Pontiac joined the automotive world in 1926, but the beginning of the establishment of the company dated way back in 1893, when Edward M. Murphy established the Pontiac Buggy Company in Pontiac, Oakland County, Michigan. At first, the company produced horse-drawn carriages. But later, Edward M. Murphy decided to create motor car with Oakland Motor Car Company in 1907 and withdrew carriage production. The decision paid off. As was predicted, horses were replaced with motor cars by the turn of the century. Two years later, the General Motors bought half of Oakland in an exchange of stock and later bought the whole company. The next two decade tested the toughness of the company as it experiences major setbacks. The company finally recovered and in 1926, the first Pontiac, the Series 6-27 was presented to the public at the 1926 New York Auto Show which rode on a 110-inch wheelbase and featured a Fisher-designed body and a six-cylinder L-head engine.
Surprisingly, most of Pontiac models were a hit despite several company setbacks. The Series 6-27 produced 127,883 units, the 6-28, sold nearly 184,000 in its debut year; Pontiac built its 500,000th car in 1929, 1937 model year sold 217,001 cars in 1940.
Pontiac's good streak continued in over the next generation. It produces several good cars like the GTO, Firebird Trans Am, GTO, and Grand Prix. It also gave birth to the Pontiac Sunbird. This car was not a total sensation when it was released in 1982. It was not as special as the other Pontiac made car. But what made it different was its reasonable pricing and easy availability. The Pontiac Sunbird was GM's smallest American-built car, which shared chassis and powertrains with the Chevrolet Cavalier. Together, they were Canada and the U.S.'s top sellers for the better part of two decades.
In 1990, Sunbirds were available as a 2-door coupe and 4-door sedan. It came in three trims: LE, SE, and GT trim. The LE trim was offered in both the 4-door sedan and 2-door convertible models. The LE and SE Sunbirds came with a 96-horsepower, 2.0-liter 4-cylinder engine as standard equipment. The GT model was powered by a 165-horsepower turbocharged version of the same engine. The turbo was also optional for the convertible.
The Pontiac retired its Sunbird in 1994 but was replaced by Sunfire. The reason could be that Pontiac avoid possible confusion to their another model, the Firebird.