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Junkyard Gem: 2000 Pontiac Grand Prix Daytona 500 Edition

The W Platform proved to be extremely long-lived and versatile for General Motors, remaining in production from 1988 all the way through 2016. You had your Impalas and your Regals and your Cutlass Supremes, and of course the 1988-2008 Pontiac Grand Prix was a W-body. For the 2000 model year, Pontiac made the racy-looking Daytona 500 Edition Grand Prix, an example of which I just found in a Northern California self-service wrecking yard. 2,000 of these cars were made, presumably because it was the year 2000, and each one sports plenty of cool-looking Daytona 500 graphics. Perhaps some Regal owner will buy these seats and swap them. This is the second junked Daytona 500 Grand Prix I have seen recently, after this one in Colorado. The Daytona 500 was about the same as the GTP version, with Eaton-supercharged 3800 engine making a respectable 240 horsepower. Disappointingly, this car has an automatic transmission. It never saw 150,000 miles, unlike most 21st-century W-bodies I see in wrecking yards. Featured Gallery Junked 2000 Pontiac Grand Prix Daytona 500 Edition View 21 Photos Auto News Pontiac Sedan

Junkyard Gem: 1987 Pontiac Safari Station Wagon

During the 1960s and 1970s, station wagons based on full-sized Detroit sedans were the default family haulers, and many of those Kingswood Estates and Country Squires and Ambassadors came with unapologetically phony woodgrain-printed exterior paneling and trim. By the late 1980s, however, few were snapping up such wagons, making this '87 Safari that I spotted in a Denver yard an interesting find. Power for this wagon came from a 307-cubic-inch Oldsmobile V8 making 140 horsepower. General Motors used this engine in Buicks, Oldsmobiles, Chevrolets, Pontiacs, and Cadillacs, finally discontinuing production for the 1990 model year. Was the "wood" convincing, even when new? Of course not, but it was a cherished American tradition. Related Video: Featured Gallery 1987 Pontiac Safari station wagon in Colorado junkyard View 18 Photos Auto News Pontiac station wagon

Junkyard Gem: 2004 Pontiac Vibe GT

The New United Motor Manufacturing plant in Fremont, California, built Toyota-derived machinery — badged as Toyotas, Chevrolets, Geos, and Pontiacs— from 1984 through 2010, and some of the very last vehicles that left the assembly line were Pontiac Vibes. The Vibe, sibling to the Toyota Matrix, mostly served as a ho-hum transportation appliance and/or fleet car, but a factory-hot-rod GT version could be purchased. Today's Junkyard Gem is one of those rare GTs, complete with the nearly unheard-of six-speed manual transmission, found in a self-service yard in northeastern Colorado. The regular Vibe had 123 or 130 horsepower, depending on the number of driven wheels, but the Vibe GT got the same 1.8-liter 2ZZ engine that went into the Celica GT-S. 180 horsepower, which was enough to make the 2,800-pound Vibe GT keep up with the 3,108-pound/215-horse Chrysler PT Cruiser Turbo that year. Sadly, no race series pitting Vibe GTs against PT Cruiser Turbos and Chevy HHR SSs on road courses ever materializedÂ… but it's not too late. The Vibe GT has something you couldn't get in a PT Cruiser or Chevy HHR, though: a six-speed manual transmission as standard equipment. In fact, the six-speed was the only transmission offered in the early Vibe GTs (an automatic became an option later on). You'll find plenty of three-pedal econoboxes from this era, because they were significantly cheaper than their slushbox-equipped counterparts, but the Vibe GT had plenty of competition from sportier-looking cars with manual transmissions in 2004. Not many were sold. This car is covered with nasty dents from golf-ball-sized hail (all too common in High Plains Colorado), so it may have been an insurance total that nobody wanted at auction. Sold in Wyoming, will be crushed in an adjacent state. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Fuel for the soul. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. The kids, they were crazy about the Vibe (well, maybe not). This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Toyota had right-hand-drive Matrixes brought over to Japan from Canada, but a NUMMI-built version of the Vibe could be purchased there for a few years as well. This was the Voltz, and its advertising seems notably frantic even by the standards of Japanese car commercials.