1990 Pontiac Grand Prix

The Pontiac Grand Prix first appeared in 1962 as a luxury-performance automobile and as a replacement for the Ventura. John De Lorean, head of Advanced Engineering at Pontiac, contributed to the development of the Grand Prix and the GTO. By the 1990s, the Grand Prix was a personal sports car available in five models including the LE, SE, SE Turbo, and STE. Body styles included both coupe and sedan - the sedan was a new body style for 1990. Other changes and additions included a redesigned analog gauge cluster with new pod switches, a 2.3-liter 16-valve engine option, and new Metrix/Pallex cloth upholstery. Pontiac no longer offered the 2.8-liter V6 engine from the prior year. The previous Ripple/Pallex cloth interior was also no longer available.

The base engine in the Grand Prix was a dual overhead cam, 16-valve, Quad-4 engine displacing 2.3-liters, and offering 160 horsepower. The base engine in the SE and STE was a 3.1-liter V6 rated at 135 horsepower.

New paint colors for 1990 included Slate Gray Metallic, Bright Red. A Slate Gray interior replaced the Medium Gray option.

The LE models came with a three-speed automatic transmission, air conditioning, 60/40 reclining front seats, and an AM/FM stereo. Coupes with the optional 3.1-liter MFI V6 engine came with a five-speed manual gearbox. Both models with this engine could also be equipped with a four-speed automatic transmission.

The Grand Prix STE (Special Touring Edition) models came with extra standard equipment including power reclining bucket front seats with lumbar and articulated thigh supports, a Hi-Performance eight-speaker sound system, Metrix cloth trim, an analog instrument cluster, and a keyless entry system. They also had a contoured three-passenger rear seat with luggage pass-through, tilt steering, controlled-cycle wipers, a rear window defogger, an overhead mini-console, and a leather-wrapped steering wheel. They had STE alloy wheel rims, a distinctive front end with a unique fascia and integral grille. A light bar with integral fog lights extended across the entire width of the car. In the back, the STE models had another special fascia and full-width taillights.

The Turbo Grand Prix models came with a 3.1-liter turbocharged V6 offering just over 200 horsepower. They also had unique ground effects, functional hood louvers, a head-up instrument panel display, and rear bucket seats with integral headrests.

The total production of Grand Prix models for 1990 equaled 128,067 examples.

by Daniel Vaughan | Jul 2014