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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  Good Vibe - Brations - 2003 Pontiac Vibe
  By chrilad - January 11 - 10:26 am

  Bought the 2003 Vibe in May of 2003. A little nervous being a first model year. The Vibe has been nothing but reliable. We chose the All-wheel Drive model to deal with winters in Upstate NY. Handles even the heavies snow and ice with no problem. Plenty of room and all seats fold to form a single flat surface for loads. Approaching 47,000 miles and only performed routine maintenance and tires. Not the fastest car on the road by any means, but can get up to highway speed in average time. This is essentially a Toyota, but with Pontiac badge, insurance will be slightly less.

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  Great Car for all - 2004 Pontiac Vibe
  By rbourne - January 10 - 10:00 am

  The more i drive it the more i love it. The vibe is a quality product that is cheaper than toyotas matrix and looks better to boot. My only problem is that the manual shifter is loose, going to replace it with an after market one anyway so no real complaints.

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  Great - 2003 Pontiac Grand AM
  By Escalante - January 10 - 9:53 am

  Great performance, amazing when traveling on road and highways. Nice experience driving it at high speed, good control and stability

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  This things fast and smooth - 2006 Pontiac Grand Prix
  By woolly - January 10 - 8:10 am

  Bought the car with 4,000 miles on it, pretty loaded and supercharged. I still have a 1999 Bonneville and I thought it was fast. This car is unbelievable for the money. Looks like an expensive sports car and drives like one.

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  I Love It! - 2007 Pontiac Vibe
  By Bethanne - January 9 - 8:40 am

  I bought this car based on reviews that I had seen on the internet. I keep my cars a long time so I wanted something that was reliable, safe and fuel efficient. I love this car! It is so much fun to drive, handles really well in the snow and a very stylish roomy interior. I would highly recommend this vehicle to anyone who is looking for a fuel effecient ride that is a treat to drive!

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  Pontiac Built Excitement - 2006 Pontiac Grand Prix
  By Steve - January 8 - 10:00 am

  We have owned our GP for approx 3 years and love the car. Its our 2nd one with the bulletproof 3.8 liter engine. Plenty of power, it effortlessly gets up to hwy speeds. It has the crystal blue paint which changes to teal in the sun and can appear purple at time in dimmer light. Reliability has not been an issue with this car and Id definitely get another if they still made them. GM got this one right and reliability seems to be hard to find these days. Id also consider the Aussie built G8 as theyve been around along time Down Under.

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  09 Vibe 5m - 2009 Pontiac Vibe
  By Joed - January 8 - 4:10 am

  Im delighted with the car. Smooth ride. Easy, light operation of clutch and shifter. Geared so I can get into 5th at 40 or 45, which is economical for my city driving but may explain why EPA highway is only 32. IP attractive and easy to read but I wish speedometer numbers were by 10s not 20s. Pleased to find the 1.8 engine quite adequate.

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  More fun than I hoped - 2009 Pontiac Vibe
  By joep - January 4 - 11:46 pm

  This is actually the 5 sp Auto. Just turned 3000 miles and I still love to get in this car and drive. With fairly aggressive driving, I consistently get 25 mpg combined urban/freeway driving and over 29 on the freeway. Very comfortable with a great sound system. You can take circular freeway on-ramps at high rate of speed and it stays firmly planted in your lane and with very little body roll. The "torquey" engine is always ready to scoot when you want to. My two previous cars were a Mustang SVO and a Taurus SHO and I really dont miss them.

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  So far so good! - 2006 Pontiac G6
  By Paul - January 4 - 11:10 pm

  Very happy so far - this car looks great, and GM has seemingly turned the corner on build quality - obviously time will tell, but fit and finish is excellent, and there are improvements in materials used even from 2005 G6 Sedan - my brother owns a 4dr and was impressed that the problems he has with his have been fixed in the 06 coupe.

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  Love it - 2006 Pontiac GTO
  By Jim Still - January 4 - 9:50 pm

  Holden chassis is excellent, great 400HP power with 6 speed and IRS. What else do you need?