Pontiac: officially RIP?

http://money.cnn.com/2009/04/24/autos/pontiac_obit/index.htm?postversion=2009042414

Discuss.

I don't believe it

Damn Dave, I even put a neat title together for you involving forking grills.

I've heard personally from someone high in the company that Saturn and Pontiac are gone...

edit: after skimming the article it seems that Saturn being done is old news

The only problems with the G8 and GTO is that they were/are dated and rebadge. If put a new date on a an old peace of meat, its still an old peace of meat. It couldnt be that hard to redisghn some bumpers, lights and try to put some efort in to selling them to us Americans.

I can imagine GM middle management folks acting a bit like Chris Farly in Tommy Boy....

"....if you stick your head in a bulls butt.....wait, its your ass."

WOW

I don't think the GTO (which has been out of production for several years) or the G8 were/are outdated, but it's true they were/are rebadged Holdens. For that matter, the new Camaro is based on the same undercarriage as the Holden as well. It is unfortunate (I've owned Pontiacs all my life) but I think it's been a long time coming - when GM made all their product lines 'corporate' in the late 1970s it was probably the beginning of the end.

Every Pontiac out there just went up a little in value.

Wonder if Pontiac fans will turn rabid like AMC or Studebaker nutsos.

Appleseed wrote: Every Pontiac out there just went up a little in value. Wonder if Pontiac fans will turn rabid like AMC or Studebaker nutsos.

Oh yeah...let me rush that 6000LE onto eBay.

Appleseed wrote: Every Pontiac out there just went up a little in value. Wonder if Pontiac fans will turn rabid like AMC or Studebaker nutsos.

Seriously? Maybe for classic Pontiacs but newer ones, too? Personally I'm less likely to buy a used Pontiac, not more, and if lots of people think the same thing, it'll kill the value.

The GTO was at the end of its life cycle by the time it got here. The G8 is/was a fresh platform when it arrived on our shores, and it wast by accident, lessons learned by the GTO. I think part of the problem was calling 'that' car a GTO was the persona that the old GTOs have and what came over on the boats didnt really have that. I like the resurgence of rear wheel drive and it sucks that the front runner is GM and its about to hit the fan.

I wish they made economy cars rear wheel drive. Why does rwd mean leather and luxury or sports coupe? If the focus was rwd, I'd have a lot of them.

I know, I know, we are the few and the slushbox driving public are many.

Is my BABE Rally Fiero now worth more, or less? It will shoot flames soon...that must make it worth more!

Appleseed wrote: Wonder if Pontiac fans will turn rabid like AMC or Studebaker nutsos.

I can tell you're not a member of any Pontiac web boards. I've met more than one person with a Pontiac tattoo. This is a pretty hot topic right now.

Actually, most of the truly rabid fans believe that Pontiac ceased to exist way back in 1982, when the traditional Pontiac V8 went out of production. As far as they're concerned, anything newer than that is just a Chevy with an arrowhead on the grille.

Edit: in honor of what Pontiac used to be, I decided to change my avatar to a pic of my '61 Bonneville.

they should have brought back the firebird alongside the camaro, I bet that might of helped.

I am so tired of the new GTO vs old GTO argument. The original 64 GTO was nothing special to look at, and with the exception of the Judge sticker package, no GTO was flashy. They were meant to go fast and be unassuming. I can't believe that so many people think only of a bright orange 69 Judge as "the GTO" when they were made fun of for so long. You're telling me that a 350 or 400HP car with a real 6-Speed manual, RWD, good handling, and tremendous performance for the price isn't a GTO because it didn't look 40 years old already? In 2005 the C6 Vette came out with 400HP and the LS2. The GTO had the exact same engine and rating. That will never happen again (see 430HP Vette vs 426HP Camaro).

Pontiac was always the "innovator" of GM, often telling corporate to shove of. They had the turbine-powered Firebird show cars in the 50's, the original "Wide-Track", the Super Duty race cars, the original muscle car in the GTO, the rear-tranaxle Tempest, the original luxury GT in the Grand Am, the better of the f-cars with WS6 suspension packages, the unique Fiero, the Banshee show car, supercharging the Grand National V6 and making power available to the masses in FWD cars, the 4-seat Vette (new GTO), the M3 fighter G8, etc, etc. It will truly be a sad, sad day when Pontiac closes up. Probably the most significant closure since AMC.

P71 wrote: I am *so* tired of the new GTO vs old GTO argument. The original 64 GTO was *nothing* special to look at, and with the exception of the Judge sticker package, no GTO was flashy. They were meant to go fast and be unassuming. I can't believe that so many people think only of a bright orange 69 Judge as "the GTO" when they were made fun of for so long. You're telling me that a 350 or 400HP car with a real 6-Speed manual, RWD, good handling, and tremendous performance for the price isn't a GTO because it didn't look 40 years old already?

:golfclap: Give that man an interweb cookie.

I've got a 1967 LeMans convertible that I've owned since new. It's kinda beat, but anybody wanna buy it? Own a piece of history.

Sides, everyone knows the real modern muscle car was born when Oldsmobile put their new OHV V-8 in the 88.

I learned to drive in my mother's 1967 banana yellow Safari station wagon. Pontiacs will always hold a special place in my heart. Much like Plymouths and Oldsmobiles, they will now be considered orphans. Damn shame, that.

If GM was smart they'd make the Astra a Pontiac, drop the badge-engineered G3 and G5, and dump GMC instead.

Chevy has all the regular cars/trucks plus Corvette, Buick is the min-luxury Lexus/Infiniti/Acura competitor, and Caddy goes after MB/BMW/Audi, with Pontiac taking up the #4 slot as the real excitement division. Imagine this for a line up:

Solstice and GXP Turbo in 'Vert and Coupe form

G8 in V6, GT, and GXP versions

Astra in base, sport, and VXR Turbo (GXP Turbo?) form plus 3/hatch and 5/hatch configurations, they can even call it the G4

Vibe in base, GT, and GXP form (this car really needs an ECOTEC Turbo ala Cobalt SS)

G6 in the coupe, 4-door, 'Vert, and retractable hardtop forms like now but with a non-bucktooth GXP

They can work on updating the G6 (maybe using the Opel Insignia), making an all-GM Vibe, and maybe re-body a Camaro as the Firebird.

RIP: Oldsmobile Plymouth Pontiac

We continue to lose valued parts of our american car history.

There are Pontiac Buick GMC dealers whom have Pontiac as their bread and better.

P71 wrote: If GM was smart .....re-body a Camaro as the Firebird.

Amen, brother.

P71 wrote: The original 64 GTO was *nothing* special to look at, and with the exception of the Judge sticker package, no GTO was flashy.

Says the man with a hardon for cop cars...

Shawn

GM should be shot for stupidity. im not a huge ol pontiac fan or anything but they should have shut down gmc to save money. do we really need 3 iterations of a suburban. at least pontiac had two decent cars and of course the solstice. times are a changin thats for sure. maybe this will open the door to the guy building cars in his shed who knows. be positive..lol

TIGMOTORSPORTS wrote: RIP: Oldsmobile Plymouth Pontiac We continue to lose valued parts of our american car history. There are Pontiac Buick GMC dealers whom have Pontiac as their bread and better.

It has been a long time coming. I can't think of any of these brands having a truly unique platform since at least the 80's. Until the last few years, Pontiac didn't seem to have its own identity... it was simply that "other" GM brand.

Hmmm... I think this sort of thing happened in Europe didn't it (specifically Britain)? Be prepared for the Big three to become mere shadows of their former selves. Out of any car (except for the Cobalt SS/T) from GM, any car I'd buy would be a Pontiac.

As for Saturn, only really good thing they had going for them was the Astra, which GM screwed up quite nicely bringing it here.