Rick Raw: GM Killed Pontiac-- Rekindling Memories of My 1966 GTO

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net www.rickatnight.com

In 1966 I was working for United Technologies Florida Research and Development Division, located out in the swamp off the B-line Highway west of Palm Beach. A good paying job and security meant I could buy a new car to go along with the small house I’d bought. It was, after all, the American Dream.

Pontiac had just come out with the GTO, now considered a classic muscle car. Back then, most all cars had big honking V-8s. Gas was cheap and fuel sucking two and four barrel carburetors were the norm.

There were six cylinder engines available on Chrysler’s line of cheaper cars like the Plymouth Valiant. But no self-respecting macho man would be caught dead in anything but a 427 cubic-inch V-8. Funny, years later, I owned a 1966 Plymouth Valiant with a slant six engine. The car had over 200,000 miles and I couldn’t kill it.

When I gazed upon that ballsy 1966 GTO in a magazine, it was love at first sight. I borrowed $2,300 from the UTC Credit Union and bought my dream car–the testosterone emitting Pontiac GTO. At the time, I was young and this Pontiac was my first new car.

Yes, I was making a decent salary and life was good. I had two kids, but the GTO was my special baby. I pampered that car and drove it all over the country. The quality was surprisingly good for that time when American car makers had a reputation for shoddy craftsmanship. Ford stood for: Fix or Return Daily!

American car manufacturers only got into quality as job one when the Japanese introduced the Toyota which was cheaper and anyone could see the difference in quality. The Japanese car makers also set the standards on safety. Again, American car makers only got into safety when they had to.

For American car companies reducing the appalling death rate on America’s highways was a lower priority than keeping costs down. Those money grubbing swine were earning obscene profits, but they could care less about quality or safety until the Japanese cut deeply into their sales.

Now, GM, swimming in red ink, pulled the plug on its Pontiac brand. In the 1960s marketing strategy, Chevrolet was aimed at the working stiff, Pontiac was for the sporty young crowd, Buick was for the middle class golfers, and Cadillac was for the well heeled or people who wanted to portray an image of being wealthy. The guy in the song didn’t drive his Caddy to the levee but his Chevy.

The decision to kill the Pontiac brand is part of GM’s new leaner meaner program to satisfy the government that they are taking drastic steps to avoid bankruptcy or a bailout. Saturn, Saab, and Hummer are also on the chopping block. Hummer was the worst idea since the Edsel.

Of course, GM was always much too big and bloated to compete with foreign manufacturers. BMW is one brand. Mercedes is one brand. All those GM brand divisions were archaic and bled the successful divisions of operating capital.

Pontiac was marketed as a performance brand which dates back to the late 1950s and early 1960s. Pontiacs had a wider wheel base and the ad slogan was "wide-track" which gave the car better cornering ability.

By far, the GTO was the most successful Pontiac ever built. It conjured up images of the LeMans GTO and piqued the imagination of young men who, like me, made the pilgrimage to Watkins Glen, N.Y for the United States Grand Prix for Formula One cars (now called Indy Cars). Now forty-three years later, the GTO is an expensive collector’s classic car.

In 2004, GM vice chairman reintroduced the rear-wheel Pontiac GTO imported from GM’s Australian division. The sales tanked and the G8, also a rear wheel four-door sedan, which was also imported from Australia, failed to capture the imagination of the car buying public.

Ah yes, now GM is reintroducing the Chevy Camero. It’s modern shape and pedigree are authentically awesome. But, like the reintroduction of the Pontiac GTO, the company is trying to resell nostalgia, which just doesn’t work.

People would rather look back with fond memories of the cars of their youth. There is no way to recapture that time in space. It’s gone forever. But when I look back and think of my 1966 GTO, I get goose bumps and think of how much simpler life was in that era. It’s like remembering an old girlfriend, my memories filters out the bad stuff, and I only remember the good things about her.