Pontiac (automobile)
Pontiac, or formally the Pontiac Motor Division of General Motors, was an American automobile brand owned, manufactured, and commercialized by General Motors. It was originally introduced as a companion make for GM's more expensive line of Oakland automobiles.[3] Pontiac quickly overtook Oakland in popularity and supplanted its parent entirely by 1933, in turn establishing its position as one of GM's dominant divisions.
This article is about the automobile brand. For the 18th-century Odawa leader, see Pontiac (Odawa leader). For other uses, see Pontiac.Company type
1926[1]
October 31, 2010
Closed upon General Motors Chapter 11 reorganization
Detroit, Michigan, United States
Canada, United States, Mexico, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Middle East
Oakland Motor Car
(1925–1931)
General Motors
(1931–2010) [2]
Sold in the United States, Canada, and Mexico by GM, Pontiac came to represent affordable, practical transportation with an emphasis on performance. The division’s name stems from the Odawa chieftain Pontiac, who led an indigenous uprising around the city of Detroit from 1763 to 1766.
In the hierarchy of GM's five divisions, it slotted above Chevrolet but below Oldsmobile, Buick, and Cadillac. Starting with the 1959 models, marketing was focused on selling the lifestyle that the car's ownership promised rather than the car itself.[4] By emphasizing its "Wide Track" design, Pontiac billed itself as the "performance division" of General Motors that marketed cars with the "we build excitement" tag line.[5][6][7][8][9]
Facing financial problems and restructuring efforts, GM announced during the 2008 financial crash that it would discontinue the Pontiac brand by the end of 2010. The last Pontiac-badged cars were built in December 2009; the final Pontiac was a white G6 that was assembled in January 2010.[10] Franchise agreements for Pontiac dealers expired on October 31, 2010, leaving GM to focus on its four remaining North American brands: Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac, and GMC.[11]
Canadian/export models[edit]
Pontiacs were built in Canada by Canadians in GM Canada with Canadian raw materials beginning in 1926, with factories in Oshawa, Ontario, and Regina, Saskatchewan. The models they produced were largely the same as their American counterparts. Canadian cars had Canadian oak in the bodies, not peach wood like the U.S. cars. The first significantly different model was the "224", introduced in 1937 with a Canadian-built 224 cu in (3.7 L) version of the then-new Chevrolet straight-six. After 1940 the 239 cu in (3.9 L) Pontiac Flathead Six was used, but otherwise, the Canadian Pontiacs shared chassis and body parts with the Chevrolets as a measure to reduce the cost of production for the relatively small Canadian market.
After the Second World War, the Pontiac brand continued to be very popular, and the product line was further harmonized with the Canadian Chevrolet products. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, the U.S. market embraced eight-cylinder engines and Pontiacs equipped with the straight-eight engine were popular, but in Canada, the straight-six continued to be the popular offering. Beginning in 1953 the model lineup consisted of the base "Pathfinder", mid-range "Pathfinder Deluxe", and top-of-the-line "Laurentian". The chassis was shared with the Chevrolet, and the interiors were a combination of Chevy and Pontiac parts.
By 1955, the U.S. and Canadian Pontiac lines had diverged almost completely, with the US models positioned as "mid-market" cars available exclusively with the new 287 cu in (4.7 L) Pontiac V8, while in Canada the brand was still positioned as an entry-level marque. The Canadian dealership lines were either Chevrolet-Oldsmobile-Cadillac or Pontiac-Buick-GMC; small towns usually had only one or the other, but not both, so it was imperative to keep Pontiac prices competitive with Plymouth and Ford (and Chevrolet). Producing two entirely separate engine series would have increased costs, so the 261 cu in (4.3 L) Chevrolet straight-six replaced the Pontiac Flathead Six, and the new 265 cu in (4.3 L) Chevrolet V8 replaced the old Pontiac straight-eight.
In 1958, the "Strato-Chief" replaced the "Pathfinder Deluxe", and in 1959 the line was reorganized with "Laurentian" in mid-range and the new "Parisienne" inserted at the top (similar to the U.S. market Bonneville). Even after the Canadian market was opened by the signing of the 1965 Autopact the Canadian full-sized Pontiac lineup—and the practice of building them on Chevrolet chassis with Chevrolet engines—continued mostly unchanged into the 1980s (although the Strato-Chief was dropped in 1970).
GM Canada also built right-hand drive versions of their Pontiacs for export to Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa as knock-down kits until the late 1960s. The interiors of these cars more closely resembled the equivalent Chevrolets than the Canadian market cars did, as the Chevys had already been designed for right-hand drive.
When the compact Chevrolet Corvair and Pontiac Tempest were introduced in 1960 the Corvair was built in Canada, but the Tempest was not. Importing the Tempest into Canada from the United States was not a viable option as the duties that would have had to have been paid would have substantially increased the price of what was supposed to be the least-expensive Pontiac. Tentative plans to build a Pontiac version of the Corvair were scrapped when the more conventional Chevy II was introduced in late-1961. GM Canada developed a new brand exclusively for the Canadian market for their rebadged Chevy IIs, the Acadian. Acadians were sold alongside the rest of the Pontiac lineup at Pontiac-Buick-GMC dealerships until 1971. When the mid-sized Chevrolet Chevelle was introduced in 1964 it was sold in Canada as the Acadian Beaumont ('Beaumont' was formerly the top-level trim of Chevy II-based Acadian), and in 1966 Beaumont became its own marque. The Beaumont-badged Chevelles were in production in Canada until 1969.
Even after the 1965 Autopact (and Canada–United States Free Trade Agreement that replaced it in 1988), the practice of building Pontiac-badged Chevrolets for sale at Canadian dealers continued until the brand was discontinued in 2010. Such cars include the Astre (based on the Vega), the Acadian (based on the Chevette), the Sunburst (based on the Spectrum), the Firefly (based on the Sprint), the Tempest (based on the Corsica), the Sunrunner (based on the Tracker), the Pursuit (based on the Cobalt; later badged as the "G5 Pursuit" and simply "G5"), and the Wave (based on the Aveo; later badged the "G3 Wave" and "G3").
Pontiac New Series 6-28 8240 2-door Sedan 1928
Pontiac Big Six Series 6-29 8930 4-Door Landaulette 1929
Pontiac Series 603 34318 Convertible Coupé 1934
Pontiac De Luxe Series 26 2611 2-door Touring Coach 1937
Pontiac De Luxe Series 26 2611 2-door Touring Sedan 1938
Pontiac De Luxe Convertible Coupé 1939
Pontiac Streamliner Station Wagon 1948
Pontiac Chieftain Catalina 1953
Pontiac Chieftain Catalina 1953
Pontiac Star Chief 1954
Pontiac Laurentian Convertible 1956
Pontiac Star Chief 1957
Pontiac Bonneville Convertible 1957
Pontiac 2119 Tempest 1961
Pontiac GTO 1966
Pontiac Fiero 1988
Pontiac Grand Am Sedan 1996–1998
Pontiac Bonneville 2003
Pontiac Grand Prix GTP 2005
Pontiac GTO 2006
Pontiac G8 2008
