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| PONTIAC |
| The first true Pontiac was a product of the Oakland division of GM. In 1926, a 5-passanger 2-door sedan debuted at the NY Auto Show. Soon after, Pontiac became know for its power styling and even more powerful engines. The first famous marketing gimmick used by Pontiac was it the 1959 model year. The term was Wide Track, and it was one of the few slogans of that time that had some fact to it! The wider wheel track of the '59 Pontiacs improved the handling of the big Catalinas and Bonnevilles Pontiac's knack for high-performance cars was made well-known with the introduction of the legendary GTO in 1964 and the equally reputed 1967 Firebird. One of the more unique Pontiacs was the compact Fiero mid-engined roadster. Introduced in 1984, it was plauged with engine problems and was scrapped several years later, even though those problems had been fixed by then. The 1987 Bonneville helped to turn the tide against the likes of Audi and SAAB by creating a well-executed touring sedan out of GM's new fullsize platform. The 87-91 Bonnie was a world apart from the chrome-laden barge that trawled its way through the 70s. The subsequent '92 G-body and '00 H-body Bonnies uphold the true sport sedan tradition. Pontiac's 1990 foray into the minivan market was with the Trans Sport. It was an all-plastic exterior van that shared the platform with Chevy's Lumina APV and Olds' Silhouette. |
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| 1958 Bonneville Sport Coupe Notice the rocket? Very cool! |
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| 2001 Pontiac Aztek Functional, affordable, owners love it. You want unique? Fuggedaboutit! |
| My Thoughts on the Aztek... You know, people have said for years that they're sick and tired of bland minivans and copycat SUVs. They want originality and something that'll stand out from the crowd. Well, here comes the Aztek, and what does the auto press do? Pelt tomatos at it. Do I have issues with it? Sure. The different-colored fuel cap looks cheap, the rear fascia looks like an old Honda CRX (and the '02 redesign's spoiler didn't help), and the engine needs at least a supercharger. The concept itself was certainly not flawed; the Buick Rendezvous is the same vehicle with a better design and it outsells all its competitiors except Lexus' RX300. Good attempt, still bad, but good attempt. |
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| 2002 Grand Prix G-Force concept GM's wonderboy Bob Lutz shows off the next Grand Prix |