In India Staandard Motor Products of India was launched as UnionMotors in the year 1948 and introduced Standard Vanguard cars which they discontinued by 1962.Then there were Standard Herald cars which were introduced in 1963 and went upto 1972.The Standard Gazel car was introduced in the year1973 and went upto 1983.The Standard 2000 was introduced inthe year 1985 and discontinued in 1990.The Standard 200 a smaller version was proposed but was not made.The Standard Spacecab van /microbus were the last vehicles which were introduced in1994 and discontinued in1996 when the company closed down.In 2005 The Standard Motor company was totally liquidated and the brand new Standard ,Standard,Stampro were all taken over by British Motor Heritage Company in London ,Britain.😢😮
Rambler introduced the dual master cylinder brake system in the 1962 year model cars. They shared the dual master cylinder system with Cadillac and Jaguar.
@2:11 "four hundred forty two" LOL! It's known as the FOUR FOUR TWO. Four barrel carb, four speed, dual exhaust. Those were the attributes to every real muscle car.
Studebaker built road vehicles from 1852 to 1966. The Packard brothers built some of the world's finest cars from 1899 through 1956, and built more Rolls-Royce Merlin engines than Rolls-Royce did during the unpleasantness between 1938 and 1945.
If Pontiac or Oldsmobile had continued to this day Patrick, they would be non-descript 4-door sedans, SUV's, crossovers, minivans, etc. just like they were in their last years anyway. Neither GM marque was killed off in its prime in any way, shape or form. You, I, all us car guys saw them dragged through the mud. It could have been worse for Pontiac. In the years before it shut down they did have that Miata-style sports car, and a retractable convertible. But then as now, GM is in survival mode. Look at Buick's degraded state as a general idea of what the other two would be. Not saying Buick doesn't have some excellent vehicles, they do, but they're very expensive transportation vehicles, like all cars are now.
At least in the US Pontiac was putting money ONTO the bottom lin, not takeeing it off. I didn't understand that one either. Only thing I can think of is that once Oldsmobile was gone Buick was xpected to replace Olds as the "poor man's Cadillac" but that didn'gt work!
Buicks sold better world wide(China). Good bye Rocket 88 and the tin indian. I admire that Pontiac went down fighting. One of my favorite modern day muscle cars is the '09 G8. Built by Holden Australia which GM killed off in 2017, a rare double orphan.
@@lancerevell5979 - Camaro/Firebird got fat, slow, gas hogs in 1970's... lost 500 lbs. in 1980's... got power & MPG back... such as my '87 TransAm GTA: i.pinimg.com/originals/0a/6e/92/0a6e925d76ea7b8a50b40ef04eb7a4b5.jpg
No, in fact when GM shut it down, it was at least adding to the bottom line not subtracting from it. I always wondered why they killed off Pontiac instead of Buick
GM took Oldsmobile for granted for too many years. To the point that they tried to get away with putting Chevrolet engines in them in the early 70's. Their ass got sued for millions ! The owners weren't having it ! They loved their Old's Rocket V-8's ! And who could blame them. They were built rock solid !
General Motors, Ford Motors and Chrysler Corp. started cutting costs by manufacturing parts interchangeable among their various brands. Eventually, the brands became identical cars. To save even more money, these companies saved even more money in advertising by cutting the number of brands produced. And thus it is that many brands "flopped". Even today, vehicles sold as Chevrolet, GMC and Buick are all the same.
I would also like to get my 2 cents in on AMC. They made very good cars starting with the Nash.They were very reliable cars that were mid sized cars that had an beautiful ride like a full sized car.They weren't as big as the big 3 so it was a combination of competition & piss poor management ( NITWITS ) that led to their demise!!!
The 1940 Nash 600 was the first car with the unit body construction. The Nash 600 after WW2 became the Nash Statesman. Hudson took the cue from Nash to also build a unit body car and did the first drop down floor design with the body and frame welded together in the Hudson Commodore and Hornet.
Both Pontiac and Oldsmobile were mismanaged by GM. The distinctiveness that each brand had was wiped out by GM's cookie cutter approach in the 1980's and 1990's. GTO, Grand Prix, Firebird were very desirable cars as were 88, Cutlass and 4-4-2. By the 1990's, these nameplates had become completely pedestrian and lost any uniqueness that attracted buyers.
It has happened worldwide to several automobile companies since the last two centuries starting from steam driven cars of the 18th ,19th and early 20th century.
Pontiac, Oldsmobile and AMC were all flops? Did you research this at all? Did you happen to notice how long they were around and how many cars they sold?
@@uncletoby- Because the facts are so painfully obvious that there's no need to. A 5 minute....no, scratch that, 2 minute google search will prove everything I stated.
@@uncletoby-what actually helped kill AMC was California Smog Regulations in the 1980s. The passenger car smog regulations were more stringent than multipurpose passenger vehicle smog regulations on California vehicles. Past 1985, AMC couldn't legally sell the 1986 Eagle 4WD wagon in California because the engine couldn't pass the California laboratory emissions test for passenger cars. Some would emit NOx emissions at failing levels while the hydrocarbon emissions passed, and others would pass the NOx Emissions lab test while failing hydrocarbon levels. The SUVs and pickups had a more relaxed standard and passed the standards for trucks, allowing Jeeps to be sold. The Renault designed cars met smog regulations and were allowed to be sold at AMC dealers in California.
@TheInkPitOx not quite. Dec. '63 was the end of the line for the 100 year old Co. that started out making Conestoga wagons. Studebaker Canada lasted 'til '66.
@sherryjohnson1206 actually the fastest production car in '57 was the Rambler Ambassodor with a 327(not that 327). It would be a few more years before the R1 thru R4 supercharged Avantis would rule the speed chart. Andy Granatelli(of STP fame) would set numerous land speed records on the salt flats of Bonneville with supercharged Avantis.
@@richardrice8076EXCUSE ME, it's Rambler Rebel, not Rambler Ambassador as Nash was still using the Ambassador as a model in 1957. Your research is almost as bad as theirs is.
I had a Javelin which was my first car. How I wish I would of kept it instead of selling it. I loved that car it had all the power you needed in a car. Thank you. ❤😊
I wish when some nice plain things are made how sad it is when you can not get then anymore automobiles clothes shoes homes tools We need mucho more simplicity simple things
Yes if we had mucho car makers doing as was the mucho first vws type one were for years e would all be better off simple plain nicely done as our clothes should be homes cycles bikes the entire world would all be nicer if it works why fix it or break it cam on ong gracias volks
I sold new Pontiacs back in the day. In the late 60's and early 70's, Pontiac was the hottest brand going. GTO, Firebird, LeMans, these cars literally sold themselves. GM chose Pontiac as one of the brands to eliminate, simply to increase sales of the corporate standard bearer, Chevrolet. It's all about the Benjamins, and staying ahead of Ford. Still that way today.
First car I drove was a 1965 Tempest Station wagon. White with a red interior, and the smallest 6 they had. What a cool car. I remember my grandfather had a white ‘65 Buick station wagon, and I always thought it was weird that they looked so much alike but were different. I didn’t understand body sharing back then, nor that the Buick probably cost $1000 more than the Tempest, but was exactly the same car, haha
I remember in the early and mid to late 70s that Chevrolet, Pontiac, Oldsmobile and Buick shared a platform for their compact and subcompact cars. The compact Chevrolet Nova bodies from the early 70s to the early 1979 model year also bore the name Pontiac Ventura, Oldsmobile Omega and Buick Apollo. Cadillac also borrowed the Chevrolet Nova body but tweeked it to be more boxy for their compact Seville in 1977-79. The subcompact Chevrolet Vega shared the body with the Pontiac Astre and the 4 cylinder engine casting as well, but in cast iron for the Pontiac. Many who blew the aluminum block 4 cylinder Vega engine picked up Pontiac Astre cast iron engines from crashed Pontiac Astre junkyard cars.
My Dad (b. 1931) once told me that a customer who asked a Packard dealer the price of his car was denied the sale, because it meant the customer probably couldn't afford the vehicle.
2:15 - That's not "four hundred forty two". It's 4-4-2, three separate numbers. Anyway, I remember very well when AMC was still making cars. My parents had two different Studebakers when I was a kid, and my grandparents had them when my dad was growing up. It went out of business in my lifetime. Two modern brands that didn't make it are Geo and Saturn.
Heartily agreed either not American or been kept completely isolated from any sort of auto enthusiast. Four-four-two it always has been, and since Oldsmobile's demise always will be.
I remember Geo was a badge engineered brand sold at Chevrolet dealers. The Geo was made by Suzuki and Toyota, depending on the vehicle model. The Geo Tracker was a Suzuki Samurai. The 3 cylinder Geo cars were also Suzuki cars. The 4 cylinder Geo cars were stripped down Toyota cars.
Or a lot of the other ones on the list, for that matter. Quite a few of those companies had pretty long histories, so I wouldn’t consider them a flop. Car brands that I would put into that category are ones like Daewoo, where that brand, at least in the US market, didn’t last too long.
Oldsmobile was one of only (if I recall) two car brands that ended the 19th century and began the 21st. The other was not an American maker. Benz, I think
They LEFT OUT ONE IMPORTANT MAKE….. I M P E R I A L which was SPLIT OFF from the Chrysler brand…and became a SEPARATE DISTINCT MAKE of car in 1955. So, since it was NO LONGER a Chrysler as of THAT YEAR…it SHOULD HAVE BEEN INCLUDED.
In 1959, my folks bought a Bonneville("Motor Trends" car of the year). In 1964, my sister bought a GTO.In 1972, my parents bought a new Pontiac LeMans. In 1974, I bought a new Pontiac Grand Prix. It's so hard to believe that with all the popularity and accolades Pontiac had received that they no longer exist ! THE "GTO", THE "TRANS AM" ! WHAT HAPPENED ?
0bama forced GM to liquidate Pontiac and Saturn in 2009 as part of a bailout deal. 0bama forced Chrysler to be sold to FIAT as part of a bailout deal too in 2009. FIAT-Chrysler became Stellantis. Ford didn't take a government bailout from 0bama, and was not forced by him to do anything.
I looked at the thumbnail that which said the brands "flopped". After watching the video, I will have to respectfully but vehemently disagree that most of the brands mentioned in the video did NOT "flop". Was the Edsel a flop? Most certainly, as it was only in production for three model years. A case could be made that Eagle flopped, as it was discontinued after 11 years, but even that was more of a consolidation move than an outright failure. Hudson, Kaiser, Nash, Willys-Overland, which eventually all merged into American Motors which--ironically--ultimately merged with Chrysler, weren't flops. As for the other marques: DeSoto had the shortest run of 33 years, Oldsmobile had longest run of over100 years, with all the others having runs in excess of 50 years; again...NOT flops.
AMC and Studebaker had superb cars, beautiful and reliable performers. Sadly each company 's top brass made some poor business decisions. Later Chrysler and GM did the same but were bailed out with government money (our tax dollars!) because they had many military contracts.
Calling Pontiac and Oldsmobile "flops" is being lazy. Those brands were killed by GM's mis management dating back to the early 70s. Stamping out identical cars across all the "brands" had GM competing with itself. They even gussied up a Chevy Cavalier and sold it as a Cadillac Cimmaron. Now that was a Flop
In Canada from 1946-68, they had Mercury trucks, due to sparse populations where there were few car dealers in a region. If a region had a Mercury dealer but no Ford dealer, that dealer sold Mercury trucks. All Mercury dealers in Canada had Mercury badged trucks for sale. If the area didn't have a Mercury dealer, there would be a Ford dealer selling Ford trucks.
Gm leaderships kill Pontiac, Oldsmobile and Saturn. GM always since late 70's and early 80's failure fixing problems with engines even some developers designed cars,trucks ,vans ,suv models still today poor leaderships.
I would consider 1955 mid fiftys as opposed to late fiftys for Kaiser's demise as an automobile although it had joined Willys by that time and subsequent Jeeps were known as Kaiser Jeeps until merging with AMC.
In 55, Kaiser and Willys sedan division moved to Argentina and stopped operations in the USA. Their Jeep truck division stayed in the USA. Their engineer David Potter who designed and tested a new OHV V8 engine that got tabled by Willys got hired by AMC when Studebaker Packard's CEO James Nance tried to bleed AMC dry with a lopsided deal, forcing AMC to buy Packard V8 engines with Packard's Ultramatic automatic transmission while refusing to buy sheet metal stampings from AMC in exchange as previously agreed to in a deal that SP reneged on. When AMC hired David Potter and got the V8 engine produced and running in the mid 56 Rambler as a limited edition 56 Rebel and in the Hudson Hornet and Nash Ambassador, AMC pulled the plug on the Packard V8 and Ultramatic automatic transmission. The AMC V8 allowed the Hudson Hornet and Nash Ambassador to come with the standard 3 speed stick shift transmission for those who wanted a manual transmission with a V8 engine.
@@PaulHerman-v2m I'm aware of the 57 Rebel. But in 56, there was a limited edition Rambler Rebel introduced shortly after the AMC V8 came out. I learned about this car while I was in the AMC RAMBLER CLUB. This 56 Rebel Special is a limited production car. There were very few produced. The 56 Rebel came out mostly to get motorists excited for the 57 Rebel coming soon afterwards.
All cars since the 1960s are the same basic platform and are just rebadged to make it look like you’re getting a different make of car within a company. Example: all cars from GM start out with a platform and then they are just fitted with different sheet metal to make a Chevy into a Buick for example.
In the late 1960's GM feared being broken up by the government because of their dominant market share. One response was to "integrate" the divisions so that dismantling GM would be very difficult. The divisions previously had their own designs and production lines for engines, chassis, suspensions, etc. Starting in the 1970's these were merged into groups, so for example, Oldsmobile engines were no longer their unique "rocket V-8s". By the mid-1970's GM was sued for putting Chevrolet engines in Oldsmobiles and marketing them as Oldsmobile engines. The result was a settlement where GM advertisements had a disclaimer saying "Engines may be made by other GM divisions." GM was forced to admit there was no longer a true engineering distinction between its brands.
Pontiac was not a flop! The only reason that Buick is still around is because of China. You know that GM went bankrupt and had to choose one to save. Went with the wrong one.
Olds, Pontiac Plymouth & Mercury were all dropped from the big three's line-up because they felt that they weren't needed anymore. AMC was pushed out by the big three ( just like Tucker, Studibaker and all the rest that weren't built in Detroit). Because they didn't want to shell out to keep up with the competition.
When Chrysler went through the Jimmy Carter bailout, the Plymouth brand lost much of its uniqueness. Sometimes, the Plymouth brand models were dressed up Dodge vehicles, such as the full size SUVs in the 70s and the full size passenger vans. In other cases such as the 1979 and later "K-car" series, the Plymouth Reliant was a dressed down Dodge Aries. The Plymouth Volaré was a dressed up Dodge Aspen compact sedan.
When G.M dropped Oldsmobile & Pontiac they made a big mistake. Cadillac should have been the first to go. They were way overpriced & from 1970 on they were no better than a Buick or Olds as far as luxury, & less reliable also.Cadillacs heydays ended in 1970. Sure they made great cars but they weren't that great anymore after 1970. They kept Buick because Buick founded GM & is GM.The biggest problem with GM was piss poor management. They squandered too much resources by letting each division make their own engines & competing harder against each other than against Ford or Chrysler. GM also discontinued too many great models!! GM better get their shit together very quick or GM will be past history!!!
I'm so f'n sick of these old car videos that reduce brands like Pontiac, Chevy, Ford down to STRICTLY, STRICTLY the "muscle cars" ONLY. Even though I am a fan of those cars, they hardly represent any of these marques in their entirety, at all. They're part of the "pie chart", but only a part of these marques going back over a century.
Nash was the first American compact car ??? Not by a long shot . How about the 1930 American Austin Bantam , built in Butler , Pennsylvania , or the post war Crosley , that predated the Nash .
Those weren’t compatible. They were just TINY. A compact car is a small car with all the expected amenities of a larger car, and that’s what the Nash gave the buyer. The Metropolitan had available all the options one could get on a large car. That’s why it was successful. The American Austin/Bantam were just tiny. Really tiny, and the Crosley wasn’t much bigger. The Nash was the first small large car.
@@journeymancellist9247 Having owned a '30 Bantam coupe , I must disagree, while small my 6' 4" uncle and I at 6' both rode comfortably in the car . Also it came with everything a Ford or Chevy from the era had .unlike the cars from Ford And GM the bodies were welded together instead of being assembled using tiny ring shank nails to hold the body panels to a hardwood framework .
@journeymancellist9247 Austin is also a British Car Company that had a branch in the USA in the 1930s. The Rambler is the first post WW2 compact car with standard amenities that came to market in 1950. Austin built the Nash Healey for Nash Kelvinator, then the Nash (and later Hudson) Metropolitan for Nash Kelvinator and AMC. Hudson Metropolitans came out soon after the 1954 merger and continued through 1957, then dropped the Nash and Hudson names for 1958 and later.
@@philpolzin2233 yep , four barrel carb , four speed transmission , dual exhaust is the original definition of 442 . Learned as a seven year old in '64 , and never forgotten .
Actually, it’s pronounced “Four, Four, Two” Meaning “Four Barrel (carburetor), Four Speed (manual transmission), Two (Dual Exhaust). It was a performance package, not just the pathetic underpowered decal it became in the 80’s.
Saturn could have been successful. Had they sold it to Roger Penske. He had a solid business plan and a definite direction he wanted to take the brand. He and the Indians were bidding on Saturn. GM decided they did not want to compete with one of their former brands, and just killed it !
@@fposmith Saturn lost their way after year 2002 & were Chevied except the Sky which was striking compared to the weakly styled Pontiac Solstice. Typical of Pontiac then, lazy.
GM leadership couldn’t handle more that the beginning of the alfabet; A, B, C - what comes after C? So they axed the marques not starting with B or C😂😂😂
Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Mercury were brands that lasted decades, over 70 years and longer. This is not a very accurate report and presentation. The presenter needs to be more accurate here.
Studebaker's Champion dates back to 1939, I then suppose you meant World War I when you said post war. Research, research, fact alert, we are seriosly dropping the ball.
Ha Ha, It's Japan's cars that can't stand the test of time, When was the last time you saw a 1995 Toyota or Nisson driving on the road ? Go to a classic car show and check out all of Pontiac's G T O's, Bonnievilles, Le Manns still looking new and working well. When the warm weather comes back in every state you will see Ford's, Chevy's and Pontiac's still running around town. In the mid 1980's they sold the American Buyer a dream. Now we have cars that explode on impact and are disposed off every 8 years.
does any one think The Great Recession of 2007-2010, maybe just maybe had something to do with the 1000's of bankruptcies from every sector of our country at that time ? GAS was $5.00 a gallon and NO ONE had money to buy new cars !! Half the people i know went bankrupt or got foreclosed on !!
The best cars I ever owned was the Oldsmobile. They had power and comfort..I really do miss a car that looks like a car and a ugly roller skate like the new cars today..they all look the same
ALERT! ALERT! Show me Rambler (save for the first decade models which became the Jeffery and later Nash) that was registered before 1951 and I'll think about agreeing with your late 1940s statement.
As for Tucker, the S-E-C put an end to it and although finally winning the legal decision the fight drained its financial resources and ended up mortally wounded in 1950.
AMC and Willie's don't get credit for the first Jeep Ford Motor Company does AMC ambassadors were used by many jurisdictions as police cruisers Oldsmobile was General Motors test vehicle for anything new they wanted to try out it went on the Oldsmobile first and Pontiac would still be in business today if it wasn't for the Buick portion of the GM brand being popular with the old folks
Marquees like Oldsmobile and Buick live on in China as the more affluent 30+ something crowd buys those brands up. Sometimes, there are even wait lists ❤.
Just a sad shame, in reality most of the cars were lost as a result of to many names on the same car, and the last 10 to 15 years of Oldsmobile and pontiac wete sad as they were destroyed as cheap knockoffs of other gm cars, even the very last days were of so little effort, it was like they flipped a coin and on purpose ruined beautiful companies...i still remember commercials saying buick...not judt for seniors lol.....true story
Why are todays automobiles yes made of government required parts for our air health cleaner earth planet then why so mucho recalls parts stolen for mucho dinero $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ do we honestly really need all this to make cars so nice for all these reasons or really drive mucho less also why so big stupid shapes deigns over crowded highways roads why drives so often instead of cycle riding walking o cutting out how often we drive do mucho in one day parked by walking around getting mucho dines saving $$$$$$$$.and our health will be nicer for this all of us
Do you have any memories or stories related to these car brands? Share your nostalgic moments with us!
In India Staandard Motor Products of India was launched as UnionMotors in the year 1948 and introduced Standard Vanguard cars which they discontinued by 1962.Then there were Standard Herald cars which were introduced in 1963 and went upto 1972.The Standard Gazel car was introduced in the year1973 and went upto 1983.The Standard 2000 was introduced inthe year 1985 and discontinued in 1990.The Standard 200 a smaller version was proposed but was not made.The Standard Spacecab van /microbus were the last vehicles which were introduced in1994 and discontinued in1996 when the company closed down.In 2005 The Standard Motor company was totally liquidated and the brand new Standard ,Standard,Stampro were all taken over by British Motor Heritage Company in London ,Britain.😢😮
4-4-2 (not four hundred -forty-two) 🙄
Rambler introduced the dual master cylinder brake system in the 1962 year model cars. They shared the dual master cylinder system with Cadillac and Jaguar.
@2:11 "four hundred forty two" LOL! It's known as the FOUR FOUR TWO. Four barrel carb, four speed, dual exhaust. Those were the attributes to every real muscle car.
I wouldnt exactly categorize Oldsmobile and Pontiac as "flops" - they did stand the test of time with 107 and 84 years respectively
Studebaker built road vehicles from 1852 to 1966.
The Packard brothers built some of the world's finest cars from 1899 through 1956, and built more Rolls-Royce Merlin engines than Rolls-Royce did during the unpleasantness between 1938 and 1945.
Pontiac was not a failure. It outsold Buick, but GM corporate killed it anyway.
Because Buick sold better world wide(China). Stupid bean counters.
If Pontiac or Oldsmobile had continued to this day Patrick, they would be non-descript 4-door sedans, SUV's, crossovers, minivans, etc. just like they were in their last years anyway. Neither GM marque was killed off in its prime in any way, shape or form. You, I, all us car guys saw them dragged through the mud. It could have been worse for Pontiac. In the years before it shut down they did have that Miata-style sports car, and a retractable convertible. But then as now, GM is in survival mode. Look at Buick's degraded state as a general idea of what the other two would be. Not saying Buick doesn't have some excellent vehicles, they do, but they're very expensive transportation vehicles, like all cars are now.
GM corporate dug Pontiac's and Oldsmobile's graves by decades of mismanagement in the corporation.
At least in the US Pontiac was putting money ONTO the bottom lin, not takeeing it off. I didn't understand that one either.
Only thing I can think of is that once Oldsmobile was gone Buick was xpected to replace Olds as the "poor man's Cadillac" but that didn'gt work!
Buicks sold better world wide(China). Good bye Rocket 88 and the tin indian. I admire that Pontiac went down fighting. One of my favorite modern day muscle cars is the '09 G8. Built by Holden Australia which GM killed off in 2017, a rare double orphan.
Oldsmobile had been the longest continuously produced automobile in America until GM killed it. Saying it " flopped" is really very poor research.
If a car company can last for about 70-80 years, I wouldn't call it a "flop"!
My first car was a used ’67 Mercury Cougar which I bought with my savings from my tour of duty in Vietnam.
Pontiac wasn't a flop! The Firebird Trans Am was one of the best selling cars of the seventies!😁👍🔧
by 2000, they were done, post Aztek and over cladding from the 80s
I loved my 1975 Firebird. Bought it at 73,000 miles, traded it in at 313,000 miles over eight years. I wore it slap out! 😊
@@lancerevell5979 - Camaro/Firebird got fat, slow, gas hogs in 1970's... lost 500 lbs. in 1980's... got power & MPG back... such as my '87 TransAm GTA:
i.pinimg.com/originals/0a/6e/92/0a6e925d76ea7b8a50b40ef04eb7a4b5.jpg
The gto
Pontiac was NOT a Flop!
They were asleep at the wheel, how Aztek could be made!?! G6 and G8 with body side moldings falling off. Come on!
@@patcurrie9888idiot
@@patcurrie9888 But they also made the GTO & Le Mans series! Beautiful cars, to this day!
No, in fact when GM shut it down, it was at least adding to the bottom line not subtracting from it.
I always wondered why they killed off Pontiac instead of Buick
IT IS GONE NOW IS IT NOT ! FLOP !
Chrysler bought AMC because they wanted Jeep
AMC bought Kaiser because they wanted Jeep.
Stellantis bought Jeep, but had to take Chrysler, Dodge, and the rest of MOPAR as part of the deal.
I had an uncle who lost a hand in an industrial accident. He was able to drive a De Soto because it had a push button transmission.
Rambler also had the pushbutton automatic transmission connected to a Borg Warner T35.
Oldsmobile waz definitely not a flop. Great cars! I haven't owned a GM product since they were discontinued and never will again.
GM took Oldsmobile for granted for too many years. To the point that they tried to get away with putting Chevrolet engines in them in the early 70's. Their ass got sued for millions ! The owners weren't having it ! They loved their Old's Rocket V-8's ! And who could blame them. They were built rock solid !
@@fposmith Oldsmobile rested on their laurels. a shame because they were getting their mojo back with Aurora and Alero. Too late.
You forgot the Imperial, and I think you throw International in there as well even though they made pickups and the Scout.
General Motors, Ford Motors and Chrysler Corp. started cutting costs by manufacturing parts interchangeable among their various brands. Eventually, the brands became identical cars. To save even more money, these companies saved even more money in advertising by cutting the number of brands produced. And thus it is that many brands "flopped". Even today, vehicles sold as Chevrolet, GMC and Buick are all the same.
I would also like to get my 2 cents in on AMC. They made very good cars starting with the Nash.They were very reliable cars that were mid sized cars that had an beautiful ride like a full sized car.They weren't as big as the big 3 so it was a combination of competition & piss poor management ( NITWITS ) that led to their demise!!!
The 1940 Nash 600 was the first car with the unit body construction. The Nash 600 after WW2 became the Nash Statesman. Hudson took the cue from Nash to also build a unit body car and did the first drop down floor design with the body and frame welded together in the Hudson Commodore and Hornet.
Both Pontiac and Oldsmobile were mismanaged by GM. The distinctiveness that each brand had was wiped out by GM's cookie cutter approach in the 1980's and 1990's. GTO, Grand Prix, Firebird were very desirable cars as were 88, Cutlass and 4-4-2. By the 1990's, these nameplates had become completely pedestrian and lost any uniqueness that attracted buyers.
The “442” in the 80’s was just an appearance package. Decals and fancy pressed steel wheels.
I hope the old timey film look added to this video DOES NOT stand the test of time.
De Soto, was a nice sadan.
Hudson Hornet 👍
Under the esteemed leadership of Red Ink Rick Wagoner; Pontiac had its own acronym: Peel Off Nameplate. This Is A Chevrolet.
It has happened worldwide to several automobile companies since the last two centuries starting from steam driven cars of the 18th ,19th and early 20th century.
Pontiac, Oldsmobile and AMC were all flops? Did you research this at all? Did you happen to notice how long they were around and how many cars they sold?
Then why not do your own video and educate us ?
@@uncletoby- Because the facts are so painfully obvious that there's no need to. A 5 minute....no, scratch that, 2 minute google search will prove everything I stated.
@@justsumguy2u Doubtful
@@uncletoby- you didn't even try, so stfu
@@uncletoby-what actually helped kill AMC was California Smog Regulations in the 1980s. The passenger car smog regulations were more stringent than multipurpose passenger vehicle smog regulations on California vehicles. Past 1985, AMC couldn't legally sell the 1986 Eagle 4WD wagon in California because the engine couldn't pass the California laboratory emissions test for passenger cars. Some would emit NOx emissions at failing levels while the hydrocarbon emissions passed, and others would pass the NOx Emissions lab test while failing hydrocarbon levels. The SUVs and pickups had a more relaxed standard and passed the standards for trucks, allowing Jeeps to be sold. The Renault designed cars met smog regulations and were allowed to be sold at AMC dealers in California.
Studebaker was ahead of their time in design and their power plants
They also lasted from the 19th century all the way to the 70s.
@TheInkPitOx not quite. Dec. '63 was the end of the line for the 100 year old Co. that started out making Conestoga wagons. Studebaker Canada lasted 'til '66.
@@richardrice8076 in 57 studebaker had the Fastest production car ever built it was super charged
@sherryjohnson1206 actually the fastest production car in '57 was the Rambler Ambassodor with a 327(not that 327). It would be a few more years before the R1 thru R4 supercharged Avantis would rule the speed chart. Andy Granatelli(of STP fame) would set numerous land speed records on the salt flats of Bonneville with supercharged Avantis.
@@richardrice8076EXCUSE ME, it's Rambler Rebel, not Rambler Ambassador as Nash was still using the Ambassador as a model in 1957. Your research is almost as bad as theirs is.
I had a Javelin which was my first car. How I wish I would of kept it instead of selling it. I loved that car it had all the power you needed in a car. Thank you. ❤😊
U should have kept it brian
@@TyroneEpps Well I was young and stupid. Someone offered me good money and I sold it. Looking back I wish I hadn't but that was then this is now .
I wish when some nice plain things are made how sad it is when you can not get then anymore automobiles clothes shoes homes tools We need mucho more simplicity simple things
Yes if we had mucho car makers doing as was the mucho first vws type one were for years e would all be better off simple plain nicely done as our clothes should be homes cycles bikes the entire world would all be nicer if it works why fix it or break it cam on ong gracias volks
Stutz Bearcat? Duesenberg? There were a whole bunch of related cars from Indiana
I sold new Pontiacs back in the day. In the late 60's and early 70's, Pontiac was the hottest brand going. GTO, Firebird, LeMans, these cars literally sold themselves. GM chose Pontiac as one of the brands to eliminate, simply to increase sales of the corporate standard bearer, Chevrolet. It's all about the Benjamins, and staying ahead of Ford. Still that way today.
First car I drove was a 1965 Tempest Station wagon. White with a red interior, and the smallest 6 they had. What a cool car. I remember my grandfather had a white ‘65 Buick station wagon, and I always thought it was weird that they looked so much alike but were different. I didn’t understand body sharing back then, nor that the Buick probably cost $1000 more than the Tempest, but was exactly the same car, haha
I remember in the early and mid to late 70s that Chevrolet, Pontiac, Oldsmobile and Buick shared a platform for their compact and subcompact cars. The compact Chevrolet Nova bodies from the early 70s to the early 1979 model year also bore the name Pontiac Ventura, Oldsmobile Omega and Buick Apollo. Cadillac also borrowed the Chevrolet Nova body but tweeked it to be more boxy for their compact Seville in 1977-79. The subcompact Chevrolet Vega shared the body with the Pontiac Astre and the 4 cylinder engine casting as well, but in cast iron for the Pontiac. Many who blew the aluminum block 4 cylinder Vega engine picked up Pontiac Astre cast iron engines from crashed Pontiac Astre junkyard cars.
I've seen a lot of these cars at the Culver City Car Show.
Pontiac, Olds, Mercury were not flops!
They became boring in the late 90s. It was time to go.
My Dad (b. 1931) once told me that a customer who asked a Packard dealer the price of his car was denied the sale, because it meant the customer probably couldn't afford the vehicle.
Rolls-Royce/Bentley did the same thing: "If you have to ask, you cannot afford it!"
2:15 - That's not "four hundred forty two". It's 4-4-2, three separate numbers. Anyway, I remember very well when AMC was still making cars. My parents had two different Studebakers when I was a kid, and my grandparents had them when my dad was growing up. It went out of business in my lifetime.
Two modern brands that didn't make it are Geo and Saturn.
Heartily agreed either not American or been kept completely isolated from any sort of auto enthusiast. Four-four-two it always has been, and since Oldsmobile's demise always will be.
I remember Geo was a badge engineered brand sold at Chevrolet dealers. The Geo was made by Suzuki and Toyota, depending on the vehicle model. The Geo Tracker was a Suzuki Samurai. The 3 cylinder Geo cars were also Suzuki cars. The 4 cylinder Geo cars were stripped down Toyota cars.
Oldsmobile wasn't a flop .
Or a lot of the other ones on the list, for that matter. Quite a few of those companies had pretty long histories, so I wouldn’t consider them a flop. Car brands that I would put into that category are ones like Daewoo, where that brand, at least in the US market, didn’t last too long.
Oldsmobile was one of only (if I recall) two car brands that ended the 19th century and began the 21st.
The other was not an American maker. Benz, I think
Pontiac Fav! 💜
They LEFT OUT ONE IMPORTANT MAKE…..
I M P E R I A L which was SPLIT OFF from the Chrysler brand…and became a SEPARATE DISTINCT MAKE of car in 1955.
So, since it was NO LONGER a Chrysler as of THAT YEAR…it SHOULD HAVE BEEN INCLUDED.
Lincoln and Continental used to be separate.
Thanks for erasing my comments you tube😮
In 1959, my folks bought a Bonneville("Motor Trends" car of the year). In 1964, my sister bought a GTO.In 1972, my parents bought a new Pontiac LeMans. In 1974, I bought a new Pontiac Grand Prix. It's so hard to believe that with all the popularity and accolades Pontiac had received that they no longer exist ! THE "GTO", THE "TRANS AM" ! WHAT HAPPENED ?
I got a ticket going 65 in a 25 mph zone in my mom's '73 bonneville. I was 19 YO.
0bama forced GM to liquidate Pontiac and Saturn in 2009 as part of a bailout deal. 0bama forced Chrysler to be sold to FIAT as part of a bailout deal too in 2009. FIAT-Chrysler became Stellantis. Ford didn't take a government bailout from 0bama, and was not forced by him to do anything.
Consumer demand had nothing to do with it
I looked at the thumbnail that which said the brands "flopped".
After watching the video, I will have to respectfully but vehemently disagree that most of the brands mentioned in the video did NOT "flop".
Was the Edsel a flop? Most certainly, as it was only in production for three model years.
A case could be made that Eagle flopped, as it was discontinued after 11 years, but even that was more of a consolidation move than an outright failure.
Hudson, Kaiser, Nash, Willys-Overland, which eventually all merged into American Motors which--ironically--ultimately merged with Chrysler, weren't flops.
As for the other marques: DeSoto had the shortest run of 33 years, Oldsmobile had longest run of over100 years, with all the others having runs in excess of 50 years; again...NOT flops.
Rambler 🇺🇸N 2 😎💙
AMC and Studebaker had superb cars, beautiful and reliable performers. Sadly each company 's top brass made some poor business decisions. Later Chrysler and GM did the same but were bailed out with government money (our tax dollars!) because they had many military contracts.
The that killed the Voyager was the fact its target group was the suburban soccer moms and the oldsmobile became a grandma car in the 90's
Just please name all vehicles they have at germanys vw company USA too gracias volks
It didn't help that Oldsmobile was mercilessly and unfairly ridiculed in the movie ". Fargo"
What about the Edsel? I'll NEVER forget that one with the big "0" in front. 😊
Cougar introduced late in the 20th century 🙄. 67 wasn't exactly late.
Nash Rambler as well 😊
The company was Nash-Kelvinator. The car model was the Rambler.
It was KaiserFrazer.
Calling Pontiac and Oldsmobile "flops" is being lazy. Those brands were killed by GM's mis management dating back to the early 70s. Stamping out identical cars across all the "brands" had GM competing with itself. They even gussied up a Chevy Cavalier and sold it as a Cadillac Cimmaron. Now that was a Flop
I miss Mercury … “better than a Ford, not quite a Lincoln”.
In Canada from 1946-68, they had Mercury trucks, due to sparse populations where there were few car dealers in a region. If a region had a Mercury dealer but no Ford dealer, that dealer sold Mercury trucks. All Mercury dealers in Canada had Mercury badged trucks for sale. If the area didn't have a Mercury dealer, there would be a Ford dealer selling Ford trucks.
Gm leaderships kill Pontiac, Oldsmobile and Saturn. GM always since late 70's and early 80's failure fixing problems with engines even some developers designed cars,trucks ,vans ,suv models still today poor leaderships.
I was going to say that Pontiac was a great brand and GM ruined it, made it just an expensive Chevy
Agree. It was not a flop but poorly managed and constrained by GM
I would consider 1955 mid fiftys as opposed to late fiftys for Kaiser's demise as an automobile although it had joined Willys by that time and subsequent Jeeps were known as Kaiser Jeeps until merging with AMC.
In 55, Kaiser and Willys sedan division moved to Argentina and stopped operations in the USA. Their Jeep truck division stayed in the USA. Their engineer David Potter who designed and tested a new OHV V8 engine that got tabled by Willys got hired by AMC when Studebaker Packard's CEO James Nance tried to bleed AMC dry with a lopsided deal, forcing AMC to buy Packard V8 engines with Packard's Ultramatic automatic transmission while refusing to buy sheet metal stampings from AMC in exchange as previously agreed to in a deal that SP reneged on. When AMC hired David Potter and got the V8 engine produced and running in the mid 56 Rambler as a limited edition 56 Rebel and in the Hudson Hornet and Nash Ambassador, AMC pulled the plug on the Packard V8 and Ultramatic automatic transmission. The AMC V8 allowed the Hudson Hornet and Nash Ambassador to come with the standard 3 speed stick shift transmission for those who wanted a manual transmission with a V8 engine.
@@maxheadroom8857 You are a little off, the Rambler Rebel was a 1957 model not a 1956 model.
@@PaulHerman-v2m I'm aware of the 57 Rebel. But in 56, there was a limited edition Rambler Rebel introduced shortly after the AMC V8 came out. I learned about this car while I was in the AMC RAMBLER CLUB. This 56 Rebel Special is a limited production car. There were very few produced. The 56 Rebel came out mostly to get motorists excited for the 57 Rebel coming soon afterwards.
VERY VERY ANNOYING IRRITATING REPEATING BACKGROUND MUSIC !!!!!
All cars since the 1960s are the same basic platform and are just rebadged to make it look like you’re getting a different make of car within a company. Example: all cars from GM start out with a platform and then they are just fitted with different sheet metal to make a Chevy into a Buick for example.
In the late 1960's GM feared being broken up by the government because of their dominant market share. One response was to "integrate" the divisions so that dismantling GM would be very difficult. The divisions previously had their own designs and production lines for engines, chassis, suspensions, etc. Starting in the 1970's these were merged into groups, so for example, Oldsmobile engines were no longer their unique "rocket V-8s". By the mid-1970's GM was sued for putting Chevrolet engines in Oldsmobiles and marketing them as Oldsmobile engines. The result was a settlement where GM advertisements had a disclaimer saying "Engines may be made by other GM divisions." GM was forced to admit there was no longer a true engineering distinction between its brands.
Pontiac was not a flop! The only reason that Buick is still around is because of China. You know that GM went bankrupt and had to choose one to save. Went with the wrong one.
Pontiac didn't fail GM killed it.
Because they were lazy, designs were lame, non sellers 1995 to the end
Olds, Pontiac Plymouth & Mercury were all dropped from the big three's line-up because they felt that they weren't needed anymore. AMC was pushed out by the big three ( just like Tucker, Studibaker and all the rest that weren't built in Detroit). Because they didn't want to shell out to keep up with the competition.
" A bear in his natural habitat...a Studebaker"
“Movin’ right along in search of good times and good news
With good friends you can’t lose
This could become a habit.
This is great😊😊😊😊
If you don't know anything about cars I'm sure it is.....
Plymouth didn't have any unique models. They were just rebadged Dodge's. The Plymouth Voyager is the same as the Dodge Caravan
Plymouth had lower trim levels that were priced cheaper than Dodges.
Same with Plymouth Reliant and Dodge Aries.
From the eighty's on Plymouth became a redundant brand. Up until then Plymouth had it's own style.
So I guess the Barracuda wasn’t unique ?
When Chrysler went through the Jimmy Carter bailout, the Plymouth brand lost much of its uniqueness. Sometimes, the Plymouth brand models were dressed up Dodge vehicles, such as the full size SUVs in the 70s and the full size passenger vans. In other cases such as the 1979 and later "K-car" series, the Plymouth Reliant was a dressed down Dodge Aries. The Plymouth Volaré was a dressed up Dodge Aspen compact sedan.
12:19 That's not a Kaiser. It is a '41 Packard Clipper Darrin
My lemans was wicked
When G.M dropped Oldsmobile & Pontiac they made a big mistake. Cadillac should have been the first to go. They were way overpriced & from 1970 on they were no better than a Buick or Olds as far as luxury, & less reliable also.Cadillacs heydays ended in 1970. Sure they made great cars but they weren't that great anymore after 1970. They kept Buick because Buick founded GM & is GM.The biggest problem with GM was piss poor management. They squandered too much resources by letting each division make their own engines & competing harder against each other than against Ford or Chrysler. GM also discontinued too many great models!! GM better get their shit together very quick or GM will be past history!!!
I'm so f'n sick of these old car videos that reduce brands like Pontiac, Chevy, Ford down to STRICTLY, STRICTLY the "muscle cars" ONLY. Even though I am a fan of those cars, they hardly represent any of these marques in their entirety, at all. They're part of the "pie chart", but only a part of these marques going back over a century.
Nash was the first American compact car ??? Not by a long shot . How about the 1930 American Austin Bantam , built in Butler , Pennsylvania , or the post war Crosley , that predated the Nash .
Those weren’t compatible. They were just TINY. A compact car is a small car with all the expected amenities of a larger car, and that’s what the Nash gave the buyer. The Metropolitan had available all the options one could get on a large car. That’s why it was successful. The American Austin/Bantam were just tiny. Really tiny, and the Crosley wasn’t much bigger. The Nash was the first small large car.
@@journeymancellist9247 Having owned a '30 Bantam coupe , I must disagree, while small my 6' 4" uncle and I at 6' both rode comfortably in the car . Also it came with everything a Ford or Chevy from the era had .unlike the cars from Ford And GM the bodies were welded together instead of being assembled using tiny ring shank nails to hold the body panels to a hardwood framework .
@journeymancellist9247 Austin is also a British Car Company that had a branch in the USA in the 1930s. The Rambler is the first post WW2 compact car with standard amenities that came to market in 1950. Austin built the Nash Healey for Nash Kelvinator, then the Nash (and later Hudson) Metropolitan for Nash Kelvinator and AMC. Hudson Metropolitans came out soon after the 1954 merger and continued through 1957, then dropped the Nash and Hudson names for 1958 and later.
It's pronounced "Four Forty Two" not "Four Hundred and Forty Two"!!!
It's properly pronounced as Four , Four, Two .
@@bobbrinkerhoff3592 Yes
@@philpolzin2233 yep , four barrel carb , four speed transmission , dual exhaust is the original definition of 442 . Learned as a seven year old in '64 , and never forgotten .
Actually, it’s pronounced “Four, Four, Two” Meaning “Four Barrel (carburetor), Four Speed (manual transmission), Two (Dual Exhaust). It was a performance package, not just the pathetic underpowered decal it became in the 80’s.
What about Saturn?
Saturn could have been successful. Had they sold it to Roger Penske. He had a solid business plan and a definite direction he wanted to take the brand. He and the Indians were bidding on Saturn. GM decided they did not want to compete with one of their former brands, and just killed it !
@@fposmith Saturn lost their way after year 2002 & were Chevied except the Sky which was striking compared to the weakly styled Pontiac Solstice. Typical of Pontiac then, lazy.
GM leadership couldn’t handle more that the beginning of the alfabet; A, B, C - what comes after C? So they axed the marques not starting with B or C😂😂😂
As a Ford guy I loved Pontiac. I own 94 trans am conv Gm should have eliminated chevy and made corvette a separate brand Gm sucks
Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Mercury were brands that lasted decades, over 70 years and longer. This is not a very accurate report and presentation. The presenter needs to be more accurate here.
Yes, but when the objective is to just accumulate as many clicks as possible, accuracy go's into the "f@ck that file" !
Do not forget the Frasier
You forgot a few, Saturn, International,
St debater Avanti was faster than any other American production car including Corvettes
Studebaker's Champion dates back to 1939, I then suppose you meant World War I when you said post war. Research, research, fact alert, we are seriosly dropping the ball.
Ha Ha, It's Japan's cars that can't stand the test of time, When was the last time you saw a 1995 Toyota or Nisson driving on the road ? Go to a classic car show and check out all of Pontiac's G T O's, Bonnievilles, Le Manns still looking new and working well. When the warm weather comes back in every state you will see Ford's, Chevy's and Pontiac's still running around town. In the mid 1980's they sold the American Buyer a dream. Now we have cars that explode on impact and are disposed off every 8 years.
Well said. I totally agree!
You can't call a car brand a flop that ran from the 1930s to 2010 . GM as a whole was slumping so something had to be sacrificed .
does any one think The Great Recession of 2007-2010, maybe just maybe had something to do with the 1000's of bankruptcies from every sector of our country at that time ? GAS was $5.00 a gallon and NO ONE had money to buy new cars !! Half the people i know went bankrupt or got foreclosed on !!
What's with the stupid special effects making even new footage look old?
Chrysler doesn't get credit for the Hemi either the credit for the Hemi engine belongs to DeSoto
Do your research this missive is mostly manure
General Motors lost their individuality by the mid 90’s. The whole industry went homogenous. Just like the entire West with the Crazy USA out front.
Saturn ???
RIP Saturn post 2002 that morphed into Chevy
Bro the we build excitement was in the 80s but you're still in 60 cars that that were muscle cars.
Voyager was a big passenger van from 1974-1983 being a rebadged Dodge Sportsman, your research department has me concerned.
The best cars I ever owned was the Oldsmobile. They had power and comfort..I really do miss a car that looks like a car and a ugly roller skate like the new cars today..they all look the same
ALERT! ALERT! Show me Rambler (save for the first decade models which became the Jeffery and later Nash) that was registered before 1951 and I'll think about agreeing with your late 1940s statement.
Pontiac designed the coolest cars!
Well kindasort of got it. A brief focus on the Henry J in video yet no mention...Duh..?
As for Tucker, the S-E-C put an end to it and although finally winning the legal decision the fight drained its financial resources and ended up mortally wounded in 1950.
Uncle Steve's syrups
I'm still amazed that they got rid of Pontiac but Dodge, Buick and Lincoln are still around
do you remember the Aztek? Or the absolute crappy G6 & G8. They need to go. Saturn Sky looked superior to the blah Solstice. It was time.
AMC and Willie's don't get credit for the first Jeep Ford Motor Company does AMC ambassadors were used by many jurisdictions as police cruisers Oldsmobile was General Motors test vehicle for anything new they wanted to try out it went on the Oldsmobile first and Pontiac would still be in business today if it wasn't for the Buick portion of the GM brand being popular with the old folks
Marquees like Oldsmobile and Buick live on in China as the more affluent 30+ something crowd buys those brands up. Sometimes, there are even wait lists ❤.
No, Oldsmobile is gone and Chinese sales saved Buick over Pontiac in GM's 2009 bankruptcy.
*NONE* of these were flops except the Tucker, Kaiser, Edsel, and Eagle.
I guess no one remembers the Tucker !
They got rid of Pontiac ...but kept Buick ? ......no wonder GM is now Chinese owned
Now Chinese owned a lots of supply chains for US car! We have had a lots of issues with US-CCP partner of crime!
@@johnmadow5331I never forgave GM for dropping Pontiac or Oldsmobile for that matter, And I grew up with GM cars and trucks!!!!.
GM is not Chinese owned. It is still an American company and still headquartered in Detroit.
@@davejohansen2677 check that out.
Just a sad shame, in reality most of the cars were lost as a result of to many names on the same car, and the last 10 to 15 years of Oldsmobile and pontiac wete sad as they were destroyed as cheap knockoffs of other gm cars, even the very last days were of so little effort, it was like they flipped a coin and on purpose ruined beautiful companies...i still remember commercials saying buick...not judt for seniors lol.....true story
Preston Tucker had a hard time getting parts as their manufacturers were bribed or theatened not to sell to him.
No, they weren’t a flop. gm executives killed the car lines through piss poor management
allso hupmoblie
GM itself is the real flop. I would bet if Chevy could go off on their own, they would.
If cars fashions clothes are made plain simple mucho nicer why donot they always sell or go out o buiness
Edsal always leaked oil
EveryDaySomerhingElseLeaks😉🤪.
Misinformation! It used the same engines as Ford and Mercury.
Oldsmobile- "the four hundred forty-two model!"
4-4-2
Most of these were just duplicates of models from divisions within the corp. Rambler, on the other hand, was just a POS.
Why are todays automobiles yes made of government required parts for our air health cleaner earth planet then why so mucho recalls parts stolen for mucho dinero $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ do we honestly really need all this to make cars so nice for all these reasons or really drive mucho less also why so big stupid shapes deigns over crowded highways roads why drives so often instead of cycle riding walking o cutting out how often we drive do mucho in one day parked by walking around getting mucho dines saving $$$$$$$$.and our health will be nicer for this all of us