Recently, we approached the Department of Transport and Main Roads (formerly Queensland Transport) to

see if we could get a gauge on the registered Pontiac population in Queensland. Although little known, there

is a data analysis unit within this department that handles all types of statistical requests, covering registration,

licensing, infringements and road accident data.

 

As a bona fide body, we as a club can request statistical information from the Transport Registration And

Integrated Licensing System (TRAILS), at no cost. I was sent a request form to fill out, the normal request

return time being a couple of weeks.

 

What we asked for was a number of statistics on Pontiac registrations - the total number, split into year of

manufacture, the geographic regions used in reporting, and the car models. Data was supplied as a snapshot

of the situation as at 6 May 2010.

 

The latter request, by car model, was considered of less value, as a lot of older registrations did not record this

e.g. 1965 Pontiac Coupe - just year, make and body style. Model is now recorded in addition.

 

The total number of registered Pontiacs as at 6 May 2010 is...........................696

 

PONTIAC REGISTRATIONS BY REGION AND YEAR - 6 MAY 2010

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

S EAST

  S EAST

 

 

 

 

 

Year

NORTH

  SOUTH

  SOUTH

 CENTRAL

    NORTH

    I'STATE

     TOTAL

1926

 

 

2

 

 

 

2

1927

 

1

1

 

1

 

3

1928

2

2

3

 

3

 

10

1929

3

1

3

1

 

 

8

1936

2

 

 

 

 

 

2

1937

 

1

1

 

 

 

2

1938

1

2

1

1

1

 

6

1939

1

2

 

 

 

 

3

1940

1

 

 

 

 

 

1

1946

 

 

1

 

 

 

1

1947

1

1

1

 

 

 

3

1948

 

1

 

1

 

 

2

1950

1

 

1

 

 

 

2

1951

 

1

1

 

 

 

2

1953

1

1

 

1

 

 

3

1954

 

 

1

 

 

 

1

1955

1

2

 

1

 

 

4

1956

1

 

2

 

 

 

3

1957

 

6

1

1

 

 

8

1958

 

4

 

 

 

 

4

1959

1

3

1

2

 

 

7

1960

3

6

 

 

1

 

10

1961

2

2

2

2

1

 

9

1962

2

1

1

 

1

 

5

1963

6

13

3

 

1

 

23

1964

5

8

1

 

3

1

18

1965

6

11

3

2

7

 

29

1966

9

13

3

1

2

 

28

1967

12

12

5

1

2

2

34

1968

15

25

10

6

7

 

63

1969

8

8

5

4

3

 

28

1970

3

7

1

 

1

1

13

1971

4

7

1

 

 

1

13

1972

 

2

1

 

1

 

4

1973

1

3

1

2

2

 

9

1974

5

5

 

2

2

 

14

1975

2

2

2

1

2

 

9

1976

 

4

2

 

1

 

7

1977

10

4

2

1

3

 

20

1978

6

9

5

7

1

 

28

1979

6

14

7

7

6

1

41

1980

3

1

1

1

2

 

8

1981

1

3

4

 

1

 

9

1982

3

9

3

1

3

 

19

1983

1

6

2

 

2

 

11

1984

6

7

3

 

4

 

20

1985

5

7

4

3

2

 

21

1986

8

15

1

2

4

 

30

1987

6

8

2

3

1

 

20

1988

4

7

3

1

 

 

15

1989

2

3

3

1

3

1

13

1990

1

 

 

1

1

 

3

1991

2

2

1

 

 

 

5

1992

1

1

1

1

 

 

4

1993

1

2

 

1

 

 

4

1994

1

2

 

3

 

 

6

1995

1

8

2

1

 

 

12

1996

 

2

 

1

 

 

3

1997

 

2

 

 

 

 

2

1998

 

2

 

 

 

 

2

1999

 

1

 

 

 

 

1

UNK

1

2

1

1

1

 

6

Total

168

274

106

65

76

7

696

 

Region explanation :

 

South East North - Northern suburbs of Brisbane, and Sunshine Coast

South East South - Southern suburbs of Brisbane, and Gold Coast

Southern - West of Ipswich, Gympie to Bundaberg, and west. This region encircles the South East regions.

Central - Gladstone to Mackay, and west

Northern - Bowen to Cape York, and west

Interstate - interstate address

 

UNK in year is unknown (!)

 

Looking at the total number by year, this graph shows the age distribution of the population:

 

 

 

1968 is by far the most popular year for a Queensland registered Pontiac. The sixties are a relatively well

represented decade, although fifties Pontiacs are rarer than what we thought.

 

The other peak years are 1977-1979 (Bandit Trans Ams), and the eighties third generation Firebirds from 1982

(no doubt due to the popularity of Knight Rider).

 

Numbers then drop off in the nineties, other than for 1995.

 

The only registered 1940 Pontiac, which is on the Sunshine Coast.

 

Member Rob Pike's 54 is the only registered Pontiac of that year. Rob is shown as 'Southern Region'

as he is from Gympie, and the model Chieftan was also shown in the detail for this car.

 

By the decade :

1920’s - 23 cars (3.3%)

1930’s - 14 cars (2%)

1940’s - 6 cars (0.8%)

1950’s - 34 cars (4.9%)

1960’s - 247 cars (35.5%)

1970’s - 158 cars (22.7%)

1980’s - 166 cars (23.9%)

1990’s - 42 cars (6%)

 

Totals by region :

South East North - Northern suburbs of Brisbane, and Sunshine Coast - 168 cars

South East South - Southern suburbs of Brisbane, and Gold Coast - 274 cars

Southern - West of Ipswich, Gympie to Bundaberg, and west. This region encircles the South East regions - 106 cars

Central - Gladstone to Mackay, and west - 65 cars

Northern - Bowen to Cape York, and west - 76 cars

Interstate - interstate address - 7 cars

 

As expected, the south of the state includes most of the population, 78.7% or 548 cars. We could be in for a very

big turnout at the Warwick Nationals!

 

Totals by model :

As noted, this is impacted by the lack of description for older registrations, when this data was not collected. 135 cars

(or 19.4%) were shown as unknown model.

 

Other than this, the top models were :

Trans Am - 170 (24.4%)

Firebird - 130 (18.5%)

Parisienne - 88 (12.6%)

Fiero - 28 (4%)

GTO - 26 (3.7%)

Laurentian - 25 (3.6%)

Chieftan - 11 (1.6%)

 

All other model names had less than 10 cars recorded against them. In summary, 300 cars (43%) were from the

Firebird/ Trans Am family. During the 1967-1999 timeframe, the unknown model had 78 cars. The majority of these

would probably belong to the Firebird/ Trans Am category too. So 350 would be a likely number, around 50% of the

696 grand total.

 

One member's Trans Am you might not have seen before. This is Townsville member Ash Sullivan's

1973 model, recently fitted with a set of Wheel Vintiques 18" X 8" billet Rally II's

 

 

PONTIAC REGISTRATIONS BY REGION AND YEAR - 6 MAY 2010

FIREBIRD & TRANS AM MODELS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  S EAST

  S EAST

 

 

 

 

 

Year

  NORTH

  SOUTH

 SOUTH

CENTRAL

    NORTH

    I'STATE

     TOTAL

1967

5

5

2

1

 

1

14

1968

7

8

1

3

2

 

21

1969

2

7

3

3

1

 

16

1970

2

2

1

 

1

 

6

1971

4

3

 

 

 

 

7

1972

 

1

1

 

1

 

3

1973

 

1

 

1

2

 

4

1974

4

4

 

2

2

 

12

1975

1

 

2

1

2

 

6

1976

 

3

1

 

1

 

5

1977

7

3

1

1

2

 

14

1978

3

9

2

6

1

 

21

1979

5

9

5

5

5

1

30

1980

3

1

1

1

2

 

8

1981

1

2

3

 

1

 

7

1982

3

7

3

1

3

 

17

1983

 

5

2

 

2

 

9

1984

4

6

2

 

3

 

15

1985

3

5

3

2

2

 

15

1986

1

4

1

1

2

 

9

1987

2

5

2

1

1

 

11

1988

2

5

2

1

 

 

10

1989

1

3

2

1

1

1

9

1990

 

 

 

 

1

 

1

1991

1

2

1

 

 

 

4

1992

 

 

1

 

 

 

1

1993

 

2

 

 

 

 

2

1994

1

2

 

3

 

 

6

1995

1

8

2

1

 

 

12

1996

 

2

 

 

 

 

2

1997

 

2

 

 

 

 

2

1999

 

1

 

 

 

 

1

Total

63

117

44

35

38

3

300

 

Then, GTO's. We know of a few not listed here, so you could add a couple more to the 25

 

GTO MODEL

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

S EAST

S EAST

 

 

 

 

 

Year

NORTH

SOUTH

SOUTH

CENTRAL

   NORTH

   I'STATE

     TOTAL

1964

 

1

 

 

 

 

1

1965

 

 

 

 

2

 

2

1966

 

1

 

 

1

 

2

1967

 

3

 

 

2

 

5

1968

2

5

 

 

1

 

8

1969

1

 

1

1

 

 

3

1970

 

3

 

 

 

1

4

Total

3

13

1

1

6

1

25

 

New Townsville member, Keith Freeman, owns this 1966 GTO, seen recently at Kurrimine Beach

near Innisfail, where a group of Cairns members were on an annual campout. 

 

Fiero's are around the same number

 

FIERO MODEL

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

S EAST

S EAST

 

 

 

 

 

Year

NORTH

SOUTH

SOUTH

 CENTRAL

    NORTH

    I'STATE

     TOTAL

1984

2

 

 

 

1

 

3

1985

2

 

1

 

 

 

3

1986

5

8

 

 

1

 

14

1987

3

2

 

 

 

 

5

1988

 

2

1

 

 

 

3

Total

12

12

2

0

2

0

28

 

Then the Laurentians and Parisiennes

 

LAURENTIAN MODEL

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

S EAST

S EAST

 

 

 

 

 

Year

NORTH

SOUTH

SOUTH

 CENTRAL

    NORTH

    I'STATE

     TOTAL

1959

 

2

1

 

 

 

3

1960

1

3

 

 

 

 

4

1961

 

1

1

1

1

 

4

1962

1

 

1

 

1

 

3

1963

3

4

3

 

 

 

10

1967

 

1

 

 

 

 

1

Total

5

11

6

1

2

0

25

 

Member Vic Agnew's 1967 Laurentian is the only one registered of this type. Most 67's in Australia

were the Parisienne's below.

 

PARISIENNE MODEL

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

S EAST

S EAST

 

 

 

 

 

Year

NORTH

SOUTH

SOUTH

 CENTRAL

    NORTH

    I'STATE

     TOTAL

1961

1

 

1

1

 

 

3

1963

1

2

 

 

 

 

3

1964

3

6

 

 

2

1

12

1965

3

4

2

1

4

 

14

1966

5

7

3

1

1

 

17

1967

5

3

3

 

 

 

11

1968

6

6

8

3

3

 

26

1969

1

 

1

 

 

 

2

Total

25

28

18

6

10

1

88

 

Have you found your car yet?

 

I then followed this up with a census of the Pontiacs in the club. These are the results :

 

PCCA-Q Pontiac Census

 

A total of 134 Pontiacs are now in the Queensland chapter, 117 of those registered. This represents close to

17% of the total registered population.

 

Top Models are :

 

Trans Am - 47 (35%)

Firebird - 20 (15%)

Parisienne - 23 (17%)

GTO - 10 (7.4%)

Fiero - 7 (5%)

Laurentian - 6 (4.5%)

 

The Firebird/ Trans Am family thus represents 50% of the club’s cars, which is in line with the overall population.

 

As for the total Pontiac population, 1968 is also the highest year for the club’s cars. A total of 14 cars come from

this year, followed by 9 from 1965. 53 of the cars (40%) are from the sixties decade, 40 from the seventies (30%).

 

By Region, the club car population is found in :

South East North - 30 cars

South East South - 57 cars

Southern - 15 cars

Central - 8 cars

Northern - 24 cars

 

The south of the state includes most of the club car population, 76.1% or 102 cars. This percentage is very similar

to the wider population of Pontiacs.

 

In conclusion, the 2010 Queensland Pontiac Census was a great success and will assist us in marketing the club

and preparations for the Nationals. The population of Pontiacs is probably growing, and we may conduct this census

on an annual basis to keep track of the marque.

 

Chris Malone

President

28 May 2010