[Centurion]

U47, I agree, and always think that the 1959 Pontiac is the iconic design that really launched Pontiac's "Golden Era" for the ten years that followed.

cballweg's 1959 Bonneville Vista has it all: Wide Track, split grille, and the Vista roof, which was regarded at the time as the most significant styling innovation of the 1959 design program.

A decade later, when the cars became increasingly "corporatized" and GM's individual divisions began to lose their engineering autonomy, GM cars would become less appealing -- and far less memorable to us today.

[U47]

Originally Posted by Centurion

U47, I agree, and always think that the 1959 Pontiac is the iconic design that really launched Pontiac's "Golden Era" for the ten years that followed.

cballweg's 1959 Bonneville Vista has it all: Wide Track, split grille, and the Vista roof, which was regarded at the time as the most significant styling innovation of the 1959 design program.

A decade later, when the cars became increasingly "corporatized" and GM's individual divisions began to lose their engineering autonomy, GM cars would become less appealing -- and far less memorable to us today.

I had a interesting conversation today with a friend who today is a a high end artist who in his 20's (1950's early 60's) ironically was a automatic transmission specialist. We all know today that the reason GM pulled Pontiac and Chevrolet out of racing was the "we don't race" or "we won't from now on" race any longer after January 1963. There are many factors and corporate decisions that come into play here. One of the biggest was GM's ever growing market share which was one of the reasons for getting out of racing. GM was afraid of having the government breaking off their volume leader Chevrolet. It was pointed out to me that by sharing even more components and platform structures that it would insure that Chevrolet had to stay in the GM fold. In other words alone it couldn't survive. Problem was after the mid 70's they went too far loosing their brand identity. Nothing say's it more than the legal action against GM by loyal Oldsmobile owners who sued because their so call ROCKET V-8 engines were now Chevy's. To some of us the engine is the heart and soul of a automobile and that's why I cringe when I see a Pontiac or Olds on a TV show get a Chevy transplant. Or a Chevy engine in a Pontiac at a car show.

[cballweg]

check this out dfw