Pontiac (make of car)

Pontiac
legal form	Division / brand
founding	1899
resolution	2010
Reason for dissolution	Restructuring
Seat	Detroit , Michigan , United States;
Branch	Automobiles
Website	www.pontiac.com

Pontiac logo

Chief Pontiac on a 1948 Pontiac

Pontiac was a brand of the US automobile company General Motors . Traditionally, sporty vehicles in the medium price segment were manufactured under this name, which were intended primarily to appeal to younger customers. After the bankruptcy of General Motors in 2009 and the associated restructuring of the Group's model range, the traditional “Pontiac” brand was given up at the end of 2010.

history

The name "Pontiac" was first used by the Pontiac Spring & Wagon Works , which had existed since 1906 . This name goes back to Chief Pontiac , a chief of the Ottawa Indians who was a leader in the fight against the British colonial rule of the time in the 18th century. The 1907 Oakland Motor Company and the Pontiac Spring & Wagon Works Company merged to form the Oakland Motor Car Company in November 1908 . General Motors acquired half of the company's shares in January 1909 and then acquired the remainder in the summer, following the death of Edward P. Murphy, founder of Oakland. The vehicles were manufactured between 1908 and 1926 under the Oakland brand. The first Pontiac brand vehicle was released by General Motors in 1926 as a cheaper variant of the Oakland Motor Car. Alongside LaSalle , Marquette and Viking, Pontiac was one of four new GM brands designed to fill gaps in the model range. The other brands were abandoned, while Pontiac completely replaced the Oakland brand from 1931.

For the next 25 years, Pontiac represented the middle class in the General Motors group. This placed Pontiac above Chevrolet , where the inexpensive entry-level models were offered, but below the upscale brands Oldsmobile , Buick and Cadillac . In the mid-1950s, Pontiac came under pressure when Chevrolet offered more luxurious cars and a V8 engine for the first time. It was not possible to move upwards, as the corporate brands Oldsmobile and Buick were already there.

Pontiac was then positioned as the sports brand of General Motors. The models Bonneville (1957), LeMans (1961), Grand Prix (1962), GTO (1964) and Firebird (1967) already showed the sporty claim by their name.

This concept was very successful in the 1960s. The GTO in particular became a real trendsetter. In the 1970s, the general conditions deteriorated. Stricter emissions regulations led to a decline in engine performance, which was a particular hit on Pontiac as a sporty brand. The 1973/74 oil crisis led to a collapse in demand for high-displacement cars. Pontiac responded with the introduction of smaller models: Ventura 1971, Astre 1974, finally the T1000 1981, the smallest Pontiac that had been built up to that point. With these cars the brand identity was lost because they were all only slightly modified Chevrolet models. The T1000 was even based on the German Opel Kadett City .

In the 1980s and 1990s, Pontiac did not succeed in building on the success of the 1960s, despite various attempts. The strict rationalization in the General Motors group meant that the model range of all group brands was strongly standardized. Most Pontiac models of this era were just equipment variants of models that could be bought in a very similar form as Chevrolet, Oldsmobile or Buick. One of the few exceptions was the mid-engined sports car Pontiac Fiero (1983 to 1988), but this suffered from the unsuitable four-cylinder engine for a sports car and was not a success.

As part of its restructuring, GM as the parent company ceased production of vehicles of the Pontiac brand at the end of 2009 and announced the complete closure of the “Pontiac” brand by the end of 2010; GM will now concentrate on its core brands GMC , Buick , Cadillac and Chevrolet . On November 25, 2009, a white Pontiac G6 was made as the last model in the USA , which went into regular trade; only the production of the Pontiac G3 in South Korea continued until the end of 2009.

Models

Timeline

Timeline of Pontiac models since 1945
Type	1940s					1950s										1960s										1970s										1980s										1990s										2000s										2010
Type	5	6th	7th	8th	9	0	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	0	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	0	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	0	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	0	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	0	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	0
Small car																																									Firefly ^[CDN]										Firefly ^[CDN]										Wave ^[CDN]			G3
Compact class																																								Sunburst ^[CDN]
																														Astre							T1000 / 1000 / Acadian ^[CDN]							LeMans															Vibe						Vibe
																															Sunbird						J2000 / 2000 Sunbird / Sunbird														Sunfire												G5
Middle class																											Ventura / Phoenix									Phoenix					Grand Am							Grand Am							Grand Am					G6
																	Tempest											Grand Am					Grand Am					6000
	torpedo																Tempest LeMans			Tempest LeMans / LeMans														LeMans				Bonneville						Grand Prix									Grand Prix							Grand Prix
upper middle class	Streamliner																	Grand Prix							Grand Prix				Grand Prix					Grand Prix																														G8
					Chieftain										Catalina / Laurentian ^[CDN]																												Bonneville					Bonneville								Bonneville
															Ventura / Star Chief								Executive				Catalina Brougham
Upper class															Bonneville / Grand Safari																							Parisienne / Safari
Upper class																										Grand Ville
SUV																																																									Aztec					Torrent
Van																																														Trans sports							Trans Sport / Montana								Montana
Sports car / coupe																							Firebird			Firebird												Firebird											Firebird											GTO
Sports car / coupe																				GTO				GTO						GTO										Fiero
Roadster																																																														Solstice
[CDN] Mainly offered in Canada Vehicle from Pontiac or GM from Suzuki or CAMI (JV from GM and Suzuki) from Isuzu from GM-Daewoo from GM-Holden by NUMMI (joint venture between GM and Toyota)

construction time	model series	annotation
Small car
1974-1977	Pontiac Astre	First small model from Pontiac based on the Chevrolet Vega .
1981-1987	Pontiac T1000	Based on the Chevrolet Chevette or Opel Kadett C .
1984-1991, 1994-2000	Pontiac Firefly	Modification of the Suzuki Swift .
1988-1993	Pontiac LeMans	Revised Opel Kadett E .
2002-2008	Pontiac Wave	Final score on the T200 and T250 platforms , see Daewoo Kalos and Chevrolet Aveo .
2009	Pontiac G3	Based on the Chevrolet Aveo by GM Daewoo .
Compact class
1979-1984	Pontiac Phoenix	Sister model of the Chevrolet Citation .
1981-1994	Pontiac J2000 from 1985 Pontiac Sunbird	Sister model of the Chevrolet Cavalier , like this based on the Opel Ascona C emerged.
1984-1988	Pontiac sunburst	The Sunburst was derived from the Isuzu Gemini and later also offered as Geo Spectrum.
1995-2005	Pontiac Sunfire	The Sunfire replaced the Sunbird from 1995. Body versions: notchback, coupe and convertible.
2002-2009	Pontiac vibe	A compact crossover model.
2004-2009	Pontiac G5	In Canada the G5 was called the Pontiac Pursuit and in Mexico the Pontiac G4 . He was the successor to the Sunfire. However, no open variant was offered by the G5.
Middle class
1960-1970	Pontiac Tempest	For the first time in a long time, a slightly smaller car was offered from 1960. Initially with a 3.2 liter four-cylinder engine, later also with 6 and 8 cylinders.
1961-1981	Pontiac LeMans	Initially, the LeMans was the luxury version of the Tempest. After this model was discontinued in 1970, the entire series bore this name.
1962-2008	Pontiac Grand Prix	It was introduced in 1962 as a so-called “personal luxury car” and was only available as a coupé. In 1988 the fifth generation came on the market, with which the Grand Prix is assigned to the middle class. In addition, a four-door notchback sedan was added as an additional body.
1973-2004	Pontiac Grand Am	The first two model generations were sporty versions of the mid-range Le Mans model at the time. In contrast, the vehicles offered from 1985 to 2004 (according to American standards) belonged to the lower middle class, which functioned as the successor to the Phoenix.
1975-1980	Pontiac Sunbird	The first Sunbird was a parallel model to the Chevrolet Monza, from which it only differed in details, and the Buick Skyhawk and the Oldsmobile Starfire were identical. All models mentioned were based on the General Motors H platform.
1981-1990	Pontiac 6000	Successor to the LeMan, which was converted to front-wheel drive. In addition to the coupé, there was also a sedan and a station wagon. Its sister model was the Chevrolet Celebrity .
2004-2009	Pontiac G6	The G6 was a mid-range car that was introduced to the North American auto market in the fall of 2004. It replaced the Grand Am and, in addition to the sedan and coupé, was even available as a convertible. In November 2009, the entire production of the Pontiac brand with a G6 was ended after 103 years.
Full size
1935-1951	Pontiac Silver Streak
1949-1958	Pontiac Chieftain
1953-1965	Pontiac Star Chief
1955-1970	Pontiac Executive
1956-1958	Pontiac Super Chief
1957-2005	Pontiac Bonneville	The Bonneville was a model built for almost 50 years. Bonneville specifically referred to a high-performance convertible produced in small numbers (1957), a series of full-size models from Pontiac, which in most years marked the top of the model range (1958 to 1981) and a smaller mid-range series with rear-wheel drive as the successor to the Pontiac Le Mans (1981 to 1986) and a large sedan with front-wheel drive (1987 to 2005).
1958-1981	Pontiac Catalina	The Catalina was Pontiac's classic large car for over two decades.
1959-1977	Pontiac Ventura
1970-1988	Pontiac Grand Safari	large luxurious station wagon
1971-1975	Pontiac Grand Ville	Top model of the full-size series, arranged above the Bonneville. Released in 1976 in favor of the Bonneville Brougham.
1982-1986	Pontiac Parisienne	Originally, the Parisienne was a Pontiac model that was sold exclusively in Canada. Since the late 1950s, Pontiac has not marketed the models offered in the USA there, but vehicles that combined Chevrolet technology and Pontiac bodies, whereby the technical relationship between the full-size cars of the two brands has always been close. These hybrid models usually also had their own names, for example Pontiac Laurentian (the Canadian counterpart to the Catalina) or Pontiac Parisienne (counterpart to the Bonneville).
1986-1989	Pontiac Safari	In 1986 Pontiac took the large, rear-wheel drive models of the Parisienne series out of the range, but continued to offer the station wagon under the name Safari. The Safari was the parallel model of the Chevrolet Caprice Kombi, Buick Electra Estate Wagon and Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser. The station wagon was available in a single model version with a five-liter V8 and a four-speed automatic transmission until the summer of 1989. In three years, 23,478 units were produced in the Canadian plant in Oshawa.
2007-2009	Pontiac G8	Last upper-class model from Pontiac, of which a station wagon and even a sporty truck were actually planned. Due to the financial crisis, this model, which is otherwise reminiscent of old virtues, came too late and had to be discontinued after almost two years.
Sport utility vehicle
2001-2005	Pontiac Aztek	An unusually designed SUV was to establish Pontiac in this class as well. However, this did not succeed, which means that production of the Aztek was phased out in 2005.
2005-2009	Pontiac Torrent	Successor of the Aztec. The torrent was powered by a 3.4-liter 3400 Vortec V6 engine, which is also used in the Chevrolet Equinox. The engine has four valves per cylinder, has an output of 138 kW (188 hp) and is made entirely of aluminum. The Torrent was optionally available with all-wheel drive, but the standard equipment was front-wheel drive.
Vans
1990-1999	Pontiac Trans Sport	The Pontiac Trans Sport and its sister models Chevrolet Lumina APV and Oldsmobile Silhouette were a trio of vans from the US automobile company General Motors, which came on the market in 1990. In Europe too, attempts were made to be successful, but this failed due to poor body rigidity and quality problems.
1999-2008	Pontiac Montana	Successor to the Trans Sport. Montana initially called an option package with a special fairing and wheel equipment. It was not until the generation introduced in 2005 that it was a completely new vehicle.
Sports car
1964-1974	Pontiac GTO	A muscle car and therefore also a trendsetter. From 1964 to 1971 the GTO was a separate model series derived from Le Mans . It was only available as a two-door hardtop, cabriolet (convertible) and pillared coupé (with B-pillar) and large-volume V8 engines. 1964, 1972 and 1973 an equipment variant of the Le Mans (Tempest, A platform) and 1974 sports version of the Pontiac Ventura (X platform).
1967-2002	Pontiac Firebird	The Firebird was a successful sports car for over 30 years, offered as a coupé and convertible and represented the sister model of the Chevrolet Camaro (F platform). Between 1982 and 1986, the third generation (see photo) played a prime role as a talking car called KITT in the television series Knight Rider . In August 2002 production of the Firebird was discontinued due to the ever-decreasing sales figures.
1983-1988	Pontiac Fiero	A mid-engine sports car that is small by American standards . The models built include the 2M4 (stands for 2 seats, mid-engine, 4 cylinders), 2M6, SE, GT, Formula. There was a notchback and a hatchback variant, the latter not being introduced until 1986. All models had pop-up headlights.
2003-2006	Pontiac GTO (2003)	The new GTO was built in Australia and is a sister model of the Holden Monaro . The reinterpretation of the former classic was unable to build on old successes.
2005-2009	Pontiac Solstice	A relatively small sports car with a front engine. The sister models were the Saturn Sky and the Opel GT . In contrast to these, there was also a coupé of the Solstice, but it was only built for half a year.