Yahoo Autos Pontiac and McLaren once hooked up, and it was rad
Most of us would bend over backwards to have a chance to own a McLaren car, but few can afford such extravagance. That said, there’s a way you can get behind the wheel of a legitimate McLaren without breaking the bank. For 1989 and 1990, the Pontiac Grand Prix was offered in a limited-edition ASC-McLaren variant that featured tuning and updates from the iconic British automaker. Examples of this rare coupe rarely surface for sale, so it’s surprising to see this low-mile 1990 Pontiac Grand Prix ASC-McLaren on eBay.
The car is the result of a partnership between American Specialty Cars-McLaren (ASC-McLaren) and Pontiac. We’re not talking about the McLaren Formula 1 team or even the iconic McLaren road cars here. The McLaren connection comes from an arm of the automaker’s powertrain engineering department.
The Grand Prix’s standard 3,1-liter V6 got a massage and a turbocharger, adding 65 horsepower for a total of 205 ponies and 225 pound-feet of torque. A four-speed automatic transmission sends power to the front wheels. That output is modest by today’s standards, and it wasn’t outrageous even by 1990 standards, but the car returned a decent 0-60 mph time of around 7 seconds.
