In 1986, Pontiac bravely explored the possibilities for minivans with the quasi-futuristic Trans Sport Concept.
When the Chrysler Corporation introduced its Dodge Caravan and Plymouth Voyager minivans for the 1984 model year, they shook up the Motor City—especially when the innovative front-drive vehicles started to sell. Ford and General Motors had nothing quite like them. Pontiac’s bold answer was the Trans Sport Concept, first displayed at the Chicago Auto Show in January of 1986.
A styling team led by Pontiac exterior design studio chief Terry Henline took Chrysler’s basic minivan premise and then stretched it into a sporty, forward-leaning human transport. “We looked at the Trans Sport as a unique opportunity,” he said. “It was our chance to demonstrate the kind of freewheeling innovation you would expect from a totally new breed of Pontiac.”
Built on a General Motors A-body platform with its wheelbase stretched from 104.9 to 116 inches—the length of a full-sized station wagon, Pontiac noted—the Trans Sport was nearly all glass from the beltline up, with barely a hood at the front and a sci-fi jellybean profile. Drive to the front wheels was to come from a turbocharged, 2.9 liter all-aluminum V6 not yet in production, while the interior featured numerous gee-whiz features, including a steering wheel with more than two dozen push buttons in the hub.
The Pontiac designers rejected the family-style seating and sliding passenger door of the Chrysler minivans, opting instead for a flamboyant gullwing door and three pairs of contoured bucket seats. The numerous gimmicks included a built-in Nintendo gaming system, a personal computer for the shotgun front-seat passenger, and electronic transmission controls in the driver’s armrest.
When the production Trans Sport finally arrived in the 1990 model year (six years after the Chrysler minivans) the exterior look was considerably more squared up and toned down than on the 1986 concept. The gullwing door, which had zero chance of ever reaching production, was also gone, naturally, and the greenhouse treatment was re-engineered for volume production. But among American car buyers, the styling was still seen as radical and strange.
The Trans Sport (below) and its GM corporate siblings, the Chevrolet Lumina APV and Oldsmobile Silhouette APV, all bore a remarkable resemblance to a popular hand-held vacuum cleaner, consumers decided, instantly handing them the nickname Dustbuster. Buyers never did fully warm up to the GM minivans, despite a 1994 facelift with more conventional styling and a complete resdesign in 1997. But the minivan’s U-body platform lived on. Among other things, it would serve as the basis for the unloved Pontiac Aztek of 2001-2005 and for the Buick GL8, the best-selling luxury MPV in China.
The first time I sat in a GM dustbuster van, I was repelled by the huge distance from the wheel to the windshield. It felt like I’d be captaining a ship, not driving a motor vehicle. I got out and never got back in. Styling was out of control.
I always felt like I was in a 747 speeding down the runway and at a certain speed I should pull back on the wheel to lift off. I always felt very silly driving one, like i do when I drive any vehicle that was designed by stylists rather than engineers.
“Autoquite”? Quest-ce que c’est??
I remember when the Chevy Lumina van first came out in 1990 and a major car magazine had a write up about it. They interviewed a GM guy who actually said that it was sort of an experiment and if you didn’t like the styling not to worry because the replacement design would be coming out in a few years that would use all metal body panels and have much more conservative styling. And that’s exactly what happened. Of course, that’s always the case; the “break through”, “wave of the future” vehicle they peddle to us one year already has a finalized replacement design ready to replace it next year. Meanwhile their customers pay the expenses of the company’s never ending styling games.
Had a 1992 Pontiac Trans Sport GT, bright blue in color. Absolutely loved it. Carried six passengers comfortably and the plastic body was dentproof. Replaced it with a 2000 Montana that was another nice vehicle with better access because of remote control sliding rear doors on both sides.
Had a 93 Transport that we drove down for our move from Montreal to Dallas. Our dog laid out on the huge dash for the entire trip.
It was a real people mover as I frequently had 6 people in it
Owned a white 1990 just like the photo above. Put 170k on it without any major issues. Still looked good when I sold it. Loved the modular bucket seats and the dentproof exterior. One recurring issue was how the ground strap between the engine and front subframe would disconnect every few years, leaving the cooling fan with no power and creating a potential overheat situation in stop & go traffic. The original dashboard curled up from excess heat under that big window. A local Pontiac dealer replaced under warranty and never had the issue again. The onboard air compressor and load leveling was a cool feature until it quit after several years. The 3.1 motor & 3 speed automatic always got a workout but never let me down. Good times in our Dustbuster!
I think Citroen used these as the inspiration for the orginal C4 Grand Picasso. Very similar profile, modular seating and with the optional panoramic glass roof, a massize amount off glass. I know part of the reason why I bought mine was because I’ve always loved both the concept Trans Sport and the production one, which we never got here in Australia.