Tuesday 28th April 2009

Pontiac Bites The Dust

Iconic brand to be axed as GM restructures

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Pontiac will become the latest automotive casualty of the global credit crunch, as GM has confirmed speculation it will kill the once iconic US brand.

Smokey and the Bandit - legendary!

Yesterday’s announcement formed part of a wider restructuring that will see GM reduce the number of brand nameplates it produces from 48 to 34 by 2010 – a reduction of 29 percent, that also includes the proposed sell-off of Saab and Opel here in Europe.

While the Pontiac line-up has offered little in recent years to whet enthusiast appetites, PHers should observe a respectful minute of silence for a brand that brought us The Bandit’s black and gold liveried Trans Am, complete with ‘flaming chicken’ bonnet adornment in 1978. Yes, it may have offered only a paltry (poultry?) 220bhp in standard set-up, but that was a sign of those emission-strangulated and fuel crisis-stricken times.

The first true 'muscle car' - '64 GTO

But it’s the late, great GTO to which the world owes Pontiac its biggest debt of gratitude. Launched in 1964 to instant acclaim, the GTO was basically a low-rent econobox hot-rodded with a 325bhp 389ci V8, classic four-barrel carb, a manual transmission and stiffer suspension. In part the brainchild of Pontiac’s then engineering boss John De Lorean, the GTO is widely regarded by those in the know as the first real ‘muscle car’. RIP Pontiac – by your deeds shall ye be judged!

[the fury]

Tragedy! I suppose they hadn't done anything decent for ages though. Thought the new Camaro might have benefitted from some badge engineering to turn it into a firebird maybe.

[HellDiver]

The Judge: STANDARD 3-speed manual. They were SO generous.

[infradig]

How long till Vauxhall joins Pontiac,and the cars all become Opels or Chevrolets? There seems little point in selling three differently badged versions of the same cars in a shrinking and ever more competetive European market.In addition in the UK at least,Opel is mainly remembered as slightly upmarket-Senators,Commodores and Mantas.
As for Pontiac,apart from rebadged Monaros all I can think of in recent years are the Fiero,Aztek and sme dodgy Daewoos.In fact on a recent trip Stateside I noticed quite a few Chevrolets with hideous plastic noses and side cladding,then realised they were in fact Pontiacs-good riddance!

[900T-R]

Whoa, a standard three speed manual gearbox! They were really pulling the stops out back in the day.

d*mn, beaten to it...

Edited by 900T-R on Tuesday 28th April 11:57

[Fittster]

infradig said:

How long till Vauxhall joins Pontiac,and the cars all become Opels or Chevrolets? There seems little point in selling three differently badged versions of the same cars in a shrinking and ever more competetive European market.In addition in the UK at least,Opel is mainly remembered as slightly upmarket-Senators,Commodores and Mantas.
As for Pontiac,apart from rebadged Monaros all I can think of in recent years are the Fiero,Aztek and sme dodgy Daewoos.In fact on a recent trip Stateside I noticed quite a few Chevrolets with hideous plastic noses and side cladding,then realised they were in fact Pontiacs-good riddance!

Reuters were saying Saab and Hummer are next in the GM line up for the chop.

[HellDiver]

infradig said:

How long till Vauxhall joins Pontiac,and the cars all become Opels or Chevrolets?

Not long I recon - the Insignia's front is identical between Opel and Vauxhall. Before the fronts were slightly different (Vauxhall with the V-grille, Opel with whatever they had), now it'll just need a different badge stuck on.

[thehawk]

infradig said:

How long till Vauxhall joins Pontiac,and the cars all become Opels or Chevrolets? There seems little point in selling three differently badged versions of the same cars in a shrinking and ever more competetive European market.

What's the cost in changing a few badges, that's all it probably costs to have the Vauxhall name in the UK

[ZeroTwo]

How ever will they make remakes of Knight Rider and Smokey and the Bandit now?! What great cultural endeavours have been prematurely exterminated by the extinguishing of a brand that has brought such widespread indifference?

Still, I kinda did have a soft spot for the Aztec. It look a bit space age in Dark Angel.

[RB Will]

thehawk said:

What's the cost in changing a few badges, that's all it probably costs to have the Vauxhall name in the UK

And the small matter of changing it to right hand drive.

[williamp]

ZeroTwo said:

How ever will they make remakes of Knight Rider and Smokey and the Bandit now?! What great cultural endeavours have been prematurely exterminated by the extinguishing of a brand that has brought such widespread indifference?

Still, I kinda did have a soft spot for the Aztec. It look a bit space age in Dark Angel.

Easy: the british will do a remake, set in Britain and using british cars. See how they like it...

[Frimley111R]

48 to 29 brands! No wonder they are struggling. A shame the brand is going but tbh we only remember it from Smokey and The Bandit films. Since then what have they produced that we'd genuinely miss?

[thehawk]

RB Will said:

thehawk said:

What's the cost in changing a few badges, that's all it probably costs to have the Vauxhall name in the UK

And the small matter of changing it to right hand drive.

Irrelevant, all cars to the UK, whether they are Opel or Vauxhall, have to be right hand drive. All marketing and advertising has to be created for the UK market too. Can't see where the cost would be in retaining Vauxhall.

[fireturk]

thought I saw an add for a new series of knight rider on tv last night, will keep an eye out!

[triggersbroom]

ZeroTwo said:

How ever will they make remakes of Knight Rider and Smokey and the Bandit now?! What great cultural endeavours have been prematurely exterminated by the extinguishing of a brand that has brought such widespread indifference?

Still, I kinda did have a soft spot for the Aztec. It look a bit space age in Dark Angel.

They used a Shelby GT500 for the remake - hardly fitting IMO

here

[carl_w]

I make it a reduction of 40%...

[andymadmak]

Vauuxhall and Opel will both be sold - probably to the Chinese. You may even see the day when MGs roll off the line in Luton....

As for Saab, well thats a struggle. Since Ford are also desperate to offload Volvo you may yet see the Swedish Govt step in to save them both and combine them. - BMW was looking at Volvo, but is unlikely now to want to take it on.

GM also owns a chunk of Subaru if memory serves......

[smele]

Most Pontiac products were/are terrible. Most look like poorly designed Korean vehicles. It is about time that they went.

However, there was the odd little gem and I did think that this was one of the better cars to come out of Detroit in a while. Good performance, economy, looks and not too expensive. Dare I say a US Elise?

[mackie1]

The only decent cars they've done recently were basically rebadged Holden but it's still a shame to see the name go.

[BoRED S2upid]

Could be an opportunity for a small manufacturer to purchase a recognised brand and produce some bespoke muscle cars. Im sure there is still a niche market for Pontiac.

[daz05]

I had one as a rental car last time I was over. It was good fun but not really an Elise or Vx220. Most of them are also autos.

The people over there loved it though, had a few coming over and asking about the car saying they had always wanted one.