’s was the front end, rear end, and window rake, and even those were limited. Cars nowadays are no less distinguishable than they were 40 years ago, if anything they’re even more identifiable, you just don’t care enough to learn the differences between them.
@@Poopsticle_256 dude, don't blow a gasket. I simply stated an opinion. Grow up!
@@Poopsticle_256 Well GM does't need as much badge engineering with only half as many badges!
Distinguisging. Yes. What distinguished the Sunbird from the Monza, Skyhawk, and Firenza was the…um…badge. Distinguishing!
Was a Chevy 305 V8 a factory option for this model year? I know the commercial mentions the 2.5L inline four (known as the "iron duke") as well as the Buick 3.8L V6, but no mention of a V8 which I thought was a factory option. I know on the Monza (Chevy's version of the same car) it was definitely a factory option.
I think it was only offered in California and maybe only in the Monza.
No just the monza not on Skyhawks or sunbirds
"It's sharp Pontiac styling" Translation: We slapped a different nose cap on a Chevy Monza for your enjoyment. Badge engineering at its finest.
OMG! An AM Radio!
That's all mine had. Good times!
Final model year. The wagon was gone - pure Vega to the end with the last Pontiac Astre nose with single round headlights - but the other Sunbird, Chevy Monza, Buick Skyhawk and Olds Starfire models were built as "1980" models up to the end of calendar 1980. The J-bodies that replaced them were rolled out in early calendar 1981 as 1982 models.
Nov. 26th 1980 to be exact. 👍
How many went to the crusher? all of them.
Probably just about as I've NEVER seen one of these on the road as far as I can recall. I was born in '88. They were probably almost all gone by 1992.
Not before becoming dirt track racers. They were RWD with a very short wheelbase. When equipped with the handling package he mentioned plus the V6 (or V8), they were great dirt track drifters.
@@Trance88 My '76 was on the road until 2002, when I was involved in a four car pileup. The other unfortunate driver behind me was just saying "you don't see those on the road much anymore" before he got plowed into and pushed into me.
I want my old sunbird
Awesome!
have in not a 5 lit. / 305 cu.in. v8 how the chevy monza ?
Sometimes I miss Pontiac
I had the lemon yellow model. 0 to 60 with the pedal on the floor in 3 minutes haha
Geez a 2.5L 4 cylinder engine with a 3 speed A/T
I guess it would make sense on long flat roads..
but not so much for San Francisco Hills 🤣
Same here in Seattle. You could probably get up these hills faster on a skateboard.
Whats the blondes name. She does have the zest they were selling me on
My uncle had one of these, car past to me, clutch cable was so tough, it pushed out the firewall causing grounding issues, other than that it was a decent car, no trunk space and a collapsed spare tire that had a gas cartridge to inflate it
Funny little car that, when powered up as if it were a Firebird gives the Firebird a run for its money. Truly the 1980 version of the 1970 Chevy Nova to the Chevelle
I had a Monza, basically the Chevy version of this. Nice looking car, but that's the only good thing I can remember about it. EVERYTHING about it was just horrible. Handling and ride were sloppy, reliability was nonexistent, power was anemic, fit and finish was like it was put together by drunken monkeys, began rusting on day 1, and the gas mileage was ok, but not nearly as good as it should have been.
I remember giving an obese friend a ride. When she grabbed the door pull she yanked the handle clear off the door. Other fun bits, the clutch burned out every 35,000 miles and eventually burst the cable through the firewall. And the door welds rusted through so the two halves of the drivers door weren't connected. Add to that the dry rotted window channeling and it's a miracle the window never shattered. Oh, and the seat belt guide broke, so you had to lean sideways while driving lest it crush your windpipe.
Mine was a '76, so it still had the odd fire V6, which was more dependable that the later couple of years, but idled rough as a cob.
idk how to tell u this, but, i think i was that fat girl.
i know it was 40 years ago but i remember tearing the doorcard off of a crappy Garbage Motors car. we were leaving a KFC drive thru... it seems like yesterday. if that was you, please accept my apologies.
Aunt Barbara adores you!
@@auntbarbara5576 Not unless you drove an even worse Mercury Bobcat. I think I was taking her to retrieve her car from the shop.
It looked really nice, but was not much of a car.
4:33 that's not an 8 Track lol
Donna Okumura's Car. 151 Iron Duke Automatic.
Also Carol Alexander's Car.
It's not a bad looking car
Liked 💯👍
The side looks really modern, looks like a Jaguar from the back.
That's a stretch. Big time lol ... every smaller late 60's and 70's car had that weird narrow and thin back end. From Vegas to BMWs to Citroen to Corvair to Pintos, on and on. But you didn't think about that : )
@@624radicalham Meh, I guess its Jaguar thats been coping them, I never liked Jaguar all that much anyways.
@@raycoe2927 Fair enough as I've never been much a Jag fan. Seriously though, back then it was indeed a styling trend of sorts although historically it was the Americans copying the Europeans in the 70s. Ford Granadas trying to be like full size Mercedes, all the ads said "european style", even the 73 Cutlass was paired with a Mercedes and offered with a center console automatic shifter and 2+2 seating instead of the normal bench seats at the time. The imports were weighing heavily on the minds of a big three manufacturers. It's pretty interesting stuff
I always thought this car looked like Joe Penny.
If you thought your 80 sunbird was a total piece of junk just wait till you get a J2000!
Well, that was the sporty version of the Cadillac Cimarron!
Hahaha I wish there was a law against lying in advertising. I had a 74 Vega which the Monza/Sunbird was based on. Total junk, it was reliable but that’s it. My 69 Fiat 124 sedan blew it out of the water. GM should have tried out the competition before designing such garbage.
@@MrSpartanPaul Many a Lada have been built on the 124 platform, which proved to be pretty good. The Vega was simply crude and just clueless, as so many American cars were at the time. Personally, I never looked below Olds 98 and Buick Electra. Had 3 of them. Marvelous cars, 2 stolen.
@@paulparoma I was surprised at how great my 69 Fiat 124 felt on the road. I bought it for $30 and it was my first car. Learned to drive in my dad’s 76 Lincoln Town Coupé which we bought new and was mint, but the Fiat felt so much tighter on potholes. Sure it was rusty but 4 wheel disc brakes and nimble handling made it sporty and really fun. That car taught me how to REALLY drive. I’ve been a nut behind the wheel ever since!!
@@MrSpartanPaul I am sure many who grew up in the USSR/Eastern bloc could relate to that (sans the Lincoln). For $30, any car would be a Porsche! My first one was a '72 LeMans for $200. It was an old piece of garbage, but a car nonetheless! Much better than taking the subway or bus. In the '70s, Fiat was very good at making no-nonsense, simple cars that drove well and had some flair. They haven't produced anything worthwhile lately. Neither have the Big Three, come to think of it.
Ferrari Dayton GTB 365 and 400 styling by General Motors. One Hatches, the other Notches.
Sister had one until the steering rack went out.
I lived with these as new cars. They are objectively bad. Really bad.
Hey you can’t park there!
Gee it's swell.