Holloween 2010 - The End of Pontiac
 

Yesterday on Holloween Day General Motors ended all agreements with its dealer network of Pontiac agency's worldwide - after 84 years of "Excitement" they're gone ................ First Oldsmobile -- now Pontiac -- no more racing 'orphan' brands for me ............

Re: Holloween 2010 - The End of Pontiac
 

Sad Day for Pontiac's racers..

I guess I might have to go Ford or Mopar racing.

Yes I did fall and hit my head. I think

Re: Holloween 2010 - The End of Pontiac
 

Don't worry Jack, you could always come over to the dark side and race a Buick!!

Re: Holloween 2010 - The End of Pontiac
 

Its time for that Ford you always wanted Jack....lol

Re: Holloween 2010 - The End of Pontiac
 

It is a sad day. Pontiac held onto the performance theme long after other makes gave up and now their gone as is Oldsmobile, Plymouth, etc.

How long will it be til manufacturers realize it's cheaper to just make one model rather than many?

JimR

Re: Holloween 2010 - The End of Pontiac
 

Stay away from the Mercury too!

Re: Holloween 2010 - The End of Pontiac
 

NOW you`re talking!!

Re: Holloween 2010 - The End of Pontiac
 

In some ways it's sad, but other ways OH WELL. In the last 20 years, what has Pontiac done for anyone who has raced one of their cars, 1990 or older? NOTHING!!!! My friends race Fords and Mopars and they still get class, and eleminator contingetcy. Not matter what year car they race. In that case screw GM all together.

My dad who worked for the company 19 years died durring his employment with them. He was a salary employee/foreman. My mother was guaranteed health coverage from them for the rest of her days. She lost it from them in the restructure. UAW employees did not. As a GM employee you cannot even buy a car at a discount anymore. I understand that they were losing money, and had to make changes. There could have been a couple of changes to the new way of doing things. Now they are doing very well again, and downsizing.

My opinion is very bias, and sure not of many on this board, but I feel I wanted to say my peace. As for Pontiac.....SCREW EM.

Re: Holloween 2010 - The End of Pontiac
 

Todd,are you doing a Ford?

Re: Holloween 2010 - The End of Pontiac
 

Jack,

All is not lost, in this mornings newspaper there is an article about
Chevy dropping another 500 dealers across the country.

Here in Fullerton the local Chevy dealer lost his franchise and he
had only been in business as a Chevy dealer since 1929!!!!

Now he is going to sell KIA's.......

Just more bad news before Tuesday's election fiasco??

Re: Holloween 2010 - The End of Pontiac
 

No, have one I hope to build one day. I'm loyal to my Pontiac because of sentimental feelings. I've had it since Im 13 years old. we have been through alot together. I've had my greatest racing moments in it. I just have some strong feelings against the company management. Not anybody who has worked there, or the product.

Re: Holloween 2010 - The End of Pontiac
 

The death of Pontiac, much like the death of Oldsmobile, is just another sign of how poorly GM has been managed over the last 4 decades.

One article mentioned a Pontiac dealer with a brand new Solstice in his showroom. It's still there because they want $32K for it! It's a $20K car, if they'd have sold them, and their Saturn twin for that, they'd have sold plenty. I like it, it's a cool car, but it ain't $32K worth of cool. It'd make a great little fun commuter car for 1-2 people. But for crying out loud, it's a small, 4 cylinder, two seat car, that is not terribly fast, nor capable of exceptional handling.

Between Roger and Herb, GM was completely screwed and nearly hopeless. And it hasn't gotten much better. A horrible business model, and an even worse development department, has brought them to the brink of disaster, and past, nearly to extinction, which is very possible.

When Oldsmobile and Pontiac died, they weren't making Oldsmobiles and Pontiacs, they were making over priced cookie cutter cars that were boring as crap. Buick is next.:eek:

I have several GM products, a Buick, a Pontiac, and an Oldsmobile among them. GM has not been run by car people in decades, and the car people that are at GM are locked in some back room in a hidden building, with their hands tied. Frikkin two ton Camaros, indeed. :rolleyes:

It will only get sadder, if GM is sold to the Chinese, and that IS possible. The only funny thing about that is the fear it strikes in the UAW.

Re: Holloween 2010 - The End of Pontiac
 

Couldn't have said it better! Alan, you are so right! Jim

Re: Holloween 2010 - The End of Pontiac
 

Jack says
Yesterday on Holloween Day General Motors ended all agreements with its dealer network of Pontiac agency's worldwide - after 84 years of "Excitement" they're gone ................ First Oldsmobile -- now Pontiac -- no more racing 'orphan' brands for me ............

This could very well happen!!!
It will only get sadder, if GM is sold to the Chinese, and that IS possible Just WHEN is the Question?

Re: Holloween 2010 - The End of Pontiac
 

Never mind just GM......One of these days, China is going to call in all our loans from them.....when we can't pay, word is they will take over ownership of New York City....that's not even remotely funny, but could be true......WJ

Re: Holloween 2010 - The End of Pontiac
 

One of the main reasons I don't gripe about the new cars.

Re: Holloween 2010 - The End of Pontiac
 

So, with the demise of Pontiac. I wonder if I should make my 10th anniversary Trans Am into an IHRA crate stocker, now? I will anyway.

Robert Swartz

Re: Holloween 2010 - The End of Pontiac
 

So no more GXPs in Pro-Stock?

:-) peace

Re: Holloween 2010 - The End of Pontiac
 

Re: Holloween 2010 - The End of Pontiac
 

I guess the Regal would work in PS

Re: Holloween 2010 - The End of Pontiac
 

Sorry to hear about Pontiac yesterday. My first fast ride in a car was my older cousin's Brand new 1965 Grand Prix with a 421 superduty tri power car. Will never forget that was what hooked me. Thanks for the memories.
Oldsmobile,
Saturn,
Plymouth,
AMC,
Studebaker,
Hudson,
Packard,
Dusenberg,
Aurburn

Re: Holloween 2010 - The End of Pontiac
 

For someone who owns two Pontiacs,[ 65GTO convertible and a 67 400 Firebird convertible] I hate to see Pontiac go but the fault was their own. For a company that sold excitement in the 50's, 60's,and part of the 70's, the last 30 years they built boring cars that were of questionable quality.

Re: Holloween 2010 - The End of Pontiac
 

http://www.auto-insight.us/wp-conten...uick-regal.jpg

Isn't that an Opel with Buick emblems?

Re: Holloween 2010 - The End of Pontiac
 

GM, Ford, and Chrysler all made the same mistake-they stopped building cars that young people without a lot of money found interesting and would be their first cars (remember when we were in our late teens and Ford, GM, and Chrysler made lots of these cars-we are still racing them). So kids turned to Honda and Toyota for these cars-you call them riceburners, the kids call them tuner cars. So finally Ford has come out with the Fiesta, Chevy the Cruze, and Chrysler will have a version of the Fiat 500. All of these cars have gotten good reviews and I expect my next car will be one of them when it comes time to replace my Civic (I own a comp car-i can't afford a Challenger or Camaro or Mustang). If the American brands want to survive, they need to start building cars that kids can afford to buy and want to buy in order to develop brand loyalty, although I'm not sure that will help since kids don't seem to have and loyalty to bands, much less brands-they do seem to love anything from Apple though, but then that could be because Apple tends to build good products.

Re: Holloween 2010 - The End of Pontiac
 

No different than a Holden with Pontiac emblems.

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Buick sells 6 X more cars in China then the U.S.,so it ain't hard to believe China could take over Goverment Motors Buick Div. for some debt !

Re: Holloween 2010 - The End of Pontiac
 

Bunkster -- You and Mr. Ed are hi-jacking my thread -- take it someplace else please ! ! !

Re: Holloween 2010 - The End of Pontiac
 

Mr. Matyas, I've hijacked nothing. This Fernandez character started this with his fetish of not knowing everyone's social security number and birth date. If you have a problem, direct your anger at him.

On target with your thread, a couple of other dates are memorable:

3/16/66: Last day a Studebaker was produced.

6/25/57: Last day a Hudson Hornet was produced.

Life goes on.

Re: Holloween 2010 - The End of Pontiac
 

If it weren't for the Chinese making Buick the number one import car the port-hole people would be crying and not the Chief.
http://struckbyenlightning.files.wor...ng-indian1.jpg

Re: Holloween 2010 - The End of Pontiac
 

How did GM management survived all those years? Brand loyalty is how! the minute they stopped giving what the consumer wanted and the more they gaved us those front wheel drive cars(since it made more sense for the bottom dollar) They damaged the confidence that consumer and their loyal customer had in them. Building a 4000lbs Camaro with all the options of a Cruise ship won't make new converts to Chevrolet either. I own a 1994 Pontiac Trans Am and an Oldsmobile 98 for my own personal cars and enjoy both reliable vehicles. Since I was a young man I always said : buy foreign cars get a foreign pension from them! We are buying too much Chinese junk as it is. Sorry Jack didn't mean to turn this into a political message. Thanks for the thread. Claude

Re: Holloween 2010 - The End of Pontiac
 

GM, Ford, and Chrysler all made the same mistake!
You are right on about the Big 3 giving up on the small car market for the trucks & suvs that made them more money. They gambled and lost the small market it will be a long time if evere before they get it back. Once the young kids are in a Honda it will be very hard to get them out.

GM, Ford, and Chrysler all made the same mistake-they
stopped building cars that young people without a lot of money found interesting and would be their first cars (remember when we were in our late teens and Ford, GM, and Chrysler made lots of these cars-we are still racing them). So kids turned to Honda and Toyota for these cars-you call them riceburners, the kids call them tuner cars. So finally Ford has come out with the Fiesta, Chevy the Cruze, and Chrysler will have a version of the Fiat 500. All of these cars have gotten good reviews and I expect my next car will be one of them when it comes time to replace my Civic (I own a comp car-i can't afford a Challenger or Camaro or Mustang). If the American brands want to survive, they need to start building cars that kids can afford to buy and want to buy in order to develop brand loyalty, although I'm not sure that will help since kids don't seem to have and loyalty to bands, much less brands-they do seem to love anything from Apple though, but then that could be because Apple tends to build good products.[/QUOTE]

Re: Holloween 2010 - The End of Pontiac
 

Wonder when GM will have one pickup and which will win GMC or Chevy? FrankChastain

Re: Holloween 2010 - The End of Pontiac
 

Im sitting here at my desk at the pontiac dealership that ive worked at for nearly 20 years with pictures of my pontiac race car hanging on the wall behind me watching guys take down the pontiac logos on the front of our buildings and now i have to answer my phone saying buick/gmc without mention of pontiac!!!
I came to work here and took a healthy cut in pay in 1991 because i loved my pontiacs,so whos having a bad day now!!
Scott fifield

Re: Holloween 2010 - The End of Pontiac
 

Rock -- You have no idea how right you really are ............

Second -- Some of you are missing the point of this thread -- its not about the Chinese , or about Buicks or even about the mismanagement of General Motors but about the passing of an iconic brand who served us up the Swiss Cheese Catalinas - Fuel Injected Bonnevilles - Tri-Powered GTO's - Ram Air 4 Judges - Firehawk LT4 Ram Air Firebirds and finally the 06 Ram Air LS2 GTO -- these and many more not mentioned were brought to us by some brave folks who worked at Pontiac Motor Division and brought our dreams to reality ............many thanks to all of them ! ! ! !

As you may tell from the below photo I've been playing with this brand awhile ....

Re: Holloween 2010 - The End of Pontiac
 

absolutely correct
scott fifield

Re: Holloween 2010 - The End of Pontiac
 

Very sad. it's like the death of a grand old friend. I'm so sorry Scott.
My very first car was an orange '68 Firebird. I saved for 2 years to buy it ($400.) How I loved that car.
:(

Re: Holloween 2010 - The End of Pontiac
 

Jack,i cant compete with that nor am i trying to but i bought my first pontiac in 1983 and my second pontiac i drove in high school is also the car ive raced for 22 years and its pontiac powered and always will be
even my golf cart is black with flames and pontiac emblems
scott fifield

Re: Holloween 2010 - The End of Pontiac
 

Maybe this line explains it, "the Beach Boys singing about their GTO"? I bet Ronnie is really pissed...

"The sound of the Beach Boys singing about their GTO faded a long time ago, but today Pontiac ends 84 years of automotive history and signals the end of an era. Once one of the world’s great automotive names, Pontiac fell out of favor with consumers. However, those who remember never fell out of love with the memory of Pontiac."

http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.ac...81474978657314

Re: Holloween 2010 - The End of Pontiac
 

This was really supposed to be the 2011 Saturn Aura.....why not an outcry from all you Saturn racers out there?!!!!:rolleyes:

Re: Holloween 2010 - The End of Pontiac
 

Jack, I DO understand and feel your pain. My youngest cousin, which I taught him his first words, Ford, Chevy, Camaro, Mustang, forsake d us all for Olds(442) and he was the first in our family. My Father with a 1965 Pontiac Tempest(purchased new) was the next. I will follow with my Cyclone when Mercury shuts the doors.

Bad part is I am building a shop for my Merc and Dad just gave me his Poncho. Now I will have 2 obsolete cars in there.

Steve