Friday, February 20, 2009

Pontiac To Be Killed Off?

I saw on the NBC Nightly News that GM might be killing off Pontiac....wow.... That really struck me. They had a nice retrospective on the cars. My Dad owned three Pontiacs - a 1969 Pontiac Executive station wagon - maroon with a black interior and the third seat that faced the back. I learned to drive in this car, and the first day after I passed my driver's test (after taking it a second time!) I hit the back of a school bus and put a little ding in the front bumper.

The second one we had was a really ballsy car - a 1972 Grand Prix SJ! 400 cubic inch V8, dual exhausts, Rallye Wheels and the long hood - short deck styling. That was a fun car. Only car I ever ran out of gas. It was a lot of fun to drive - loud, ballsy and really sharp looking. I got it up to 110 mph once - but that was really scary as I think the front tires only touched the ground once every 10 feet or so!

Lastly, a 1977 Safari station wagon. Light green with 'wood' sides and a tan interior. I remember going with my Dad to pick this car up at the dealer, then taking it somewhere to get the CB radio - cool! - installed. We immediately departed for a trip to Disneyworld in it! This was one of the newly downsized GM full-sized cars.

These three cars covered about 15 years of my life. A shame that Pontiac has to be the one to go, instead of, say, Buick. OTOH, the Aztek was also a Pontiac, as was the Fiero...