MotorWeek | Retro Review: '82 Pontiac 1000

I've seen these take on the role of a small pickup from time to time. This family of car was everywhere.

[CNVA]

The reason the cars price got so high with addons is because GM considered the Air Conditioning system dual purpose. If the brakes ever failed, turning on the AC would quickly bring the car to a stop.

[pbfloyd]

When the 0-60 time is slow enough to make a early 80s journalist disappointed you know your car is slow

[ilsl]

I cant stop watching this!  0-60 in 30 seconds was like I cant even describe what that feels like

[dogsbark]

Stopping from 55mph takes 140 feet which is horrible, but the real tragedy is it destroys all that work and time you had to do to get it there.

[rapa]

I had a 1984 Pontiac 1000 when I was a teen. It was my first car purchase. Yes, it was the most basic car you could get at the time, but it was reliable and easy to work on. Great first car.

[electriclight]

0-60 in 30 seconds but runs the quarter mile in 23.3 seconds at 59 mph. Thats one hell of a 59-60 mph sprint...

[united]

I love how he just throws the suit cases in the back like man this shit....

[ericknoblauch]

My first car was a brand new 1986 Chevette. It was very reliable, and always delivered 35 miles per gallon. The odometer rolled over twice. There was a factory build sheet we found under the seat. On the build sheet was the VIN number, and it said the car line was Pontiac. My Chevette was supposed to have been the Pontiac 1000. I checked the VIN number recently, and have discovered it is still registered. My old Chevette which was sold many years ago is still on the road.

[tacob]

My dad bought my mom a new Chevette in 1979 for Christmas.He made up for it a year later and bought her her dream home.Haha I grew up there and my mom still lives there after my dad died in 2020.

[chrispycritters]

I just about died in laughter at 3:43 where they were giving each other pep talk to achieve the 1/4 mile and he hit the top of the car hoping that would some how make the car go faster. Do you really need those helmets at this point driving this bucket? Lol

[calbob]

This was the nightmare vehicle Alamo Rent A Car would force on you if you didn’t upgrade to the full size Buick LeSabre and pay the extra insurance premiums.

[poppyneese]

My wife and I had a Chevette, we were poor, but our lil Blue Chevette was such a good little car, no air and a manual shifter. 138 a month in payments, felt like a lot back then.

[stephenkenney]

I owed on bran new. Loved it, very simple and great on gas. Never noticed the lack of power but I was very happy to have had it.

[kevincinnamontoast]

The pontiac 1000 was the pinnacle of automobile engineering, the clever use of plastic badging and the sporty "1000" nomenclature really enhanced the luxury experienced at a reasonable price. My 1000 had an ashtray and headlights as standard equipment. Did I mention lugnuts? They were made of metal!

[Clearanceman]

It's like designers said "Hey guys, how can we lose market share to the Japanese?"

[dbcdc]

Hilarious. These were truly dark days for American cars.

[HAL-dmeh]

I remember my mom's best friend got a Chevette to replace her aging Oldsmobile Cutless and boy did she regret it. It had no room and was an automatic too and she had to haul three of us to elementary school and I remember even as a little kid I thought "what a piece of utter JUNK" as she floored it to go up a hill, it downshifted and then decelerated in THAT gear. LMAO!

And 25 mpg? My 4000 lb '98 Crown Vic gets that for crying out loud!

[HowardDaduk]

At $7, 200, that is almost $19, 000 in today's money. You can get a very nice, low mileage mid-size for that, or less. The future is not so terrible, folks.

[timsharkey]

As a rookie Chevrolet salesman in 1982 I drove a Chevette as my dealer demo. For a guy who loved classic American cars, that was a bitter pill. 😅

[garyt]

0-60 in 30 sec & it was the 2nd best selling small car line in the US! How the Hell could you blame anybody for buying an import!