Auto Max

The glory days of Smokey Yunick and Fireball Roberts charging around the stock car tracks of the south and Farmer Arnie Beswick tearing up the drag strips through out the country are long gone… as are the Firebirds Burt Reynolds thrilled us with on the big screen. Government Motors snuffed out the life of this once proud automaker on April 27, 2009. Once number three in sales, Pontiac had slipped down near the bottom in recent years, a victim of union excesses, inept corporate management, insurance standards and government regulation.

Pontiac’s story is one of the entire American auto industry. Union contracts that were almost reasonably workable when the industry was living high on the hog and making so much money they built amazing buildings as monuments to themselves, seem oddly out of place when the profitable sales have been lost to foreign competitors. The adversarial relationship that seemed appropriate when the big three had the US market all to themselves remains, to the detriment of all concerned.

Times change, so do market conditions. The US automakers were up against foreign competition where labor and management understood they needed to work together to produce a product that would penetrate the US market. Somehow the this spirit of cooperation never caught on in the US, even at Pontiac where once there existed a pride in achievement. The unions kept asking for more and more and the greed and lack of resolve on the part of the companies made avoiding the lost production of a strike outweigh the long term destruction of overpriced contracts.

Many other factors played into the downfall of the auto industry, not the least were government regulations in the name of safety, fuel efficiency and others, just because they could. Some of us remember the foolish “double nickel†speed limits imposed by our “benefactors†in Washington until sanity returned. What we saw in this case and around the industry were companies that paid attention to their operations, but not the market or environment they lived in.

In the early ’60s I was considering attending General Motors Institute… a fine engineering school with the obvious emphasis on the automobile industry. While checking into this I had the opportunity to visit the main offices of the Pontiac Division. The place was adorned with all sorts of signs touting the number three in sales and an institutional pride rarely seen in the business world. The company took a higher price product and went head to head with lower priced Ford and Chevy. These were the victorious days of Roberts and Beswick. Management at that time had taken a dull, stodgy, but reliable product and morphed it into one of the most desired cars of the time.

They worked on the concept that you could sell a young man’s car to an old man, but you couldn’t sell an old man’s car to a young man… and it worked. They turned out some of the baddest street machines for their time and backed it up with winning efforts in NASCAR, NHRA, USAC and who knows how many other forms of racing. For myself, I had a Tri-Power ‘60 Ventura and, later, a ‘64 GTO. Both were fun to drive and just a little nicer than their lower priced Chevrolet cousins.

This was not to last, however, as fuel shortages, insurance rates and government regulations put and end to the no holds barred competition between the auto companies… and we started the long, downward spiral to the indistinguishable econobox lumps so popular today.

The point is that, for the most part, the excitement of the “new car†has been beaten our of our society. Few really are exciting. They have become so expensive that without a rich daddy, young people can’t afford anything remotely interesting. Foreign manufacturers, reading the market better than their American counterparts, brought annoying little cars the kids call “tuners†into this environment. Once again, the big three were outmaneuvered. Parking lots that once were filled with Chevys, Fords and Pontiacs are now homes to Hondas, Mazdas and Hyundais. As Chester A. Riley used to say, “What a revoltin’ development this is!â€

So one more American icon is passing from the scene. It’s a sad day. However to the progressive ideologues inside the beltway this is a good thing. The old must be destroyed to make room for the new, the centrally planned Government Motors car that looks like all the others and is certainly less than what are used to, but more then they believe we deserve. For those familiar with the development of the first Volkswagens it is, to quote a great American philosopher, “deja vu all over again.â€

In honor of the occasion, perhaps we should dig out a copy of “Little GTO†by Ronnie and the Daytonas – and play it a few times.

About the Author:

Larry Miller

After far too many years of working in IT and involvement in political activity, Larry Miller now designs business and political websites at www.simplewebs.biz and recently began the web site and blog www.PoliticalChristian.org as a resource for Christians in the public arena.

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – Goodbye Pontiac – RIP

Chevy/Pontiac/Comp Eliminator/R1/Summit Nationals/LVMS

1953 Chevy Corvette Pontiac Parisienne AC Spark Plug Print Ad (16971) An original vintage magazine ad print from the year published. Print ads make unique gift items that can be framed as artwork. Shipped flat un-framed in plastic sleeve with backing board….

1960 Chevrolet Corvette Wall Clock $25.00 10 inch wall clock with quartz movement runs on 1 AA Battery(not inc.) Chevrolet Chevy Buick Pontiac Oldsmobile Cadillac…

1963 Chevrolet Corvette Wall Clock A013 $25.00 10 inch wall clock with quartz movement runs on 1 AA Battery(not inc.) Chevrolet Chevy Buick Pontiac Cadillac Oldsmobile GMC…

Borg Warner 57026 Fuel Injector $10.98 …

Hot Rods USA Stereo LP lp…

American Muscle Car: Chevy Nova SS, Pontiac GTO Judge CHEVY NOVA SS- It began as Chevy’s tame little compact car, driven by legions og people in their daily routes. But the Nova SS developed a real mean streak with the addition of big V8 power. The big-block SS396 Nova’s incredible power-to-weight ratio launched these small wonders into heights of automotive history. PONTIAC GTO JUDGE- Loud, proud, and endowed with mind-bending Ram Air power, the j…

Wagner BH97657 Brake Hose $7.47 Wagner F97657…

Wagner WC71210 Wheel Cylinder Assembly $13.52 Wagner F71210…

Wagner CM126849 Clutch Master Cylinder Assembly $54.63 …

Classic General Motors Ads & Promos DVD: Three 1940s – 1960’s GM Automobile History Including Footage of The 1919 Oldsmobile, 1955 Chevy Bel Air Drop Top, 1961 Chevy Impala Two Door Hardtop, 1961 Pontiac Tempest Two Door Sedan, 1961 Buick Lesabre Convertible, 1961 Cadillac Series 62 Four Door Hardtop – Flat Top, 1961 Pontiac Tempest Two Door Sedan, 1961 Chevrolet Corvair Wagon, & The 1960’s General Motors Wildcat (Airplane) $12.99 Great General Motors Collection of Automobile Promos with company history, newsreels, and classic car debuts. Table Of Contents: (1) Achievement USA (1955) – Film about how Chevrolet produced american history of transportation, us automobile history, the automobile history, automobile history records, automobile industry history, automobile and when it was made and its history, history of automobi…

GM7 T-harness Remote Starter Wiring $19.99 Cut your remote starter installation time in half with this GM7 T-harness Connects directly to the factory harness, retaining the integrityCompatible with Chevy Caviler & Pontiac Sunfire models. See Description for details

GM2 T-harness Remote Starter Wiring $18.99 Cut your remote starter installation time in half with this GM 2 T-harnessConnects directly to the factory harness, retaining the integrityCompatible with Buick, Cadillac, Chevy, Oldsmobile, and Pontiac models. See Description for details

GM8 T-harness Remote Starter Wiring $17.99 Cut your remote starter installation time in half with this GM8 T-harnessConnects directly to the factory harness, retaining the wiring integrityCompatible with Buick, Chevy, Oldsmobile, and Pontiac models. See description for details