- Remember when cars were teal?
- A survivor from the 1990s, this Grand Am is a clean example of a car hardly seen anymore.
- This auction ends December 26.
In a week or so, 1994 will have been 30 years ago. This may come as a shock to those of you who were alive at the time—consider this your reminder to schedule a physical and have your cholesterol checked. But before you do that, check out this teal-colored blast from the past.
Today’s pick from Bring A Trailer—which, like Car and Driver, is part of Hearst Autos—is a 1994 Pontiac Grand Am SE, and it’s a rare survivor. Typically, it’s more special 1990s Pontiacs that have been preserved, and this 115-hp four-cylinder Grand Am coupe might well have been used up and thrown away like a discarded Capri Sun drink pouch. Yet here it still is.
Only ’90s kids will remember how popular teal cars were at the time. Purple ones, too. But outside of a Dodge Challenger, you just don’t see these colors on the road any more. Pull up to the 7/Eleven in this Grand Am, and that teal will snap and crackle like a mouth full of Pop Rocks.
Pontiac in the 1990s still had some mojo, with its tagline, “We Build Excitement!” The Quad 4 engine made as much as 180 horsepower in high-output trim, and if you think the Grand Am’s plastic cladding was a silly marketing gimmick, take a look at how many Crosstreks Subaru sells each year. This generation of Grand Am debuted for 1992 and ran through 1998, and it sold more than 200,000 units annually except for its final model year.
This Grand Am is not a high-trim version; it’s more basic, even rental-spec, but it’s still a pitch-perfect throwback. As a mostly forgotten driving experience, it’s a nostalgic link to the past. It’s also the perfect car for a Radwood event or similar. For the full 1990s cosplay, be sure to wear your flannel.
Then sink into those dad-bod-soft seats, slot the slushy three-speed (!) automatic into gear, and cue up Coolio’s “Fantastic Voyage” on the cassette stereo. This example has had its air-conditioning recharged, so the A/C vents should blow nice and cool, even if you’re as far from actually being cool as you were 30 years ago.
The bidding so far has been inching up in $100 increments, which suggests that this Grand Am will end up selling for a budget-friendly price. Just as it did back in the day.
Brendan McAleer is a freelance writer and photographer based in North Vancouver, B.C., Canada. He grew up splitting his knuckles on British automobiles, came of age in the golden era of Japanese sport-compact performance, and began writing about cars and people in 2008. His particular interest is the intersection between humanity and machinery, whether it is the racing career of Walter Cronkite or Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki’s half-century obsession with the Citroën 2CV. He has taught both of his young daughters how to shift a manual transmission and is grateful for the excuse they provide to be perpetually buying Hot Wheels.