Pontiac Trans Sport, First and Second Gen and the Renault Espace, Gen One and Two!

I’ve jawed about these rigs before, mostly the Pontiac Trans Sport, which was the main model and by far the most popular one. But truth is, they also made two more versions, one badged as an Oldsmobile and another as a Chevrolet.

Now, I got me an uncle who was fixin’ to buy himself a Pontiac Trans Sport 7-seater with a V6 engine back in 2006. But wouldn’t ya know it, he ended up settlin’ for one o’ them plain ol’ Volvo XC90s, with a five-cylinder Volvo turbodiesel. Why? ’Cause by then, you couldn’t find a dang importer for Pontiac in Norway anymore.

Funny thing is, back in the late ’70s, when he was livin’ in the States, that same uncle used to tear up the streets in a mean-lookin’ Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme. I even wrote about it in my street car blog. That car was the real deal.

What’s tragic, and I mean real sad, is how America’s been slowly killin’ off its own auto industry ever since the 1970s. They started churnin’ out boring, watered-down rides toward the end of that decade, and it just kept goin’ downhill into the ’80s. By the time the ’90s and 2000s rolled around, they’d damn near shut down Pontiac, Oldsmobile, and even Saab.

And it don’t stop there. They’ve been sellin’ off chunks o’ themselves and takin’ on debt like there’s no tomorrow, just loadin’ up on one astronomical loan after another. Somehow they keep gettin’ away with it, even though they’re knee-deep in red ink.

Take AMC Motors, for example went belly-up in the ’80s. And poor ol’ Renault? They took a huge hit when they got mixed up in that mess.

Then Ford turned around and sold Volvo to the Chinese. And speakin’ of China that’s where a whole lot of American junk ends up these days. Let’s not kid ourselves, GM, Ford, and Chrysler all basically went bankrupt around 2010. Chrysler got picked up by Fiat over in Europe, and they still own it today.

The Chevrolet Lumina? Now that’s a damn fine ride, a raw, street-chewin’ muscle-wagon if there ever was one. Shame they barely sold any in Norway. Same story with the Oldsmobile Silhouette. Both of ’em deserved better.

Man, I saw a whole damn lotta Renault Espaces rollin’ around Sweden back in the ’90s. Never really caught on up here in Norway, though. But back in 2004, the folks over at Top Gear in the UK set up a straight-up showdown — two Renault Espaces goin’ head-to-head with a Toyota Previa, a Nissan Serena, a Mitsubishi Space Wagon, and a Toyota MasterAce. And wouldn’t ya know it — the Renault Espace took first and second place. Whoop-ass, European style.

Slap some real-deal ’80s chrome on a ’96 Renault Espace or a Pontiac Transport, hang a fox tail off the antenna, toss in a wünderbaum air freshener, and buddy — you ain’t just cruisin’. You’re the king of the redneck parking lot, sittin’ pretty like you own the damn county.




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