Pontiac History

In 1893, Edward M. Murphy started the Pontiac Buggy Company in Pontiac, Michigan. In 1907, Murphy decided to branch out from buggy production to car production with the Oakland Motor Car Company. Since the Pontiac Spring &Wagon Works company was competing with the same name of Pontiac, the two companies decided to merge in 1908 under the Oakland Motor Car Company name.

General Motors bought around half of Oakland Motor Car Company in 1909. William Durant (GM's founder) was a friend of Edward Murphy and it was said Durant's interest in the company was only for the talents of Murphy and not so much the cars. When Murphy died later that same year, General Motors bought the remainder of Oakland Motor Car Company.

Durant had a taste for acquiring divisions for GM and by 1920 things were quite a mess. All of the automobile divisions were clamouring with each other for sales and none of the vehicles were priced in a competitive range with Ford. Pontiac became the new line, slated to compete with the Model T made by Ford. Manufactured under the Oakland name until 1932, Pontiac rose to the challenge. In 1926 the first Pontiac rolled out, the Series 6-27. Pontiac was only producing closed cars instead of the fabric top, and customers loved it!

Demand soon exceeded supply. A huge $15 million assembly plant was started and visitors from around the globe came to see the 'daylight plant' because the unique structure was made of so much glass. Success continued for the Pontiac division with only a small hiccup in 1930 owing to the Depression.

Until 1932 when the Oakland name was no longer used, the Pontiac division did not really need or have a successful sales strategy. Money was being lost slowly, and there were rumors circulating that the Pontiac, Buick, and Cadillac divisions might also be dying. Harry J. Klinger, the general sales manager from Chevy, was brought on the general manager of the entire Pontiac division. With the addition of Frank Hershey as Pontiac's lead designer, sales nearly doubled in 1932.

Throughout the 40s, not much changed with the Pontiac models. In 1948, the Hydra-matic automatic transmission came out and boosted sales slightly. It was not until 1949 that significant changes were made to the body style. The 1953 Star Chief was debuted with optional electric windows and air conditioning, and the first one-piece windshield. It was toward the end of the 50s that the "Indian" design for Pontiac went away and the "V" design replaced it. The "V" wasn't the only change, as the Starchief models also were built with a new chassis and style features for both the body and the interior.

The 60s introduced Pontiac's brand of pony cars, the Firebird and GTO, and then the emissions and safety regulations halted the commanding presence of such vehicles. By the end of the 70s, the large American cars were being downsized, and it wasn't until the 80s that a pony car re-emerged in the Firebird of 1982 or the 1984 Fiero.

In 2008, GM talked about cutting the Pontiac brand in an effort to receive a $25 billion loan. In 2009, the decision to drop Pontiac while keeping GMC trucks and the Cadillac, Chevy, and Buick lines. Pontiac was the second brand eliminated from the GM line after Oldsmobile was phased out finally in 2004. While many Pontiac cars will be passed to other divisions, other lines, such as Saturn and Hummer are on their last legs.