[goatwgn]

Curious how many of you have had this happen, I know I am not the only one, and my Pontiac is not the only car that I own that has been mistaken for another kind of vehicle. My car is especially prone to this sort of "confusion" being a '66 Tempest Custom wagon with "GTO" hood and grills. In the past, people have confused it for it for a Plymouth, a Ford and other kinds of nonsense. Today, a "cousin" I haven't seen in a while was telling someone that was one of our customers where I work that I had old "Rambler" that I made a hot rod out of and only drive on nice days LOL! Have any of you all heard stuff like this?? I actually think it is funny (always comes from people that know nothing about car, but I figure the front floormats, the tailgate, horn button and the other emblems on the car all point out that it is a Pontiac.

[Hikin Mike]

My Firebird is mistaken for a Camaro....obviously.

[Judge-1969]

Yes, my car has encountered "mistaken" identity before and it drives me crazy too! It's been called a Buick and even a Chevy! That's ok though, having a Lemans, I'm used to nobody giving it any love because it doesn't say GTO.

[jwcfbd]

Originally Posted by Hikin Mike

My Firebird is mistaken for a Camaro....obviously.

Yup my too and of all things it's been called a Mustang more then once.

[66bonne]

My 65 Catalina is sometimes confused for a GTO. But that's alright...at least they got the make correct.

Jim

[Hikin Mike]

Originally Posted by jwcfbd

Yup my too and of all things it's been called a Mustang more then once.

That too.

[Greg Reid]

I've had it happen a lot...mostly mistaken as a Chevelle. The strangest one to me though was as I was walking away from it ('68 GTO) some young guy (20-ish?) who's crossing the parking lot just says to me..."That's a Road Runner?"...

[Txbobcat]

My 65 catalina is the most mistaken. Sometimes its and olds a Plymouth or a buick and even an executive Pontiac even though it is a convertible.

[lemansboy70]

My best one was when I had my '70 LeMans convertible. I used to be the parade car for a local tv station. We did all of the various Christmas, Fall Festival and celebration parades hauling a couple of local tv personalities. At some point during most of these parades, we would have to stop and be interviewed for whichever station was covering the parade. My car has been called a Mustang, Camaro, Firebird, Chevelle and my personal favorite, a Studebaker???

It became a running joke among my car club buddies what they would call it next. On one of the parade entry forms I listed it as a Lamnas

[goatwgn]

Lol. I am glad I am not the only one this happens to This is interesting stuff....

[mgarblik]

The Grocery Getter 63 Tempest station wagon was misidentified at almost every race we ran for 15 years. Most common was a Dodge or Plymouth wagon, but also as a Chevy II wagon.

[carbking]

"WHY did you put GTO stickers on that Nova?"

And not just from non-car people!

Jon.

[David Jones]

My GTO is actually a Chevelle.
I've been complimented on my Chevelle many many times. Smiling and adding that its a "big block" helps though.
When I did the TKO conversion, Keisler sent me parts used to do the conversion on a Chevelle even though it was clearly noted the car in question was a GTO.
I have a Chevelle.........

[bird72]

They know it is *something* but can't quite assign a name, so flinging random vintage car names at it must seem the appropriate response..... an attempt at being worldly resulting in wearing a bozo hat and not knowing it..... and you must NOT laugh!

[Lee]

"Is that an MG?" - while driving my Cobra replica

On my Cutlass convertible, I've removed all the external "Oldsmobile" and "Cutlass" emblems. I've had people wander around it, then look at me with glazed eyes and say, "What is it?" Sadly, some STILL don't know what a Cutlass is, when I tell them! One guy, said, "CUTLASS!!! ........ who made those?" I told him Oldsmobile, to which he replied, "OLDSMOBILE!!! ....... was that a GM brand?"

Of course, when I had my 67 Firebird, I heard "NICE Camaro!" more times than I want to remember.

[tigergto]

There are many pre world war 2 cars that I can't identify, because I wasn't born then and was very young when those cars were daily drivers. I don't see what the big deal is when someone doesn't have any knowledge about my car. If they're interested I will carry on a conversation with them.

[mgarblik]

Originally Posted by Lee

"Is that an MG?" - while driving my Cobra replica

On my Cutlass convertible, I've removed all the external "Oldsmobile" and "Cutlass" emblems. I've had people wander around it, then look at me with glazed eyes and say, "What is it?" Sadly, some STILL don't know what a Cutlass is, when I tell them! One guy, said, "CUTLASS!!! ........ who made those?" I told him Oldsmobile, to which he replied, "OLDSMOBILE!!! ....... was that a GM brand?"

Of course, when I had my 67 Firebird, I heard "NICE Camaro!" more times than I want to remember.

Want to feel old? Last year surveyed a class of college automotive students. Ages 18-22 for the most part. 18 students. Only 4 had ever heard of a Catalina and none knew who made it. Class was split among the parent company of the Pontiac brand. 9 actually knew it was at one time in the ancient past a division of GM. 4 thought it was part of Mitsubshi? The other 5 various brands including BMW because of the split grills. Only 3 had ever heard of Tempest. 16 of 18 had heard of GTO but 10 thougt the first year was 2004-2005. Yes, Pontiac brand recognition is dying off among the young. The current generation will know as much as most of us know about early post war cars in a few years. Have to remember these students were 11-12 years old when the brand was killed off and didn't build much worth remembering after 2006 with a couple of exceptions.

[nashcar]

The wife of the original owner asked me where I got that beautiful Camaro when I took I back for a photo.

[Chris65LeMans]

Originally Posted by tigergto

There are many pre world war 2 cars that I can't identify, because I wasn't born then and was very young when those cars were daily drivers. I don't see what the big deal is when someone doesn't have any knowledge about my car. If they're interested I will carry on a conversation with them.

Ditto. I grew up wanting to someday buy a 67 or 68 Mustang fastback. 5 or 6 years ago, when I decided to do it, I couldn't have named any of those Pontiac models, either. I didn't learn about them until I decided that I wanted a "real muscle car" instead, and started researching.

[Lee]

I think this must have been around '97 or '98. I had a vacation up in the Chicago area, and met up with several Pontiac'ers at Rt. 66 - there was some sort of Pontiac event going on. Neighbor's Complaint was there (we traded torque converters!), Mike Noun, .... geez, I can't remember everyone, but a lot of people off of the old CP website.

Anyway, relating to this, Mike was making some passes in his gorgeous '69 Firebird. The tail light panel on Mike's car is painted black. Now, this is a PONTIAC event, and as Mike pulls up to the burnout box the announcer comes over the P.A. system with something to the effect of "we've got a gorgeous Challenger coming up in the right lane!"