[Wheelsman] To kill a mockingBRAND.......Pontiac
Chief Pontiac
Chief Pontiac (1720 - April 20, 1769) was a great leader of the Ottawa Indian tribe. He organized his and other tribes in the Great Lakes area to fight the British, in what is known as Pontiac's War (1763-1764).
Chief and Leader of Many Tribes:
Pontiac became chief of the Ottawa Indians in 1755. He soon became the head of the Council of Three Tribes, an intertribal group consisting of the Ottawa, Potawatomi, and Ojibwa people. The French traders and the Indian tribes had coexisted well, trading furs for supplies like food, guns, ammunition, and tobacco. In 1760, the British had just defeated the French and taken over their forts. Sir Jeffrey Amherst, Major Robert Rogers and British/colonial troops occupied Fort Detroit, and the British took possession of other forts around the Great Lakes region. Some of the British, including Amherst, were contemptuous of the Indians, limiting trade and angering the tribes.
Attacking the British
In 1762, Pontiac enlisted all of the local tribes to drive out the British. The English called this action "Pontiac's Conspiracy." Pontiac's strategy was to have each of the 18 local Indian tribes attack the fort nearest to them in May 1763, and then to eliminate the British settlements. Pontiac planned to begin the rebellion by taking Fort Detroit.
Attacking Detroit and the Other Forts
Pontiac planned to conquer Fort Detroit (what is now Detroit, Michigan) on May 7, 1762, but his plan was betrayed, and the British found out about it. He therefore did not attack as planned. Pontiac did lay siege to Detroit, encircling the fort with warriors, blocking supplies and reinforcements. On July 31, Pontiac won the Battle of Bloody Run, but reinforcements eventually did come to Detroit, and Pontiac retreated. The tribes captured eight of the 12 forts that they attacked, and the settlements were left in ruins.
Surrender
By 1764 the French no longer supported the Indian efforts and actually sided with the British, and the British re-took many of the areas. Pontiac agreed to a peace treaty in July 1766 at Fort de Chartres, Illinois. He was murdered by a Peoria Indian three years later. To avenge Pontiac's death, the Ottawa Indians killed many Peoria Indians.
Pontiac City
Pontiac is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan named after the Ottawa Chief Pontiac. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 66,337.
It is the county seat of Oakland County6. Considered a satellite city of Detroit, it is surrounded by affluent Metro Detroit suburbs. Although in the midst of these suburbs, Pontiac itself is an urban center with a significant manufacturing sector.
The city is at the north end of the famous Woodward Avenue, known in the 1950s and 1960s as being popular with young people who would cruise and drag-race their hot-rods in the area. Pontiac participates in the annual Woodward Dream Cruise, an event celebrating Woodward's hot-rod history, stretching from Pontiac to Detroit.
The city is sometimes referred to as "the Yak" by locals. Many younger residents are proud to claim the side of the city they hail from. The 300 and 400 address blocks are also other ways in which locals claim homestead in Pontiac. Numerous Hispanic immigrants also live in Pontiac, comprising an additional level of cultural diversity.
The city is bounded by the City of Auburn Hills to the east and north, the City of Lake Angelus to the north, Waterford Township to the west, and Bloomfield Hills and Township to the south.
The city is best-known for its General Motors manufacturing plants and the GM automobile brand, Pontiac, which was first produced in and named after the city. Also of note is the Pontiac Silverdome, the stadium that hosted the Detroit Lions from 1975 until 2002.
Pontiac History
Although the first Pontiac car didn't debut until 1926, the division's history actually dates back to 1893, when Edward M. Murphy established the Pontiac Buggy Company in Pontiac, Michigan. The company produced horse-drawn carriages. As it became clear that motor car sales were going to eclipse carriages, Murphy wisely started the Oakland Motor Car Company, an offshoot of the buggy company, in 1907.
Two years later, General Motors acquired half of Oakland in an exchange of stock. GM founder William Durant, a friend of Murphy's, was actually more interested in his talent and expertise than his Oakland cars. But Murphy died unexpectedly the following summer. A few months later, GM purchased full control of Oakland, amid rumors that Durant paid for part of the company from his personal earnings to help Murphy's family. Oakland was very successful through 1920. Then, a minor economic depression, combined with inefficient production and Durant's drive for acquisition, weakened Oakland and GM.
By 1920, General Motors was in disarray. In just 12 years, Durant had founded the company, lost control in 1910, regained it in 1916, and lost it again by 1920. The company's seven divisions were fighting for the same customers, and none were priced to compete with Ford's $500 Model T. At the time, GM's prices ranged from $795 for the lowest-end Chevrolet, to $5,690 for the highest-priced Cadillac. Since GM wasn't in the position to rival the Model T, a committee of company executives, under the leadership of new GM President Alfred Sloan, decided to create a car to fill a long-standing price gap between Chevrolet and Oldsmobile. In addition, the new vehicle would serve as a platform to share vehicle components in an effort to improve volume efficiency.
So they created Pontiac, a new car line, under the auspices of Oakland.
What's next for Pontiac? As the division celebrates 75 years in the automobile business, it seems appropriate to reflect on the successes and failures of the past, and use the wisdom collected over the decades to make the next 75 years a time of true innovation, attention to detail and success.
Death of the Pontiac Brand
General Motors to Close Famed “Muscle Car” Division
The Pontiac name was taken from an American Indian Chief who lived from about 1720 to 1769. Chief Pontiac led a rebellion (1763-66) against the British as they were colonizing the Great Lakes region.
The Pontiac name appeared for the first time on trucks made by the Pontiac Spring and Wagon Works in 1905. The company started turning out cars in 1907 from its factory in Pontiac, Michigan.
The General Motors Era Begins in 1926
After some business mergers and acquisitions, General Motors bought what was now called the Oakland Motor Car Company in 1909. The Pontiac brand was launched by GM in 1926 and it was immediately successful. It was marketed as a lower-priced Oakland to fill the gap between the entry-level Chevrolet and the up-market Oldsmobile.
The Great Depression almost finished off the Pontiac Division. Steve Mertl writing for The Canadian Press on April 28, 2009 reported that, “…By 1932 its existence was under threat as GM reeled from the Depression. Yet, it was the Oakland that disappeared and the Pontiac that survived by sharing components with other GM makes.”
The Golden Age of Pontiac
For enthusiasts of the brand the high point of the Pontiac line was from 1956 to 1981.
Perhaps, the greatest fan of the Pontiac name is Steve Barcak who describes himself as a “Pontiac extremist.” He runs an operation called Pontiac Heaven in the Arizona desert where he has 500 Pontiacs, not one of them built after 1981.
For Barcak the turning point for Pontiac was when Semon “Bunkie” Knudsen became general manager of the division on July 1, 1956; “This man would change the image of Pontiac that remains to this day.”
Semon brought in John Z. De Lorean and Elliot M. “Pete” Estes as chief engineers and they began completely changing the brand. In 1957, they introduced the Bonneville with a big, powerful V-8 engine. It’s the V-8 years to which Steve Barcak has dedicated his Pontiac Heaven – the age of the brand’s high-performance cars.
The Time of the Muscle Car
In 1964, Pontiac introduced its GTO line. The name was inspired by Ferrari’s very successful racing car the 250 GTO, with the letters standing Gran Turismo Omologat.
The GTO was the brainchild of John De Lorean and is considered by many to be the first “muscle car.” In his 2003 book “Pontiac GTO” Steve Statham traces the history of this iconic vehicle; the one celebrated in song by Ronnie and the Daytonas’ Little GTO.
The Pontiac GTO was designed to appeal to young males and it did; by 1966, the company sold more than 96,000 GTOs. In 1975, the line was discontinued.
Firebird
The End of the Pontiac Brand
On April 27, 2009, General Motors announced it was phasing out the Pontiac brand altogether. By the end of 2010, it will be gone. But, back at Pontiac Heaven, Steve Barcak is not shedding any tears. Interviewed by Jennifer Wells of The Globe and Mail (April 28, 2009), Barcak says for him the Pontiac mystique ended when they started putting Chevrolet engines in the vehicle in 1981. “If you’re a customer,” he told Ms. Wells, “coming in to compare cars, you’re going to wonder, ‘Why am I driving a Pontiac with a Chevrolet engine when I can buy a Chevy for less?’ ”
He added that Pontiac “turned their back on me in 1981.”
Thrill is gone — GM’s Pontiac bites the dust
“Pontiac was one of America’s greatest car brands with an illustrious history,” lamented industry commentator Peter DeLorenzo, who runs the Autoextremist.com blog and once worked for Pontiac’s marketing department.
It is an ignominious end for a brand whose products fired the imagination of enthusiasts of traditional American muscle cars.
Near the end, Pontiac enjoyed the favor of Bob Lutz, who headed product development at GM until his retirement this year, with a revived GTO, the two-seat Solstice roadster, which could be seen as a latter-day Fiero, and the G8, a sedan that aimed to compete with BMW. As was the case with the Fiero, in the end, these cars were too little, too late.
And in the end, Pontiac lasted just one year longer than Oldsmobile’s century plus one. The division was still GM’s third-largest seller, with 278,000 sales last year, and it enjoyed the youngest average age of any GM brand.
But in the end, there just wasn’t enough “Excitement” left.
