Pontiac is a marque of automobile produced by General Motors and sold in the United States, Canada and Mexico from 1926 to the present. In the GM brand lineup, Pontiac is a mid-level brand featuring a more sporting, performance-driving experience for a reasonable price, and a youthful feel to its advertising.
The Pontiac automobile line was introduced by General Motors in 1926 as a lower-priced version of their Oakland Motor Car line. The Pontiac name had been used on a manufacturer in 1906, but the company did not survive.
The Pontiac logo was originally meant to represent an Indian (Native American) arrow-head, and early slang for the vehicle was to call it an Indian (a term still used by some hot rodders and cusomizers). An Indian/Headdress logo was also used for a while. Alternate slang terms for the marque include Poncho.
Notables
The Pontiac GTO was introduced in 1964, originally as an option package on the LeMans/Tempest (GM A-body) car, most famously with their 389 in³ V8 Tri-Power setup with three two-barrel carburetors. GM was wary of putting a full-sized engine in a compact car, and the GTO struggled against this its whole life. However, doing so launched the era of the muscle car. Throughout the 1960s, GTOs were well known for their combination of stunning looks and incredible performance.
The Pontiac Firebird, introduced in 1967, was an F-body car that closely mirrored the styling and motor offerings of the LeMans/Tempest cars but in a smaller, sportier platform - and usually with a smaller engine. This body style and its underlying Chevrolet Nova chassis was shared with the Camaro, but the Firebird's engines and trim were totally different. As upscale competition for sporty cars like the Mercury Cougar or the Dodge Challenger, the Firebird was perfectly positioned. But as time went on, the Firebird started to offer the performance of the Camaro while the average American buyer was moving away from big rear wheel drive V8-powered cars and towards smaller, front wheel drive cars. But GM's indifferent approach to updating the cars would sound the death knell. Then the Firebird began to be seen as little more than an expensive Camaro - and when sales of the F-body twins began to falter, it didn't take long for GM to pull the plug. They did so in 2002, after 35 years of continuous production.
Even more famous was the limited-edition Firebird Trans Am, which was first offered in 1969 and continued through the end of the Firebird in 2002. Early on, the Trans Am was most notable for having the very same 400 in³ V8 engine as its big GTO counterpart, but in a smaller body. This pattern continued through the late 1970s, after which the Trans Am became more of a luxury model than a real performance machine.
Just about the time that these muscle cars were getting big attention, emissions regulations and oil shortages quickly ground them to a halt. While production first started in the late 1950s, it did not hit its stride until the late 1960s. By 1972, few were left on the market. Most telling was the fate of the GTO - originally conceived as a powerful mid-size coupe, by 1974 the GTO option was offered only on the compact Ventura, a rebadged Chevrolet Nova. And then, it too was gone.
From the late-1970's on to the late-1980's, General Motors was downsizing its North American operations and had little funds to spend on independent brand-specific performance platforms. That was until the Pontiac Fiero was introduced in 1983 as a 1984 model. Drawing heavily from GM's parts bin, the Fiero was initially billed as a commuter car. While it was not performance oriented in its initial release, its final versions with improved suspension geometry and available 2.8L V6 made the Fiero a potent mid-engined sports car. With the demise of the Fiero in 1988, Pontiac only offered badge engineered products from other GM divisions.
But the performance pulse within Pontiac was not dead. In 2001, Bob Lutz, the former chairman of Chrysler Corporation was hired to help turn GM around. One of his first ideas was to bring back the GTO in order to revive Pontiac's performance heritage in light of the Firebird's demise. But since Pontiac, or any other GM division didn't offer a suitable platform, Lutz decided to look elsewhere, and found what he was looking for in Australia.
Beginning late 2004, GM's Holden division produced a version of their Monaro coupe with Pontiac trim and all the attitude of the original 1960s editions. Producing 400 hp from a thoroughly modern V8 engine, and with a world-class chassis, the new GTO is at least as good as its predecessors. But its lackluster styling turned off many buyers and forced GM to add hood scoops and other styling touches in order to make the GTO look like the originals.
In the summer of 2005, the Pontiac Solstice sports roadster arrived with GM's Ecotec four-cylinder engine. Pontiac also announced that they were going to put a V8 under the hood of the Grand Prix. Called the Grand Prix GXP, it would give Pontiac its first V8 since 2002.
Just like in the 1960s, Pontiac is once again becoming the home port for fans of performance cars.
A majority of Pontiac dealerships also sell GMC trucks - the trade name used by GM executives is the Pontiac/GMC division.
Engines
Pontiac engines were not available in Canada, however, but were replaced with Chevrolet engines of similar size and power, resulting in such interesting and unusual (at least to American car fans) models as the 396 GTO.
All Pontiac Motor Division (PMD) engines (pre-1980 unified GM) were designed around a low-RPM/high-torque model, as opposed to the ubiquitous Chevrolet Small-Block engine known for its smaller displacement and high RPM/high power design. PMD engines were unique for their rear distributor, integrated water pump and timing chain cover, and separate valley pan and intake.
PMD originally used Rochester 1-barrel carburetors for many years, but by the time of the second generation engines had switched mostly to the 2-barrel offerings. These were the basis for the Tri-Power setups on the engines.
The Tri-Power setup included one center carburetor with idle control and two end carburetors that did not until the throttle was partly opened. This was accomplished two ways, mechanically for the manual transmission models, and via a vacuum-switch on the automatics. This wentcfgfjvgfg through various permutations before being banned by GM.
PMD also had a square-bore 4-barrel at the time, but this was rated at a lower power than the Tri-Power. This carburetor was later replaced by the Quadrajet, a spread bore. Spread-bore refers to either the distance between the primaries or to the difference in sizes between the primaries and secondaries.
By the end of the muscle car era, the Quadrajet setup had become the nearly-ubiquitous choice on PMD engines, due to its excellent economy and power characteristics. While it has been derided by many as a poor performer, many have shown that with proper understanding, it can compete at most levels with other designs.
Similar carburetors include the Thermoquad and the Q-jet. This design proved good enough to last well into the 1980's with emissions modifications while most others carburetors were dropped for the easier to build fuel injection when economy mattered.
Pontiac Models
Since 1957 with the introduction of the Bonneville, Pontiac has been best known for its performance vehicles. A little flashier and faster than a Chevrolet, but cheaper than an equivalent Oldsmobile or Buick - that has been their mission.
Pontiac's Second Generation V8 engines were nearly identical, allowing many parts to interchange from its advent in 1958 to its demise in 1981. Sizes ranged from 265 in³ to 455 in³. This similarity (except the 301 & 265) makes rebuilding these engines particularly easy, as almost any Pontiac engine you can find will contain useful parts. This dimensional similarity between engines of various capacity also made it possible for Pontiac to invent the modern muscle car, by the relatively simple process of placing its largest engines into its midsize cars, creating the Pontiac GTO. The non-traditional Pontiac V8 was the 301 and the smaller displacement 265 in³. Produced from 1977 through 1981, this motor has the distinction of being the last Pontiac V8 produced by PMD. The 301 has a 4 inch bore and 3 inch stroke, identical to the vaunted Chevrolet and Ford 302 motors.
Pontiac 2000 Sunbird (1983 - 1984)
Pontiac 6000 (1982 - 1991)
Pontiac Acadian (1976 - 1987)
Pontiac Astre (1971 - 1977)
Pontiac Aztek (2001 - 2005)
Pontiac Beaumont (1964 - 1969)
Pontiac Bonneville (1957 - 2005)
Pontiac Catalina (1959 - 1981)
Pontiac Chieftain
Pontiac Fiero (1984 - 1988)
Pontiac Firebird (1967 - 2002)
Pontiac Firefly (1985 - 2001, rebadged Suzuki Swift, sold in Canada only)
Pontiac G4 (2005 - Current, only sold in Mexico)
Pontiac G6 (2004 - Current)
Pontiac Grand Am (1973 - 1980, 1985 - 2005)
Pontiac Grande Parisienne
Pontiac Grande Ville
Pontiac Grand Prix (1962 - Current)
Pontiac Grand Safari
Pontiac GTO (1964 - 1974, 2004 - Current)
Pontiac J2000 (1982)
Pontiac Laurentian (19?? - 198?; only sold in Canada)
Pontiac LeMans (1963 - 1981, 1989 - 1994)
Pontiac Montana (1999 - 2004)
Pontiac Montana SV6 (2004 - Current)
Pontiac Parisienne (1958 - 1986
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Pontiac Pathfinder (19?? - 1958; only sold in Canada)
Pontiac Phoenix (1979 - 1984)
Pontiac Pursuit (2005 - Current, only sold in Canada)
Pontiac Safari
Pontiac Silver Streak
Pontiac Solstice (2005 - Current)
Pontiac Star Chief
Pontiac Strato Chief (only sold in Canada)
Pontiac Streamliner
Pontiac Sunbird (1985 - 1994)
Pontiac Sunburst (1985 - 1989, rebadged Isuzu Gemini, only sold in Canada)
Pontiac Sunfire (1995 - 2005)
Pontiac Sunrunner (1994 - 1997, rebadged Geo Tracker, only sold in Canada)
Pontiac Super Chief
Pontiac T1000 (1981 - 1987)
Pontiac Tempest (1961 - 1970, 1987 - 1991; rebadged Chevrolet Corsica, only sold in Canada)
Pontiac Torpedo
Pontiac Torrent (2006 - Current)
Pontiac Trans Am (1969 - 2002)
Pontiac Trans Sport (1989 - 1996)
Pontiac Ventura (1971 - 1977)
Pontiac Vibe (2003 - Current)
Pontiac Wave (2005 - Current, only sold in Canada)
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