Pontiac, one of the most successful muscle car brands ever, has finally bitten the dust. General Motors, after watching Pontiac’s market share and profitability drain away over the last few decades decided last year that the brand was to finish, and one year later, its finally happened.
Pontiac came into being way back in 1926, and through the following years gradually built its iconic cars in to the epitome of everything a muscle car should be. Pontiac was responsible for several of the most memorable, and successful, muscle cars ever made, including the GTP, the Bonneville and of course the Firebird TransAm, made famous throughout the World by Burt Reynolds 1970′s movie Smoky and the Bandit.
Pontiac’s sales hit their peak way back in the 1960′s reaching almost 1 million sales in 1968, however those days were never to be seen again and over the following decades sales showed a continued decline and finally Pontiac was put out of its misery by GM after its much publicised financial meltdown and subsequent bailout.
Here though, we want to celebrate some of Pontiac’s finer moments, so here are a few of Pontiac’s best ever cars.
Pontiac Star Chief Convertible
Pontiac Star Chief Convertible
A great looking 1950′s classic, the Pontiac Star Chief was one of Pontiac’s finer moments during its ascendancy, ever reliable and blessed with fantastic looks, the Star Chief was much sort after, and with a usefully powerful V8, the car never lack pace.
Pontiac Bonneville 1967
Pontiac Bonneville 1967
The Pontiac Bonneville was one of the longest running models ever, starting from 1957 all the way through to 2005. In hindsight Pontiac should probably have left the name for the great models of the 50′s and 60′s and then stopped using it, the cars baring the Bonneville name gradually got less desirable, and less attractive as the decades rolled on, generally the models of the 80′s onwards are best (and easily) forgotten, but the early examples will stay in the history of motoring as fine examples of cars of their time.
Pontiac GTO - The Judge
Pontiac GTO - The Judge
The GTO was one of the most striking cars to appear from the Pontiac stable. Blessed with powerful engines and styling to ensure you get noticed, the car was a major success. The model above is “The Judge”, a special version of the GTO released during the cars second generation era, and boasting greatly increased power, uprated handling components, and some not so subtle styling tweaks in the form of hood air scoops and tail spoilers. A classic, and much sort after, the GTO in all its forms remains one of the best looking cars to ever be produced.
Pontiac Firebird Trans-Am
Pontiac Firebird Trans-Am
Finally the Pontiac Firebird Trans-Am, this car more or less needs no introduction to anybody born in the early 70′s or before, its presence in the Smokey and the Bandit movie did a fair job of stealing the lime light from Burt Reynolds, and some would say the car overshadowed his performance and was the real star of the movie. Classic lines, awesome engines and the famous T-Top make this car one to remember and one that will always be towards the top of any muscle car list.
So there you have it, a few examples of what made Pontiac such a great car maker and a success for many decades before biting the dust, and while there will be no more cars produced with the iconic Pontiac name, its history and automotive successes will never be forgotten, RIP Pontiac.
