Pontiac Car Club of Australia
(Queensland
Chapter) Inc.
History of Pontiac Car Club
of Queensland
|
Jim Eames |
The Pontiac
Car Club of Queensland was formed by Jim Eames in 1975, along with the first
members. These included Mac Macnish, George Smith, Eric Issacs and Cyril
Stringfellow. The club became Chapter 8, the Kangaroo Chapter of The Pontiac
Oakland Club International Inc (POCI) In 1990 the club amalgamated with the Pontiac Car Club of Australia to form the Queensland chapter. The chapter became incorporated in June 2001. |
History of Pontiac Car Club
of Australia
In January
1987, Dave Clee and 5 others met in Western Sydney to begin organising The
Pontiac Car Club of NSW. The club became a reality in 1988. It quickly grew to
be the largest single make American Car Club in Australia, with members in
every state. With the success of the first Pontiac Nationals at Nerrandera in
June 1988 and meetings in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra and later in Adelaide, it
was decided to form the Pontiac Car Club of Australia with separate chapters in
each state. The 1989 Pontiac Nats, also at Nerandera, was the first major event
held by the newly named club.
History of
Pontiac
Pontiac was
created in 1926 by Alfred P. Sloan Jr, the Boss of GM in the USA. This is the
only surviving brand created by GM, the other brands being independent
companies which were combined or purchased to form GM. GM's plan was to have a
brand available to suit all price brackets. In 1924, Touring car prices in the
USA were
|
Chevrolet |
$510 |
|
Oldsmobile |
$750 |
|
Oakland |
$945 |
|
Buick 4 |
$965 |
|
Buick 6 |
$1295 |
|
Cadillac |
$2985 |
Cadillac was
asked to create a car to fill in the upper gap, and made a LaSalle in 1927 at
around $2000. The gap between the Chevrolet and Oldsmobile was considered more
serious as a much larger market existed in that price range. The Pontiac was
made to fill that gap. It was built at the Oakland plant and sold through
Oakland dealers. It was based on a Chevrolet 4 cylinder body and Chassis but
had a new Pontiac 6 cylinder engine. At its Debut at the New York Auto Show in
January 1926 it was priced at $825 for a coach, compared to the Chevrolet at
$645 and the Oldsmobile at $950.
The name
PONTIAC comes from the Indian Chief Pontiac who was chief of the Ottawa tribe,
and was one of the most important of the American Indian leaders. Born around
1720 and chief in 1755 he organised a rebellion against the English rule. The
rebellion involved practically every Indian tribe from Lake Superior to the
Lower Mississippi. They captured and massacred eight of the twelve forts in the
region, as well as several relief expeditions. The rebellion was ultimately a
failure, but Pontiac had earned the respect of the English, who signed a peace
treaty with him at Oswego, New York in 1766. It is believed that the English
then had him assassinated by an Illinois Indian near St Louis in 1769. The
Oakland Plant, where Pontiacs were first built was in the township of Pontiac,
in Oakland County, Michigan USA.
1956 saw
the appointment of a new general manager, Bunkie Knudsen. Seeing a growing Baby
Boomer market, he decided to change the image of the division, believed as
becoming too staid. One of the first changes for 1957,was to remove the twin
stainless steel "Silver Streaks" that ran up the bonnet, because they
looked like "an old mans braces". The Chief Pontiac bonnet emblem
also went, later to be replaced by an arrow head emblem. In 1957 Pontiac
entered NASCAR Racing, and won at Daytona in 1957 1958 and 1959. In 1959 the
"wide track" models were introduced and more sporty advertising.
Using the new Super Duty version of the V8 they were also practically
unbeatable on the drag strip.
In 1963 GM
hierarchy decided to adopt a "No Racing" edict, following an
Automobile Manufacturers Association resolution of six years earlier. With
Pontiac no longer able to back up their previous racing successes, they
introduced, in 1964, a performance option pack for the Tempest model line up.
This was the GTO option and included a 389 ci engine in what was a relatively
compact A size body. The option got around the corporate GM policy of no
engines over 330 ci in the A bodies. The resulting first "Muscle Car"
was a great success and became a model in its own right in 1966. Pontiac's
re-born image as a maker of Performance cars continued.
On April 27,
2009, GM announced that the Pontiac Brand would cease, due to poor financial conditions
resulting from the US Financial Crisis which started in 2008.
A more detailed history of Pontiac and
Oakland by Pontiac historian John Gunnell
More History on GTOs see http://www1.tpgi.com.au/users/shep135/gto.htm
(Early data from Gary
Schuck article in "Pontiaction" Keystone State Chapter and reprinted
in Qld Club "Pontiaction" newsletter August 1989. Later details from
"Muscle Cars" by Richard Nichols, and Muscle Cars by John McGovern.
Information on Chief Pontiac from May-June 2000 Issue of Restored Cars, itself
taken from the book "Pontiac the Complete History 1926-1979 by Thomas E
Bonsall.)
History of Pontiac in
Australia
When General
Motors first established the Pontiac brand in 1926, it already had in place an
agreement, with Holden's Motor Body Builders Limited, that Holden's would be
the sole body supplier for the GM range in Australia. Holden's had been
producing bodies for imported chassis of various brands since 1914. GMs chassis
and engines would be imported, and the body designed and built by Holden's
along U.S. styling lines. Tyres, battery, hardware and paint were also
purchased in Australia. The 1927 Model Pontiac 4-door sedans, Coaches and
Tourers were available from October 1926. There were 1455 Tourers built, priced
at £ 245. Standard and Sports Roadsters were released towards the end of 1927.
The Sports Roadsters were fully imported. Coupes and a utility version were
also available in 1929.
Holden's ran
into financial difficulties during the depression on the early 1930's, and was
acquired by General Motors which formed General Motors-Holden's Ltd. Holden's
still continued the production of some non-GM models. Pontiac production
virtually ceased in 1932 and 1933. Pontiacs were re-released in 1934 with 6 or
straight 8 cylinder Sedan, Coupe, Roadster and 6 cylinder Tourer models.
Pontiac, Buick and Oldsmobiles all shared common bodies at this time.
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|
In 1935 "All Enclosed Coupes" or Slopers were introduced across the Chevrolet, Pontiac Buick and Oldsmobile range. These were quite different to the US coupes in that the rear seat was included inside the main cabin, as opposed to a "Dickie" seat. |
In 1936 total
GMH registrations were 19136, or 43% of passenger car sales and 45% of
commercial sales. Pontiacs accounted for 4.5% of passenger registrations or
about 860. Chevrolet Standard were 15%, Chevrolet Master 6%, Vauxhaul 7.5%,
Oldsmobile 6%, and Buick 4%.
All Steel
"turret top" bodies were released by GMH in 1937. These required huge
presses to stamp a roof panel in one piece. Because of Australia's relatively
low volume production runs, die and tool costs were major considerations. To
cut these costs, tooling was planned to last a minimum of two years and common
panels were needed across several models. GMH required advanced information
from the US divisions and then designed the bodies so that the Buick,
Chevrolet, Pontiac, and Oldsmobiles could share many common components, and
only the Chassis, engine and front sheetmetal would be imported. This was
balanced against model individuality. The 1937 Pontiac Silver Streaks were
available as sedans and coupes. The straight 8 engine was dropped after 1938.
1939 Pontiacs
were released as a Silver Arrow Sedan or Coupe and a Chieftain Sedan or Coupe.
The Coupes were dropped in 1941 and civilian production stopped in 1942 due to
the war, although there were some military sedans and 1941 model open cab Utes
made.
Pontiac
production resumed in 1946 at the rate of 192 per month. GMH retained the
tooling from the 1942 Chevrolet, Pontiac and Oldsmobiles, so these models were
significantly different to the U.S. Fisher bodied equivalents, the most obvious
being the retention of the rear hinged back doors. Buicks were now assembled
from imported bodies.
In 1948 GMH
started producing its own Holden car and with it the last of the bodies
produced for the U.S. makes. Pontiacs, Chevrolets and Oldsmobiles were then
imported in Completely Knocked-Down (CKD) condition and assembled here in Right
Hand Drive. Assembly of the Oldsmobiles ceased in 1950, but Pontiac and
Chevrolet 4 door sedans continued to be assembled here. 300 to 400 Pontiacs
were assembled here each year during the early 50s.
1955 saw the
return of the 8 cylinder Pontiacs. The 1955 Pontiac had a 287ci Strato Streak
V8. The engine size grew to 316 ci in 1956 and then to 347ci in 1957. The 1957
Super Chiefs were the last of the US based Pontiacs.
In 1958
Canadian Strato Chiefs were assembled here with 261 ci 6 cylinder engines. With
Import restrictions on American cars, only 192 Pontiacs were sold in 1958. The
Strato Chiefs were replaced with 6 cylinder Laurentians sedans in 1959, with
245 sold that year. This compared to 1723 Chevs. In 1960, V8s returned, with
283 Chev engined Laurentians. In 1964, 4-door Pillarless 327 Chev powered
Parisiennes became available. An easing of import restrictions in 1960 meant
that sales picked up a little and these were sold along with Canadian
Chevrolets until the 1968 model when Holden introduced its own luxury version,
the Holden Brougham.
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|
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The
Canadian Pontiacs, from 1958, were built on the slightly shorter Chevrolet chassis,
and had different specifications and front end parts to the US models. Glass,
except for the windscreen, tyres, leather uphostery, hoses, headlights and
paint were supplied in Australia. Once again the Pontiacs sold by GM here,
differed from the US models. This time they shared the same chassis (and from
1960 engines) as the Chevrolets but had different bodies, whereas in the 30s
and 40s they shared the same body with Chevys, but had different Chassis and
engines. Although sold by GMH as the top of the range luxury cars, they were
poorly equipped compared to what was available in the US, and were only
available in 4-door Sedan or Pillarless Hardtop versions. A few fully imported
Canadian built right hand drive Pontiacs were sold by GMH as special orders,
and many Pontiacs were imported by independent dealers who converted them to
Right hand Drive. Dozens of GTOs and other models, were imported independently
during the 1960s.
|
The July 1966 issue of Modern Moter magazine did a road test on a GTO supplied by British & Continental cars in Sydney. It suggested that the price started at $7700 for a basic model and climbed progressively with each option added. The waiting time was six to ten weeks. By comparison, the same issue listed Parisiennes from $5640, Chevrolets from $5400, Ford Galaxie from $5230 and Dodge Phoenix $5795. Also listed were NSU Prinz $1310, a HR Holden-standard $2140,-Premier $2660, Mercedes 200 $5088, E-Type Jag from $6568, Porsche $6880 and Rolls Royce Saloon $18100. A 'power everything' front wheel drive Oldmobile Toronado was driven in that issue too. It had been specially imported by GM-H for some reason, and was still left hand drive. Its cost was given as $12000 and it did not make it clear if that included Right hand drive conversion, mandatory for registration. Incidentally, that issue of Modern Motor, with the GTO on the cover, was marked as 30c. |
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By the 1970s,
only Trans Ams were imported in any significant numbers. Australian design
rules made it increasingly difficult to import and convert US vehicles, which
were built for their own US rules, and sales of new Pontiacs dwindled out
during the early
70s. Many private enthusiasts have imported and converted their own second
hand Pontiacs in recent years and recent changes to state laws have made left
hand drive cars over 30 years old registrable. However, high duties and the
difficulties and costs of importing and registering have meant that importing
and maintaining a Pontiac, or any US car, is a task for dedicated enthusiasts
only and few Pontiacs are seen on the roads now.
The tables
were somewhat turned in 2004 when GM-Holden exported its commodore based Monaro
coupe to the US, rebadged as a new generation Pontiac GTO. After production of the 2 door version
ceased, Holden exported well appointed 6.0 l V8 four Door Commodores badged as Pontiac G8s. This continued until the GM announcement that
the Pontiac brand would be discontinued, in April 2009.
For More history
on 1958 and 1959 Canadian Chevrolet and Pontiacs see
http://clubs.hemmings.com/clubsites/chevytalk/GMhistory/CHEVROLET1958.html
http://clubs.hemmings.com/clubsites/chevytalk/GMhistory/1959CHEVROLET.html
Note, production
figures are guides only, figures seem to vary widely, for instance figures for
the 1958 Pontiac range from 116 (CKD kits exported to Aust in Hemmings history,
1958 link above), through to 224, quoted as 1958 registration figures, in
Americar Australia Magazine, issue 1, published by Eddie Ford. Perhaps the
higher registation figures include independenly imported Pontiacs. I have used
the figure of 192 quoted as stated in the Hemmings History, in the 1959 link
above. Similarly, the 1946 production of 192/Month in the "The History of Holden Since
1917" Conflicts with total registration figures of 251 in 1946, 831 in
1947 and 861 in 1948 supplied by John Lindsay to "Pontiac - The Complete
History 1926 -1979" by Thomas E Bonsall.
(Most of the Information from "The History of Holden Since
1917" by Norm Darwin and published by Eddie Ford Publications, 1983. The
rest has been taken from various Pontiac Club newsletters over the years. )
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This page written by Mark Todd, AusPontiac@Bigfoot.com.
for Pontiac Car Club of Australia (Qld Chapter) Inc.