Dr. Cranky Posted November 1, 2010 Posted November 1, 2010 It's gone, done for . . . kaput. No more Pontiac forever and ever . . . The trademark is done after 84 years and some pretty fabulous cars . . .
davyou5 Posted November 1, 2010 Posted November 1, 2010 ###### this bad economy! But who is to blame?
David G. Posted November 1, 2010 Posted November 1, 2010 First Oldsmobile, then Pontiac, my two favorite GM badges, gone. My first car was a '71 Ventura and I have a '71 Delta 88 Town Sedan in my garage.
Poncho-Power Posted November 1, 2010 Posted November 1, 2010 it's a travisty to say the least! maker of the original muscle car GTO! RIP!!!!!
Guest Johnny Posted November 1, 2010 Posted November 1, 2010 Should have let Buick go before the Pontiac or Oldsmobile! But hate to see any American make disappear!
ChrisPflug Posted November 1, 2010 Posted November 1, 2010 Now that it's gone we can forget about such gems of engineering as the "Arma-steel" rod, the 301 in both smog and turbo versions, the 265 V8, N body Grand Am, etc. Remember the original GTO in it's glory as a cool looking machine or as the versions that were supplied to the press pool rather then as a package developed by the marketing department rather than engineering
wisdonm Posted November 1, 2010 Posted November 1, 2010 Rest in peace, hell. Let them roil in eternal torment, until they rise again and spread horse power throughout the land.
Harry P. Posted November 1, 2010 Posted November 1, 2010 Car nameplates come and go all the time... it just seems worse when it happens in our lifetime. Does anyone here lose any sleep over the fact that these are all gone now: Studebaker Edsel LaSalle Oakland Cord Hupp Kissel Marmon Stutz Peerless Packard Willys Hudson Delorean Rambler Nash Pierce-Arrow Duesenberg Auburn and dozens, maybe hundreds more. So losing Pontiac isn't a very big deal in the overall scheme of things... just another drop in the bucket.
ChrisPflug Posted November 1, 2010 Posted November 1, 2010 Pontiac did help support the American plastic industry throughout the 80's by tacking cladding and ground effects on the standard GM product line
Nick Winter Posted November 1, 2010 Posted November 1, 2010 Harry you forgot the Bricklin, Canada's excuse for a car, basically a '80's Edsel
Dr. Cranky Posted November 1, 2010 Author Posted November 1, 2010 I have to say I miss the following: VEGA GREMLIN VW BETTLE YUGO
Nick Winter Posted November 1, 2010 Posted November 1, 2010 I have to say I miss the following: VEGA GREMLIN VW BETTLE YUGO Glad I ain't the only one who liked the Gremlin and Vega.
Harry P. Posted November 1, 2010 Posted November 1, 2010 Harry, you forgot Desoto? kind of suprises me that you didn't mention that one for some reason plenty of Pontiacs still on the road and race tracks to keep the spirit alive. No, I didn't forget DeSoto... I was just making a point how insignificant "Pontiac" is when you look at the big picture. Like I said, there are dozens and dozens of nameplates gone now... the whole list would go on for a loooooooong time! Besides DeSoto and the ones I listed, here are a few more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_defunct_United_States_automobile_manufacturers
Harry P. Posted November 1, 2010 Posted November 1, 2010 My life hasn't been the same since the Reeves Octo-Auto and the Mohs Ostentatienne bit the dust... "Mem......ries... Light the corners of my mind..... Misty watercolor mem....ries.... of the way we were.........
old-hermit Posted November 1, 2010 Posted November 1, 2010 My life hasn't been the same since the Reeves Octo-Auto and the Mohs Ostentatienne bit the dust... "Mem......ries... Light the corners of my mind..... Misty watercolor mem....ries.... of the way we were......... Ya can still get a new Octo-Auto Harry but it's Japanese ... http://www.gaura.com/ev/kaz/index_e.html
The Modeling Hermit Posted November 1, 2010 Posted November 1, 2010 I miss Pontiac, but not what has been coming out lately. I owned two 55 Pontiacs, a 61, and a 73 Lemans. My family had several with the last being a 74 Catalina and 2 74 Lemans. There are a lot of people that didn't like the styling of the mid-seventies Lemans, but I always thout it was cool. The fifties through the mid-seventies cars are the ones that I will miss. After that things just progressed farther downhill to be nothing but name badging. That's just my opinion, and I don't want to demean somebody else's favorite.
Harry P. Posted November 1, 2010 Posted November 1, 2010 After that things just progressed farther downhill to be nothing but name badging. That's just my opinion, and I don't want to demean somebody else's favorite. Aw, c'mon... demean away. We haven't had a good flame war here lately...
Harry P. Posted November 1, 2010 Posted November 1, 2010 For some reason Buicks are really popular in China. Go figure...
Chuck Most Posted November 1, 2010 Posted November 1, 2010 My life hasn't been the same since the Reeves Octo-Auto and the Mohs Ostentatienne bit the dust... "Mem......ries... Light the corners of my mind..... Misty watercolor mem....ries.... of the way we were......... I'm still bummed over the loss of the Scott Sociable, Church Pneumatic, and Reliant Robin...
Guest Johnny Posted November 1, 2010 Posted November 1, 2010 GM Sells 3x the amount of Olds and Pontiacs COMBINED in China. Lets not forget that GM is trying to be a Global Auto Manufacturer, and as far as Buick goes - those are the cream of the crop in China. Add that to the fact that there are a lot more potential 'customers' in China than here. Like Daewoo and Holdens rebadged as Buick? Or the "Chinese" Buicks? Since 1999, a Chinese version of the Buick Century/Regal has been produced and sold in China by Shanghai GM and has proven to be popular among upscale, professional families, establishing Buick as one of the most popular vehicle brands in China. In addition, Buick of China also sells the compact Excelle (based on the Daewoo Lacetti/Nubira), a five-door hatchback version called the HRV, and a modified version of the first generation Pontiac Montana minivan named the GL8. Many Buicks for the local market are equipped with smaller more fuel efficient engines with double overhead camshafts, than those with overhead valves in the same nameplate for the American market. The engines of 2005-09 Chevrolet Equinox and Pontiac Torrent, originally intended for Buick in China, were made in China and imported by General Motors.[31] In June 2005, Buick announced that it would market the Australian RWD Holden Statesman in China as the Buick Royaum(2005–06). Buick previously marketed the subcompact Sail, sourced from GM's Asian operations and based on the Opel Corsa B, until 2005. Since then, Shanghai GM has replaced it with the Chevrolet Sail (a rebadged Opel Corsa). Buick has stated that it expects China to become its second largest market. In 2006, Buick debuted the Chinese version of the LaCrosse sedan. The only differences are exterior design, different engine choices, and a facelifted interior. It is positioned above the Regal but below the Royaum. In April 2007, Shanghai GM announced the Buick Park Avenue, for the Chinese market only. The vehicle is based on the Holden Statesman, with engines manufactured in Australia. In 2009, Buick sold 447,011 vehicles, an increase of 59.6 percent compared with the previous year.[32] Buick has sold over two million vehicles in China. The first million took eight years, the second came in at only three years
David G. Posted November 3, 2010 Posted November 3, 2010 Car nameplates come and go all the time... it just seems worse when it happens in our lifetime. Does anyone here lose any sleep over the fact that these are all gone now: Studebaker Edsel LaSalle Oakland Cord Hupp Kissel Marmon Stutz Peerless Packard Willys Hudson Delorean Rambler Nash Pierce-Arrow Duesenberg Auburn and dozens, maybe hundreds more. So losing Pontiac isn't a very big deal in the overall scheme of things... just another drop in the bucket. Is anybody here losing sleep over the demise of Pontiac? Probably not. Is the loss of Pontiac a big deal? Not really. There's not much in life that is a big deal, but there are things that have at least some emotional relevance. There are also events and occurrences that mark our passage through life. We tend mark and measure our lives with such mileposts as, "Before I turned 21." and "After we bought the house." It is in our nature to make note of such events. And in a community that has gathered for the purpose building, promoting and discussing model cars, I would honestly be more surprised if the discontinuation of a major American automotive name plate passed without comment or note. No, it's not a big deal, but neither was the World Series, and I guess there are still some folks talking about that too. Regards, David G.
Railfreak78 Posted November 3, 2010 Posted November 3, 2010 Here is one that would have been cool to see pumped out of Pontiac though. This picture is thanks to my friend Krista Elyse. She took it last night at the Sema show.
Jordan White Posted November 3, 2010 Posted November 3, 2010 Must be lots of old geezers in China! Believe it or not, it's actually the younger people that are purchasing the Buicks. I'm sure it's so people will think they are wealthy or something.
mr moto Posted November 3, 2010 Posted November 3, 2010 Car nameplates come and go all the time... it just seems worse when it happens in our lifetime. Does anyone here lose any sleep over the fact that these are all gone now: Studebaker Edsel LaSalle Oakland Cord Hupp Kissel Marmon Stutz Peerless Packard Willys Hudson Delorean Rambler Nash Pierce-Arrow Duesenberg Auburn and dozens, maybe hundreds more. So losing Pontiac isn't a very big deal in the overall scheme of things... just another drop in the bucket. These guys are still a bit upset about Studebaker: http://www.studebakerdriversclub.com/ They have more than 12,500 members! The largest single make car club in the world.
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