Posted on 11/01/2010 6:44:47 AM PDT by 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.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
I thought those were factory standards.
LOL. That reminded me: I knew a couple of guys from the north Bronx that claimed to do the same thing with their rides - only I was never quite sure they were actually using cement, or if it was cement, what it was intended to be used for. Great guys to go drinking with, but I was careful not to ask too many questions of them...
I had an ‘84 Firebird when I was in highschool. I don’t claim to know a thing about cars. All I can tell you is that I absolutely LOVED driving that car. 20 years and 5 kids later, I’m now in a great big conversion van. Oh, how I miss that Firebird!!! :o)
I think you’re right - it was the same plant, just with a longer stroke relative to the bore size, and produced about 500 ft./lbs. of torque as a result.
White Castle on Bruckner?
My dad bought a new 1969 Pontiac Le Mans. It was in the shop more than any other car that he ever had.
I do miss White Castle - we don’t have them here in New Hampshire. And back in the time I lived in NY, it was a hot spot for late evening parking lot “goings-on”. But if you know the area, my favorite places were Umberto’s and Mario’s, both on Arthur Avenue.
I’ve had 5 F-Body’s: 70, 78, 80, 88 and 94.
The 80 was a Z-28, all others were Birds. My favorite was the 1970 Formula 400, RamAir III, Muncie M-22 “Rock Crusher” 4spd. Sucker cooked!!
God I miss that car. You could watch the gas gauge move though. LOL. Course, gas was cheap back then. But watching the Speedo move, made it all worth it.
Still have the 94. I figure since they don’t make Birds anymore, let alone Pontiacs, I might hang on to it for a while.
Arthur Ave... I shouldda guessed.
I was in Queens. The WC at 55Ave and Queens Blvd was the place where many races were “set up”. Connecting Hwy was the usual strip. Crossbay Blvd. races were arranged at the Bow-Wow.
Sadly, I can recall when gasoline was 32 cents a gallon and it didn’t hurt so much to fill the tank again on Saturday morning after cruising around all Friday night. That Ram Air engine was a monster. A guy I knew had one in high school (I think it was a ‘70, but that was a long time ago). I do still remember the incredible sound it made when he popped the clutch, slammed that long-throw Hurst lever down and fed the gas...
Ahh, the good old days. ;-) And now, I see you’re living in West Virginia. Quite a different lifestyle - of course, that goes for both of us.
The last Pontiac-specific V8 was the 301 (can't recall whether the turbo or naturally-aspirated version hung in there the longest). IIRC, the car magazines in 80/81 were happy that the 301 was finally a bit lighter than the Chevy 350.
The 301 was a sibling of the 400 and 350 Pontiac engines - all of the "small crank journal" series. The 455 was derived from the 421, a "large bearing journal" engine. I've never seen examples of both side-by-side, so the exteriors of both series' engine blocks may indeed be the same.
What a shame that they're all relegated to history books and car shows. It's tough to believe that Oldsmobile and Pontiac are gone... and equally hard to accept the fact that Buick outlasted them. I guess that name is easier for the Chinese to pronounce.
Yeah, they were the same externally (400 and 455). I used parts interchangably. Guess I never tried to swap a crankshaft though.
Should have been killed off decades ago.. taking a generic everyday car, and slapping a nose grill and a bunch of plastic flares does not a brand make.
Pontiact has been other than a gasp of air here and there, irrellevant since the 70s.
I can remember that as well as "gas wars" when it sometimes dropped to .27 cents. I also remember the "embargo" when it shot up to $1.09 a gallon and all of my buddies putting up their hot cars for sale. “Better get something for it while I can - they say gas may hit $1.50 this summer, and everybody will be walking then!”
If I'd only had the foresight to snap up a few of them while they were cheap. Actually I had the money, and the desire, I just didn't have any place to keep them.
I remember a guy begging to get $3,000 for his Hemi Roadrunner. Makes me cry just to type it.
I remember that Roadrunner - in the original “Halloween” color scheme, too.
LOL! I know someone would ask that. Actually, it was in Hatboro, Pennsylvania. Back in the Good Old Days, it was a major cruising location. You could see just about any muscle car you could imagine on a Saturday night. I doubt the little old lady was into that scene, though.
Admit it...if someone told you in 1970 that some of these cars would be worth hundreds of thousands in 30-40 years, you would have laughed in his face!
GM has been very poorly managed for decades.
In the last few years, Pontiac made a few furtive moves to survive.
—The GTO based on the Australian Holden design was technically very good, but bland looking.
—The Solstice sports car was nice, but an entire brand cannot be salvaged by one small volume, small sports car.
—For awhile Pontiac said they were going to emulate BMW, including the double kidney grill. But there is a world of difference between a true BMW and an American V8 sedan with front wheel drive.
—A lick here, and a promise there does not a brand image make. That they were following BMW instead of leading pretty much describes the decline of the American car industry.
—Few can forget the Aztec, contrasted with the once fantastic GTOs.
—It is amazing that Toyota, Nissan and Honda can introduce and succeed with Lexus, Infiniti and Acura respectively, while GM has no new brands whatsoever.
Cookie cutter cars.
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