Pontiac, maker of muscle cars, ends after 84 years

Yahoo/AP ^ | 10-31-10 | TOM KRISHER

[kingattax]

DETROIT – Pontiac, whose muscle cars drag-raced down boulevards, parked at drive-ins and roared across movie screens, is going out of business on Sunday.

The 84-year-old brand, moribund since General Motors decided to kill it last year as it collapsed into bankruptcy, had been in decline for years. It was undone by a combination of poor corporate strategy and changing driver tastes. On Oct. 31, GM's agreements with Pontiac dealers expire.

[rrrod]

Patriots do not buy GM products...

[oh8eleven]

Once upon a time ... my brother owned the "GOAT" and the SS was mine.
Those really were fun times.

[seowulf]

When I was growing up an older guy down the street bought a ‘64 GTO....

My older brother had a '69, lifted in back with 12" slicks.

He would do foot high wheelies when he popped the clutch.

Needless to say, he spent most of his non-wheely doing time under the goat working on the transmission.

[al baby]

Want

[I cannot think of a name]

“It was an automatic, though.”

Automatic or standard - either one would probably bring a couple of hundred grand today.

Just another of my poor decisions back then.

I guess that’s why they call it “youth.”

[rightwingextremist1776]

Not much “muscle” were in muscle cars after the 71 model year....My Dodge is of the class of 69...426 Hemi, 4spd.. I educated more then one Pontiac owner/driver in the ways of Mopar..As well as liberated them from their cash.

[IYAS9YAS]

It was an automatic, though.

That's kinda like complaining about cereal changing the color of your milk...

[Nip]

My first car was bought used in 1972 for less than a grand. It was a 1970 Pontiac le Mans GTO. It was a semi-muscle car, a mid sized V-8 with dual carbs and an automatic transmission.

It would go much faster than I felt safe going. But it also had the punch to get me out of trouble on the interstate more than once. Plus, it was rock stable as I accelerated - something than every car that I could afford since then have lacked.

I should have kept the car when I went back to SEA for a year in ‘75. If I could have seen the future, 12 months turned into 7, it would have been well worth it to put it up on blocks and keep it.

But then, if I had accurate foresight, I would have bought gold jewelery, baht chains, buy the pound when gold was less than $ 40 an ounce too.

[andy58-in-nh]

I saw a ‘69 Charger on the road a few days ago - it still looked very cool with that distinctive front grille. Made me feel old to see that it had one of those damned “antique” license plates though. ;-)

[ken5050]

Do you remember the 2+2? Awesome machine..and with a much bigger back seat..(g) My roomie in college had one..and in 63 we drove it down to New Orleans from NY for Mardi Gras..talked our way out of 3 tickets down south...

[Fresh Wind]

Yeah, I tried to get my mom to buy a ‘69 Charger. She actually went to the dealership to ask about it, and the salesman talked her out of it. He asked her what was going on, and she told him it was her son’s idea. That ended it. She said the reason was she couldn’t put grocery bags on the bucket seat.

Damn!

[VOA]

“
It was undone by a combination of poor corporate strategy and changing driver tastes.
“

And shoddy manufacturing practices.
But if your line workers are boozing and doping on their lunch hours...
no shock there.

[VOA]

“
I saw a ‘69 Charger on the road a few days ago - it still looked very
cool with that distinctive front grille.
“

Loved the black Charger driven by “Frank Booth” (the late Dennis Hopper)
in the movie “Blue Velvet”.

If I ever inherit a ton of money...I’m getting one no matter the price.
Even if I just park it in my drive-way.

[jfkcv67bt]

Yeah, I had a ‘69 Chager RT 440 4-speed. With a few changes- Edelbrock hi rise intake, Holley double pumper carbs, it was quite a ride!

[I cannot think of a name]

It was even worse in the early ‘70’s when the gas crunch hit. There was more serious iron for sale than you could shake a stick at. Five grand back then could have made you a millionaire today! Not to mention the owner of some really cool cars.

If life only came with a crystal ball!

[jfkcv67bt]

OOPS- I meant Charger!

[Erasmus]

Was this in Pasadena? Her neighbor might have driven a ‘64 Dodge Polara Super Stock.

[Darth Reardon]

If you were to take that ‘73 455 and stick it in a Firebird, say a ‘76 T/A, you’d have a lot more car than any 18 year old really needs. The ‘76 HEI is compatible, which is nice. So are the rear disk brakes from an ‘80 if you swap the proportioning valve.

[andy58-in-nh]

I’d be worried about putting that big a block into a chassis with the dimensions of the old Firebird; I already had weight-distribution issues in the GA Coupe, to the extent that I used to ride around with a couple of 80 lb. sacks of cement mix in the trunk. LOL.

[Darth Reardon]

The 455 and the 400 that was in there before I blew it up were the same big block (IIRC, the only difference was a longer stroke on the 455). Pontiac used the same big block even for some of the smaller engines where others would use a small block.