A Tribute to Pontiac

[Lucky SOB]

For all you Pontiac lovers like me, the end of this video is very saddening

[93formulalt1]

That video brought a tear to my eye. It's amazing that the faltering sales and lack of "Pontiac Excitement" over the last 11 years can be linked to ONE person. Amazing.

[ktl711]

For all you Pontiac lovers like me, the end of this video is very saddening

Well, you can tell where my mind is at -- when they came to the part about "She had what GM thought was most important," I was waiting for the caption to say "A va-jay-jay!"

A lot of people thought highly of Jack Smith and the John Smale era because he brought GM "back" from its first brush with near-bankruptcy, but that should have set off all the warning signals and they should have started fixing and axing things then. Instead, they managed the company for cash flow so they could pay their unions and retirees. They took content out of cars, made them cheaper, dropped models, and people noticed and headed in droves to the imports. The "brandscape"plan of selling individual models like a consumer good, just like toothpaste or shampoo, can mostly likely be directly linked to the death of Pontiac and Oldsmobile. Saturn was a cannibal division that never shoudl have existed as a stand-alone -- it should have been the master plan for re-making Chevy, but with more exciting product.

Product, Product, Product. I hope that Bob Lutz's lessons last a long, long time at GM.

[white96TA]

thanks for sharing, very well done video. The ending is sad yet all too true. The worst part is always thinking of what could have been. I now own a Chevy but Pontiac will always remain my favorite brand ever. hopefully thursdays IPO was one step closer to shaking off the government and getting me my Pontiacs back!

[81DaytonaPaceCar]

Good find...thanks for sharing...the expression on the old man's face in the slide "1981...Pontiac produces it's last V8" is just timeless...

[meissen]

Very nice video. Does anyone by chance have the picture at 8:32? Looks like dad's car when he got it.

[Akodo]

Damn, now I hate GM even more.

I was expecting more of a pontiac was making a comeback that the government killed ending though. With the Solstice, G8, and G6, I think they were starting to go in the right direction. A return or the Firebird looked to be on the horizon as well. Sigh.

[Formula350]

Cool video

[92conv]

Great find, thanks for sharing.......and I absolutely, 100%, with all certianty, totally agree that promoting Lynn Meyers as Pontiac's General Manager was a huge mistake on GM's part.

[Lucky SOB]

Great find, thanks for sharing.......and I absolutely, 100%, with all certianty, totally agree that promoting Lynn Meyers as Pontiac's General Manager was a huge mistake on GM's part.

Thanks! My uncle, a GM retiree and 4th gen "F-Car" team member sent it to me.

I never knew who was behind the downfall, but I sure would like to have a talk with whoever came up with the master plan to make a G3,5,6,8... And how do you kill the Bonneville, G8, and our beloved Firebird?