Pontiac is a marque of automobile produced by
General Motors and sold in the United States,
Canada and Mexico from 1926 to the present. In the GM brand
lineup, Pontiac is a mid-level brand featuring a sportier, high-performance driving experience for a reasonable price, and its
advertisements appeal to younger customers.
Pre-war years: 1926-1942
1936 Pontiac Master Six Coupe
The Pontiac brand was introduced by General Motors in 1926 as the 'companion' marque to GM's Oakland Motor Car line. The Pontiac name was first used in 1906 by the Pontiac Spring & Wagon
Works and linked to Chief Pontiac who led an unsuccessful uprising against the British
shortly after the French and Indian War. The Oakland Motor Company and Pontiac
Spring & Wagon Works Company merged in November 1908 under the name of the Oakland Motor Car Company. The operations of both
companies were joined together in Pontiac, Michigan (in Oakland County) to build the Cartercar. Oakland was purchased by General Motors in 1909. The
first General Motors Pontiac was conceived as an affordable six cylinder that was intended to compete with more inexpensive four
cylinder models. Within months of its introduction, Pontiac outsold Oakland. As Pontiac's sales rose and Oakland's sales began to
decline, Pontiac became the only 'companion' marque to survive its 'parent', in 1932.
Pontiac began selling cars with straight 6-cylinder engines. In 1933, it moved up to producing the cheapest cars with straight
8-cylinder engines. This was done by using many components from the 6-cylinder Chevrolet, such as the body. In the late 1930s,
Pontiac used the so-called 'torpedo' body of the Buick for one of its models just prior to its being used by Chevrolet as well.
This body brought some attention to the marque.
For an extended period of time, prewar through the early 1950s, the Pontiac was a quiet and solid car, but not especially
powerful. A flathead (side-valve) straight eight offered both the quietest and smoothest possible operation, with an
appropriately soft suspension and quiet muffler offering the feeling of luxury without the expense. These combinations proved
attractive to the vehicle's target market - a reserved lower middle class that was not especially interested in performance or
handling and was seeking good value and a roomy vehicle in a step up from the entry-level Chevrolet. This fit well within parent
GM's strategy of passing an increasingly prosperous customer up through the various divisions. Straight 8's are slightly less
expensive to produce than the V8's that were growing in popularity, but they were also heavier and longer than a V8. Also, the
long crankshaft suffered from excessive flex, which restricted straight 8's to relatively low compression and modest RPM's. In
this application the inexpensive (but poorly-breathing) flat-head valves were not a liability.
Dowdy to Fun: 1946-1954
1948 Pontiac Silver Streak Convertible Coupe
Throughout this period, Pontiac models were seen as middle-of-the-road reliable cars more suited to middle income buyers of
middle age. The emerging and lucrative younger, performance oriented customer eluded the brand. Although reliable cars, Pontiacs
just couldn't shake their dowdy image.
From 1946-1948, all Pontiac models were essentially 1942 models with minor changes. The Hydra-matic automatic transmission was
introduced in 1948 and helped Pontiac sales grow even though their cars, Torpedoes and
Streamliners, were quickly becoming out of date and out of step with the growing youth
market.
The first all-new Pontiac models appeared in 1949. Newly redesigned, they sported such styling cues as lower body lines and
rear fenders that were integrated in the rear-end styling of the car.
Along with new styling came a new model. Continuing the Native American theme of Pontiac, the Chieftain line was introduced to replace the Torpedo. These were built on the GM B-Body platform and
featured sportier styling than the more conservative Streamliner. In 1950, the Catalina trim-level was introduced as a
sub-series.
In 1952, Pontiac discontinued the Streamliner and replaced it with additional models in the Chieftain line built on the GM
A-body platform. This single model line continued until 1954 when the Star Chief was added. The Star Chief was created by adding
an 11-inch extension to the A-body platform creating a 124-inch wheelbase.
The 1953 models were the first to have one-piece windshields instead of the normal two-piece units.
Foundations of performance: 1955-1960
Although completely new bodies and chassis were introduced for 1955, the big news was the introduction of a new 173-horsepower
(129 kW) overhead valve V-8 engine (see Engines section below). Pontiac took a big leap ahead in the public's eye and sales
jumped accordingly. With the introduction of this V-8, the six cylinder engines were discontinued making all Pontiacs available
only with V-8 engines.
The next step in Pontiac's transformation came in 1956 when Semon "Bunkie"
Knudsen became general manager of Pontiac. With the aid of his new heads of engineering, E. M. Estes and John Z. De Lorean, he immediately began reworking the brand's image.
In the 1958 model year Knudsen saw to it that the car received a completely reworked chassis, body and interior styling. Quad
headlamps, longer and lower bodys, honeycombed grilles and concave rear fender panels were some of the styling changes.
Additionally the Bonneville, a sub-series of the Star Chief introduced in the 1957 models, became its own line. These were built
on the 122-inch wheelbase of the A-body platform. An early sign of the successful changes being undertaken was seen in the
selection of a 1958 Tri-Power Pontiac Bonneville the pace car for that year's Indianapolis 500.
For 1959, the Chieftain line was renamed Catalina and the Star Chief was renamed Custom Star Chief. This coincided with major
body styling changes across all models that introduced increased glass area, twin V-shaped fins and lower hood profiles. Because
of these changes, Motor Trend magazine picked the entire Pontiac line as 1959 Car of the
Year.
The 1960 models saw only modest changes in styling, although the tailfins all but disappeared
that year. The big news was the introduction of the Ventura, a V-8 equipped model built on the shorter 122-inch wheelbase
platform and falling between the Catalina and Star Chief (the Custom was dropped) models. This started the Pontiac trend of
equipping even its smallest models with V-8 engines.
The horsepower era: 1961-1970
1969 Pontiac GTO Convertible
The 1961 models were again drastically reworked. Along with new bodies came the introduction of redesigned perimeter frame
chassis for all models. These new chassis allowed for reduced weight and smaller body sizes and the introduction of the all new
Tempest as the entry level model in the Pontiac line. The Tempest moved Pontiac into
third place among American car brands. In a few short years the Tempest would spawn one of the biggest names of the muscle car
era, the Grand Turismo Omologato better known as the Pontiac GTO.
In 1961, Knudsen moved to Chevrolet and Estes took over as general manager. He continued Knudsens work of making Pontiac a
performance car brand.
Although GM officially ended factory support for all racing activities across all of its brands in 1963, Pontiac continued to
cater to performance car enthusiasts by making larger engines with more power available across all model lines. For instance, the
small Tempest was equipped with a 215 cubic inch inline 6-cylinder engine making 140 horsepower (105 kW). However, it could be
ordered with the LeMans GTO option giving it a 326 cubic inch engine making 285 horsepower (215 kW).
In 1964 De Lorean replaced Estes as general manager and he too continued Knudsen's work. It would be under his leadership that
Pontiac charged headlong into the muscle car and pony car "wars" of the mid-to-late 1960s, offering a wide range of cars with
solid performance credentials.
Due to the popularity of the GTO option, it was split from the Tempest LeMans sub-series to become the separate Tempest GTO
sub-series. On the technology front, 1966 also saw the introduction of a completely new overhead camshaft based 6-cylinder engine
in the Tempest and for the first time plastic grilles were used on Pontiac cars.
The 1967 model year saw the introduction the Pontiac Firebird pony car, a version of the Chevrolet Camaro that was the brand's
answer to the hot-selling Ford Mustang.
By 1968 the so-called muscle car era was fully underway causing Pontiac to make the GTO a separate model from the Tempest with
a standard equipment 400 cubic inch 350 horsepower engine. In the pony car arena, the stiff competition with Ford and Chevrolet
led to the introduction of the first Ram Air 400 option for the Firebird.
For 1969 the biggest changes were in the muscle car and pony car arenas. The GTO received the Ram Air option in its Judge
package while the Firebird got a second Ram Air option called Ram Air IV and a special Trans Am package. This year also saw De
Lorean leaving the post of general manager. His replacement was F. James McDonald.
Changed focus: 1970-1982
Although MacDonald tried to keep performance in the forefront of Pontiac's products, increasing insurance and fuel costs for
owners coupled with looming Federal emissions and safety regulations would eventually put an end to the big block, powerful
engines of the 1960s. Safety, luxury and economy would become the new watch-words of this decade.
The 1971 models would see the last of the high performance muscle and pony cars. In trying to adjust to the changing market,
in 1971 Pontiac introduced the compact, budget priced Ventura II (based on the third generation Chevrolet Nova). This same year Pontiac moved the Bonneville from its top of the line spot and replaced
it with a higher luxury model named the Grand Ville. Finally, the car that formed the foundation of the Pontiac muscle car line,
the Tempest, was dropped.
The 1972 models saw the first wave of emissions reducing and safety equipment along with the standard round of updates. The
impending demise of the muscle cars could be seen in the fact that once again the GTO was a sub-series of the LeMans models.
MacDonald left the post of general manager to be replaced by Martin J. Caserio. Caserio was the first manager in over a decade to
be more focused on marketing and sales than on performance.
For 1973, Pontiac restyled its mid-sized LeMans and Ventura models and introduced the all-new Grand Am. All other models received only minor updates. Again, power dropped across all engines as more
emissions requirements came into effect. The 1973 Firebird Trans Am saw the first introduction of the famous (or infamous
depending on which automotive historian you talk to) large Firebird graphic. This factory applied decal, a John Schinella
restylized interpretation of the Native American fire bird, took up most of the available space on the hood.
The 1974 model year would see the end of Pontiac convertibles for the next decade. Additionally, all Federal emissions and
safety regulations were required to be in full effect for 1974 causing the demise of two of the three iterations of the big 455
cubic inch engines after this year. The last version of the 455 would hang on for two more year before being discontinued.
For 1975, Pontiac introduced the new sub-compact Astre, a version of the
Chevrolet Vega. This was the brand's entry into the fuel economy segment of the
market.
The 1976 models were the last of the traditional American large cars with large engines. After this year, all GM models would
go through "downsizing" and shrink in length, width, weight and available engine size. The Sunbird joined the line as a more sporty option to the conservative Astre.
For 1977, Pontiac replaced the Ventura with the Phoenix, a version of Chevrolet's fourth generation Nova. Pontiac also
introduced its 151 cubic inch "Iron Duke" 4-cylinder overhead valve engine. This
engine would later go into many GM and non-GM automobiles into the early 1990s. The Iron Duke and the 301 cubic inch V-8 were the
last two engines designed solely by Pontiac. Subsequent engine design would be accomplished by one central office with all
designs being shared by each brand.
The remainder of the 1970s and the early 1980s saw the continued rise of luxury, safety and economy as the key selling points
in Pontiac products. Wire-spoked wheel covers returned for the first time since the 1930s. More station wagons than ever were
being offered. Padded vinyl roofs were options on almost every model. Rear-wheel drive began its slow demise with the introduction of the first front-wheel drive Pontiac, the 1980 Phoenix (a version of the Chevrolet Citation). The Firebird still soldiered on and some models had Formula and Trans Am option
packages. However, these were usually nothing more than different wheels, added fins and some decals, though the Trans Am did
have a big(for the time) engine; performance had become an afterthought.
Return of performance: 1982-1988
The beginning of Pontiacs second renaissance started with the vastly redesigned Firebird for the 1982 model year. The wedge
shaped Firebird was the first major redesign of the venerable pony car since the early 1970s. It was an instant success and
provided Pontiac with a foundation on which to build successively more performance oriented models over the next decade.
The next step in Pontiac's resurgence came in the form of its first convertible in nine years. Seeing Chrysler's success with
its K-Car-derived convertibles, GM decided it needed a competitor and quickly
adapted the J-body cars. The all-new for 1983 2000 (later renamed Sunbird) had a
convertible as part of its line.
Next came the 1984 Fiero. This was a major departure from anything Pontiac had produced
in the past. A two-seat, mid-engined coupe, the Fiero was targeted straight at the same market that Semon Knudsen had been aiming
for in the late 1950s: the young, affluent buyer who wanted sporting performance at a reasonable price. The Fiero was also an
instant success and was partially responsible for Pontiac seeing its first increase in sales in four years.
Pontiac also began to focus on technology. In 1985, a Special Touring Edition (STE) was added to the 6000 line as a competitor to European road cars such as the Mercedes
190. The STE sported digital instruments and other electronics as well as a more powerful V-6 and retuned suspension.
Later iterations would see some of the first introductions on Pontiacs of anti-lock brakes, steering wheel mounted radio controls
and other advanced features.
With the exception of the Firebird and Fiero, beginning in 1988 all Pontiacs switched to front-wheel drive platforms. For the
first time since 1972, Pontiac was the number three domestic car maker in America. Pontiac's drive to bring in more youthful
buyers was working as the median age of Pontiac owners dropped from 46 in 1981 to 38 in 1988.
More of the same: 1989-1996
With the focus back on performance, Pontiac was once again doing what it did best. Although updating and revamping continued
throughout the 1990s, the vast change seen during the 1980s did not. The period between 1989 and 1997 can best be described as
one of continuous refinement. Anti-lock brakes, GM's Quad-4 engine, airbags and
composite materials all became standard on Pontiacs during this time.
All new models were produced but at more lengthy intervals. The 1990 model year saw the launch of Pontiac's first
minivan, the Trans Sport. An all-new Firebird debuted in 1993 while the Sunbird was replaced
with the Sunfire in 1994.
Return to yesteryear: 1997-2004
Beginning in 1996, Pontiac began mining its historic past. The all new Grand Prix debuted with the Wide Track chassis making a
return spearheaded by the "Wider is Better" advertising campaign. In 1998 Ram Air returned to the Trans Am. It would eventually
make its way to the Grand Am.
The 1999 model year saw the replacement of the Trans Sport with the larger Montana
minivan.
Faced with declining sales and a saturated sports car market, GM killed the Pontiac Firebird and its sister Chevrolet Camaro
after the 2002 model year.
All other Pontiac models carried on until the end of the 2004 model year with only minor revisions and updates.
All change: 2005-present
For the 2005 model year, Pontiac embarked on a series of major changes not seen since the 1980s. Within four years, all of
their cars would be replaced completely, both in design and name.
First to fall was the Bonneville which had no direct replacement. The same year, the Pontiac Grand Am was replaced with an all
new model called the G6. The Sunfire was replaced with the G5 in the 2007 model year. Next in the line will be the G8; scheduled
for the 2009 model year it will be a replacement for the Grand Prix and fill the void
left by the Bonneville.
In an attempt to return Pontiac's focus to strictly performance oriented vehicles, the Montana was discontinued after the 2006
model year. Also for 2006, Pontiac fielded the unique Solstice roadster. Equipped with
a range of 4-cylinder engines, the Solstice is intended to compete with cars like the Mazda
Miata, Honda S2000 and the Saturn Sky. However,
these attempts took a step backward with simultaneous release of the Torrent
Crossover SUV.
Style trademarks and logo
Pontiac "Arrow-head" Logo
Native American Headdress and
silver streak in a 1952 Pontiac Chieftain
Split grille and
Arrow head logo in a 1966 Pontiac Tempest
A Native American Headdress was used as a logo until 1956. This was changed to the currently used Native American
red arrowhead design after GM realized that Pontiac was suffering from some confusion with other marques. In particular, the
1955 and 1956 Pontiacs had grilles reminiscent of Mercury and fins and taillights reminiscent of Oldsmobiles.
Besides the 'Indian head' logo, another identifying feature of Pontiacs were their silver streak - one or more
narrow strips of chrome-plated steel which extended from the grille down the center of the hood. Eventually they extended from
the rear window to the rear bumper as well, but ultimately along the tops of the fins instead. Although initially a single
'silver streak', this stylistic trademark doubled for a short time to two, representing the cylinder banks. The streaks along
with their grille ripples and the fins were all discarded at the same time as the Indian head logo.
Two long-standing styling derivatives of the 'silver streak' motif are the familiar split grille design (which in the
past often meant a massive vertical divider down the middle of the grille) and multiple-stripe shaped lights.
Engines
-
Pontiac was the last of GM's North American marques to switch to the V-8. As was the case with its using straight-8, Pontiac
used a cost-cutting feature on its engines. Instead of having its OHV rockers pivoting on bearings machined into them, the
rockers were stamped from sheet metal into a cup shape that was fitted over a hemisphere with oil forced at high pressure between
the surfaces instead. The division encouraged racers, such as Mickey Thompson's building
a speed record car with four such engines, so as to get this novel design better accepted.
When Pontiac decided in the late-1940s that it needed to compete in the growing performance market, it began work on a true
V-8 engine. Although work on the new overhead valve V-8 engine was started in 1949, conservative leadership by then general
manager Harry J. Klinger and the untimely death of his more aggressive replacement Arnold Lenz kept progress at a glacial pace.
It wasn't until the 1955 models arrived that a true V-8 was available.
In mid-1956, Pontiac introduced a higher power version of its V-8. Among other things, this version of the engine was equipped
with a high performance racing camshaft and dual 4-barrel carburetors. This was the first in a series of NASCAR-ready Super-Tempest and Super-Duty V-8 engines and introduced the long line of multi-carburetor equipped
engines that saw Pontiac become a major player during the muscle car and pony car era of the 1960s.
Pontiac's second generation V-8 engines were nearly identical, allowing many parts to interchange from its advent in 1955 to
its demise in 1979. Sizes ranged from 265 cubic inch to 455 cubic inch. This similarity (except the 301 & 265) makes
rebuilding these engines particularly easy, as almost any Pontiac engine one can find will contain useful parts. This dimensional
similarity between engines of various capacity also made it possible for Pontiac to invent the modern muscle car, by the relatively simple process of placing its second largest engine, the 389 cid, into its
mid-size car, the Le Mans, creating the Pontiac GTO.
From their inception in the 1950s until the early 1970s, Pontiac engines were known for their performance. The largest engine
was a massive 455 cubic inch V-8 that was available in most of their mid-size, full-size and sports car models. At the height of
the horsepower era, these engines made a powerful 334 horsepower at 4800 RPM.
Federal emissions laws eventually brought the horsepower era to a close and resulted in a quick decline for Pontiac's engines.
For instance, the optional 350 cubic inch V-8 for Firebird Trans Am models dropped from 250 horsepower in 1971 models to 160 in
1972 models and a paltry 150 in 1973 models, but not because of emission systems, but because of the switch from gross horsepower
which measures the engine only output to net horsepower which measures rear wheel horsepower.
The only non-traditional Pontiac V-8 engines were the 301 cubic inch and the smaller displacement 265 cubic inch V-8s.
Produced from 1977 through 1981, these engines had the distinction of being the last V-8s produced by Pontiac; GM merged its
various brand's engines into one collectively shared group in 1980. Interestingly, the 301 had a 4-inch bore and 3-inch stroke,
identical to the vaunted Chevrolet Small-Block engine and Ford Boss 302 engine.
Pontiac engines were not available in Canada, however, but were replaced with Chevrolet engines of similar size and power,
resulting in such interesting and unusual (at least to American car fans) models as the Beaumont SD-396 with a Chevrolet
big-block 396 cubic inch V-8.
All Pontiac engines were designed around a low-RPM/high-torque model, as opposed to the ubiquitous Chevrolet Small-Block engine known for its smaller displacement and high RPM/high power
design. Pontiac engines were unique for their integrated water pump and timing chain cover, and separate valley pan and
intake.
Carburetors
PMD originally used Carter 1-barrel carburetors for many years, but by the time of the
second generation V-8 engines had switched mostly to the 2-barrel offerings. These also were the basis for the Tri-Power setups on the engines.
The Tri-Power setup included one center carburetor with idle control and two end carburetors that did not contribute until the
throttle was opened more than half way. This was accomplished two ways, mechanically for the manual transmission models, and via a vacuum-switch on the automatics. This went through various
permutations before being banned by GM.
PMD also had a square-bore 4-barrel at the time, but this was rated at a lower power than the Tri-Power. This carburetor was
later replaced by the Quadrajet, a spread bore. 'Spread-bore' refers to the difference in
sizes between the primaries and secondaries.
By the end of the muscle car era, the QuadraJet setup had become the nearly-ubiquitous choice on PMD engines, due to its
excellent economy and power characteristics. While QuadraJets have been occasionally derided as being poor performers, with
proper understanding and tuning it can compete at most levels with other designs.
This design proved good enough to last well into the 1980s with emissions modifications while most others carburetors were
dropped for the easier to build fuel injection when economy mattered.
Cars during this time period were relatively a good value but often were hoped to be purchased every three to four years. This
car model would cost around 2,000 dollars
Models
-
Pontiac in popular culture
- An alternate slang term for the marque among performance enthusiasts is Poncho.
- Another slang term used in the early stages of brand was "Indian" due to the subject matter of its logo.
- Ronny and the Daytonas sang about the Pontiac GTO in their 1964 song
Little GTO.
- Tom Lehrer: "Rover was killed by a Pontiac, and it was done with such grace and artistry
that the witnesses awarded the driver both ears and the tail." From "In Old Mexico"
Gallery
Pontiac New Series 6-28 8240 2-Door Sedan 1928
|
Pontiac New Series 6-28 8230 4-Door Sport Sedan 1928
|
Pontiac New Series 6-28 8240 2-Door Sedan 1928
|
Pontiac Big Six Series 6-29 8930 4-Door Landaulette 1929
|
Pontiac Big Six Series 6-29 8940 2-Door Sedan 1929
|
Pontiac Big Six Series 6-29 8960 Convertible Coupé 1929
|
Pontiac Series 603 34318 Convertible Coupé 1934
|
Pontiac De Luxe Series 26 2611 2-Door Touring Coach 1937
|
Pontiac De Luxe Series 28 2811 2-Door Touring Sedan 1938
|
Pontiac Six 4-Door Touring Sedan 1938
|
Pontiac Six 4-Door Touring Sedan 1938
|
Pontiac Six 4-Door Touring Sedan 1938
|
Pontiac Six 2-Door Touring Sedan 1938
|
Pontiac 2-Door Sedan 1939
|
Pontiac De Luxe Convertible Coupé 1939
|
Pontiac Custom Torpedo Eight JC Line Series 2927 Sedan Coupé 1941
|
Pontiac Torpedo Coupé 1941
|
Pontiac Station Wagon 1948
|
|
|
Pontiac Laurentian Convertible 1956
|
|
|
|
Pontiac 2119 Tempest 1961
|
|
See also
Notes
References
- Kimes, Beverly R., Editor. Clark, Henry A. (1996). The Standard Catalog of
American Cars 1805-1945. Kraus Publications. ISBN 0-87341-428-4.
- Gunnell, John, Editor (1987). The Standard Catalog of American Cars
1946-1975. Kraus Publications. ISBN 0-87341-096-3.
- Flammang, James and Kowalke, Ron (1999). The Standard Catalog of American
Cars 1976-1999. Kraus Publications. ISBN 0-87341-755-0.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
