1990 Pontiac Trans Sport Test Drive
I always loved the profile look of the Pontiac Trans Sport, but when viewed dead on from the front, the inset skinny wheels made it look tipsy. Since GM’s Astro/Safari twins failed to make a dent in Chrysler’s minivan sales, GM developed it’s first front wheel drive minivan for the 1990 model year. Due to the immense lack of power on the initial offering, the viewer was left to deem the van sporty simply because of its complete set of gauges. Setting it apart from the vans it attempted to compete with, the GM APV’s employed a unique modular seating system, providing a vast amount of seat arrangement (2+2+2), dependant on your hauling/seating needs. The triplet Chevrolet Lumina, Pontiac Trans Sport, and Oldsmobile Silhouette sported huge windshields, so large in fact they implemented a special tint that kept heat from the sun to a minimum, and a plastic exterior skin, thought to keep rust to a minimum. That would not keep the chassis from deteriorating however! Quickly dubbed the ‘Dustbuster’ vans, they clearly did not clean up in the sales race!
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Even after all of these years, I think the Dustbuster vans still hold up well. Too bad GM didn’t see fit to continue developing minivans after 2006.