*RIP* Pontiac Motors

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It is kind of sad to hear that Pontiac is to be axed now, it was worse hearing of Oldsmobile's end, the last car rolled off of the Olds production line was on my 18th birthday, April 29, 2004, last car was an Alero.
It would be more devestating to me to hear of Buick's demise if that were to happen, better think about trading the DeVille in on a new Buick just in case.
 
Feh!

Two words: Pontiac Aztek.

More words: lousy reliability, lousy design.

I feel sorry for the people losing their jobs, but I don't feel a bit sorry for the executives who did not take Japan, Inc. seriously.

Even when we drove GM, I never liked Pontiac.

Lawrence/Maytagbear
 
Dan, better tell that to the college kids. There's a row of late model Grand Prixs right behind my apartment. At least they prove to be popular here in the midwest, parked amongst the 'yotas.

Ben and I discussed this recently, Pontiac has some very nice, very well built cars right now, but are totally diluted by the cheap, disposable, G5's and 6's. I hear they're not bad cars, but not my cup of tea.

I do applaud them for building a retractable hardtop a guy like me can afford, and the G8 is damn gorgeous if not powerful to boot.

Confession time....I sorta like the Aztec! A little too whacky for the general public, however. http://www.aztekrally.org/northeast/
 
I caught wind of this last night and immediately went to Pontiac's site to request a full line brochure, along with a G8 brochure. We'll see if I get any mail. ;-)

Honestly - the last G8 GTP cars are going to be extremely rare and big money collectors cars. 4.3 0-60 times in a stock production 4 door? Unbelievable.

No secret that I'm a GM guy. Along with Cory, our fathers raised us on varying GM cars - my Dad just happens to be a huge Pontiac and Buick buff. While yes, 1981 was the last year for the traditional V8 301 Pontiac engine - the excitement carried on through the 80's with beautiful EFI powered 350 Trans Am's and all wheel drive STE 6000's - and the 90's brought on the rebirth of the Grand Prix and a super-charged Buick V6. Maybe I find this news a bit more emotional than the end of Olds. We knew it was coming, but it was just a matter of when.

Sold my last Firebird last fall to a kid north of Waterloo. Looking to finish restoring Dad's 1974 Ram Air Formula 400 hopefully next summer.

Below is a picture of Dad doing a burnout in his 1970 400 Pontiac-powered Trans Am. Certainly wish he still had this one around. Taken in the summer of '75.

Ben

4-24-2009-21-59-20--swestoyz.jpg
 
I wondered when they'd make it a done deal...

Oh well. All good things must come to an end.

Last vehicle: Pontiac Transport. Great. Ran it to 150k+ in 9 years and put it through hell (i.e.- 85 typewriters in the back for an 8 hour drive from Guelph, Ontario to Southborough).

Current vehicle: 2004 Aztek. Great car (sorry, Lawrence). Hasn't let me down yet (almost 50k miles). Mine is an '04 where the rear detail on the window was larger, and that does get in the way if you're trying to see a license plate behind you. Other than that, great.

Looks like my next vehicle will have to be a Chevy. Same vehicles, just less appointments.

Chuck
 
Around here the Grand Am's and Bonnevilles are the most popular Pontiacs, most Pontiacs seem below average on reliability except the Bonneville with Buick's 3800 engine
other popular American cars here are the Century and LeSabre, and Grand Marquis.
Now all these models are gone, and now Pontiac is done, I am afraid to see what goes next.

Keeps making a new Lucerne look even more tempting
 
I agree - sad news

I really hate to see this but I had a feeling it would happen soon. I always liked the older Pontiacs particularly from the years 1955 - 1979. My parents had three Pontiacs over the years: a '56 Star Chief, a '74 Catalina and a '76 Bonneville Brougham. All three were great cars.

I am sorry to see the name go along with Oldsmobile and Plymouth a few years back... Dodge, Chrysler and Jeep are hanging in the balance as well. Another American industry going by the wayside - very sad in my opinion.

Andrew S.
 
My previous car was a '99 Oldsmobile Alero. It was a faithful servant throughout the latter half of my high school days. She was the sharp GLX 2-door model. Jet black with camel leather interior. Rear spoiler, sunroof, and aluminum rims. A real beauty. I moved to the country and I needed something more suitable, so I had to say goodbye to the old gal.

I hate to see Pontiac go the way of Oldsmobile. It just won't seem right to have GM without Pontiac.

I have never really fancied newer Pontiacs nor have I owned one, but I did like the 2000 Bonneville. The first year of the new re-design.

So Long Pontiac.

4-24-2009-23-15-35--BugsyJones.jpg
 
I read that Buick is safe because they are very popular in China. It seems that GM is only keeping Chevy, GMC (seems a little redundant), Buick, and Cadillac.

I read earlier this week that the Chrysler brand may be going away. They will only keep Dodge and Jeep.
 
Aside from the fact that folks will lose jobs in an uncertain economic time, these companies now have the opportunity to re-invent themselves and produce vehicles that people really want. Restructure operation, make big changes in management, and get their unions under control. Good luck to 'em....they're gonna need it.
 
Sad

Pontiac for a long time was a name used for special cars out of the Buick house. Might end up being this once again.

Speaking as a union member and proud of it, this is not the union's fault, this is the fault of bad management.

In honor of a once noble name, my all-time favorite Pontiac, on the hood of which I once had some serious fun:

Ladies and, er, ladies, I present the GOAT:

4-26-2009-03-37-47--panthera.jpg
 
GTO

Yep, the GTO is usually considered to be the first muscle car (mid size body with big engine.)

Here is a link to a Youtube video of more pictures along with the song "Little GTO."

Andrew S.

 
Few people remember that Pontiac was seen as an old-maid's car until the late '50s. Mostly they sold to people who wanted something a little nicer than a Chevy, but wouldn't spend the extra for an Olds or Buick. Bunkie Knudsen, a career GM exec promoted to head Pontiac in the mid '50s, changed that. Under his direction, they introduced the first Bonneville as a fairly exclusive two-door in '57, complete with an optional fuel injected engine (basically the Rochester injection used on the Corvette from '57-'65). Then they went "wide-track" and promoted performance into the '60s. Knudsen's program was so successful he was promoted to head Chevy, and John DeLorean replaced him at Pontiac.

DeLorean continued to push performance and stole the "GTO" name from Ferrari's famous 250 GTO. Under DeLorean, some of Pontiac's high perfromance press cars came through Royal Pontiac, a local Detroit area dealer famous for having a direct line to the factory for perfromance improvements. Sometimes this was reported, sometimes not, and the cars always proved very, very quick.

It's sad to see Pontiac go, but GM worked years to paint themselves into a corner by refusing to make a good, consisent line of small cars at one end of the market and continuously downgrading Cadillac at the upper end. So they've ended out with a compressed range running from basic mid-sized sedans to mid-level luxury cars. It's still a lot of cars, but not enough to keep six GM brands viable in North America.

At the lower end of the market people now buy bottom of the line Hondas, Toyotas, Hyundais and Nissans, while at the high end you see lots of S-class Mercedes, 7-series BMWs, and big Lexuses. GM really has nothing to compete at either end of the market. Billy Durant conceived GM to offer a car "for every purse and purpose", with the idea being that you'd start someone out with a low-end GM car and they've keep buying GM all the way to the top. It worked well, and probably would today if GM hadn't forgotten about the concept.
 
Ben, sold your 'bird? Say it ain't so!

Yep - it's God's honest truth! LOL

The '78 SE TA was too far gone for me to put any real effort into it. Fun when I had it but felt it was time to let it go.

Besides, I've got this beauty to play with - hopefully next summer. Totally loaded '74 400 Formula. Ram Air, and loaded with every option except a Cordoba top. Ascot Silver with the stripe, black interior with custom factory ordered Red Deluxe seats. Sweet!

NICE 68. Something about 68's being cooler than '69's. Not sure if it is the cornering lights, the tail lights, or the dash. Hummm...

4-26-2009-19-31-51--swestoyz.jpg
 
This is one of my dream cars (picture from an old ebay auction). A stealth 70 or 71 Formula. Black with black Cordoba top. Nice smooth 400 build with a 200R4 trans. I can very close to buying a blue with black top '71 Formula 400/4 speed about 4 years ago for dirt cheep. Really wish I could go back and grab it.

I'll let the rest of the crowd go for the GTO's. Give me a Formula any day!

Ben

4-26-2009-19-35-11--swestoyz.jpg
 
The pics of the '68 GTO and '71 Firebird brought back some memories. When I was at university in about 1980 there was a sports car club for students, and I'd often watch their autocrosses in a parking lot on weekends. The variety of cars was pretty bizarre, since all participants were students - I even recall one old RWD Corolla automatic that had been very tricked out for autocrossing. One day there was a very nice '68 or '69 GTO, and also a '71 Firebird Trans-Am. Their performance couldn't have been more different: The GTO was utterly hopeless, because the steering was so slow the driver literally couldn't spin the steering wheel fast enough to avoid hitting the cones. The Firebird was really, really tough however. With the Ram-Air 455 the driver didn't have to steer a lot, but just get the car pointed roughly in the right direction. A quick pop of the throttle and the tail would snap out and rotate the car. He really knew the car and was lots of fun to watch. He was only beaten significantly by a then-new 1st generation Mazda RX-7, a much smaller and more nimble car, again driven by someone who knew what he was doing. Of the other Ameican muscle cars there that day, only a well-maintained '67 Shelby GT350 could make it through the cones as fast as that Firebird. It's amusing to remember how there was lots and lots of envy over the new RX-7, a little over the Shelby, and mostly indifference to the Pontiacs. Today that Mazda is seen by most as a cheap old beater sports car, the Pontiacs are pretty damned desirable, and the Shelby would be worth more than a small house in many neighborhoods!

A very good buddy of mine custom ordered one of the last-generation Firebirds, about a 2000 model. It is technically a Formula, but has the LS-1 V8 and all the special Trans-Am equipment without the gaudy hood scoops. It's been his daily driver ever since, although he owns other cars. He really loves it and maintains it pretty much regardless of cost. The latter point is important, as it has proven a very expensive car to run due to frequent failures of small items like alternators, water pumps, fuel pumps, headlight motors, various computer controls, etc. Last year his accountant actually recommended replacing it because of the money it costs, but my friend just replied that he doesn't take expensive vacations, entertain lavishly, play golf, or have any other expensive hobbies so he'd damned well keep his favorite car. I hope GM does better with the new Camaro, because it is this lack of quality that killed the Firebird/Camaro the first time around and it deserves better than that.
 
can't wait till the whole of GM goes under

Now I think that's a little extreme, not everything GM has made was bad. Pontiac however, ain't what it used to be. I've heard some bad stories about the current model G6.
I had a '95 Bonneville SSEi, top of the line car with every concievable option and I gave the car best of care. It rewarded me by loosing it's coolant setting in the driveway one evening. Cause: A plastic connector between the top radiator hose and the gooseneck for the thermostat. I hate cheap plastics...
Next, decided to blow the coolant temperature sensor on the interstate, left me stranded and my parents had to pick me up and finish getting me to work, I was never so embarassed! Up until then, and since then I've never had a car towed. Next up, at the rife old age of 85,000 miles it blew the damn transmission. Now mind you, it had one of the best engines ever produced, the GM 3800 V-6 and mine was the supercharged version. I later found out from a mechanic that this transmission was prone to fail when pared with the 3800 supercharged as it was not designed to handle all that torque, and there were times when I used the engines full resources. I had had it. I put a bottle of trans x in that thing and traded it in a brand new Mazda 6s. I'm close to turning 100,000 on it and while it has not been 100% trouble free, I certainly have not had nearly this issues, and have never been stranded by it.

It was a very hard decision for me to buy a car that was not made here in America. I was a die hard GM fan and as I saw it everything else was crap. That was until my Pontiac experience.

I would buy GM again, matter of fact the new 2010 Buick Lacrosse has my eye --- but not my wallet!
 
Pontiac's Finest Hour?

This commercial from 1969 was probably the high point of Pontiac's "Wide Track" era, IMHO--with some of the most attractive cars coming out of Detroit. (I'd grab that Grand Prix and Bonneville hardtop--or maybe the Executive wagon. Wow! Definitely Uncle Bill/"Family Affair" cool!)

 
I have driven, repaired (and repaired and repaired and...)

GM cars, especially Cadillac and Chevy for several years now out of support for GM saying to the christianists:
No, we won't stop selling to gays. We like gays.

Cadillac was the first brand to publicly open their doors to Negroes back in the 1930's. Regardless of their reasons, it was a blow for human rights.

The same with their targeted advertising in the face of calls for boycotts today.

Personally, I could care less about the managers. But the workers do matter to me. That is why I don't like to see these companies fold. Real people, working people are the ones who get hurt. The managers come out of this with more money than before. The assembly line workers end up hungry on the street.
 
Datsun

A friend of mine, a surgeon, bought a 2009 Nissan Murano, well shortly afterwards, he's had electrical problems with the tailgate, it won't open, guess the foreign makes aren't entirely immune to defects.
 

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