Friday, April 24, 2009

R.I.P. Pontiac.


This can hardly come as a surprise, but it does come as a bit of a shock. General Motors has reportedly decided to kill off its Pontiac motor division. You can read all about it here.

The death of Pontiac will take some getting used to. When I was growing up, Pontiac was the "fun" division at General Motors. Your grandparents drove Cadillacs or Oldsmobiles, your parents drove "sensible" Chevys or Buicks, and young people drove the Pontiacs. Back in the 80's, there wasn't much difference between any of GM's models - Put a different grill and wheel covers on a Chevy Camaro, and you had a Pontiac Firebird, but still - it was much cooler to have a Pontiac.

The death of Oldsmobile in 2000 did not hurt so much - but then again, the Olds were considered geezer cars. A world without Pontiacs is going to take some getting used to.

In tribute to the Pontiac, we bring you this clip of car scenes from "Smokey and the Bandit", starring the 1977 Pontiac Trans Am. Wait a minute or so for the music to kick in!



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