Intro: GM launched the Pontiac brand in 1926 with the Pontiac Six. Pontiac was the only name brought out by GM that survived the depression, much to the efforts of GM president Alfred Sloan. During the 1930's, Pontiac offered a peppy V8 engine and
newly styled bodies. While utilizing several Chevrolet advancements, the parts were not interchangeable, but designs were.
The first true redesigned post-war models didn't emerge until 1949. While sales climbed, the image of Pontiac was shifting from a big Chevy to it's own image.
During the 1980's, Pontiac took on the growing computer age with new names and designs such as
J2000, and Fiero. Built of space-frame construction and composite panels, the Fiero marked things to come by GM, while offering an entirely new idea from the make.
By the 1990's, Pontiac's reputation for producing several performance-oriented cars was well established.
Lately the Aztek was a flop, but the new Holden-derived GTO and the new Solstice makes up for some of the image loss.
Production 2003: Grand Am: 174324, Grand Prix: 138388, Sunfire: 79035, Montana van: 71592, Vibe: 74223 (built at NUMMI), Aztek: 26985, Bonneville: 22649 |
