Pontiac Montana Thunder
The Pontiac Montana was used as a trim level for the Pontiac Trans Sport van from 1997 to 1998. In 1999 (2000 in Canada), GM rebranded the van and simply called it the Montana. It was related to the Buick GL8, the Chevrolet Venture, the Oldsmobile Silhouette, the Vauxhall Sintra, and the Opel Sintra. Europe saw an almost identical version of the Pontiac named the Chevrolet Trans Sport while the GL8 minivans were only sold in China.
The 2000-2005 GL8 was a similar version of the first-generation Pontiac Montana and the 2005+ GL8 looked like the Pontiac Montana SV6. The Montana came in both a short and long wheelbase, and it was one of the few minivans offering seating for eight. For 2001, the Montana was given a new steering wheel with the Pontiac symbol as opposed to the one with the Pontiac letters. In 2003, the anti-lock brakes became optional for the Venture but remained standard for the Silhouette before Oldsmobiles end in 2004 and the sport-style head restraints were dropped for the conventional head restraints of the Venture and Silhouette.
A new feature was installed in the 2004 year called a cabin air filter that could be easily accessed from behind a panel in the glove compartment. The Montana Thunder was the highest level model for the Montana. It was introduced in 2002 and featured "Thunder" badging, 16" chrome 5-spoke rims, an upgraded ride and handling package, and a special spoiler on the roof rack. Inside the Montana Thunder had two-tone black and grey leather seating and a perforated leather-wrapped steering wheel. The Montana Thunder was produced in 2002 and 2003, but in 2004 and 2005 it became an optional package for the Montana GT called the "Chrome-Sport" package with the only difference being the lack of "Thunder" badging. The 2005 model year was kept for fleet use with the original body style. The last Montana rolled off the production line on March 31, 2004 as a 2005 model.
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