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Minivan Of The Day: November 6, 2010; Majorette '93 Pontiac Trans Sport
Topic Started: Nov 5 2010, 11:51 PM (463 Views)
Swifty
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The Mustang II is a Mustang too!
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Today's car of the day is Majorette's 1993 Pontiac Trans Sport.

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Wikipedia
 
The Pontiac Trans Sport and its siblings, the Chevrolet Lumina APV and Oldsmobile Silhouette were a set of minivans that débuted with radical styling in fall 1989 as 1990 models. There was also a Chevrolet Trans Sport sold in Europe until 2005 that was a version of the Chevrolet Venture that had some features of the Pontiac Trans Sport. Production of the Trans Sport was discontinued in 1998.


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For more information and pictures of the real car please visit: Pontiac Trans Sport

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"Wider is better" may be a Pontiac slogan, but Majorette may have taken that to extremes on this model. It looks far too wide- especially from the front.

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Wikipedia
 
First shown to the public in 1986, the Pontiac Trans Sport concept car was extremely well received. It featured futuristic styling, individually removable bucket seats with built-in stereo speakers, a gull-wing rear passenger door and extensive use of glass including a glass-paneled roof as well as many other "dream car" features.

Based on the warm reception the concept vehicle received, the Pontiac Trans Sport was approved for production, but as is often the case, the styling and features showcased on the concept did not make the translation to the mass-produced edition. The gullwing door was deemed too expensive to produce and would probably have hit overhead garage doors in suburban garages. The glass roof was too heavy and too expensive, so the resultant production vehicle made-do with high-gloss black painted panels for the roof to suggest the glass canopy the concept sported.

Chevrolet and Oldsmobile were also given production vehicles based on the Trans Sport in order to cover the widest possible range of potential customers. It was intended that the Lumina APV would be the value-priced version, The Trans Sport would net the more sport- and style-oriented buyers, and the Oldsmobile Silhouette would be the minivan for the premium market.


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james_autos
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Minivan
They did actually sell this generation in Europe except for the UK. You never saw many of them though for obvious reasons - why would you have this monstrosity when you could have a Renault Espace?
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Swifty
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The Mustang II is a Mustang too!
james_autos
Nov 6 2010, 04:42 AM
They did actually sell this generation in Europe except for the UK.
That explains why Majorette made it than. They've always tried to pick American cars that were sold in Europe- like the Olds Omega.
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Dean-o-mite
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Muscle Car
I love that Majorette did this van. I have collected seven variations of this casting, but oh-how I wish they would have painted the roof black for us. I have taken the liberty of customizing mine, but I did mine as a teenager, and the results were less than what they could be today. Some touch-ups and new photos are in order for mine!

Dean
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Dean-o-mite
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Muscle Car
Swifty
Nov 5 2010, 11:51 PM
"Wider is better" may be a Pontiac slogan, but Majorette may have taken that to extremes on this model. It looks far too wide- especially from the front.
Perhaps Majorette was simply making up for the thin-ness of the Lumina APV casting by Hot Wheels....


Dean
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JustDavid
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SUV
Although it's not the best casting, I'm glad Majorette made it. The HW version is too small but again I'm glad it was also made. I like to see "odd" vehicles that one would not typically think of when thinking about a toy car.
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Sak
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Ezekiel 25:17
I've known a collector in the UK now for many years, his name's Nick Jones. Specializes in Regular wheels. Anyhoo, he brought back one of these-the Chevy Lumina APV- from the States. He loved driving it around London when he had it. Unfortunately, his son, while driving it, had an accident, and he had to replace the windshield (oh, alright, windscreen). Eight-hundred pounds... :wacko:
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james_autos
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Minivan
Quote:
 
and he had to replace the windshield (oh, alright, windscreen). Eight-hundred pounds...


I'm not surprised! He probably had to have one custom made!

As for Majorette making this car and other American cars, I always thought it was to do with them selling their products on the American market (after all, most American collectors aren't interested in bog-standard European cars). Some cars like the Trans-Sport were sold in Europe but others like the Pontiac Firebird (which they did two generations of) were not.
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Swifty
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The Mustang II is a Mustang too!
No Firebirds in Europe? But it's such an iconic car! How could there be no 3rd generation Firebirds sold in Germany, where the population loves the Hoff?
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james_autos
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Minivan
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No Firebirds in Europe? But it's such an iconic car! How could there be no 3rd generation Firebirds sold in Germany, where the population loves the Hoff?


Even though the Germans love the Hoff (no idea why), they've got their own sports cars. Why have a Firebird when you can have a 911?

In the UK, there is quite a large following for American cars but there'd never be enough demand for them to be sold officially because of their size and MPG figures. Every now and again we get some American cars sold here but they always seem to be the worst of the worst. Chrysler sell quite a few models here like the 300c, Avenger and Sebring as well as others which are re-badged Dodges (the Magnum re-badged as 300c Touring and the Caravan badged Voyager).
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Swifty
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The Mustang II is a Mustang too!
james_autos
Nov 7 2010, 12:00 PM
now and again we get some American cars sold here but they always seem to be the worst of the worst. Chrysler sell quite a few models here
Said and proved in less than two sentences! ;)
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ivantt
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New casting? Quick! Take it apart!
The width spoils what could have been a real dandy of a casting. Even so, I like this candidate because of the subject and the way Majorette went about making the clear area among other reasons.
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Sak
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Ezekiel 25:17
I wound up getting a black one from Jon for the scrapyard. I painted the relevant parts of the clear roof in matte black, and now it looks pretty much correct!
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james_autos
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Minivan
Quote:
 
now and again we get some American cars sold here but they always seem to be the worst of the worst. Chrysler sell quite a few models here


Chrysler sold the Neon here up until about 5 years and what was so funny about that was how it was marketed. Instead of being marketed as a cheap car for young people it was marketed as a more expensive, upmarket car for the elderley! Ford tried to sell the Explorer as some sort of upmarket SUV in the same league as the Toyota Land-Cruiser and Land-Rover Discovery which didn't go down to well either.
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Sak
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Ezekiel 25:17
Interesting, James. Until the horsepower revolution of the mid 1950s, Dodge was renowned for being known as the 'retiree's special'...

As far as upmarket cars for the elderly- in the same vein- maybe they were catering to the same market niche as the Wolseley 1500/Riley One Point Five did way back then? Although, as far as character's concerned, the Neon clearly was not in the same area code :p
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