Marty Padgett's Inside Scoop on Auto News and GTO

5 Pontiacs We're Actually Going to Miss

By Marty PadgettMarty Padgett, April 27th, 2009

While Pontiac fades into history--and takes with it most of the 5 vehicles that killed it--TheCarConnection.com is taking a moment to reflect on why Pontiac made sense at General Motors for a very long time, and why it no longer matters today.

The 83-year-old brand began as Oakland in 1909. GM acquired it and issued the first Pontiacs in 1926, but the brand really earned its modern reputation in the early 1960s, when wide-track cars and big V-8s transformed its mundane offerings into domestic exotica like the 1964 GTO.

Pontiac rolled through the Sixties and Seventies as one of America's most popular car brands on the strength of cars like...

While Pontiac fades into history--and takes with it most of the 5 vehicles that killed it--TheCarConnection.com is taking a moment to reflect on why Pontiac made sense at General Motors for a very long time, and why it no longer matters today. The 83-year-old brand began as Oakland in 1909. GM acquired it and issued the first Pontiacs in 1926, but the brand really earned its modern reputation in the early 1960s, when wide-track cars and big V-8s transformed its mundane offerings into domestic exotica like the 1964 GTO. Pontiac rolled through the Sixties and Seventies as one of America's most popular car brands on the strength of cars like... Read More

Tags: Industry, Pontiac

Posted in: Pontiac, Firebird, G8, GTO, Solstice

Yeah, But Did You Wreck a Pontiac GTO Today?

By Marty PadgettMarty Padgett, June 10th, 2008

You could be a recruiter or a sales technician or an endocrinologist, but trust me when I say this is a job description you want: car wrecker. While I'm down here in TCC's world headquarters in sunny Palo Alto, Gregg at WreckedExotics.com was on hand to catch the filming of a stunt in downtown San Francisco. And I'm jealous because I've never sent a car into the air. I have been strapped to the hood of one that ran--twice--through a wall of fire, but that was less about fulfillment and more about being 24 years old. And dumb. This looks like a lot more fun--helming a stunt car as it hurtles down a San Francisco street. "My buddy let me know... You could be a recruiter or a sales technician or an endocrinologist, but trust me when I say this is a job description you want: car wrecker. While I'm down here in TCC's world headquarters in sunny Palo Alto, Gregg at WreckedExotics.com was on hand to catch the filming of a stunt in downtown San Francisco. And I'm jealous because I've never sent a car into the air. I have been strapped to the hood of one that ran--twice--through a wall of fire, but that was less about fulfillment and more about being 24 years old. And dumb. This looks like a lot more fun--helming a stunt car as it hurtles down a San Francisco street. "My buddy let me know... Read More

Tags: Fun, Videos

Posted in: 2006, Pontiac, Classics, GTO

GM-UAW Announce New Joint Fund for Retirees

By Marty PadgettMarty Padgett, May 1st, 2006

By Jerry Flint (Don’t believe a word of the following story. It’s what Mr. Flint thinks is funny.) Detroit (May 1) — General Motors Corporation and the United Auto Workers union today announced the creation of a joint fund to deal with what they called “one of the most serious problems worrying retirees.” The idea is to create a fund to provide money for the education of the grandchildren of GM retirees. It will be known as GIFT, for Grandparents’ Interests Fund Trust, and is unique among the many joint efforts set up by the company and the union. What makes it particularly unique is the jointness — or... By Jerry Flint (Don’t believe a word of the following story. It’s what Mr. Flint thinks is funny.) Detroit (May 1) — General Motors Corporation and the United Auto Workers union today announced the creation of a joint fund to deal with what they called “one of the most serious problems worrying retirees.” The idea is to create a fund to provide money for the education of the grandchildren of GM retirees. It will be known as GIFT, for Grandparents’ Interests Fund Trust, and is unique among the many joint efforts set up by the company and the union. What makes it particularly unique is the jointness — or... Read More

Tags: Industry

Posted in: 2006, Pontiac, GTO