Overview & Reviews

The Pontiac brand is part of the General Motors family, and is home to many of the automaker's more performance-oriented vehicles. Currently, the marque offers a broad range of sporty cars and SUVs. However, as part of GM's restructuring plan, the brand is slated to be discontinued by the end of the 2010 model year.

Pontiac originated as the Oakland Car Company of Pontiac, Michigan, in 1907; it was founded by Edward Murphy. Acquired by General Motors in 1909, Oakland introduced the first Pontiac vehicle in 1926. Dubbed the "Chief of the Sixes," the car was powered by a six-cylinder engine and made its debut at that year's New York auto show. It was so successful that the Oakland name was phased out in favor of Pontiac, the name of an 18th-century chief of the Ottawa Indians. Throughout the 1930s and '40s Pontiac made coupes, sedans and wagons in the low-to-mid price ranges. A unique styling cue of Pontiac cars from the mid-'30s to the mid-'50s was known as "Silver Streak," a set of art-deco-inspired chrome "speed lines" that ran up over the length of the hood to the base of the windshield.

The 1950s saw the introduction of the Pontiac Bonneville. The sprawling, stylish cruiser offered equal measures of performance and luxury, and was a breakout hit. But it wasn't until the 1960s that the Pontiac brand truly came into its own. American manufacturers had begun to offer downsized alternatives to the gigantic cruisers that had ruled the highways in previous decades. Pontiac came to market with the compact Tempest. In 1964, Pontiac made its biggest impact yet with the creation of the GTO option for the Tempest. By equipping the car with the powerful 389 cubic-inch V8 from the full-size car line, Pontiac created the first "muscle car." Phenomenally successful, the GTO helped define the burgeoning muscle car category. Pontiac also saw tremendous success during the latter part of this decade with its Firebird and Firebird Trans Am.

The oil crisis of the '70s made fuel efficiency a priority for many car buyers. Following the lead of its GM siblings, Pontiac made compact vehicles like the Ventura and Phoenix a major part of its lineup. The '80s saw the launch of the two-seat Pontiac Fiero. Despite its modest beginnings (it was initially marketed as a "commuter car"), the Fiero eventually blossomed into a credible sports car.

The '90s saw the launch of Pontiacs like the Sunfire and Montana minivan. Pontiac has slowly lost sales due to changing tastes and a lack of differentiation between its models and those of other GM divisions. In hopes of recapturing past glory, the division embarked on a plan to retire aged models and introduce all-new ones with distinctive styling and personality. For a while, the effort seemed to be bearing fruit. New models like the Vibe, Solstice and G8 made Pontiac a brand to consider in many segments. However, GM's financial troubles in 2008 and 2009 have resulted in the company's decision to phase out Pontiac as a brand. It's expected 2010 will be Pontiac's last year for new models.

User Reviews:

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  torrid red - 2006 Pontiac GTO
  By ed hill - November 15 - 2:53 am

  The way the car drives even at slow speeds it great. Most people have no idea what it is at first then the original GTO folks all of a sudden do not care for it.. The aussies did a fine job on the car only gripe is going from a z28 to GTO is the seat does not go low enough but i am fine with it now. The more new style muscle cars the big 3 build the better//

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  GREAT PRICE - 2003 Pontiac Aztek
  By ALLEN ZYKWA - November 15 - 2:00 am

  GREAT, LOVE IT RIDES LIKE A DREAM

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  Love it so far - 2009 Pontiac G8
  By Doug - November 14 - 3:13 pm

  Ive only owned the car for 2 weeks, but I love how it looks (except fake hood scoops), rides & drives. Lot of room, decent Blaupunkt stereo. Power & torque are addictive, but also getting 21 mpg on mostly highway driving. Rare vehicle, so you dont see yourself coming & going.

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  OK, so it was a former Mary Kay car... - 1998 Pontiac Grand Prix
  By smoo4asw - November 14 - 3:46 am

  ...and it was pink and had the bare minimum feature set. It did safely deliver to me the 128k I love so much from Cleveland (where wed go to buy its replacement when it crapped out on us) and it didnt have the :-(analog) cellular network driven OnStar crap that Verizon Wireless can bollox up at will. What it didnt have was durability. It was reliable until it broke, but when it broke, it was shot and that was all there was to it. Needless to say we werent going to be burned by Pontiac a third time (my Grandmother had a Phoenix and it wasnt even reliable!) It did its bit, but Im glad its gone for scrap.

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  back again - 2005 Pontiac GTO
  By jay - November 13 - 10:00 pm

  I had 2 1964 gtos forget the "not retro" nonsense! This is one terrific car!! Get one before they are gone!!

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  Fun to Drive - 2008 Pontiac G5
  By Lloyd - November 13 - 5:13 am

  Ordered this car to replace 1999 Sunfire in October and have been very satisfied with the performance of this car. This car replaced the Sunfire and Pontiac responded to all the Sunfire owners on how to improve it. The ride is much smoother and the handling with the improved suspension is great. It has a lot of the features that more expensive cars have at a lesser price. Handles well in snow!

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  Good car for a good price - 2007 Pontiac G6
  By Skywave - November 12 - 2:46 am

  This is a very attractive car. It feels comfortable and sporty and with some exceptions has very nice interior. I think many of the issues with the earlier years have been sorted out. Too early to tell about reliability. My example has several interior rattles. The engine feels very powerful and the car handles well but it falls short of really being a "sports" coupe. I have the sport package on mine which includes the 3.5L LZ4 and hydraulic PS which probably resolved previous handling complaints. I probably cant complain about the mileage (28 MPG in commuter service) but I still will. Stiff suspension transmits considerable road noise to the cabin, ride is OK though.

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  Great car, no problems at 120k - 2003 Pontiac Sunfire
  By fingaz - November 12 - 12:41 am

  My dad first purchased the Sunfire new in 2003 as a 2nd vehicle to commute to work. He got it with all the bells and whistles (which only is power windows, A/C, sunroof, monsoon sound system, dual exhaust and spoiler) for only $13,000! I ended up taking the car off his hands and it has NEVER failed me. 120k mile and I have never ever had one problem with it. Of course I keep up with oil changes, tires, brakes and the like. The car still looks current and modern and it does perform well for only having 140 horses!

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  Great Used Value - 2004 Pontiac Vibe
  By FLADAD - November 11 - 2:23 pm

  I have had my Vibe since new and have 45,000 trouble free miles on it now. It is fun to drive and feels bigger than it is while driving. Made by Toyota it will undoubtedly have good reliability thru 150,000. That is my goal. 35mpg at 65mph is true. Only drawback is the rear window washer, its useless. But thats a small defect in a great car

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  You wont believe this - 2005 Pontiac GTO
  By Mark - November 10 - 9:46 pm

  Well, Love the GTO..except that the motor blew at 2800 miles. Pontiac said it was our fault...seems like it uses oil like an old lawnmower. Actually folks, the secret internal memo to Pontiac tells them to warn customers of GTOs to check the oil every 500 miles. And, yes folks, this GTO even with a new motor (and thats a whole other story) burns 1 quart of oil every 500 miles. So check your dipsticks regularly. The big thing now is that there are NO part available for these Holdens. An unfortunate incident left my GTO damaged in the front and it has been in the body shop for 3 MONTHS now while they try and find parts. RIGHT NOW there are NO front struts available for any GTOs in the USA...