Demise of Pontiac

[rflnomad]

With GREAT sorrow, I listened to Brian Williams on the news confirm that GM was going to let Pontiac go away. :'(
I fondly remember the first time I rode in Dads 65 GTO ( now mine!) in 1971, when I worked as a teenager in 1978 at a restaurant. The manager let me drive his 75 Grand Prix to the car wash... God it was so nice.
I used my friends 75 Trans Am for a while ( 400 with 4 speed!) and fell in love with 2nd generation T/As. Better handling, brakes and more torque than a Camaro.
I had a friend try to sell me a 72 Formula Firebird with 455 and Ram Air. I could not swing it so I had to say no. But I loved driving it.
These cars were made for drivers; that is why I was always such a Pontiac fan. The watering down of brand identity by GM has cost Pontiac a lot of market share. I do not think they deserved it.
Just a darn shame, I'll keep my old cars. I will keep my memories too. They are priceless.

[strobe]

Had a few Trans-Ams in my day last one was a '96 RamAir with the vette engine, was an awesome car. I was hoping they would revive the T/A at some point, guess that dream is dead now. I will miss the brand, some great cars carried the Pontiac badge.

[trip]

There's no telling how things will shake out for GM. Pontiac is going now, but other brands may follow. Might as well call it GMOO, General Motors Of Obama.

I feel for you rfl.....the thought has crossed my mind what I'll do if GM shuts down the Corvette division. Guess I'll do like you and keep my vette and treasure every minute.

[ponch]

I called it Messiah Motors...http://the-right-guy.blogspot.com/20...ah-motors.html

Originally Posted by Trip

There's no telling how things will shake out for GM. Pontiac is going now, but other brands may follow. Might as well call it GMOO, General Motors Of Obama.

I feel for you rfl.....the thought has crossed my mind what I'll do if GM shuts down the Corvette division. Guess I'll do like you and keep my vette and treasure every minute.

[ponch]

They killed Olds as well, which had the 4-4-2 at one time. Truth be told, either is and was doing better than Buick, so why kill them off? May be it's time for the who company to go. The only thing that differentiates their cars in an emblem and a different nose treatment. Everything else is the same. On top of that, cars are pretty much spec vehicles. You can't special order like you used to. Their products have become commoditized.

Originally Posted by rflnomad

With GREAT sorrow, I listened to Brian Williams on the news confirm that GM was going to let Pontiac go away. :'(
I fondly remember the first time I rode in Dads 65 GTO ( now mine!) in 1971, when I worked as a teenager in 1978 at a restaurant. The manager let me drive his 75 Grand Prix to the car wash... God it was so nice.
I used my friends 75 Trans Am for a while ( 400 with 4 speed!) and fell in love with 2nd generation T/As. Better handling, brakes and more torque than a Camaro.
I had a friend try to sell me a 72 Formula Firebird with 455 and Ram Air. I could not swing it so I had to say no. But I loved driving it.
These cars were made for drivers; that is why I was always such a Pontiac fan. The watering down of brand identity by GM has cost Pontiac a lot of market share. I do not think they deserved it.
Just a darn shame, I'll keep my old cars. I will keep my memories too. They are priceless.

[strobe]

I think Buick survives because of it's popularity in China I have heard. It is THE status symbol car I guess....if you can believe that

Unless something changes I would actually expect Buick to be next on the chopping block though.

[pirate]

It's a sad thing to see Pontiac go, but I'm sure it won't be the last. I don't know a whole lot about the GM company, but why do they still have to have GMC and Chevrolet models? I don't understand why the pickups and SUVs are manufactured with both "brands," as they seem almost identical. The Silverados and Sierras seem identical, along with the Tahoe and Yukon, among others. It seems like they could do some cost cutting by eliminating nearly identical models.

[strobe]

That is likely going to come too. I heard rumors they were looking at dumping the GM line of trucks and keeping Chev (I would have expected the other way). I guess the Chev trucks sell better. I have a Chev, but prefer the GM body styles, but the GM dealer could not get the one I wanted in, so I went with Chev.

[ringadingh]

It seems like an icon is going away, my dad always had Pontiacs and I bought myself a new 77 Trans Am and really liked that car. Its one of the few I regret getting rid of.

[jamiep24]

Knew they were doing away with Pontiacs because they quit producing them for Nascar a few years back. Heard they're also doing away with the Saturns, Saabs and Hummers. It all comes down to bad management, strong unions, high-priced executive bonuses and what is the difference between a Silverado and a Sierra, one piece of chrome and $5,000? Love Fords and my F-250, least they're not begging for a bailout. Hard to feel sorry for greed. Jamie

[Idaho]

Originally Posted by jamiep24

Knew they were doing away with Pontiacs because they quit producing them for Nascar a few years back. Heard they're also doing away with the Saturns, Saabs and Hummers. It all comes down to bad management, strong unions, high-priced executive bonuses and what is the difference between a Silverado and a Sierra, one piece of chrome and $5,000? Love Fords and my F-250, least they're not begging for a bailout. Hard to feel sorry for greed. Jamie

Spot on Jamie. My uncle owned a GM dealership in the mid 70's. Only difference between a GM and a Chev truck was the tailgate. He used to get them in with swithced tailgates all the time. Same assembly line. Only diff was/is the price.

I just hope that the business world gets the message that executive and management bonuses have gotten out of control and that they can't cave in to unions anymore.

[ponch]

It will be Chevy and Cadillac.

Originally Posted by prairie cruiser

It's a sad thing to see Pontiac go, but I'm sure it won't be the last. I don't know a whole lot about the GM company, but why do they still have to have GMC and Chevrolet models? I don't understand why the pickups and SUVs are manufactured with both "brands," as they seem almost identical. The Silverados and Sierras seem identical, along with the Tahoe and Yukon, among others. It seems like they could do some cost cutting by eliminating nearly identical models.