General Motors recently announced that as part of their cost-saving/restructuring plan, their 83-year-old Pontiac Motors Division would be phased out by the end of next year. The most famous is arguably KITT, from Knight Rider, which enjoyed two stints on television in the 1980s and 2000s. But so we don’t have to mention David Hasselhoff by name (oops!), here’s a brief recap of some famous Pontiacs.
1. The Ricardos’ 1955 Pontiac Star Chief Convertible
When the Ricardos headed out to Hollywood as part of an I Love Lucy story arc, they drove there in a 1955 Pontiac Star Chief Convertible. Desi Arnaz had arranged a very attractive product placement deal with General Motors – not only did the automaker provide a brand new Star Chief for use on the show, each member of the show’s writing staff was given a new Pontiac each year for the duration of the series. Catch any of the “Hollywood” episodes in reruns and you’ll note that whenever even the slightest mention of the Ricardo vehicle is mentioned, it is almost always referred to as “the Pontiac,” and very rarely simply “the car.”
2. Buck Wilkin’s “Little GTO”
Introduced in 1964, the Pontiac GTO (Gran Turismo Omologato) was one of the first true muscle cars. Like a lot of teenaged males of that era, Nashville’s Buck Wilkin loved both hot rods and music. But unlike most teens, his mother had connections in the music business. So when Wilkin scratched out the lyrics to what would eventually become “Little GTO” during physics class one afternoon in 1964, Mom contacted her pal Bill Justis, a composer and arranger who’d had hit in his own right with the instrumental “Raunchy” in 1957. Justis formed a music publishing company with young Wilkin, and then encouraged him to form a band in order to record it. There was no shortage of talent in Nashville, so in short time Wilkin formed Ronny and the Daytonas and “Little GTO” eventually hit #4 on the Billboard pop chart.
3. The Monkeemobile
Though it never got the same amount of press as, say, the Batmobile, the Monkeemobile was popular enough to become the second best-selling model kit of all time (surpassed only by the Dukes of Hazzard’s General Lee). When The Monkees series was in the planning stages, it was decided that among the many props required to emphasize their rock-and-roll lifestyle, one of the most important was a smokin’ car. Pontiac just happened to get involved via a friend-of-a-friend connection (in this case, a friend of Dean Jeffries, who designed custom cars for Universal Studios, hooked him up with an account exec at Pontiac’s advertising agency). The agency rep immediately realized that The Monkees, if it were a hit, would appeal to a very desirable audience demographic, and he supplied Jeffries with two 1966 GTO convertibles that were transformed into Monkeemobiles. The intermediary who introduced Jeffries to the ad exec was granted exclusive rights to the model kit (which went on to sell over seven million units) as a “thank you.”
4. Oprah’s Grand Prizes
Many of the folks sitting in the audience for the taping of The Oprah Winfrey Show on September 9, 2004, knew they’d been selected to receive tickets for that particular show strictly because they were in dire need of a set of wheels. The Internet was buzzing with rumors that Oprah might be giving a few free cars as prizes on the premiere episode of her 19th season. Imagine their stupefaction when the talk show host gleefully announced that all 276 members of the studio audience would receive a 2005 Pontiac G6 sports sedan. The tears poured as Winfrey led them all to the parking lot to show them the luxury options that would be included, such as XM Satellite Radio, OnStar Safety, and heated leather seats. The vehicles, valued at $28,400 each, were all donated by General Motors in an effort to promote the brand new G6, which had been designed with women in mind as the target audience. GM also paid for the sales tax on each vehicle, so this particular promotional gimmick cost the company approximately $7.8 million.
5. The ’63 Tempest From My Cousin Vinny
How many of us who know nothing about cars (other than where the fuel nozzle goes) recall that the 1963 Pontiac Tempest had a feature called Positraction? A pivotal scene in the 1992 film My Cousin Vinny gave film fans a crash course on the workings of the limited slip differential. This particular option on the ’63 Tempest not only saved the (fictional) lives of two wrongly convicted “yutes,” it also helped Marisa Tomei to win a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award.
Any Fiero or Trans Am (or even Aztek) owners out there who care to represent?
Comments (32)
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Um…I was sure number one would be K.I.T.T. How does he not even make the list?
posted by Patten on 4-27-2009 at 5:28 pm
Before her current car, my mom had a 1978/1979 Pontiac Phoenix. It was a boat of a car but it lasted 300,000 miles and almost 25 years before she finally replaced it with a 2002 Buick Century.
I learned to drive on it; speeded through Death Valley in it with only a permit, haaha; got my license with it; ran into a pole with it, haah; learned countless oldies and “soft rock” songs in it as it only had AM.
posted by Sarah in CA on 4-27-2009 at 5:29 pm
My summer ride is a 2000 Firebird. I love that car. Looks like a sports car, gas mileage of a compact (32mpg!).
Sad to see Pontiac go, but they’ve been dead to me ever since they killed the Bird/TA in 2002.
posted by Bratlien on 4-27-2009 at 5:57 pm
Also- how do you assemble a list of 5 famous Pontiacs and NOT include THE most famous Pontiac:
Burt Reynolds’s 1977 TA from Smokey and the Bandit!
KITT has to be in the top 5 as well. Come on guys!
posted by Bratlien on 4-27-2009 at 6:01 pm
My wife still loves her bright yellow Aztek.
posted by Lawrence on 4-27-2009 at 6:05 pm
I inherited my grandpa’s 1977 Pontiac Catalina when he died in 1989. It was a boat in every sense of the word. I have never felt safer in a vehicle than I did in that one.
posted by eroe777 on 4-27-2009 at 6:27 pm
My other brother had a 1966 GTO so when I could afford my first car, it was a 1967 LeMans which had the same look but not the huge engine and racing features as the GTO.
My wife actually had a Fiero when we first met. It was fun to drive when it wasn’t in the shop for some recall or another. Once the warranty ran out we traded it in on something sensible, but not nearly as fun to drive. It felt like an MG with your tail only six inches above the pavement. Underpowered but meshed with a tight transmission.
posted by gamerjohn on 4-27-2009 at 7:22 pm
I drive a 1995 Pontiac Sunfire. It is huge piece of junk, but has always gotten me to where I have to go, has ~300,000kms and has never cost me more than a water pump. I hate the damn thing but wouldn’t dare talk bad to it for fear it would retaliate.
posted by Amanda on 4-27-2009 at 7:48 pm
Thank you. Now I have Little GTO running through my head, with no hope of it getting out.
posted by Shelly on 4-27-2009 at 8:25 pm
I had a 1975 Pontiac Safari Wagon. It was like driving a tank. It weighed nearly 3 tons. I once measured it, more than 25 feet from bumper to bumper. Only 16 mpg, but a great safe car.
posted by Tex on 4-27-2009 at 10:21 pm
I’m with Bratlien.
It’s a travesty to include the Monkeemobile, and overlook the greatest car Mr. Reynolds ever drove. What’s up with that?
posted by Johnny Cat on 4-27-2009 at 10:40 pm
Back in the day, I had a very stylish 2 door ’76 Grand Am. It didn’t have the muscle of the GTO but, it was quick enough. Unfortunately, I broke it with my dress. (Full skirt, high West Texas Spring wind, said skirt wrapped around the turn signal/high beam switch as I was sitting down and, SNAP, said lever broke off with the high beams engaged) When I explained what had happened to the mechanic laughed so hard he…. still overcharged for the repair…. Anyway, it was a very good car. BTW, my grandparents had the identical Desi/Lucy Ponicar….baby blue…
posted by el on 4-27-2009 at 11:28 pm
I learned to drive on my mom’s ’96 Pontiac Grand Am.
My first car was a ’91 Pontiac Bonneville. That car was a boat but I loved it. Her name was Bonnie. HA.
posted by Amanda on 4-28-2009 at 8:59 am
The first car I ever drove was my sister’s ’78 TA. It was white with that great bird on the hood. I was 13 years old and she was too lazy to get up to move the car for alternate side of the street parking (a New York City phenomenon)I would jump at a chance to drive her car and would overlook the spot across the street and went around the block a couple of times. By the way, that’s how I learned to parallel park like a pro.
posted by Annie on 4-28-2009 at 9:37 am
Am I the only one who read this? This is a list of “5 Famous Pontiacs”, not a “top 5″–and KITT was mentioned (but strangely enough, not KARR the Knight Automated Roving Robot, a prototype for KITT). Giving SATB’s 1977 Trans Am the props would’ve been way too easy for Mental Floss!
I had a 1976 Trans Am with a 1970 400 from a Goat–14.2s QM @ 99MPH!!!!!!!!!!
I also owned a 1997 Grand Am GT.
Pontiac, you will be missed :(
posted by Wayne on 4-28-2009 at 10:01 am
The Fiero is still the second-best platform for kit cars, exceeded only by the VW Super Beetle.
posted by airship on 4-28-2009 at 11:48 am
I had a Fiero that I bought used in the early 90s and it was the crappiest car I have ever owned (or driven, for that matter!) It was in the shop more than it was out on the road and I was always scared to drive it because it handled so poorly and was so difficult to shift.
posted by June on 4-28-2009 at 12:28 pm
My first car was a 1986 Pontiac Fiero – I loved it, but if you squeezed it into a glass you would have lemonade. Made me sad to get rid of it, though…
posted by Anne on 4-28-2009 at 12:32 pm
As a kid we had matching Grand Safari wagons, a ’73 & ’76. Massive engines and handled like the land yachts they were. Fond memories of my brother and me riding in the ‘wayback’ with the rear hatch glass raised and our heads in the open air.
posted by bajakirch on 4-28-2009 at 3:31 pm
Not nearly as iconic as those listed, but let’s not forget Marshall’s fiero on ‘How I Met Your Mother’. The episode where he had to get rid of it was hilarious.
posted by Kacey on 4-28-2009 at 4:00 pm
My Dad loved Pontiacs. I think his favourite car was a 1974 Pontiac station wagon, can’t remember if it was a Grand Safari or a Le Mans all I remember is going to Expo ’74 in Spokane with my entire family and some relatives from Germany. Nine people in one car going 700kms to (safety laws be damned!). It was a great road trip.
That car had a 454 engine in it. It went like snot. My brother used to borrow it and turn the air filter cover upside down. It made the car sound like an airplane coming up beside you.
posted by MozFan on 4-28-2009 at 6:33 pm
Sad :(
I learned how to drive on a Bonneville, my mom has another Bonneville, she’ll most likely get a Grand Prix when her lease is up, my dad has a Grand Am, I have a G6. We like our Pontiacs :(
posted by Anni on 4-29-2009 at 12:16 am
You forgot the Rockford Files and Jim Rockford’s 1970 era gold Pontiac Firebirds. They were as important to the show as any of the characters!
posted by Gerry on 5-2-2009 at 11:40 pm
I have an ’86 Fiero SE that I purchased new and it now has 223,500 mi. on it. It still rides like a dream and doesn’t burn a drop of oil. I belong to a great club and we drive excitement all over the place! I’m sorry to see Pontiac dropped and am glad to be keeping part of American history alive!
posted by Jeannie on 5-3-2009 at 1:13 am
How do you not include the TA from Smokey and the bandit? And the Monkee Mobile?????? Really?????
posted by Dave on 5-3-2009 at 1:40 am
I will miss these cars.
posted by gun racks on 5-3-2009 at 1:43 am
22 reponses and no one mentioned the best private dick in Malibu, James Scott Rockford “$200 bucks a day plus expenses” droe a Pontiac firebird for 8 plus seasons, must of gone through 100 tires too
posted by truthieslayer on 5-3-2009 at 3:00 am
What about Jim Rockfish PI’s Firebird, should’ve been before Desi’s payola boat
posted by robert jugdish on 5-3-2009 at 3:08 am
Note: The car in “My Cousin Vinny is a 1964 or 65 Buick Skylark. Nice car but not as nice or fast as a Poncho(Pontiac).
I once had a 64 GTO. That was a slick ride. I sold it to a friend and he still has it 22 years later and won’t sell it back to me. He’s a rat bastard. Haha.
posted by Paul on 5-3-2009 at 3:09 am
The car in “My Cousin Vinny” is a 1964 or 65 Buick Skylark. Nice car but not as nice or fast as a Poncho (Pontiac). I once had a blue 64 GTO with a 421 and 4 speed. That was a slick ride. I sold it to a friend and he still has it 22 years later and won’t sell it back. He’s a rat bastard. Haha.
posted by Paul on 5-3-2009 at 3:18 am
I remember Paul Revere and the Raiders doing a commercial for the Pontiac GTO Judge in 1969, the tag line being “The Judges will rule” and the group dressed up in black robes and the powdered wigs of English judges!
posted by Mamunia on 5-3-2009 at 10:57 am
I drove a 1976 Trans Am in Orlando back in the 80′s. My dad rebuilt her from tires to headliner, that was about a fast car.
How did I survive to see 40, I’ll never know. :P
posted by vegasgirl on 5-11-2009 at 2:08 am