In April 2009, General Motors announced that the Pontiac brand was being discontinued. It was a decision that was necessary to guarantee the continued survival of one of the world’s largest automakers. In truth, there was little surprise. Pontiac had long struggled in the market to establish its own identity.
Management problems did not help and neither did the slew of bad cars that always seemed to pop up in the company’s model lineup. Some of them were so bad that they were directly credited with pulling down the Pontiac brand. This is not to say that they did not have some great cars, and in fact, some of them are still highly desirable today.
10 Buy Right Now - 2002 Pontiac Trans Am WS6
Pontiac added a lot of grunt and style to the Trans Am badge with the WS6 trim that was launched in 2002. The car’s powerplant had been beefed up and now produced 325hp from its 5.7-liter LS1 V8 engine. That engine revved to 6,200rpm and could shoot the car to 60mph in under 5 seconds.
The car had a striking design too. That split front-grille pattern, resembling flared nostrils, is bound to attract more than a few curious stares in the open.
9 Buy Right Now - 1958 Pontiac Bonneville
According to Conceptcarz, a pristine 1958 Bonneville can fetch anything between $101,000 to $215,000. This is still a very reasonable deal considering how special the Bonneville was with its flamboyant styling . The car also had quite a bit of technology - like the fuel injection and air suspension - that was still considered new at the time.
It was not shy in the power department too. There was the Tri-Power engine option that boasted up to 330hp. The Bonneville was built to stand out and it still will in today’s setting.
8 Buy Right Now - 1964 Pontiac Tempest GTO
It would be hard to pass up a chance to cruise the streets with this rugged beauty. The 1964 GTO kickstarted the muscle car craze that continued to the early part of the 1970s. It carried a 325hp V8 powerplant in the base option but that power could go up to 348bhp depending on the options package.
The cars quickly became popular and surpassed Pontiac’s initial sales estimates by more than 100%. The 1964 GTO would later go on to spawn several models with the last GTO model introduced for the 2006 model year.
7 Buy Right Now - 2009 Pontiac G8 GXP
The 2009 Pontiac G8 GXP was the most powerful stock Pontiac car ever made. Under the hood lay a formidable 6.2-liter LS2 V8 that pumped out over 400hp and 402 pound-feet of torque.
The sedan could conquer the 60mph sprint in less than 5 seconds and power past the quarter-mile marker in 13.3 seconds at over 100mph. The Car had the potential for greatness; the only problem was that it came in a little too late to save a company that was already down and out.
6 Buy Right Now - 1973 Pontiac Trans Am SD455
By 1973, the Oil Crisis had sunk its teeth into the global economy, signifying the beginning of a long survival battle. Stricter emission controls and the call for more fuel-efficient engines effectively ended the practice of shoving power-crazy engines in muscle cars.
Pontiac did not submit quietly to that requirement and released the big Pontiac Trans Am SD455 in 1973. The most notable characteristic of the car was the Super Duty 455 engine that was rated at 310bhp at 4,000rpm. Only a few thousand units were built and fewer still exist today and so finding one to drive would be a definite highlight moment.
5 Avoid - Pontiac Aztek
The Aztek has been gone for over a decade now but it is still regarded as one of the worst cars ever made. Many people believe that it was one of the cars that ruined the brand for good and it is hard to dispute that fact. The car is little more than awkward angles and weird shapes all jumbled together into one unappealing mass.
Unsurprisingly, Pontiac never broke even with the sales of the Aztek and the company only outlived the car by a few years. I bet few people missed the car when it was yanked from production and today, we still don’t miss it.
4 Avoid - Pontiac Sunfire
This weird looking car was first introduced in 1995 to replace the outgoing Sunbird. It was little more than a rebadged Chevrolet Cavalier. The only thing was that the Sunfire was a much uglier version.
Not even two refreshes and facelifts in its 11-year production run could save it. If anything, the car only became more distasteful with each upgrade. It was the same with the interior too, a space taken over by inferior materials and poor build quality. You will stand out in a Sunfire for all the wrong reasons and it’s best to just steer clear.
3 Avoid - Pontiac Fiero
The Pontiac Fiero was the first mass-produced mid-engine sports car produced in America. It debuted in 1983 and Pontiac was actually able to turn it into something of a commercial success with over 370,000 units produced in a 5-year production run. That did not mean it was a great car though.
The Fiero was plagued by reliability issues especially with the cooling system and suspension. It was not a cheap car to fix too and for a car that only offered average driving experience, you are better off with other options.
2 Avoid - Pontiac Ventura
General Motors had the habit of creating re-engineered versions of the same car across its different brand names and it was a practice that did not always give the best results. The Ventura was one such example. It was based on the existing Chevrolet Nova and shared most of its parts with the car, even the engines.
Later on, they slapped a ‘GTO’ badge on the 1974 model in a bid to work up more interest in the car. It might have worked if the car actually had the credentials to back up the badge but that was sadly not the case and eventually, the car fizzled out quietly.
1 Avoid - Pontiac Phoenix
The Phoenix lasted 7 years and 2 generations and, in the end, it went down as one of the worst cars ever made by Pontiac. First off, it was not a very good-looking car and was made with the lower end of the mass market in mind.
It came up short in the power department too and for the base model, you had to make do with an engine that could only manage 90hp. Ugly and underpowered. Imagine driving the Phoenix around today. The thought alone is enough to make one shudder.