: Photo: Courtesy General Motors
After 83 years on the road, General Motors is throwing Pontiac overboard in a desperate bid to stay afloat.
It’s a sad end to a brand that brought us such venerable cars as the Chief, the GTO and, of course, the Trans Am. But dumping a brand isn’t uncommon. More than 500 American marques have gone under in the 124 years since Karl Benz invented the automobile.
Here’s a look at some of our favorites.
Left: Pontiac launched the muscle car era with the awesome GTO – even if it stole the name from Ferrari – and brought some sexiness to the pony car with the Firebird. It’s almost enough to make us forgive them for the Astre and Aztek.
: Photo: Courtesy AMC
The merger of Nash-Kelvinator and Hudson in 1954 created the fourth-largest automaker in America, but it never threatened the Big Three. The company had more flops – Pacer (left), anyone? How about a Matador? — than hits, but it’s legacy lives on in the Jeep. Well, at least until Chrysler goes under.
: Photo: Flickr/Wigwam Jones
The Checker Marathon may be second only to the original VW Beetle as the most recognizable car in the world. The cars were ubiquitous as taxis and, like the Beetle, the first one to roll off the line in 1962 looked pretty much like the last one to roll of the line in 1982.
: Photo; Courtesy DeSoto
Chrysler launched DeSoto in 1928 as mid-priced car to compete against General Motors. It was the first production car in North America to use pop-up headlights, but the coolest feature was the hood ornament. It was a bust of Spanish explorer Hernando DeSoto.
: Photo: Courtesy Universal Pictures
John DeLorean, the guy behind the Pontiac GTO and Firebird, launched his own company in 1975. With a stainless steel body and gull-wing doors, the DMC-12 was as unusual as it was attractive. We don’t know why an American car built in Ireland with a French engine and Columbian financing didn’t work out. Souped up, it might even be capable of time travel, as in this still from Back to the Future.
: Photo: Library of Congress
Duesenbergs were marvels of engineering – they were among the first to use overhead camshafts, four-valve cylinder heads and hydraulic brakes – that were as opulent as they were fast. It was said the only thing that could pass a Duesenberg was another Duesenberg. That made them as popular among racers as they were among the wealthy.
: Photo:
Flickr/j3netIndustrialist Henry J. Kaiser made his name building Liberty ships during World War II. After the war, he joined auto exec Joseph W. Frazer to try his hand building cars. His HMO fared far better. The fellow in this 1948 photo is neither Kaiser nor Frazer, but Pennsylvania miner Nathan Schell.
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General Motors launched the LaSalle in 1927 to fill the gap between Buick and Cadillac. GM commissioned a young stylist named Harley Earl to design the car. What he came up with is widely considered the beginning of modern automotive styling.
Photo: Flickr/Brian Toad Photography
: Photo: Courtesy Nash Motors
Nash may be the most innovative company only an auto geek has heard of. Wind-tunnel testing, flow-through ventilation systems, unibody construction and seat belts were just some of the things it adopted long before the competition. “Give the customer more than he has paid for,” was the company’s slogan. Detroit would do well to follow that advice.
: Photo: Courtesy GM
Ransom Eli Olds founded the company in 1897. By the time GM killed it in 2004, more than 35 million had rolled into showrooms. “This is not your father’s Oldsmobile,” went the ad campaign in the brand’s dying days. Considering our fathers drove cars like the 442, maybe it should have been.
: Photo: Courtesy REO Motor Car Co.
The same guy who founded Oldsmobile founded this company, using his initials instead of his last name. It built a wide variety of vehicles but was best known for its trucks, the most famous of which was the REO Speedwagon. And you thought that was just a rock band from Illinois.
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