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BS: Bye, bye, Pontiac...
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Subject: BS: Bye, bye, Pontiac... From: Bobert Date: 20 Feb 09 - 07:36 PM Well, word on the strret is that Pontiac is on its way out... Sniff... My second car was a 51 Pontiac... Okay, it was the only Pontiac I ever owned and traded it and $10 for a '49 Studebaker... Both were junk but, hey... But over the years I had many friends who had Pontiacs... Some were cool, others weren't... Of the cool ones, my next door neighbor who was at the Naval Academy got a nrw '65 GTO, 389 tri-power... Nice car, really... It was too bad for him that he really was afraid of it 'cause we got talkin' tarsh and I had a '65 Falcon with a h.p. 289 (271 h.p.) and he kinda challenged me to a drag race in the middle of town one night and the Falcon tore it up... I don't think that boy ever had been in a car over a 100 mph... But it was a nice car... Much cooler than my little Falcon... Fast Forward... Claude Simpson had a big ol' 69ish Grand Prix Convert with a 455 in it... It wasn't quick but really felt good to ride in with the top down... I liked the Fieros... Especially the ones with the 231 V-6's... Reak nice little cars... Okay, not all that well built but hey... But it looks like this is the end of the line... Actually, I thought the end of the line came a long time ago with the Pontiac Sun-Chicken... It was junk right off the assembly line... So, what was your favorite Pontiac??? B~ |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bye, bye, Pontiac... From: CarolC Date: 20 Feb 09 - 07:45 PM I never had one, and I never particularly wanted one, but JtS really likes the Vibe. He's going to be very disappointed. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bye, bye, Pontiac... From: SINSULL Date: 20 Feb 09 - 10:12 PM Say goodbye to the Saab and the Hummer (NO! Don't even think it!) and the...more to come. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bye, bye, Pontiac... From: SINSULL Date: 20 Feb 09 - 10:20 PM and Saturn |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bye, bye, Pontiac... From: Bill D Date: 20 Feb 09 - 10:36 PM "Favorite" Pontiac? My family had this when I was about 12. (a 52, I think)It replaced the '37 Chevy...for about 2 years. It went to Colorado & back, but was mostly trouble. (oh...the dog's name was "Tippy") |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bye, bye, Pontiac... From: Bill D Date: 20 Feb 09 - 10:37 PM Maybe it was a 48...heck, I forget.. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bye, bye, Pontiac... From: Bee-dubya-ell Date: 20 Feb 09 - 11:07 PM The last car my ex-wife and I owned together was a Pontiac Bonneville, purchased new in 1984. It left when she did, about a year later. Good riddance to both of 'em. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bye, bye, Pontiac... From: frogprince Date: 20 Feb 09 - 11:36 PM Somebody brought one of the first little LeMans to the cruise nights here last summer; I hadn't seen one of them alive since God knows when. They had a flexible drive shaft, bowed down to minimize the tummel, running to a rear transmission. I always wondered if those driveshafts lasted at all well. Just in terms of style, I always liked the early Grand Prix, and at least a couple of versions of Prix over the years. The last ones looked..okay, but blanded-down by comparison. I think the oddest thing from Pontiac was the two tailfins on each side on the '59. We have one of those around town here, too. Bobert must have been the only living human being to outrun a GTO with a Falcon. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bye, bye, Pontiac... From: Seamus Kennedy Date: 21 Feb 09 - 03:23 AM I've had 3 1986 Pontiac Parisienne station wagons. Basically an aircraft carrier on land. Little F-16 jets used to land on my hood when I'd be driving on the highway. Great car for carrying PA speakers, amps, instruments, etc. And I could stretch out and sleep in the back of it when necessary. Drove 'em till they died. Seamus |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bye, bye, Pontiac... From: Richard Bridge Date: 21 Feb 09 - 03:46 AM If I remember right one of the Catalina Bonneville GTO 2+2s (but I couldn't say which year, maybe 66 or 67) was running 0-100 in about 10 seconds. Another, which I think Pop Mechs dubbed "the boss wagon" so it must have been an estate, and I think it had the heavy duty towing suspension not the "sports suspension" went round the test track they used (could it have been Palm Beach) 2 seconds faster than an Aston Martin. The earlier ones, before they made the lines so fussy, were very good looking. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bye, bye, Pontiac... From: gnu Date: 21 Feb 09 - 04:26 AM The 74 LeMans my old man had was huge. And, it stalled a lot in winter, which was a great learning experience for me as a young driver, especially losing the power steering and power BRAKES on snow and ice.... yeeehaaaaaw! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bye, bye, Pontiac... From: John MacKenzie Date: 21 Feb 09 - 05:31 AM Looks like Vauxhall may go to the wall here. Another GM owned company. It will be a disaster for the town of Luton, where it's a major employer, if it does happen. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bye, bye, Pontiac... From: Anonny Mouse Date: 21 Feb 09 - 06:54 AM Bought an '09 Vibe, AWD w/"Monsoon" Sound System (300w/with a sub-woofer, MP3 capable); also has the power moonroof/sunroof. Absolutely LOVE it (it is actually a Toyota Matrix, build on the Corolla platform, with a Pontiac signature grill and skin). First longish drive I got 35mpg on the highway; city? about 22+, and it "knows" when to kick into 4WD; also has electronic traction control. These are great cars for the winter weather we get bombarded with. It has the larger engine, and is plenty peppy, with a ton of interior space. We really like it. Sad to see Pontiac go, but GM has too many repetitive lines more suitable to the 60's and 70's. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bye, bye, Pontiac... From: kendall Date: 21 Feb 09 - 07:18 AM I owned one Pontiac, a 1963 Bonneville. Hell wouldn't start it in winter. Bill, that looks like a 1946-48 to me. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bye, bye, Pontiac... From: Bobert Date: 21 Feb 09 - 08:02 AM Yeah, Bill, I think Kendalll has it pegged... I woulda guesses '48... But then again that was yer second guess... Well, f-prince, that Falcon was no ordinary Falcon... It was a special order Falcon with the Cobra engine (271 hp) and a Borg-Warner 4 speed and it was one badass Ford... I took it to four local drag strips and brough home 4 trophies... How's high 12s and right at 105 mph sound for a quarter mile... Kids didn't want to ride with me a second time in that car unless they were flat out nuts... But back tp Pontiacs... I was just talking yesterday with the P-Vine about how nice it would be to go to the city for supplies in a big wagon... Seamus's Paresianne station wagon would be perfect... The Caprice or Impala station wagons are about the same car... Might check out ebay next time I have some extra dough... B~ |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bye, bye, Pontiac... From: Richard Bridge Date: 21 Feb 09 - 08:54 AM 12s on 271 HP? No chance. I know people with 350rwhp, dynoed, who can't get into the 12s. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bye, bye, Pontiac... From: Bobert Date: 21 Feb 09 - 09:48 AM Well, Richard... I've got the time cards somewhere... I also drag raced an AC Cobra which was only about 500 pounds lighter than the Falcon and it ran in the low 12's with an occasional 11.90s at 114 mph... The 271 hp engine was the same engine as was in the Cobra..The Cobra was Top Dog the summer of '64 in the C/SP class and never lost to a Corvette... Oh, BTW, the AC Cobra ate 350/350 Corvetes up at evry track I raced with that 271 engine... We raced it in exhibition with a AA/Stock '64 427 Galaxiw named "Honkin' Henry" which was Top Dog on the east coast, was then sold to a racer in Californina who took the winter nationals in Pamona with that car under a different paint job and name... Believe me, I remember those days well... Hey, I was 16 years old, my dad worked as a district rep for Ford, Ford was into racing, and I had a best summer of my life until I finally got nailed by the Fairfax Country police for drag racing the Cobra on the streets late that summer and lost my license for 6 months...lol... But when I got it back, all the kids wanted Mustangs... I thought they were ugly so I had my dad get that Falcon built... Burgundy, Futura, black guts, front bench seat... I don't remember the 271 hp even being an option... Yeah, you could get 'um with 427's which would turn in the 9s with slicks and traction bars but my old man thought that was too much motor... Tell ya' what, if I ever find my old time cards I'll make a copy and send it to ya'... Okay... BTW, yeah, I remember those 1/4 miles times that Car & Driver put out for various cars... I remeber their driver couldn't even get the AC Cobra into the 12s... Shoulda let the skinny 16 year old drive it... LOL... Stroker Bobert |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bye, bye, Pontiac... From: gnu Date: 21 Feb 09 - 12:00 PM Minds me.... last fall, I had The Crawler in fer some work. An old buddy was working on a Pontiac Montana van in the next bay. Can't recall exactly (no pun intended), but I think the front rotors were shot.... not just shot, warped, so no way to even try to turn them. The van was just over three years old and he was pissed off because he had to tell the owner, sorry, can't get them. The company that was making them for GM stopped because they weren't getting paid by GM for those replaced under warranty. Just over the three year warranty and the Montana was dead in the water. Would not pass safety inspection and no way to get rotors. Only option... custom made at a machine shop. Price... at least $500... each. (Yeah, price gouging, but, whaddya gonna do?) |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bye, bye, Pontiac... From: RangerSteve Date: 21 Feb 09 - 01:22 PM I never had a Pontiac. My first car was an Olds F-85. It was ten years old when I bought it. I probably replaced everything related to the cooling system twice in the two years I owned it. It had lots of other problems and I probably put three times the money into fixing it than what I paid for it originally. But it made two trips from NY to Tennessee. My second car was an AMC Hornet. The transmission never seemed to work right and no one ever fixed it properly. I love American Motors cars. They were ugly, but in a kind of glorious way, as if the designers were saying "we have no talent and we're proud". |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bye, bye, Pontiac... From: kendall Date: 21 Feb 09 - 01:27 PM My Nephew had a GTO that ate Falcons and shat Escorts. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bye, bye, Pontiac... From: Richard Bridge Date: 21 Feb 09 - 01:40 PM I remember reading of Honkin Henry. The 7 litre Galaxies were the weapon of choice for a lot of UK saloon car racers and I remember seeing Jack Sears campaign one. There was a UK tribute called Hirise Henry - in a UK Mark 2 Zephyr. I think it ran a 289 with a big GMC supercharger on top of it. It was very very yellow in colour! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bye, bye, Pontiac... From: kendall Date: 21 Feb 09 - 03:41 PM My brother bought a 340 Duster when it first came out and I was test driving it on the Interstate. He said, "If you can hold her on the floor for 30 seconds, I'll give it to you". I thought, "You just lost your new car." I managed 20 seconds but didn't have the guts to go 30. That damn thing would fly. Barracudas eat meat. Mustangs are meat. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bye, bye, Pontiac... From: fat B****rd Date: 21 Feb 09 - 03:41 PM In 1968 The Leicester band Family came to my Mother's house for a drink -it was my 21st birthday- in a huge dark blue Pontiac. I have no knowledge of the type but I felt great as neighbours suddenly emerged to discreetly stare. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bye, bye, Pontiac... From: Bobert Date: 21 Feb 09 - 03:53 PM Yeah, I never got to drive Honkin' Henry because Ford had a "paid" driver for it... But whereever it went I went with the Cobra... Wish I had that car today... They were less money than Vettes in their day but look at what a stock 289 Cobra brings today at auction... Like close to a quarter million bucks!!! gnu, there's gotta bea wrecked Pontiac van out there with a couple of turn-able rotors... Gotta be... I'm suprised there aren't any after market rotors like from Auto Zone... Zephyrs??? I remember them... Kinda like litle Mustangs, as I recall... Prolly not 2000 pounds (900 kilos)... Man, a 289 in one of them would have been somethin'... Okay, Kendall, GTO's did rat Falcons... Just not my next door neighbors and not my Falcon... I'll show ya' pics of mine during yer visit with a younger me standing next to it holding a trophy... Might of fact, I don't recall what the "Goats" were running back then but they were alot heavier than the Falcon so even with the 389 tri-power I'd dare say that most were low 14s machines... Unlike yer Chevy which I'm sure runs in the 13s.... Minutes that is... Awww' jus' funnin' wid ya... Anyone remember the Grand-deville??? What a boat... Prolly top out at 150 mph but might take awhile to get there... Nice ride... B~ |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bye, bye, Pontiac... From: kendall Date: 21 Feb 09 - 04:28 PM Damn right my old Chevy will do zero to 60 in 15 minutes, but this time of year it would require about 10 more minutes to get the damn thing started. She's a slow starter but when she gets warmed up she is smooth, sweet and sassy. )Had a wife like that) |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bye, bye, Pontiac... From: GUEST Date: 21 Feb 09 - 04:36 PM "Bye, bye, Pontiac..." . . . and his horse, too. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bye, bye, Pontiac... From: GUEST,Peace Date: 21 Feb 09 - 04:37 PM OOps . . . |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bye, bye, Pontiac... From: JohnInKansas Date: 21 Feb 09 - 05:05 PM Pontiac has had a number of sporty models over the years that were a bit on the "special memories" side, but for many years now the main line of GM cars have been a close "family." At least in the "family car" main line, in the 80s and 90s, you could get a Chevrolet at the bottom of the line and add the right options to turn it into, from the performance/convenience/comfort aspects of it all, into a Pontiac. You could also get a Pontiac and add a few things and pretty much have an Oldsmobile. Go a little further with the add-ons and it was a Buick, and at the top of the heap theoretically you had a Cadillac. There were minor styling differences, but the functional parts that you could add or subtract were all the same, although some times with "model specific" part numbers. (The same actual part, just different numbers.) The trick was to buy the one that had all the "standard parts" that were really useful to you, with the least number of "fluff and feathers" options that didn't really get you anything, so that you needed the fewest "extras" to get exactly what suited you. Outside the "performance models" where Pontiac stood out to some extent, the Buick was the first line "above" a Chevy that added a significant amount of door and body insulation that you couldn't get as an option in the lower tier models, and an "optioned up" Chevy could be built to your spec that was just like the baseline Buick except for the extra door insulation that made the Buick doors slam with a nicer thunk. And the "optioned up" Chevy would end up very close to the same price as the baseline Buick. Ignoring the styling differences, in the family sedan line that was the core of the family, neither Pontiac nor Oldsmobile really added much (that was really useful) that you couldn't get by pick-and-choose in the Chevy. Buick had a couple of useful things that were standard and couldn't be optioned in on the "lesser models," and Caddys had one or two more; so there were some small "decision points" in picking the one that was best for you. For the most part, with the same parts, they were very close to all being the same price. From the bottom of the line you had to add (and pay for) options that were "standard equipment" in the higher tier lines, and you couldn't "back down" by taking out what came with the "more expensive" line (at least not easily). Each line did have "side models" that were a bit different, and in some years the "performance" Pontiacs were fairly distinctive. IMO those are the ones that people may have wonderful (if inflated) memories about when the name fades away. John |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bye, bye, Pontiac... From: Peace Date: 21 Feb 09 - 05:19 PM And me with an Edsel. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bye, bye, Pontiac... From: Peace Date: 21 Feb 09 - 05:20 PM But, then I wised up and got an Aztek. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bye, bye, Pontiac... From: Jeri Date: 21 Feb 09 - 06:14 PM I got a Henway... |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bye, bye, Pontiac... From: kendall Date: 21 Feb 09 - 07:22 PM hehehe |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bye, bye, Pontiac... From: John on the Sunset Coast Date: 21 Feb 09 - 07:36 PM I kinda liked Pontiac. I worked for their ad agency in Los Angeles while I was in college [this during the period covered by Mad Men TV show]. My first car after college was a burgundy Tempest, for which I had a burgundy cardigan. When I gave the car to my sister, I kept the sweater. My wife had a '96 Grand Am. It wasn't a car for her. Stiff ride and poor city mileage. But when I drove the car at freeway speeds over long distances it was a joy to drive...and it got almost 30mpg. I was sorry when she decided to get a different car; I would have kept it, but it wasn't suitable to my job. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bye, bye, Pontiac... From: Bobert Date: 21 Feb 09 - 07:40 PM Did that Tempest have that slant 6 somewhat similar to the old 225 CI Dodge Darts, John??? These days folks buy up them old Tempests and make fake GTO's out of them... Some folks actually do it so well that they find suckers who by them as GTO's... B~ |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bye, bye, Pontiac... From: John on the Sunset Coast Date: 21 Feb 09 - 08:02 PM No, Bobert. This was a 1963, which was still a small car...a couple of years before the muscle LeMans. This was a 4 banger automatic, and needed tune-ups more ofter than your average car. It had a small shift lever to the right of the steering wheel; the knob was prone to coming off no matter how tight you allen-wrenched it. My next car WAS (not yelling LOL) a 1965 slant 6 all black Dart, right down to the welting on the seats, which had push button drive. First was so good you drive down a step hill and hardly need to break to keep your speed down. I drove it a long time...'til the wife decided that the torn interior was not a car to be seen in. My next two cars were a Plymouth Duster and a Dodge Aspen. Both had the same engine as the Dart, but the addition of smog control shit, and adding A/C to the Aspen made each of those cars less good than the previous one. My son, before he moved to Amsterdam in 2001, was tooling around town in an early seventies Dart. He gave it to the girl he left behind. He is now a bicycle rider. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bye, bye, Pontiac... From: Ed T Date: 21 Feb 09 - 08:04 PM In the early years, they actually seemed like a car on their own. I likes them (owned a couple) in the 50's and later when they got smaller again. But, since the 8o's they were more of a GM-Chevy "side show" with nowhere to go on their own.. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bye, bye, Pontiac... From: Bobert Date: 21 Feb 09 - 08:17 PM Well, John, the '63 Falcon was also kinda junkie... There was one (Futura)that came out with a 260 V-8 that had a little spunk but none of those early compacts were much except for the... ...Corvair... B~ |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bye, bye, Pontiac... From: John on the Sunset Coast Date: 21 Feb 09 - 08:44 PM B--the biggest collector gaffe I ever maide was making my wife sell the Corvair she had when we got married. This was the flat-faced one, maybe a '61 or or 2...I'm not ure of the years of that. The fan belt came off (remember that 'L' shaped belt?) like every other week it seemed....and I put a fifty pound sack of cement in the trunk (front) or the thing buffeted at freeway speed. Who knew people, 15 years later, would form a collector's club? Who knew? |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bye, bye, Pontiac... From: Art Thieme Date: 21 Feb 09 - 09:01 PM If this is true, it is long overdue. The old chief's spirit will finally be free. Art |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bye, bye, Pontiac... From: Bobert Date: 21 Feb 09 - 09:22 PM Well, I loved all the Corvairs... In '60 when Cheny came out with the Corvair and Ford came out with the Falcon, I was downright depressed... All the kids knew I was a Ford man and so I had to take up for the Fords but that Corvair was so cool... Then when they went to the body change in, what, '65 I thought that car was the coolest car I'd ever seen... Fast forward to about 20 years ago and I was at the Fall Carlisle (Carlisle, Pa) car show I had a few bucks and ran into a cherry 66 Corsa with a nice 140 hp and 4 speed so I bought it and rove it up until about 7 years... Loved it... Ralph Nadar should have picked on an unsafe car... Those cars handled like no tomorrow... Bad analogy... True Corvair story... It was like about, geeze, 3o years ago and I bought a basket case '68 Volkswagen with a Corvair engine... Okay, the Corvair engine wasn't excatly in the VW... So I towed the VW to my house and then went back for all the conversion stuff and the Corvair engine... So I diddled around with it for a couple weeks at night after work and finally had the engine in the car and running so I invited a bunch of my friends to come over for the maiden voyage... I packed 'um all up in the VW and started the engine, put it in first and it went backwards??? Hmmmmmmmm???? So I tried 2nd and more backwards... By them my friends were piling out and saying stuff like "you idiot" and things not that nice... Seems that the Corvair engine runs counterclockwise lookin' at the crankshaft pulley and the VW runs clockwise... Hmmmmmmmm??? So for the next onth I had to pull the negine back out and the VW transaxale and pull the transaxale's axles down and shift the carrier to the other side and put it all back together... I real pain in the butt and by then I was burned out but at least it did what it was supposed to do... I drove it around the block, put it in the "Trading Post", made maybe 50 cents an hour for my time and went on... Won't do that again... Now back to Pontiacs... Like I said earlier my 2nd car was a '51... It was a complete piece of junk... I was like 14, didn't have a license, but had this car that I bought for $20, which back then was real money... I understood engines back then but not brakes... I got it running but it didn't have any brakes so I used it as a storage facility for selling illegal cherry bombs and M-80s... Yep, it just sat in my parents driveway with a trunk full of the good stuff... Guess it paid for itself... I donno... B~ |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bye, bye, Pontiac... From: Peace Date: 21 Feb 09 - 09:25 PM "I got a Henway..." What's a Henway? |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bye, bye, Pontiac... From: Art Thieme Date: 21 Feb 09 - 09:29 PM Henway wrote For Whome The Bell Tolls. A rt |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bye, bye, Pontiac... From: Peace Date: 21 Feb 09 - 09:30 PM LOL |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bye, bye, Pontiac... From: John on the Sunset Coast Date: 21 Feb 09 - 09:43 PM Ahhh, Bobert, good story about the Pontiac, and the 'good stuff'. The 4th of July when I was a HS sophomore, we mfg'd our own fire works in one kid's garage. We made 2 doz. rockets, a bunch or multi-colored fountains,and some firecrackers,,,but those really were no fun. We bought sulpher, saltpeter, fine ground charcoal, chrome compounds and a bunch of other stuff (I don't know what all) and worked nights and weekends for over a month. We would have made more, but one of the kids, not in our group, wanted to see how the powder was and what color it made. He took a bit, placed on our work bench and lit it. A spark set off nearly a whole cup of hard work. Fortunately it was loose and burned quickly...no explosion, but an acrid smell kept us out of the work are for a couple of days. We took the rockets to Playa del Rey Beach, set the angle iron launchers toward the ocean and shot our babies all the way to...well a hundred or so yards out to sea. Best 4th of my life. If we ever have a 'dumbest job you ever took' thread, fireworks would be a part of that from me. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bye, bye, Pontiac... From: bald headed step child Date: 21 Feb 09 - 11:57 PM I've owned 8 or 9 Poncho's and have loved them all. One thing to remember when you start comparing them to the other GM cars is that most of the "luxury" and "performance" features on the earlier GM's came from the Pontiac division, and then were added to the other lines. Pontiac also did alot more sponsoring of racing in the early years. I never understood the fascination with Chevy's or GM's pulling Pontiac out of racing in favor of Chevy. Maybe that's part of the reason they are going broke. I personally feel that discontinuing Pontiac is a mistake, and I probably will not be looking to buy a GM car in the future as a result. When my current Bonnie dies I'll be looking elsewhere. BHSC |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bye, bye, Pontiac... From: kendall Date: 22 Feb 09 - 09:40 AM Jeri, are you going to tell Peace or am I? The Corvair rode like a baby carriage, and the Spyder would really haul ass. 180 hp as I recall. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bye, bye, Pontiac... From: Bobert Date: 22 Feb 09 - 10:31 AM Exactly right, Capy'n... The Corvair did have a 180 hp model but it was not dependable because it was turbocharges and the heat of the exhaust which ran the turbo was too hoy for the metal that was used in the vains (impeller) of the turbo and so the turbo unit had to be replaced evry 40K miles, or less if you were a hard driver... The nice thing about the Corvair, however, was that it had a low center and independant rear suspension with some serious trailing arms for the transaxle so you didn't get rear wheel tuck during hard cornering... The only problem it had handling wish was with front end push (under-steer) where if you went into a turn too hard you had to fight to keep it from wanted to go straight... I autocrossed mine a few times and added 300 pounds of sand bags up front in the trunk which helped alot... B~ |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bye, bye, Pontiac... From: Maryrrf Date: 22 Feb 09 - 10:54 AM Well I will be sorry to see Pontiacs go. I've owned several. My first was the tiny T6000. It ran great and I enjoyed driving it. Since then I've had Grand Ams - first a blue one bought at auction that ran like a trooper but the paint kept peeling off - we called it Old Chipper. Then a black one, a red one, and a white one - loved them all and enjoyed driving them. There was just something about the Grand Am that I really liked. But they've already discontinued that model, which was my favorite. I hope they don't discontinue Pontiacs. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bye, bye, Pontiac... From: kendall Date: 22 Feb 09 - 09:25 PM Bobert, the roads were clear and dry today, so Jacqui and I took the old Chevy out for a run.She started hard, as usual, but once running she is so smooth and well mannered. Oh, and the car too. I have a problem in that the fuel drains out of the feed line and I have to choke the hell out of her to get her started. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bye, bye, Pontiac... From: Bobert Date: 22 Feb 09 - 09:42 PM Put Jacqui on the phone, Capt'n... Oh the car??? Really??? Sounds like a sexual problem to me... (Bobert, Bobert, Bobert... Can you be serious for one minute???) Okay, here's what yer gonna need to do... Yer gonna have to put an in-line check valve between the fuel pump and the carb... Some of the fule filters have 'um in 'um and that means that them fuel will go only one way and not back... It might be further back, tho, between the fuel pump and the tank... Those old fule pumps could pump forward but didn't have any check valves to alolow the sumabich to drain back into the tank... That's real iiritatin' 'cause then you havde to use the battery/fuel pump to get enough fuel to the float bowl to get it started... The chike itself ain't doing jack 'casue if there ain't no gas in the bowl then the choke is outta the game entirely... My suggestion is to bypass the mechanical fuel pump, put an in-line elctric one in place with a pressure regulator set at, ohhhhhh, about 7 pounds and that oughtta get that ol' Chevy in the mood without a whole lot of foreplay (wink, wink)... Now put Jacqui on the phone and we'll get the the bottom of this other situation... Jus' funnin'... B;~) |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bye, bye, Pontiac... From: MarkS Date: 22 Feb 09 - 10:45 PM 68 GTO. It's in my driveway right now. Bobert, still got your Falcon? We can settle this! But be warned 400 with hot cam, 900cfm Edelbrock, back cut valves, electronic ignition, forged pistons, all rotating parts balanced to 9000 rpm, 3.90 posi, shift kit, 2200 rpm stall converter, his/hers, and a partridge in a pear tree! Mark On second thought, what with gas prices being what they are today, maybe we should just compete electronically! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bye, bye, Pontiac... From: kendall Date: 23 Feb 09 - 06:01 AM I haven't checked but I suspect that the float bowl is also draining into the manifold so the whole fuel system is dryer than a Baptist picnic after sitting idle for a month or so. Electric fuel pump! Bite your tongue! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bye, bye, Pontiac... From: Bobert Date: 23 Feb 09 - 07:55 AM Mark, Wish I did... Google up '65 Falcon, 271 h.p and you'll find that there were only 7 of them made so I wish I still did have it 'cause it would be worth one heck of alot of money... Actually, I never did "own" it... It was technically owned by Ford Motot Company, as were all the cars we had up until my dad retired... But nice little Goat ya got there, Mark... Based on ay you've said, if it's set up right sounds like a 10 second drag car so, hey, I'll just take a pass on that one while I get ahold of this old boy, Bobby Short, and see if he still has his 427 Comet Cyclone... That was a bad motor scooter... I agree, Capt'n... Sounds like yer gas is bleeding down into the intake and evaporating during long periods of inactivity... Just remember this when it comes to womenz and cars: If ya' don't do yer homework, someone else will... B;~) |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bye, bye, Pontiac... From: Charmion Date: 23 Feb 09 - 02:54 PM My father had a 1964 (perhaps '65) Pontiac Laurentian station wagon that covered an acre standing and an acre and a half moving. It wasn't new when it joined our family, and it finally met its end in the late '70s when Dad sold it as "a 283 GM engine in excellent condition surrounded by a crumbling station wagon". It was the only car my mother ever managed to drive -- don't ask me how; the thing was at least 18 feet long. Of course, she didn't drive it well, and she eventually killed it -- broke the frame, which was severely weakened by more than a decade of Ottawa winter road salt -- by walloping the back end against the stone foundation of the Bytown Museum. You could put a family of six quite comfortably in that car for a two-week road trip, and it would sleep two adults comfortably in the cargo space with the back seat let down. I'd hate to have to park it -- let alone gas it up -- today. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bye, bye, Pontiac... From: Peace Date: 23 Feb 09 - 06:21 PM First car I drove was a Corvair. Didn't get caught, either. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bye, bye, Pontiac... From: Bobert Date: 23 Feb 09 - 06:33 PM What??? No license, I'd bet... I know all about that... My mom had a purdy nice '54 Ford that I had keys for and everytime that my folks would go out for the evening in my dad's "new" Ford, me and da' gang would sneak the '54 out... I was about 13 years old and could barely reach the pedals while looking over the dash board but, what the heck... Then she got a brand new shiney 60 Falcon... Lot easier to see over the dash in that car... So that summer, we were goin' on vacation so I left the keys to the Falcon with my buddy, Jim Clark, so he could sneak it out while we were away... Problem is that a snooty neighbor, who knew that my family was on vacation, called the police when she saw the car being driven away from the house... Got me a purdy decent butt whup by my dad fir that boneheaded stunt... Jim Clark didn't do much better... B~ |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bye, bye, Pontiac... From: Richard Bridge Date: 23 Feb 09 - 06:53 PM No relation to the great grand prix driver for Lotus of that name? That's actually pretty bad Bobert, I have friends who have a borderline "special" son who lent his friends the keys for his mother's car, which they then wrapped into oncoming traffic, and now she is being charged by the police with permitting the use of a vehicle without insurance (since of course the insurance was invalidated). I was a bad boy at university, with cars and bikes, but I didn't dump the car owners in it. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bye, bye, Pontiac... From: Bill D Date: 23 Feb 09 - 07:19 PM I knew the woman who bought the 1st Corvair sold in Wichita. They opened the showroom 1st day, and she walked in and said "I want one.". They didn't expect to anything but show off that day. She was SO sorry,,,suspension went bad and wheels wouldn't track. She fought it for over a year, and then got a bunch of money back under the warrant, I think. I had to deal with a Corvair for awhile. uggghh.. things went wrong. It ran and handled ok...while it was running but...it had some of the same problems as above. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bye, bye, Pontiac... From: Riginslinger Date: 23 Feb 09 - 07:38 PM Historically speaking, it seems to me like Oldsmobile was the more signficant loss. Wasn't Olds one of the very first automobiles in America? |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bye, bye, Pontiac... From: Bobert Date: 23 Feb 09 - 08:15 PM Listen, Richard... I was 13 years old at the time, goldnaged it... I just heard on NPR that 13 year old's brains ain't all that developed... Of course, mine never did ripen...lol... Shame on you, Bill... I bet you have an autographed "Unsafe at Any Speed"... Nothin' wrong with the Corvair... Great car... Okay, the fan belt's had issues but, hey, who cares... You could put the sumabich back on with 1 9/16th open end wrench... Or was it 5/8s... No matter... Great car... Oh??? Yers leaked oil??? Yeah, okay the pre-64s di leak a little oil... No reason to go mean-mouthin' the best Chevy that was ever built... (Best Chevy ever built, Boberdz??? That is a stretch...) Hey, it beat the Vega, the Monza, the Citation, the Chevette, the 350 deisels, the Cavaliers, tec. all to heck and back... I'm with Rigs... Get rid of the Oldsmobiles... They ahve always been junk... That's why the only folks who have ever bought them were our grandfatehrs who suffer from half-heimerz... No one in their right mind would buy an Oldsmobile... (Thats why they call them "Olds"mobiles, Bobz...) Oh??? B~ |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bye, bye, Pontiac... From: Riginslinger Date: 23 Feb 09 - 09:47 PM Bobert - I think they've been gone for a while now. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bye, bye, Pontiac... From: kendall Date: 24 Feb 09 - 08:10 AM I don't know what happened to my other post on Oldsmobiles. It went somewhere. Anyway, The curved dash Oldsmobile was built around the turn of the century by a man named Ransom E Olds. Later on he sold the name and in time he went back into business using his initials, REO. Now you know. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bye, bye, Pontiac... From: GUEST,Edthefolkie Date: 24 Feb 09 - 02:01 PM I wish I still had my (1966?) copy of the British magazine "CAR" in which Doug Blain did a road test comparison between a Pontiac GTO and Henry Manney III's Ferrari GTO. It's the most outrageously funny piece of car journalism I've ever read, with some fantastic photos. The article started as a parody of "The Sot-Weed Factor" by John Barth and the first few lines were on the cover (well it was the 60's.) Blain made great play of the Pontiac being a total pussycat until the loud pedal was pressed down more than a certain amount, when a banshee howl came from under the bonnet and loud chirps from the rear tyres, signalling the necessity for handfuls of steering wheel to be grabbed instantly. Later they road tested a Mk 1 Toronado! I can only presume that the magazine used to wine and dine importers pretty well to be able to get hold of these vehicles in the UK. Anybody know what happened to Blyne? (He was Australian) |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bye, bye, Pontiac... From: Riginslinger Date: 24 Feb 09 - 07:08 PM kendall - Was that the same REO that made trucks? It seems like they merged with Diamond-T. I had an old cabover truck one time that was a Diamond-REO. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bye, bye, Pontiac... From: kendall Date: 24 Feb 09 - 08:57 PM Yes I believe it was. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bye, bye, Pontiac... From: frogprince Date: 24 Feb 09 - 09:18 PM But Diamond Rio is a country group, and their name is a complete coincidence... |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bye, bye, Pontiac... From: Riginslinger Date: 24 Feb 09 - 09:21 PM Boy, that's hard to believe. Is it possible that somebody passed a Diamond-REO on the highway and it came to them in a dream? |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bye, bye, Pontiac... From: Ron Davies Date: 24 Feb 09 - 11:50 PM "The Sot-Weed Factor" is a fantastic book--in all senses of the word. Especially the various journal entries on what really happened with Pocahontas. Absolutely classic. Using that book as jump-off spot, that article must have been great. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bye, bye, Pontiac... From: Riginslinger Date: 25 Feb 09 - 06:17 PM Speaking of dreams, what? |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bye, bye, Pontiac... From: Bat Goddess Date: 25 Feb 09 - 07:08 PM Two out of the three cars I originally learned to drive on in the '60s were Pontiacs. (The third was a 1961 Buick LeSabre.) The first fellow I was engaged to had a Bonneville convertible. Threw my engagement ring out of that window more times than I care to remember. The car in Drivers Ed was also a Pontiac. Linn |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bye, bye, Pontiac... From: Bobert Date: 25 Feb 09 - 07:29 PM Yeah, Bat-Linn, but didja marry the dude anyway??? |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bye, bye, Pontiac... From: kendall Date: 26 Feb 09 - 03:53 PM Maybe you should have kept the ring and thrown the dude out the window. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bye, bye, Pontiac... From: Donuel Date: 26 Feb 09 - 04:10 PM I had a Pontiac Bonneville with Eagle GTs that always sounded like a race car. It handled well but heavy when going over 100 mph. At 10 mph with the sunroof open at night while traveling through nature preserves was the car's best times. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bye, bye, Pontiac... From: Ed T Date: 26 Feb 09 - 06:27 PM The Solstice is nice, that would just leave the Saturn Sky in the class....unless Saturn folds also. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bye, bye, Pontiac... From: Bobert Date: 26 Feb 09 - 06:40 PM Word on the street is that Saturn is history... I mean, Saturn dealer are looking for imports to sell when Saturn is no longer... B~ |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bye, bye, Pontiac... From: Donuel Date: 26 Feb 09 - 09:20 PM Ever see a Buick Reatta? |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bye, bye, Pontiac... From: Bat Goddess Date: 27 Feb 09 - 09:16 AM Nah -- never intended to marry him. One night he insisted on me saying I'd marry him before he'd take me home (say it, not DO it). I finally got extremely tired of the situation and said "yes" but told him not to count on it. He decided to go into debt to buy me a 3/4 carat blue white diamond knowing full well I really don't like diamonds. By the way, I was 17 and a senior in high school. I didn't want to marry him, but at the time I didn't want to break up with him -- but the "engagement" exagerated the tedium (of dating him), so -- surprise surprise -- we broke up permanently a few months later in what was a very tempestuous "engagement". By the way, when I told my parents Robert had given me a ring, they threw me against the kitchen wall and wouldn't even LISTEN to my statement that I had no intention of marrying him. Ach! I was young and stupid. But not so stupid that I'd actually set up housekeeping with him -- even if he did drive a Bonneville convertible. Linn |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bye, bye, Pontiac... From: Riginslinger Date: 27 Feb 09 - 10:30 PM Yeah, well, we've all been young and stupid! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bye, bye, Pontiac... From: Bobert Date: 28 Feb 09 - 07:45 AM Wish I had done like you, Linn, but no... I had to go thru with the ordeal... lol... Now back to Pontiacs and other related ot unrelated nonsense... B;~) |
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Subject: RE: BS: Bye, bye, Pontiac... From: Riginslinger Date: 28 Feb 09 - 09:57 AM Sometime after Al Gore invented the internet, Barack Obama got a hold of the notion that America invented the automobile. |
