A Crying Shame

Apparently, GM's many troubles have caused it to send its Pontiac Motor Division to the gallows.

This is a crying shame. In my experience, there are Ford people, GM people, and (a few Chrysler) people.

I'm a GM person. I've never owned anything but GM products: three Pontiacs; two Buicks; and an inherited Cadillac sedan. The 1994 Pontiac Grand Am I bought new was one of the finest vehicles I've ever owned. Agile and practical, I put more than 215,000 on it before we gave it to my stepdaughter. My mechanic used to have his new technicians do the oil changes, and they would marvel over the fact that its high-mileage engine was cleaner than cars with half or a third as many miles on it. I never had to replace a seal on the engine during the entire time I owned it. We've owned two Pontiac Montanas, one of the finest mini-vans on the market, and my wife still drives one (the first was killed by a careless driver). Heck, the father of my first serious girlfriend was an Oldmobile salesman.

It's probably genetic, as my maternal grandfather was a GM dealer for over forty years in Sunbury, Pennsylvania. Pontiac was the first brand he carried, beginning in 1946. Over the years, he picked up Cadillac, GMC Trucks (later dropped), Buick (my father persuaded him to take it on, as Buick District Manager in Philadelphia, and also married my mother, so I'm here because of a Buick), and Opel (later dropped). I remember his annual trips to Michigan (the town of Pontiac, of course) to see the new models.

It's traumatic.

Pontiac Motor Division. RIP.