WHAT HAPPENED TO THE PONTIAC?
The Pontiac automobile was first introduced in 1926 and became part of the General Motors line up of cars. General Motors then had five divisions. Cadillac, Buick, Oldsmobile, Pontiac and Chevrolet. Pontiac quickley became popular and by 1933 was one of G.M's dominant divisions. The car was a nice fit in the G.M. line up a couple of steps above the Chevy and a notch below the Oldsmobile.
The years went on and Pontiac was a good selling car. The top of the line was the Star Chief until 1957. In 1957 Pontiac introduced the Bonneville The Bonneville was named after the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah where the new model Pontiac had been tested. The Bonneville was a new, bigger and more exciting version of the Pontiac.
The new very long and sharp looking Pontiac Bonneville Convertible became very popular, The price of this car was about $3600.00 in 1958. That would make it close to $34000.00 today.
Pontiacs became one of my favorite cars. In the mid 1950's my family had a new Pontiac. We went on a trip in it to visit my fathers family in New York.
A decade went by. I was now in my very early 20's. I was going to buy my first new car. My parents had given me the 1962 Chevy Impala they owned the year before. I decided on the Pontiac Tempest. This was a mid-size Pontiac that had come out in the early 60's and had become one of the more popular cars in its class.
I went to Packer Pontiac a well known car dealer on Livernois near Seven Mile Road in Detroit. I purchased a two-door gold Pontiac Tempest. {Gold was a very popular color that year.} The car cost $2700.00. I traded in the Chevy. They paid me $800.00 for the Chevy Impala. I added $400.00 and financed $1500.00 at my bank. The loan was for 36 months. Monthly payment was $49.00. {I paid the loan off in 35 months.} I walked into the bank and gave them a check for two payments in the thirty fifth month. I wanted the bank to know they could count on me.
Three years later [I was not married yet} My parents bought the Pontiac Tempest from me for $800.00. and gave it to my younger sister. They said since I had gotten $ 800.00 for the Chevy, they would now pay me $800.00 for the Pontiac Tempest for my sister, and everyone would be even. I know this sounds like a boring and complicated financial transaction, but I thought you might be interested in how high finance worked in the 1960's.
I got married in the early 1970's and we had a variety of makes and model cars through the 1980's. In 1992 I went back to the Pontiac. This time we were at a dealer in Southfield. We purchased a 1992 Pontiac Grand Prix. This was a mid-size Pontiac with a kind of sporty look.
We like the car and three years later we went back to the Southfield Pontiac Dealer. This time we stepped up a 1995 Pontiac Bonneville S.L.E. {sport luxury edition} A very sharp car. This car was all black with a thick black leather interior. We liked Pontiacs and we went back again and got the top of the line 1998 Bonneville. A really nice car. This one silver with gray leather interior along with a sunroof.
The early 2000's arrived and the car industry was changing. The American car manufacturer had been facing competition from foreign cars for a number of years. They had to make changes. General Motors re-designed the Pontiacs, The look of the new Bonneville did not have the same sizzle.. Sales of Pontiacs began to slide. Many Pontiac buyers felt it had become another version of the Chevy. They were saying many of the parts used to build the Chevy were being used on the Pontiac. The Pontiac division was losing money.
The problems for G.M. did not go away. In 2008 the financial crisis hit. General Motors needed to look to the Federal Government for a bailout. To get the help they needed they would have to restructure. Pontiac was no longer what it once had been. The division would have to be closed.
The era of the Pontiac a very popular car for 84 years and a personal favorite of mine came to an end in April of 2010.
WRITTEN BY
RONNY TURETT
born in the 40's/raised in the50's
Thanks for reading my essays. I hope you enjoy them and will tell others about my blog.
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