1971 Pontiac Firebird Esprit 7.5l on 2040-cars

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Official USPS Muscle Cars stamps coming to a mailbox near you

As much as our digital lives have cut down on our trips to the post office, there are still times that sending "snail mail" is necessary. With us car lovers in mind and philately in their hearts, the good folks at the United States Postal Service will introduce a new stamp design called "Muscle Cars" starting on February 22.
Designed by artist Tom Fritz, the new collection of stamps consist of five classic muscle cars: 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona, 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS, 1967 Shelby GT-500, 1966 Pontiac GTO and 1970 Plymouth Hemi 'Cuda. In addition to just the stamps, the USPS is also commemorating the new series with plenty of collectable memorabilia. Previous car-related stamps include 50s Sporty Cars from 2005 and 50s Fins and Chrome from 2008.

Junkyard Gem: 2000 Pontiac Sunfire coupe

In a few months, we'll reach the tenth anniversary of GM's axing of the venerable Pontiac brand. G6s, Vibes, and Matizes continued to be built until 2010, but I'm noticing a marked decrease in discarded Pontiacs lately, as I perform my junkyardy rituals. Here's a 2000 Pontiac Sunfire, photographed in a Colorado wrecking yard. The Sunfire was the near-identical sibling to the Chevrolet Cavalier, based on the long-running (1982-2005) J-Body platform. It was cheap and simple, looked pretty sporty (at least in coupe form), and every parts store in North America carried just about everything you'd need to keep one running. This coupe had to compete for sales not only with a vast and menacing array of imports but with GM's own Saturn SC2 (not to mention the Cavalier itself). Meanwhile, the J platform was showing its age more with each passing year. This car sports what must have been the complete line of Fatal Clothing bomber-nose-art/skate-punk/gang-tag-influenced decals, circa 2010. I actually photographed this car back in 2011, then misplaced the image files until last week. The stickers are very California-centric for a Colorado car, but then plenty of Californians — including me— move here. When you know you're a car's final owner, it's a lot easier to whip out the paint pens and redecorate the interior. Power came from the engine GM developed for the very first J-Bodies: the 2.2-liter 122 pushrod four-cylinder. 2002 was the last model year for 122-powered Sunfires and Cavaliers; the most affordable S-10/Sonoma/Hombre trucks got this engine through 2003. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. It even came with a remote, so bad Midwestern farmgirls could make quick getaways when caught in the act by enraged broom-wielding mothers. Featured Gallery Junked 2000 Pontiac Sunfire View 30 Photos Auto News Pontiac Automotive History

Junkyard Gem: 2007 Pontiac G6 GT Convertible

GM's Pontiac Division sold its first convertibles during the 1927 model year (just a year after the division's creation), then proceeded to offer memorable drop-tops for most of the following 83 years. The best-selling convertible to bear Pontiac badges during our current century was the retractable-hardtop-equipped G6, available from the G6's introduction in 2006 through the second-to-last model year of 2009 (the Sunfire convertible was available just through 2000, while the Firebird convertible vanished with the demise of the slow-selling Firebird itself after 2002). Here's one of those G6 GT convertibles, found in a Denver-region boneyard after a crash ended its driving career. Mashed right front, popped airbags. This sort of damage might have been worth repairing in 2009, but not today. The 2007 G6 was available as a coupe, sedan, or convertible. All the convertibles had the GT trim level and the 3.5-liter V6 and its 224 horsepower. The MSRP on this car was $28,750 (about $42,325 in 2022 dollars), making it the most expensive G6. The power hardtop roof folded up into the trunk, leaving 1.8 cubic feet of trunk storage space with the top down. This Karmann-designed roof system made the interior much quieter than that of a traditional soft-top convertible. All G6s were built at Orion Assembly in Michigan, where Chevy Bolts are born today. The G6 was built through the 2010 model year, making it one of the very last Pontiac models (the Vibe also made it to 2010, though it was really a Toyota Matrix). In hindsight, 2007 turned out to be an ominous year for GM.