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When Pontiac unveiled its 1990 model lineup in Memphis last week, the new Grand Prix 4-door sedan and plastic-bodied Trans Sport stole the show.

That was the case in part because a local hometown singer didn`tmaterialize.

“Elvis was supposed to fly over in a balloon, but he failed to appear,“ quipped Pontiac General Manager John Middlebrook, who was allowed a giddymoment considering the success of the division he`s just taken over in thelast few weeks.

Middlebrook forecast Pontiac will sell 780,000 vehicles in the 1990 model year, up 45,000 units from 735,000 in 1989.

That gain, he said will come from 70,000 sales of the Prix sedan and40,000 to 60,000 sales of the Trans Sport. The two will offset losses expectedin the midsize 6000 series, declining demand for the imported mini LeMans,along with dropping the full-size, rear-wheel drive Safari station wagon for1990.

“With the new Prix sedan we expect sales to be diverted from the midsize 6000 line,“ explained Middlebrook. “By dropping the Safari wagon we loseanother 6,000 sales, though we hope the mini-van will make up for it.“

One vehicle not at the preview was the Stinger, the little plastic-bodied, four-seater, four-wheel-drive recreational vehicle displayed onthis year`s auto show circuit.

Stinger, with such features as a front seat that raises so passengers can view passing parades, an interior that can be washed out with a hose, not tomention an on-board hose, is still only a concept, Middlebrook said.

“We continue to look at it and get reaction to it and this week we`retaking it out to California for some more exposure and additional consumerreaction,“ he said. “We don`t do concept vehicles without thinking `What if`anymore.“

The Grand Prix sedan and Trans Sport van served as the attractions at the preview. Here`s a brief look at the two, as well as changes throughout thePontiac lineup for 1990:

Just like Chevrolet, Buick and Olds, Pontiac adds a front-wheel-drive 4-door sedan to its midsize 2-door coupe lineup. The Prix sedan is built on a107.5-inch wheelbase and is 194.8 inches long, or the same wheelbase but aninch longer than the coupe.

The Prix sedan will be offered in LE and top-of-the-line STE performanceversions, though STE won`t appear until January at the earliest.

The STE will be to the Prix as the SSE is to Bonneville, a breed apart.The STE will be powered by a 140-horsepower, 3.1-liter, V-6 engine teamed with5-speed manual transmission as standard. The STE also is available with aturbocharged, 205-h.p., 3.1-liter V-6 teamed with 4-speed automatic only.

It will have a separate styling identity with a different front and rearend than the LE model, including lower body extensions and wide bodysidemoldings.

The STE also will offer Goodyear Eagle GT+4 16-inch tires, sportssuspension, articulated bucket seats, luggage pass-through rear seats, AM -FMstereo with cassette and steering wheel controls, power brakes and steering,power windows and door locks, remote keyless entry, power decklid release,dual power remote mirrors, tilt steering, cruise control, intermittent wipers,and rear window defogger. Antilock brakes, power sunroof, leather interior andcompact disc player are optional.

The LE sedan will offer a 2.3-liter, 160-h.p., 4-cylinder Quad Fourengine as standard teamed with a 3-speed automatic transmission. No manual is offered on the LE. Antilock brakes are optional.

The Grand Prix SE coupe features the same 3.1-liter V-6 as in the STEsedan, plus sports suspension and dual exhausts. Antilock brakes are optional.The SE coupe also gets special aero body skirts and fog lamps to update theexternal appearance. New standard equipment includes power door locks, reardecklid release and AM-FM stereo with cassette and steering wheel controls.

The Grand Prix Turbo coupe introduced late in the `89 mode l yearcontinues. It features a heads-up system for 1990, with the speedometerdisplay in the windshield.

Trans Sport is the plastic-bodied, front-wheel-drive mini cousin to theChevy Lumina and Olds Silhouette vans. Trans Sport is offered in two versions,the base model and the loaded SE.

Both are powered by a 120-h.p. version of the 3.1-liter V-6 teamed with3-speed automatic and rated at 18 miles per gallon city/22 m.p.g. highway bythe EPA.

The seating configuration differs between the base and SE. In the basemodel there`s 2-plus-3 seating, two buckets up front and a three-passengerbench in back. Optional patterns are 2+2+2 or 2+3+2 for up to seven people.The seating pattern on the SE is 2+2+2. In both models the seat backs fold to serve as table tops and an ample number of cupholders are built into the seat backs.

The SE offers far more standard equipment. In addition to power brakesand steering there`s air conditioning, AM-FM stereo with digital clock,leather-covered steering wheel, 15-inch Goodyear Eagle GT+4 tires, pneumaticload leveling, tilt steering and cruise control.

The base Trans Sport starts at $14,995 and the SE at $18,125. Thatcompares with $13,995 on the base Lumina APV mini-van and $15,745 on theupgraded Lumina CL and $17,195 on the Olds Silhouette.

The Bonneville line features redesigned and beefed-up front body/framestructure, which allowed a retuned suspension for improved ride and handling. The SSE continues with antilock brakes and automatic load leveling asstandard. The SE adds several items as standard, including a rear deck spoilerto replace the now discontinued rear deck luggage rack, power driver`s seat,power windows, and Eagle GT+4 16 inch tires replacing the 15-inch tiresformerly used.

The LE, like the SE, gets a new grille and taillamp treatment and decklid lock cover. Antilock brakes are optional in the LE and SE as is remote keylessentry (standard on SSE).

Pontiac`s best-selling, compact Grand Am lineup has revised engineofferings. The SE coupe and sedan for 1990 have as standard a high-output,180-h.p. version of the 2.3-liter, 4-cylinder Quad Four teamed with 5-speedmanual only. The 2-liter turbo 4-cylinder has been dropped.

Standard engine in the LE coupe and sedan is a 2.5-liter 4-cylinder with5-speed manual transmission. A 160-h.p. version of the Quad Four with 3-speed automatic only is optional. The 160-h.p. Quad Four is also optional in the SE coupe and sedan with 3-speed automatic.

All Grand Ams have a new drive axle design to eliminate shudder andreduce torque steer. As a rule, Grand Ams that rode on 13-inch tires for 1989 have 14-inch tires for 1990 and those with 14-inch tires in 1989 are on 16-inch tires for 1990.

The Firebird lineup is unchanged for `90 as we await the all new modelslated to appear in 1993. Some revisions find the 5-liter tuned port injected V-8 replacing the 5-liter throttle body V-8 as standard in the Trans Am; the2.8-liter V-6 dropped in favor of a 3.1-liter V-6, plus driver side air bagsin all Firebirds.

The subcompact Sunbird LE convertible replaces the GT convertible. An LEconvertible sport package with turbo engine and sports suspension will beoffered.

With the addition of the Grand Prix sedan, the midsize 6000 sedan willmostly be relegated to fleet and rental status. The four-wheel-drive 6000 STE sedan is replaced by a 4WD S/E sedan. The 3.1-liter V-6 replaces the 2.8-literV-6 in the lineup. Air conditioning is now standard in all but the LE sedan.

Prices on the base or lower end models in most lines have been held to aminimum. The base model Sunbird LE, for example, is down $50, to $8,799; thebase Firebird is down $679, to $11,320; and the base Grand Am LE coupe is onlyup $75, to $10,544.

However, the top-of-the-line models have had stiff increases. TheFirebird GTA went up $2,981, to $23,320; the Grand Am SE oupe went up $1,295,to $14,894; and the Bonneville SSE rose by $1,095, to $23,994.

The Grand Prix LE sedan is priced at $14,564. The STE won`t be priceduntil it arrives in January. The Grand Prix SE coupe, however, rose by $1,685,to $17,684.