Pontiac

Pontiac is a marque of automobile produced by General Motors and sold in the United States, Canada and Mexico from 1926 to the present. more...

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 brand was introduced by General Motors in 1926 as the subsidiary to GM's Oakland Motor Car line. The Pontiac name had been used on by another manufacturer in 1906, but that company did not survive. The first General Motors Pontiac was conceived as an affordable six cylinder that was intended to compete with more inexpensive four cylinder models. Within months of its introduction Pontiac outsold Oakland. As Pontiac' sales rose and Oakland's sales continued to decline, Pontiac became the only sudsidiary to survive its parent brand.

A Native American Headdress was used as a logo until 1956. The current Pontiac logo was originally meant to represent a Native American arrow-head. An alternate slang term for the marque among performance enthusiasts includes Poncho. Another slang term used in the early stages of brand was "Indian" due the subject matter of its logo.

Performance heritage

Since 1957 with the introduction of the Bonneville, Pontiac has been mostly known for its focus on performance vehicles. The vehicles were more preformanced oriented than Chevrolet models, yet more affordable than an equivalently equipped Oldsmobile or Buick models.

In 1959 Pontiac introduced its Wide-Track suspension layout which gave the car a broader stance, by increasing the width between the wheels. Wide Track was advertised as featuring greater stability and increased tracktion.

The Pontiac GTO was introduced in 1964 by Pontiac's John DeLorean as an option package on the LeMans/Tempest (GM A-body) car. It was the first Mid Size GM vehicle to be powered by GM's 389 cubic inch V-8. By being the first brand to feature a large engine in a mid size car Pontiac is often credited with launching themuscle car era. Throughout the 1960s, GTOs were well known for their combination of stunning looks and incredible performance.

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