RIP Pontiac

[elvis]

classic muscle car

no sir.

that is a muscle car.

1969?

 

[Jon]

For roughly the same money, your friend can buy a 2010 Ford Fusion which are selling like hotcakes and are very much in demand right now.

The Ford Focus is about $15,000 less than a Pontiac G8, and not even close to the same class of car as a G8 GT.

Anyway, I'm glad they finally made the Focus appealing to the human eye. All models before this year were by far some of the blandest pieces of crap on the road.

I still wouldn't buy one over a Nissan Altima or Mazda6, but I'm just glad they're finally trying to appeal to people who actually like cars.

 

[auditor0007]

Buy a Honda Civic.

At ten years it will run like the Ford in one.

At twenty years the Civic will run reasonably.

The Ford will be in a junkyard.

I owned a ford. It was the best vehicle I ever owned. No major problems. I sold it for $750 with nearly 300,000 miles on it.

 

[editec]

Man, and I was so close to saving up enough money to get a Pontiac Firebird with an eagle painted on the hood,

I had one of those in the early 70s.

Lots of muscle but basically not much else to say good about it.

Not comfortable to ride, didn't handle especially well, it was a gas guzzling pig of car.

My first X bought it without consulting me...I was in the NAV and we were not cohabiting at the time.

It was her money, so I kept my mouth shut, and let her figure out what a mistake it was.

 

[DavidS]

For roughly the same money, your friend can buy a 2010 Ford Fusion which are selling like hotcakes and are very much in demand right now.

The Ford Focus is about $15,000 less than a Pontiac G8, and not even close to the same class of car as a G8 GT.

Anyway, I'm glad they finally made the Focus appealing to the human eye. All models before this year were by far some of the blandest pieces of crap on the road.

I still wouldn't buy one over a Nissan Altima or Mazda6, but I'm just glad they're finally trying to appeal to people who actually like cars.

Ford Fusion. Not Ford Focus.

 

[elvis]

For roughly the same money, your friend can buy a 2010 Ford Fusion which are selling like hotcakes and are very much in demand right now.

The Ford Focus is about $15,000 less than a Pontiac G8, and not even close to the same class of car as a G8 GT.

Anyway, I'm glad they finally made the Focus appealing to the human eye. All models before this year were by far some of the blandest pieces of crap on the road.

I still wouldn't buy one over a Nissan Altima or Mazda6, but I'm just glad they're finally trying to appeal to people who actually like cars.

Ford Fusion. Not Ford Focus.

How much money does the hybrid add to the price, and how large is the improvement in the mileage.

 

[PubliusInfinitum]

Man, and I was so close to saving up enough money to get a Pontiac Firebird with an eagle painted on the hood, a t-top, and wear a netted half-shirt like the Marines where I grew up in San Diego.

Shoot!

My dreams are gone.

Well, the F-body hasn't been built since 2002... but the 2010 Camaro is FINALLY a reality.

FTR: I was one of those Marines, only I rolled in a Z28... and yes... it was VERY Cool and yes... it still is...

Granted the Net-shirt isn't an option any more... but the Z is now an 11 second monster that consumes the vast majority of her late model competitors... with very few cars, old or new able to do much more than 'look perdy...' as she walks them to an all but certain loss; and like her driver, her looks are dated... but it turns out that looks don't win many races... so it works out.

But it is a shame that collective bargaining has destroyed yet another American Hallmark...

 

[DavidS]

The Ford Focus is about $15,000 less than a Pontiac G8, and not even close to the same class of car as a G8 GT.

Anyway, I'm glad they finally made the Focus appealing to the human eye. All models before this year were by far some of the blandest pieces of crap on the road.

I still wouldn't buy one over a Nissan Altima or Mazda6, but I'm just glad they're finally trying to appeal to people who actually like cars.

Ford Fusion. Not Ford Focus.

How much money does the hybrid add to the price, and how large is the improvement in the mileage.

Too big of a car to get a 4-cylinder, so you'd get the V6 it'll run you about $22 - $24k. Gas mileage is about 18 city, 22 highway

The Hybrid runs around $27 - $29k and gets 41 city, 36 highway. So for about $75 more a month, you're saving double the gas mileage. Seems like a deal to me. Some dealers will have premiums on the hybrid though... but that can be negotiated. You also get a $2000 federal tax credit for buying a hybrid.

 

[007]

The Ford Focus is about $15,000 less than a Pontiac G8, and not even close to the same class of car as a G8 GT.

Anyway, I'm glad they finally made the Focus appealing to the human eye. All models before this year were by far some of the blandest pieces of crap on the road.

I still wouldn't buy one over a Nissan Altima or Mazda6, but I'm just glad they're finally trying to appeal to people who actually like cars.

Ford Fusion. Not Ford Focus.

How much money does the hybrid add to the price, and how large is the improvement in the mileage.

Exactly. Hybrids are more or less an interim auto meant to appease the government while the auto manufacturers continue R&D on a TRUE non gas burning auto. And the cost of a hybrid doesn't offset what you may save in gas either. They just make the people that buy them feel as though they're making a difference, when they're really not.

 

[DavidS]

Man, and I was so close to saving up enough money to get a Pontiac Firebird with an eagle painted on the hood, a t-top, and wear a netted half-shirt like the Marines where I grew up in San Diego.

Shoot!

My dreams are gone.

Well, the F-body hasn't been built since 2002... but the 2010 Camaro is FINALLY a reality.

FTR: I was one of those Marines, only I rolled in a Z28... and yes... it was VERY Cool and yes... it still is...

Granted the Net-shirt isn't an option any more... but the Z is now an 11 second monster that consumes the vast majority of her late model competitors... with very few cars, old or new able to do much more than 'look perdy...' as she walks them to an all but certain loss; and like her driver, her looks are dated... but it turns out that looks don't win many races... so it works out.

But it is a shame that collective bargaining has destroyed yet another American Hallmark...

Gee... I dunno... a 2010 Camaro or a 2010 Mustang.

I'll take the mustang.

Oh and uh, the next gen Mustang? That's porn to me.

 

[PubliusInfinitum]

Man, and I was so close to saving up enough money to get a Pontiac Firebird with an eagle painted on the hood,

I had one of those in the early 70s.

Lots of muscle but basically not much else to say good about it.

Not comfortable to ride, didn't handle especially well, it was a gas guzzling pig of car.

My first X bought it without consulting me...I was in the NAV and we were not cohabiting at the time.

It was her money, so I kept my mouth shut, and let her figure out what a mistake it was.

The early 1970s didn't produce any American Muscle... it all but killed it.

What SAVED it was the 1977 which is by all potential standards LATE 70s... film "Smokey and the Bandit" which featured the '77 Trans Am... which sported the Pontiac 400 which produced nearly 200 stock hp and slightly more than 200 lbs of torque; and it was a wonderful, fire breathing, @$$ hauling RENEWAL of American Muscle cars; to which ALL enthusiasts of American Muscle are greatful.

That car was an outstanding automobile, it's stock configuration produced more HP and torque than nearly anything that it was likely to come up against and could be taken to the track and be expected to turn mid-low 14s in the qrtr mile. It handled very well, but where it suffered most was in the tires, which was where almost every car of that day suffered. The car could easily reach speeds of >140 mph, which readily resulted in the tires rounding off from inertia... causing the available traction to be reduced exponentially and a 'bounce' could readily become destabilizing at speed, causing catastrophic results in inexperienced hands.

 

[Bfgrn]

classic muscle car

no sir.

that is a muscle car.

1969?

The Mustang was called a "Pony" car... the one in the picture is the first body style introduced in 1964 at the NY Worlds Fair...

My best friend had a red '64-1/2 Mustang...it was a prototype sent to the Ford and Mercury dealers for promotion...1965 was the first full production Mustang

The Pontiac GTO also introduced in 1964 is considered the first "Muscle Car"...

 

[PubliusInfinitum]

did the unions kill off pontiac?

Yes... state mandated Collective Bargaining resulted in massive excesses in the cost liabilities to GM... where each succeding generation of workers demanded greater and greater compensation, while it sustained larger and larger populations of Retirees, who had collecitvely bargained for extremely generous retirment packages.

It's a function of the left as a general rule, wanting to 'have their cake and Eat it TOO...' which is a formula for distaster and can only come with what the left will never fail to describe as 'unintended consequences', despite the consequences being nothing short of absolutely CERTAIN.

The Irony is that GM is presently building some of the best cars in the world; with the ZR1 Corvette presently being the fastest production car ever built; winning contests in every conceivable level and facet of performance; routinely besting supercars that come at 10 times its price tag. Same with the Cadillac, the Caddy CTSV is winning design awards and crushing its competition in performance; being amongst the fastest, fine appionted luxury cars in the world...

But Pontiac has long since suffered from a shrinking market... and its demise is a surprise to no one.

 

[Iriemon]

I loved my '78 Firebird, baby blue metalflake with black trim. Except the engine went TU at only 99,000 miles.

 

[PubliusInfinitum]

Ford Fusion. Not Ford Focus.

How much money does the hybrid add to the price, and how large is the improvement in the mileage.

Too big of a car to get a 4-cylinder, so you'd get the V6 it'll run you about $22 - $24k. Gas mileage is about 18 city, 22 highway

The Hybrid runs around $27 - $29k and gets 41 city, 36 highway. So for about $75 more a month, you're saving double the gas mileage. Seems like a deal to me. Some dealers will have premiums on the hybrid though... but that can be negotiated. You also get a $2000 federal tax credit for buying a hybrid.

Well there ya go... using this member numbers... just figure out what a typical driver puts down in mileage... figuring the non hybrid fills up 3 times a month and the hybrid twice a month... a savings of $33.60 a month and all ya have to pay to realize that is $75/month

 

[auditor0007]

I loved my '78 Firebird, baby blue metalflake with black trim. Except the engine went TU at only 99,000 miles.

I've never known anyone to get 100,000 miles out of a Pontiac.

 

[PubliusInfinitum]

Man, and I was so close to saving up enough money to get a Pontiac Firebird with an eagle painted on the hood, a t-top, and wear a netted half-shirt like the Marines where I grew up in San Diego.

Shoot!

My dreams are gone.

Well, the F-body hasn't been built since 2002... but the 2010 Camaro is FINALLY a reality.

FTR: I was one of those Marines, only I rolled in a Z28... and yes... it was VERY Cool and yes... it still is...

Granted the Net-shirt isn't an option any more... but the Z is now an 11 second monster that consumes the vast majority of her late model competitors... with very few cars, old or new able to do much more than 'look perdy...' as she walks them to an all but certain loss; and like her driver, her looks are dated... but it turns out that looks don't win many races... so it works out.

But it is a shame that collective bargaining has destroyed yet another American Hallmark...

Gee... I dunno... a 2010 Camaro or a 2010 Mustang.

I'll take the mustang.

Oh and uh, the next gen Mustang? That's porn to me.

ROFL... Dave, the 2010 Camaro KILLS the new 'Wustang...' in every conceivable area... the LSX V8 takes the 4.6 GT by two tenths in the quarter, which to the uninitiated is a lifetime... and when the new Z28 rolls out, it is OVER for the Rousch boys... they just need to get used to 2nd place and I can tell you that THEY HATE that spot...

My 96 Z routinely deliver the bad news to you Must-gals every Friday night.

But I will say that the last few years have produced the best looking Mustangs since the late sixties Fastback... and that proto... "Oh Momma... Daddy like..."

Hey... MAYBE Ford will actually produce something that will compete with the ZR1... someday.

 

[Dis]

Geeze.

 

[PubliusInfinitum]

I loved my '78 Firebird, baby blue metalflake with black trim. Except the engine went TU at only 99,000 miles.

I've never known anyone to get 100,000 miles out of a Pontiac.

Well the F-body is common to both Chevy Camaro and Pontiac Firebird... I rebuilt the engine in my 96 Z28 Camaro when it had 152K miles... and this was a car which had been road hard and put up wet for most of it's hard fought life.

I tore it down because I intended to race it... but what I found was an engine which was remarkably sound. You could still see the original factory hone on the cylinder walls; it had the original factory plugs, coil, and so on... and this was a car which was running mid-low 13 seconds on the Friday night prior to the tear down. Of course she's putting down vastly better time these days... running low 12 and high 11s with 167,000 miles.

As a general rule, cars that fall short, do so due to poor maintenance; which amount to the owners never or rarely changing the fluids... Performance and commercial owners are big on such PM, thus it's not uncommon to see commercial fleets and gear-heads get 2-300k or more miles out of their vehicles.

 

[PubliusInfinitum]

Geeze.

And THAT friends is what the Z is ALL about...