Posted by cr400 I have a young Sally Fields stuck in My head, She's wearing a whipped cream thong, and gettin everything all sticky!! I had a friend that had a '67 Pontiac Catalina, His parents kicked him out of the house for being a butthole. He lived on the street out front of their house in the trunk of that Catalina for 3 weeks, He had an extension cord, TV, light, Stereo, pillows, and a neighbor girl that would visit a few times a week. He was our Idol for those three weeks, till his parent begged him to move back in to the house!!

i had a 72 Catalina Sport Coupe.
Seated 8 comfortably. Mafia-sized trunk.
Big V8.
should've never sold that big, ugly monster.

I had a 69 Plymouth Sport Fury 2 door with a 383. Traded it for my first car, a 71 Corolla 1200 Coupe when it blew a head gasket. My Mom was not amused. 40mpg to 12 in one quick transfer paper. That barge was fun though.

My brother has that Trans Am in the photo. Solid collector now, Motor Trend or one of the big mags did a piece on it last year.

I agree, Pontiac will probably be back, they didn't sell the name off. Great ad with the mini skirt and pyschodelic groovy background.

exactly, GM has always had a habit of recussitation old names. Look at the sacriledge they did with the corsica/tempest or the le mans (isuzu) the nova in the 80s (toyota) and well my favorite of all time, The BUICK ROADMASTER. with a name like roadmaster it beter get 2 miles to the gallon and seat 20

Posted by oddspot ALMOST all FUGLy save for the Sky & the 05ish Vue

Good call. I'll accept that.

May I also remind you guys of the..IMPALA name?

Posted by Agent Skelly May I also remind you guys of the..IMPALA name?

in what context?

Posted by Samurai in what context?

The fact that it is a model name that has been resurrected at least 3 times.

Posted by Agent Skelly The fact that it is a model name that has been resurrected at least 3 times.

but never as a Pontiac. What's the connection?

...and it's not a brand name, either.

lots of fail up in here

Posted by nostra-YOUPPI! and well my favorite of all time, The BUICK ROADMASTER. with a name like roadmaster it beter get 2 miles to the gallon and seat 20

Lol, it already does . Taxi companies still use those classic widebodies, saw one today, and Clare knows a thing or two about cruising in style... I'll walk and ride bikes before giving up the Vee 8tes mon. (already do actually), gotta save the guzzoline for old Interceptor eh?

Posted by A. Lien Lol, it already does . Taxi companies still use those classic widebodies, saw one today, and Clare knows a thing or two about cruising in style... I'll walk and ride bikes before giving up the Vee 8tes mon. (already do actually), gotta save the guzzoline for old Interceptor eh?

Those Roadmasters get very good gas mileage for their size and displacement...you can squeeze 28 MPG on the highway if you try. In the city it's kinda crappy, about 15-17.

there was no replacement for a Big GM ride. NOTHING rode as good as an Impala/Caprice, Roadmaster, big Olds, or the last BIG Cadillac.

Posted by Samurai there was no replacement for a Big GM ride. NOTHING rode as good as an Impala/Caprice, Roadmaster, big Olds, or the last BIG Cadillac.

I happen to agree. My grandmother has been buying GM boat cars religiously since she turned 40 so I have driven and rode them. Its has a nice ride; works great in the snow!

My Impala had that, but kind of rides like shit now. I put Bilstein Sports all around, and I like those, nice firm ride and great handling, but still gives you the big road car feel.

I also put variable rate cargo coils in the back. Now, I did this on my other IDENTICAL 74 Impala, and it lifted the rear up just a little bit. I put the same TRW cargo coil springs in this car, and it didn't seem to lift it much at all.

Thing is, I had a shop down the street put the springs in because I didn't have time. I wonder if the younger kid worked on it and installed them upside down or something weird like that- the ride is bouncy back there, when I go around corners the front seems to handle great but the rear leans down, one side of the car makes a "bonnnng" sound from the RR spring area when I take a right turn or go off a driveway curbcut, etc. I still need to check them. Something rattles back there too, like the sound a leaf sprung car with loose lift blocks would make.

My brother's 94 Roadmaster rides like a loose cloud, but it is great for going on a long trip. It really doesn't handle that bad for what it is and how it does ride, it has a rear sway bar and all that. My Impala doesn't even have one yet.

Posted by MattTrakker My Impala had that, but kind of rides like shit now. I put Bilstein Sports all around, and I like those, nice firm ride and great handling, but still gives you the big road car feel. I also put variable rate cargo coils in the back. Now, I did this on my other IDENTICAL 74 Impala, and it lifted the rear up just a little bit. I put the same TRW cargo coil springs in this car, and it didn't seem to lift it much at all. Thing is, I had a shop down the street put the springs in because I didn't have time. I wonder if the younger kid worked on it and installed them upside down or something weird like that- when I go around corners the front seems to handle great but the rear leans down, one side of the car makes a "bonnnng" sound from the RR spring area when I take a right turn or go off a driveway curbcut, etc. I still need to check them. Something rattles back there too, like the sound a leaf sprung car with loose lift blocks would make. My brother's 94 Roadmaster rides like a loose cloud, but it is great for going on a long trip. It really doesn't handle that bad for what it is and how it does ride, it has a rear sway bar and all that. My Impala doesn't even have one yet.

Matt, definitely sounds like a spring, or both, are in upside down. Seriously.
my grandfather always had big GM's until just before he died. The first car I remember him having was a big red Impala sport coupe with a 400 V8 in it. My uncle Ricky blew the engine up in Ohio. He never said how, but my dad had to go get it all the way in Dayton. My uncle Kerry took the car and blew it up waaay out in Speculator NY (which is technically 'The Middle Of Nowhere'). Again, in went another 350. After that car, my grandfather traded for an 84 Caprice... drove that until 1987 and traded for a brand new Dodge Diplomat Salon, which he fucking hated until the day he died in 1989.

My uncle Marshal always drove BIG GM, until 1991 when they went with the Whale look... after that it was all FWD Buick (Century, Regal exlusively). He's now liking the Lucerne or Lacrosse... i don;t remember which.

Personally, I learned to drive, partly, on a 76 Impala, dubbed the Tuna Boat, it was a nice car... had a 350 under the hood and got in the mid to high 20's on a road trip. It was just made to gobble up American distance through a chrome grille and not beat you up doing it. It was at that point that I saw why that song was so catchy... "See the USA in your new Chevrolet"... man, if i could go back and get one of those cars new. No climate control. No damn GPS. No 6 disc changer, no heated leather seats... no fuel injection... a big fat 4-barrel carb swilling high test... 3speed automatic transmission on the column... 70mph just feeling like a dream. You could drive coast to coast in that car and still get out feeling like a million bucks. Show me a car today that is that fucking good and still that simple.

you know, we've strayed from the topic of the thread and that's kind of a shame... we're seeing, as a group of car guys, a real historical change happening. The American Auto Industry taught the world how to get there and now we're all being told, well it's been fun, but so long. It's just sad, really. I mean, yeah, ok, it's big business and evil corporate blah, but these are cars that people put together. I mean, over 100 years of automotive history gone... I mean, that Pontiac styling... it was love it or hate it, but it was unique. Things are just too damn disposable today...

I was reading some economic reports about the impact of all of this... more Chryslers announcement then Pontiac's - it's ugly!

With all US plants shutting down during the restructuring, a bunch of suppliers are forced to do the same because they have nobody to supply. Then all of the other manufacturers who use the same suppliers but aren't bankrupt.... are going to have parts supply problems. Was just reading that although Chrysler Canada's 3 assembly plants aren't shutting down... because the parts suppliers are... they can only build until they run out of parts..which is in a few days.
The ripple of this is going to be massive!

Anyone on this board affected by it yet?