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Just announced - GM is closing down the Pontiac brand, with a loss of 21,000 jobs.
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Good riddance, I say. Drove a couple of them in California. Felt conned every time I even looked at them. Not sporty at all, plenty of hype, plenty of gimmicks and little by way of engineering excellence.
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"Good riddance" Spare a thought for 21000 households !
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I know they're based on Chevrolets and other GM ranges, also they've done some blooper cars, but the name is iconic.
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Indeed it is. Remember the GTO, Grand Prix, Firebird, etc etc.
Just because most cars, whatever the 'brand', have become faceless, characterless blobs doesn't mean we should forget the good times...
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There was an early sixties big Pontiac saloon that was quite handsome for its day, looked like a contemporary West End lady's hairdo with lots of that stiffening lacquer... A sky-blue example, lhd of course, used to live round the corner from me in West Hampstead, just as I acquired my 425cc Citroen Bijou too... damn, I wish I hadn't remembered that...
Until the marque went 'sporting' though it was a very nondescript lower-middle class US thingy, Buick without the side if you like... neither Cadillac luxury nor Oldsmobile muscle nor Chevrolet FU no-nonsense...
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Doesn't surprise me really. In the last few years both Oldsmobile and Plymouth have also disappeared. Too much duplication in the ranges I guess.
GM's US lineup does now make some sense though :
Chevrolet - value
Buick - mid range
Cadillac - luxury
GMC - trucks
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I thought Pontiac was the younger sportier brand. A bit of a shame the name is going: I remember being taken for a ride in a Firebird GTA in Florida in the late 80s and being absolutely blown away by the noise and shove. The whole GM mess is a terrible shame but IMHO American build quality is awful and most of the people I know out there are switching to European or Jap brands.
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At least no ones posted, "it'll be Vauxhall next".....
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It's a bit like the situation with Rover. Hopelessly uncompetitive and doomed to failure it may have been, but that's still a lot of people out of work, and a lot of families facing real hardship and uncertainty. My thoughts go out to them.
I reckon some of the current range is incredibly good looking. The Solstice convertible being one example - it's a gorgeous little car.
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gorgeous little car.
Little... ay, there's the rub... people will be poncing around in 2 litre Cadillacs next week if they aren't already... mumble, groan...
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well if i get offered vauxhall for a fiver with my 3 mates i might just take it on
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"At least no ones posted, "it'll be Vauxhall next"....."
I did think about it. But as long as the numbers still add up, GM (or whoever may buy GM Europe if it comes to that) will keep it going I reckon. It's still more of the same badge 'engineering' though isn't it.
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R4 News reported that the European arm is being "looked at" next month. Seems that GM is to be nationalised to all intents and purposes.
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I reckon some of the current range is incredibly good looking. The Solstice convertible being one example - it's a gorgeous little car.
My friend is lucky enough to own one of the very few of these in the UK (still running on it's Florida plates, it's stunning and I've never been in anything with so much power through the rear wheels, it spins them freely under almost any circumstances if you want it to...
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Best Pontiac, 1988 Fiero GT way ahead of it's time, lotus tuned suspension, cheap to buy, run and parts galore. Sadly pretty rare now the 88 version.
Ironicly the 2.5 standard Fiero was a terrible car.
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The decision to close down Pontiac makes good long term business sense and was to be expected.
GM needs to rationalise it's product range and closing down complete production facilities will realise much bigger savings than scattered layoffs. It's a disaster for the employees, suppliers and local economies though.
Pontiac was the prime target because all of it's products are higher priced re-bodied and rebadged models from other companies within GM. Once the fuss has died down it will be very easy for GM to resurrect the Pontiac brand by producing the Pontiac models alongside their Chevy, Saturn and Holden equivalents.
Lud said:
>There was an early sixties big Pontiac saloon that was quite handsome for its day,
A Parisienne perhaps?
Kevin...
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Parisienne perhaps?
I do believe so, yes...
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I read that the Opel division is one of the most healthy within GM so I doubt Vauxhall will go but if they do go I am sure they will be remembered for their long life camshafts and super reliable hand brakes...
I do think it is important that GM retains Opel but it is looking more likely it will get in the hands of the chineese or something.
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I always liked the Pontiac Fiero too. Looked like a little Ferrari. I suppose they will resurrect the name if/when things improve.
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It really is a shame about Pontiac (Oldsmobile too), but I honestly can't think of much in the last 10-15 years that really stood out from them. Without question there were some great, classic Pontiacs in the past--late Sixties Grand Prix, their early Seventies large sedans, the Tempest, GTO, and others, but by now there really isn't much left of the brand.
It's sobering to see GM cut its size by half, roughly, once Saturn, Pontiac, Hummer and Saab are gone. I would have thought them indestructible.
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I doubt Vauxhall will go but if they do go I am sure they will be remembered for their super reliable hand brakes...
>>
????????
Am i missing something here, they are no more or less reliable than anyone elses.
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Yes you are. Do a search on here for Corsa 1.2 camshafts and you will see. The thread is very long and there are a lot of angry customers out there...
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As a young viewer of 'The Rockford Files', I have a soft spot for the Firebird that Jim Rockford used to drive. Didn't know anything about its dynamics at the time, but it looked great.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rockford_Files#Firebird_...t
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...I have a soft spot for the Firebird that Jim Rockford used to drive...
I liked the look of Frank Cannon's car - at least I knew I'd fit in it.:)
A quick Google suggests it was a Lincoln Mark2 and they were rubbish.
Couldn't care less, bet it would turn a few heads in the supermarket car park.
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Pontiac GTO: would anyone have one of these over a Hemi Chrysler?
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Yes you are. Do a search on here for Corsa 1.2 camshafts and you will see. The thread is very long and there are a lot of angry customers out there...
The same could be said about the diesel fuel pump problems on Fords a while ago on here as well.
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A real shame about Pontiac, another American car marque with a great history gone forever.
Pontiac made some damn fine cars over the years, and it saddens me that there are some on here who see fit to snigger at the demise of Pontiac and the difficulty that US car manufacturers are in at the moment. At least they have a car industry though, which is more than can be said for the UK.
It amuses me when I read about bad build quality regarding American cars, usually by those who have never actually owned one and are just going off heresay.
The truth is that they are well engineered, tough, reliable and built to last, but that is only from my personal experience. A quick look through the Technical Q & A section on this forum shows that Euro and Jap cars are somewhat problematic to say the least, and as for what the repair bills must be for some of them I shudder to think. An 8.2 Cadillac would be cheap to run in comparison.
Frank Cannons' car was a 1969 Lincoln Continental Mk. III.
The 1972 Continental Mk. IV was the first car to have anti-lock brakes and a heated windscreen I believe.
Regards, cc
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Yes, but i am on about the "hand brakes"
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Yes but i am on about the "hand brakes"
I'm guessing he's referring to the recent problems that the Vectra & Sgnum had.
tinyurl.com/ce7nu5 (Links to the Vosa recall website)
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Indeed there has beem more media attention to the hand brake failures than the camshaft failures which I find off as both are dangerious.
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Indeed there has beem more media attention to the hand brake failures which I find off as it is dangerious.
I've never understood why so many people rely solely on a cable to stop their £xxxxx motor from running away, when it takes all but a second to leave it in gear as well when parking the car. In fact it's mentioned in the handbook to also leave in gear, but how many people actually bother to RTFM?
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Read The Flipping Manual ;o)
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Vauxhall can be remembered for broken camshafts. hehe
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Reminds me of a machine my father owned. He bought a new Pontiac Silver Streak 8 in 1950. Built like a tank with this huge straight 8 cyl. motor. Could always see him coming home at night because the indian head hood ornament glowed bright amber. Still ran well when he sold it 14 years later.
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