GM announce the phaseout of Pontiac this week to stave off bankruptcy. I’ve had the pleasure and the discomfort to experience some old Pontiacs over the years.
My family cruised the suburbs of the ’70s in a golden ’68 LeMans. I remember the sun-absorbing black vinyl top and seats getting stiffling hot on our trips to the outer banks of North Carolina. One night in 1976, during the oil crisis, some asshole siphoned the leaded fuel from the tank and left us stranded the next morning. After 12 years of troubled maintenance it rested and rusted in front of our suburban home and my dad didn’t bother getting it fixed. I tried to convince him I could work on it myself, but at 12 years old I didn’t know a manifold from a mango. Amazing how that golden iron ride could rust to the point of evaporation in only 18 short years.
The angelic ’64 Bonneville pictured above belonged to my late friend Billy Greene, who fixed and tuned it for more than half of his short life. Throughout high school and beyond he babied its 6 barrel carburetor, snow-white paint and acres of chrome. The cavernous interior and trunk managed to fit 11 teenagers trying to save money driving into a local park. The exhaust rumbled a gorgeous bass tone at stop lights and the suspension floated smoothly when racing around the capital beltway at 120mph.