Eighty four years ago a wonderful thing happened – the start of the most exciting muscle car in the world was a glimmer in an engineer’s eyes – the Pontiac Division was created by General Motors. It was to appeal to a younger audience and show some style in a very new industry – create more appeal to a wider audience. When I learned this morning that the death knell was final on Pontiac, it was a very sad moment. My husband and I have been all about cars for over 43 years – the midnight blue, brand new 1966 GTO was our first car as a couple (he did own a fabulous black 1959 big finned Chevy Impala convertible when we met – but I digress).
It had to be one of the best we ever owned – songs have been written about it and it was photographed thousands of times in all kinds of stills and videos. What I wouldn’t give to have that one back now – and yes, we did trade all our cars in every other year back then, one year his turn, next year mine – not so now. We traded that one in because I hadn’t learned to drive stick back in the day (still don’t but why would I now?) and he was tired of driving me to the Laundromat (apartments back then had no laundry facilities – really sounds like the dark ages but that was the sixties). A friend asked me a while ago to find a good picture of it as he is a major car enthusiast but 20 years younger and was a big fan specifically of the muscle cars. I have been through most of my photo files and don’t seem to have a great shot of the beloved “GOAT” with the Tiger Paw tires – but I will keep searching. After hearing that report this morning, I felt just as sad as the journalist reporting that story.
