Strange things are happening in the world of online collector car auctions. Normally the home for vehicles like air-cooled Porsches, classic Ferraris, and restomodded Americana, fancy car auction site Bring A Trailer just celebrated a huge milestone — the first-ever Pontiac Sunfire sale on the platform.
Yes, someone submitted a Pontiac Sunfire to Bring A Trailer, and not only was it accepted for a no reserve auction, it managed to collect a handsome $6,401 hammer price. It’s not a race car, nor is it an ultra-rare variant or a GM concept car, but instead it’s a 2001 Pontiac Sunfire GT with an automatic transmission. Hot damn.
This is quite the about-face for the Sunfire, because just a few years ago, our own Stephen W. Gossin discovered that J-body coupes are extremely difficult to sell on, even at bargain prices. Perhaps Bring A Trailer would’ve been a better venue, or perhaps this particular Sunfire you see in these photos is a shining example.
While this 2001 Pontiac Sunfire GT might be a Canadian car, it hails from Vancouver, which is basically the Pacific Northwest except with even more weed. The mild local climate means that cars don’t rot out faster than you can say “We Build Excitement,” although given that I still see a handful of J-bodies still roaming the mean streets of Toronto, these cars really were built like cockroaches.
Although a litany of swirl marks suggest this Sunfire’s seen its fair share of automatic car washes, it’s also only covered around 65,000 kilometers — or about 40,000 miles — since it rolled off the dealership lot in 2001. What’s more, it has no entries for damage on its Carfax, which means we’re likely looking at original paint.
Oh, and since this is a 2001 GT model, you’ll find a 2.4-liter twin-cam four-cylinder engine cranking out 150 horsepower and 155 lb.-ft. of torque. This LD9 four-banger got some proper upgrades for 2001 too, in order to alleviate some previous reliability concerns. A stronger timing chain and revised water pump should mean this thing’s built to last.
Moving inside this Sunfire, it’s cheap-as-chips early-aughts GM fare, but all well-preserved. The cloth seats still look like an abundant source of static electricity, the bubbly dashboard isn’t cracked into a million pieces, and the chasmic panel gaps are still exactly as you remember. It all feels like teleported from a used car lot 20 years in the past, and considering these were largely considered disposable cars, the fact that one like this exists feels like cause for celebration.
Of course, it wouldn’t be The Autopian if we didn’t talk about lighting, and I must admit, I’ve always liked the illuminated Pontiac wordmark on the back of the pre-2003 Sunfire coupe. Not only was illuminating it using the license plate lights a smart decision in adding some flair without adding much complexity, it’s just a great visual cue. Aside from the final facelift, this generation of Sunfire always had something to its appearance, a certain rakishness that went beyond the Honda Civic Coupe and even the Escort ZX/2.
I guess with the auctioning of this 2001 Pontiac Sunfire, the J-body has joined the list of automotive greats. We love to see it, especially considering how these cars provided faithful transportation to many, and still do today. Long may this one run.
(Photo credits: Bring A Trailer)
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“The cloth seats still look like and abundant source of…” beer fart aroma.
A 2005 was my first car. Not a great car, but it always got me where I was going and being a manual coupe was more fun than your average appliance. Given how little I got when I traded it in I sometimes wish I had held onto it, but keeping insurance and registration on it would have made that a foolish thing to do.
My wife-at-the-time bought a ’01 Sunfire she was renting while the Saturn she owned was under adjustment from being rear-ended. I remember that car as a cheap GM penalty box, especially given that I’m 6’5″. It wasn’t exactly terrible, just bland and cheap.
Man, I just miss Pontiac in general. Bring it back, GM. Kill Buick and bring back Pontiac as sporty, affordable, EVs.
EV Aztek. Do it.
been saying this for years! Be a tesla killer for gm, I really miss pontiac too.
I owned several
’83 Grand Prix (well my mom did)
’89 Sunbird SE 5 speed
’93 Grand AM GT with the HO Quad 4/5speed
That Sunfire sale on BAT really blows my mind! Remember (from the article Thomas linked in the 3rd paragraph), I struggled to sell this one with below-average miles and a top-to-bottom reconditioning for $2K to an aspiring 16yr old Honduran rapper. His mother supplied the cash.
The front spring snapped; no it never saw salt.
The one on BAT sold for more than what I’m asking for a 67K mile SL500 that Im currently (also) struggling to sell.
Point: There are better cars for less, but nostalgia wins in the end.
We had a 98. There is nothing redeemable about these cars. They are absolute shit. 2k is robbery. 6k is lunacy.
Cars like this are the only reason I ever look at Bring a Trailer. Who cares about some super rare blah blah blah that I’ve seen a zillion pictures of and cost ten times what I paid for my house? Bring me the regular ass cars that someone loved despite the fact they made boatloads of them
That’s my daily ritual! Coffee and BAT looking for weird or unusual cars.
We’ve definitely hit the point where these are actually rare – especially in good condition. It doesn’t seem that long ago they were absolutely everywhere, but I can’t remember the last time I saw one – with or without the signature rear fender rust.
Also haven’t seen many copies of its big brother Grand Am or Olds Alero recently either.
These comments largely pass the vibe check. Nice to see not everyone just saying “What a POS!” over and over again. Boring.
Fact of the matter is, nostalgia is winning and the boomer generation that was nostalgic for muscle cars is dying out. The Gen X and Millennial folks are nostalgic for cars like this (and my Sunbird), so they’re naturally going to be a bit sought after, regardless of the debatability of if they were or are “good” cars or not.
What collectors really want is either the car they had in high school or the car they wish they had in high school.
Eh, I had a lot of good times with 80’s/90’s era GM products like this, but no part of me would want to own one today. It is fun to see a survivor like this, especially since it was an unremarkable car when it rolled off the assembly line, but the interest ends there. A Beretta was cool in 1998, but I am not in high school anymore.
The popularity of RADwood events and the like shows that there’s plenty of folks that feel otherwise, though.
I remember when the painted brake caliper equals sporty trend kicked off and Pontiac joined in. They painted the rear drums on the Sunfire. And it was at that moment that it became clear just how much Pontiac had lost its away amid the GM badge-egineering days….
No way! That wasn’t just some doofus who spray painted his rear drums?
Nope. Forget which trim and years, but full on from the factory color matched…..drums.
Oh, but yeah…..also doofuses as well. But in this case the doofus was someone in GM corporate I’m sure….
Someone in Oshawa is going to be a very big deal for a few weeks next summer when they pull this out of hibernation.
I was a salesman at a Pontiac/Buick/GMC dealership in the early 2000s when these were new and I remember at one point, combining all the incentives, purchasing outright, if you were a university student etc, you could get a brand new Sunfire for about 5500$ CDN or thereabouts.
Isn’t there something in the Bible about Sunfire and damnation? If not, there should be.
IMO the exterior design of these have aged fairly well. The interior still looks like Rubbermaid crap, but that is GM of the era.
I recall when they first debuted to replace the aging Sunbird. it was about the same time the last gen Eagle Talon’s hit the market. both looked pretty good in the brochures and magazines, but the Eagle was superior in person. and it could be had with Mustang levels of HP and AWD, so the bait and switch at the dealer was probably pretty high. Still those Quad 4 motors were at one time consider pretty hot stuff. Sad by todays standard though. and I am certainly surprised Pontiac did not push for a power adder in these by this time to try to save the brand from the already pending disaster by then.
Still my mom’s favorite car she’s ever owned. Since then my step-dad has bought her different cars, including a Solara convertible and her current ride, a Z4. Yeah, my mom who never drives fast has a Z4. But ask her about her favorite car and she will say, with zero hesitation, that it was her white Sunfire. Life is weird.
I had a Z24 Cavalier of the same vintage. So, basically this car in Chevy trim. Boy that brings back memories. Thing handled decently if a little harsh. And 150 HP out of that 4 banger was not too shabby. Especially compared to the Vtec Civic everyone so fondly remembers (that had 127HP).
10/10 would never own one again.
Hey, the contemporary Civic Si (SiR north of the border) had 160hp, it just didn’t get there until VTEC kicked in.
woah, hold your horses. I thought the Si wasn’t available in the US until 2002.
My memories are from the earlier years of the Jbody. So, like, 95-2001/2ish. I sometimes forget there was some overlap between the J body and 7th generation Civic. So, to be clear, I was referring to the 6th generation Civic (the time of The Fast and The Furious) before they started shipping the Si over from England.
6th generation Si(R) was available here too. Although, fair point that the J-body launched with 150hp in ’95 (at the same time the DOHC Neon was available with the same power), while the Civic wouldn’t pass that mark until ’99.
https://www.motortrend.com/reviews/1999-honda-civic-si/
Damnit, I need to starting taking my memory supplements again. I forgot about the 6th gen in 99. I’m glad you didn’t. We can’t let these things be forgotten.
Knew a girl in Highschool who had a convertible Sunfire. We used to go to lunch and jump into the back seat when the top was down. Did some TP pranks out the back and spent a few nights under the stars on the campground in the passenger seat.
When she left for college it sat parked in front of their house and didn’t move. I think her Dad finally sold it off to the scrapyard, sadly. Had a lot of fun memories in a POS like that.
These Sunfires were ticket printing machines. Parents bought them for their teenagers, and the cops knew it.
A friend back in the day had to borrow her daughter’s Sunfire while her red Mustang GT convertible was in the shop. In two days she got one ticket and one warning.
I have some pretty serious hatred for the J-bodies. But if someone put a gun to my head, I would beg for the Sunfire over the Cavalier. At least GM allowed the Sunfire to have a smidge of design and care, where the Cavalier always screamed “Dear Customer, we hate you, and we hate your family.”
It’s hard to believe that a car with that GM grey-bubble-blow-molded plastic interior could sell for more than three digits.
I’m convinced a lot of people forget just how bad these interiors were.
I had a 2000 Grand Am. I really, genuinely thought “this is nice.” What the hell was I thinking?
At sufficiently high volumes, Hybrid Theory could disguise any number of squeaks, rattles, and failing all else, remind you that your paranoid is probly worse than cheap, hard-touch plastics.
Hybrid Theory is the reason I didn’t notice 2 failing front wheel bearings on my Cavalier until they were really, really gone.
This is the most believable statement I’ve ever read on the internet.
Got to love that you could get a power sunroof, but manual locks and crank windows. Absolutely wild.
I hated the lighted letters on the back of those. It’s a red light, exactly where you expect a third brake light to be. Very disorienting for a couple of seconds until your brain goes, “oh right, Sunfire.”
A friend of mine had a Sunfire coupe back in college. Just a basic auto one with a poorly applied vinyl racing stripe and a cherry bomb as the only muffler. He let me drive it once and I wasn’t a fan.
But I have to say, and I can’t believe that I’m about to say this, but I miss seeing Sunfires around. I think I mostly just miss smaller coupes that aren’t necessarily sports cars but unfortunately that’s a segment of car that’s dead and I don’t think will ever come back.
I am on BAT several times a day, I have certain makes and models that I like to look at on auction that I will never be able to buy but I want to know what they are selling for. I think there are definitely a lot of UN-fancy parts of that auction site.
My dad almost bought my sister one of these for her college car. He asked me to do some research, and the side impact rating was 1 or 2 stars, so he went for a grand prix instead, but yeah I have always liked the Pontiacs of this era. Pretty much any of them. I had an 01 Grand Prix as well, then an 02 Trans Am, and I steered several people towards Grand Ams. These may not be safe, but they are solid cars and while it’s weird to say, I don’t know that I disagree with a value of $6k.
I gotta say it’s a little distressing, but your assessment of its value hard to refute.
Yeah. It was a $4k car back in 2007. It’s so weird how cars are worth more now. Though the average sunfire would probably be worth less than half this these days, but the average sunfire is in a junkyard at this point so it’s hard to evaluate a relatively nice one such as this.
Yeah, it’s almost 25 years old and has covered only 40,000 freedom units … $6K doesn’t seem wild. I didn’t love this generation’s facelift, but the world needs more Pontiacs, so good for them.
I might dispute solid, most of the ones I see have become Swiss cheese with rust – especially the rear fenders. It’s pretty typical of ’00s GM though, they might still work but they have the structural integrity of an apple crumble.
Eh, I lived in Utah with all mine. Never had that issue.
I think there’s a key difference between “I’ve never had that issue” and “that issue doesn’t exist.” Rust problems are very common on that era of GM, on Sunfires the tell-tale bubbling paint usually started just in front of the rear wheel.
Oh yeah I am not saying it’s not an issue, but it is one I cannot speak to either way because I have never seen it. I saw plenty of cars that rusted, but the 00s GM products never were had rust in my area. It was always the Nissans and 90s Mazdas you had to be careful of.