The Pontiac name was taken from an American Indian Chief who lived from about 1720 to 1769. Chief Pontiac led a rebellion (1763-66) against the British as they were colonizing the Great Lakes region.
The Pontiac name appeared for the first time on trucks made by the Pontiac Spring and Wagon Works in 1905. The company started turning out cars in 1907 from its factory in Pontiac, Michigan.
The General Motors Era Begins in 1926
After some business mergers and acquisitions, General Motors bought what was now called the Oakland Motor Car Company in 1909. The Pontiac brand was launched by GM in 1926 and it was immediately successful. It was marketed as a lower-priced Oakland to fill the gap between the entry-level Chevrolet and the up-market Oldsmobile.
The Great Depression almost finished off the Pontiac Division. Steve Mertl writing for The Canadian Press on April 28, 2009 reported that, “…By 1932 its existence was under threat as GM reeled from the Depression. Yet, it was the Oakland that disappeared and the Pontiac that survived by sharing components with other GM makes.”
The Golden Age of Pontiac
For enthusiasts of the brand the high point of the Pontiac line was from 1956 to 1981.
Perhaps, the greatest fan of the Pontiac name is Steve Barcak who describes himself as a “Pontiac extremist.” He runs an operation called Pontiac Heaven in the Arizona desert where he has 500 Pontiacs, not one of them built after 1981.
For Barcak the turning point for Pontiac was when Semon “Bunkie” Knudsen became general manager of the division on July 1, 1956; “This man would change the image of Pontiac that remains to this day.”
Semon brought in John Z. De Lorean and Elliot M. “Pete” Estes as chief engineers and they began completely changing the brand. In 1957, they introduced the Bonneville with a big, powerful V-8 engine. It’s the V-8 years to which Steve Barcak has dedicated his Pontiac Heaven – the age of the brand’s high-performance cars.
The Time of the Muscle Car
In 1964, Pontiac introduced its GTO line. The name was inspired by Ferrari’s very successful racing car the 250 GTO, with the letters standing Gran Turismo Omologat.
The GTO was the brainchild of John De Lorean and is considered by many to be the first “muscle car.” In his 2003 book “Pontiac GTO” Steve Statham traces the history of this iconic vehicle; the one celebrated in song by Ronnie and the Daytonas’ Little GTO.
The Pontiac GTO was designed to appeal to young males and it did; by 1966, the company sold more than 96,000 GTOs. In 1975, the line was discontinued.
The End of the Pontiac Brand
On April 27, 2009, General Motors announced it was phasing out the Pontiac brand altogether. By the end of 2010, it will be gone. But, back at Pontiac Heaven, Steve Barcak is not shedding any tears. Interviewed by Jennifer Wells of The Globe and Mail (April 28, 2009), Barcak says for him the Pontiac mystique ended when they started putting Chevrolet engines in the vehicle in 1981. “If you’re a customer,” he told Ms. Wells, “coming in to compare cars, you’re going to wonder, ‘Why am I driving a Pontiac with a Chevrolet engine when I can buy a Chevy for less?’ ”
He added that Pontiac “turned their back on me in 1981.”
