Pontiac J2000: What Year Did The Car Come Out & What Other Name Is It Known By?

Pontiac debuted the J2000 nameplate in 1982. The J in its name came from the General Motors J-frame on which it was built. In 1982, the J2000 shared the J-frame, or J-body, with other front-wheel drive GM cars such as the Chevrolet Cavalier, Oldsmobile Firenza, Buick Skyhawk, and the often forgotten Cadillac Cimarron. However, the origins of the J2000 date back to the mid-1970s.

In 1982 the Pontiac J2000 offered four body styles from which to choose: a four-door wagon, a four-door sedan, a two-door coupe, and a two-door hatchback. A Pontiac advertisement for the 1982 J2000 touted an EPA-estimated 47 mpg for a specially equipped coupe with a manual shift transmission and no air conditioning or power steering.

While the 1982 Pontiac J2000 was the first of its name, it merely marked the start of the newest generation. However, the J2000 name wasn't destined to carry on for long, as Pontiac would soon replace it with the name by which it was known before.

The origin story of the Pontiac J2000 goes back to 1976 when Pontiac offered its new Sunbird model as a sports car of sorts. However, make no mistake, as a budget-friendly compact, the Pontiac Sunbird was very different from the Pontiac Firebird.

In 1976, the Pontiac Sunbird came with a 140-cubic-inch overhead cam four-cylinder backed by a three-speed manual transmission and disc brakes on the front as standard equipment. Optional equipment included a 231-cubic-inch V6, a four- or five-speed manual transmission, an automatic transmission, power brakes and steering, and air conditioning.

Kicking off the Sunbird's second generation in 1982, Pontiac changed its name to the J2000 in honor of the switch to the J-frame platform. In 1983 the J was dropped, leaving its name simply as the 2000. For the 1984 model year the car was known as the 2000 Sunbird, before finally reclaiming the Sunbird name of its forebears for the 1985 model year.

The GT trim for the Sunbird first appeared in 1986. The sportiest of all the Pontiac Sunbirds, it was one of a select few Pontiac cars with hidden headlights.

[Featured image by Mic via Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and scaled | CC BY-SA 2.0]