Debunking The JUICIEST Car Myth Out There Right Now!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 15 พ.ค. 2024
- ( www.alltfl.com/ ) Check out our new spot to find ALL our content, from news to videos and our podcasts! Is Pontiac coming back!? A certain ad in Car & Driver's gotten everyone talking this week on whether General Motors is actually considering a revival of one of its most iconic - and quirkiest - brands for a new era. Or this ad could just be totally fake and just for giggles. Kase and Tommy cover all the buzz!
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#pontiac #car #ad - ยานยนต์และพาหนะ
Bring back Pontiac with V8s! Bring back Holden while you’re at it. Gm has been such a buzz kill for years now. They can’t get all their performance credibility just from the corvette…
the holier than thou corvette
Bring back Oldsmobile too.
the Cadillac V series vehicles must not exist to you ig
@@paulwicklund5044 No way. Let Oldsmobile and Buick go the way of the dodo 🦤.
@@phantom4167Duly noted.. the caddy is cool but I still don’t think it holds a candle to the Maloo or the firebird when it comes to excitement and cheap mostly reliable v8 horsepower. I used to be GMs biggest fan but they don’t even have anything to go against the mustang. Bring back cheap v8s!
I suppose if GM were to have a car division Pontiac would be a good idea.
Buick sales are plummeting in China.
@@redslate they’re finally getting smart in China
@@thebigpicture2032 China's always been smart with R&D. Their MO is, "Let someone else do all the hard work. We'll just copy/modify it." It's dirty, but incredibly effective.
They've spent the last few decades _learning_ from automobile "partnerships," and now they're ramping up domestic Chinese production. The foreign manufacturers that foolishly kowtowed to them are no longer _needed_ .
LOL. Get rid of EVs and that makes sense.
@@redslate An example of the West's obsession with short-term profits...
'The Chinese Market is HUUUGE! We'll make BILLIONS!'
Car and Driver is probably trying to get some of their '70s-'90s magic back, when they were the edgiest, funniest, most well written car magazine in the land. They haven't had that in decades, I see this ad as an homage to both Pontiac and to the way it was in vintage magazine land.
In the movie Fargo it’s states at the beginning that it’s a true story and at the end of the movie it says it’s fiction.
It was an awesome magazine up till around the year 2000. Was great writing with a majority of the originals still going strong, that fake ad definitely feels vintage in that way.
Except no..... there's atleast 3 trademark violations in that ad, They aren't going to violate trademark laws and pays 100's of thousands of dollars or more in legal fines just bring back their glory days. I know several people who work for GM and they have told me there's been "whispers and Rumors" about bringing back Pontiac or Oldsmobile or BOTH for a couple years. They may not "bring Pontiac back" BUT I'm 1000% certain that this ad was placed by someone high up at GM to test the waters with the public to see how they feel about it.
@@TheREALOC1972 It's only a trademark violation if they didn't get permission OR if it falls under the Fair Use law, which applies if this is satire. My guess is that it's a marketing company GM hired to do research.
@@west221b That's not always true, the federal government can still step in even when they got permission because it's misleading the public. I do agree that it's either a marking company that GM hired off the books to gauge the publics reaction or GM themselves and by saying "It was ALL Car and Driver" it gives them plausable denialiblity. Like I said in my first comment, I know several GM Employees and one REALLY high up and there have been whispers and rumors for several years and now that GM has all but bowed out of the EV market the Spring Hill Tennessee Assembly plant is basically going empty and unused because that's where they were building the EV's.
The way they responded to you sounds to me like the classic way companies will say “you’re onto us, but we can’t tell you what we’re planning yet.”
It also sounded like the classic way a company would factually answer a direct question truthfully.
My take: Print magazine sales are slowly dying. Car & Driver probably couldn't sell that back page ad for this issue--the car makers aren't doing well and probably balked at the ad price. So, Car & Driver put a fake ad on the back page to "juice" magazine rack sales and get people talking about the magazine again. Some years back, a specialty magazine that I read ceased publication. I knew that they were in trouble when the ads on the inside front and inside back covers were for the magazine itself for several monthly issues. This looks like a similar type desperation move by the magazine.
C&D's Three Men and a Baby stunt.
That's a reasonable take and thank you for sharing. I worked in print for decades, and I never knew a publisher who would let that spot go without getting someone to pay anything for that placement.
@@MrGrantSDavis When was the last time you saw so many people on the web even talking about a print magazine?
@@rockets4kids I know, right? Wonder how many print pubs will copy it.
@@MrGrantSDavis I think this is also one of those things that only works once.
A modern Pontiac G8 (a CT5 without the luxury stuff and a V8. Maybe a hybrid drivetrain) would be amazing.
Not a fan of the G# naming scheme.
@@rightwingsafetysquad9872 I'm with you there. Alphanumeric car names are SO overdone. Call it a Bonneville or Grand Prix. Or just a name in general. Not a soulless serial number.
Or Hornet and Dart 😂 @@91_C4_FL
And it would still cost $45k lol
@@ImYoutubing247 I mean, the Caddy with the V8 starts at $90k so I’ll take it.
Try Z-folding that page. I bet Car & Driver is invoking Mad Magazine. Maybe the bird turns into Alfred E. Neuman.
😂
That reference flew past 99% of youtubers, lol.
If you'd get the government out of the auto-making business, and get the environazis corralled, Pontiac would be the most interesting division within GM.
This makes total sense if you're GM. GMC is your truck division. ChEVy is your EV car division. Hummer is your EV truck division. Pontiac is your performance car division. Buick is your SUV division. Cadillac is your luxury division.
They should've dropped Buick years ago; their only heritage car is the Regal, and it's a shadow of its former self. Even China is beginning to reject them.
The Chevy brand is far more powerful than the GMC one, the GMC brand would become the EV division (and is already trending that way: Hummer is under GMC)
Because the Corvette always was Pontiac, right?
Buick, Chevrolet and Pontiac will be all hybrids with each having designated "performance spots": Buick could have the sporty SUVs and Station Wagons; Chevrolet can have the sport Sedans and Light Trucks; and Pontiac can have the sporty Coupes and Crossovers.
@@ridezosmon2306 Did I say anything about what came before?
It's called a plan for the future. Forward thinking is obviously a foreign concept to you, so maybe just sit this one out.
You don't need 6 sub grands to sell 6 different cars. This just way over complicates operations and dilutes the ✨brand✨. That's already why they had to shutter Pontiac, Saturn, and olds.
Even in your example given. GMC, hummer, buik, and Cadillac would all be competing and cannibalizing sales. Honestly even right now GM is bigger than it needs to be. Buik is literally irrelevant nowadays. And GMCs entire line, other than the hummer, is just reskinned and up trimmed Chevy trucks. But not tooo up trimmed bc that's Cadillacs job. Literally why? Why not give the Chevy's higher trim options? Or if it's about luxury, brand them as Cadillacs? Why does gm need 3 brands to sell trucks? All the other brands can do it with just 1 or 2. And you're talking about giving them 4?
Just when I thought Pontiac had the best cars out of all the GM manufacturers, GM discontinued them. That G8 was amazing. It’d be cool if GM brought them back as the purely “car” division of GM.
The government discontinued them. GM had no choice. The best Pontiacs were imports, anyway.
@@Corey-wu6xu GM had _all_ the choice. It was between Buick and Pontiac; GM sold out to China. From a macro level, it didn't make any sense; they already had Cadillac for the luxury market. Now, Buick is falling out of favor even in China.
The "best Pontiacs" were the ones John Delorean snuck into the market without asking for Corporate's permission. He knew they'd kill the cars without question, so he simply unleashed them on the public, which promptly fell in love with them, forcing GM's hand. Pontiac created the American Muscle Car, the modern Corvette, and the American Mid-Engine Sports Car. Some of the captive imports GM badged as Pontiacs _were_ cool, but they never had the same heritage and appeal as their purebreds.
@@Corey-wu6xu If you think about it, after 81' I saw no point in the Pontiac division. The cars had Chevy mechanicals underneath the only thing Pontiac they had, the styling. Then, they made the "Iron Duke" (appropriately named).
@@Corey-wu6xu The best post-2000 Pontiac was the Vibe which was a re-badged Toyota.
@@smf15 😂. Hall nah. The g6 gtp/gt , 04 grand prix gtp supercharged, g8 , gto , torrent gxp , solstice gxp. It was all performance cars of various levels.
Wouldn't it be legally risky for Car and Driver to use the intellectual property of Pontiac (name, emblem) on a fake advertisement that might lead to real world expenses for GM responding to customer inquiries and other unforseen consequences?
Can magazines print reviews of cars which exist? Why would it be different to make a fictional ad from a trademark point of view?
This disclaimer and tone clearly makes this satire, which is protected.
You're only in trouble if some one is upset.
Why would GM complain? It's not on a car.
@@tonyflorio3269Debatable but likely. Why would GM complain?
I'm thinking it's a teaser prompted by a GM think tank and partnered by a gamey C&D editorial staff.
Just to make a correction, when listing the brands killed off in the terms of the bailout, it wasn't Oldsmobile since they phased it out a few years earlier prior, the one you missed was SAAB.
I want Saab back
Olds died in 2001, with the last of the brand being badge swaps rolling out until 2004
Your magazine friend apparently didn’t tell you the back inside cover is expensive, the 3rd most expensive ad in the book, and if it goes unsold, that means Car and Driver has to run something else there. Their choices are: bonus another advertiser the space, which is bad because that advertiser will ask for it and all their ads at discount and never pay rate card again and C&D loses more money over time. Or, run a self-promo ad, which still loses C&D money because all self-promo ads, whether print, tv or radio, are unsold space that has to be filled with something else, at a loss and lowers the value of your book to other advertisers. Or, you can make a fake touchstone ad making an outrageous claim that will get people talking about the ad, the book and the possibility your fake ad is not fake after all , and maybe sell a few more copies than you would have otherwise.
Which choice you think C&D made???
I think there is absolutely a market for a new American muscle car. Only two American sports cars are left: the Mustang and the Corvette, and the Corvette at 70k to 90k is out of reach for the average person, which really only leaves one option for most people, the Mustang. I think it would be a brilliant move to revive Pontiac and bring back a modern Firebird! :)
They won't do that while shelving the Camaro.
Agreed. Still, the market just might not be there. Muscle cars appeal to an older crowd, mainly; most folks just look at a car as an appliance.
V8 demand is one truth but the bigger question is the price point to get huge sales numbers required to revive an abondand brand
It didn't hurt Bugatti.
They would be a sub-brand, just like Hummer is under GMC, if it happened. Mustang may do the same, as a sub-brand. GM will only have 4 platforms across the world, so a Pontiac would simply be a badge engineered GM. They can't possibly make ”their own” product.
@@Corey-wu6xu Not when they just retired the Camaro a second time. That's literally Pontiac's only entry-vector back into the market for the near future.
Man I sure hope GM brings back the Trans Am with a 70's style shaker hood!
They wont be able to use the Trans Am name, Trans Am Depot bought the naming rights when Pontiac folded
they will probably bring back the WAVE, because the communists say "the climate is dyyyying".....
Trans Am Worldwide, formerly Trans Am Depot, does build new Trans Ams with the shaker scoop and t-tops. As the comment above says, they bought the rights to the name and the Firebird logo. I think they even bought the Pontiac emblem because they use that on their cars too. The problem is they're super expensive but they're also very high performance and highly customized. They take a stock Camaro and completely strip it, and all the parts they replace are custom made. They upgrade every performance aspect of the car and make them into absolute beasts. Look them up.
@@Cyberpunk2056 Hmmm. They can still go with "Formula" right? I like em' too.
@@michaeldeloach838 I like their cars but price is eye watering.
Pontiac was the very soul of an otherwise pretty boring corporation. It was too cool for school and stepped on corporate toes with the GTO. I doubt it could ever be the same but I personally never walked on a GM dealer's lot after Pontiac's demise. But I still have my memories of my GTOs and how they made you feel.
I'd buy a new transam in a heartbeat...
I hear that. My first musclecar ride was in a 65 GTO...back in 65. It was wild and I've been a car guy ever since.
@@natejones963 They can;t do a new Trans-Am, they sold the name to Trans-Am America when they folded Pontiac. They can do a Firebird, But I don't think they will, The Firebird is more of Fade than it was popular, Firebirds never sold well because they were just a upscale Camaro with a 15% upsale. IF they brought back Pontiac it would be cars only and it would more than likely be the Sunbird in the 2 door Subcompact class, the Grand-Prix in the 4 door Base and 2 door Performace Mid-size class and the Tempest in the 4 door Base and 2 door performance Fullsize Class just until they get their foot in market and after year 2 or 3 they would bring back the GTO and Firebird.
Considering Fords commitment to the V8 this could be a consideration.
Worth noting is the ad has no TM or C symbols to be found anywhere.
WRONG, the Firebird is a Trade mark, the V Pontiac Logo is a Trademark, the Word "Pontiac" is a Trademark...... This isn;t just Car and Driver drumming up sales, They aren;t going to face Violating Federal Trademark Laws and have to pay 100's of thousands of dollars in fines just to drum up sales and fill a full page ad.
@TheREALOC1972 you obviously didn't read the ops comment at all
@@TheREALOC1972 Car & Driver isn't violating Federal Trademark laws when the use is satire. Satire falls under "fair use."
I would love to see Pontiac return. However I think it is more then likely a Car and Driver promotional stunt to drive some excitement back into the printed magazine world.
I use to subscribe to 5 or 6 car and truck magazines at a time. But now days I am way more likely to research and follow my favorite cars and trucks on TH-cam channels like TFL.
Enjoyed the video guys, keep up the great work!
Episode…..wow, I’ve not heard of that term for a paper magazine 😂. I think “Issue” is what you’re looking for there…😅
It's an age thing. People under 30 have no concept of other common things like TV shows being aired on a certain day at a certain time.
GM: PONTIAC IS BACK!!!!!
Journalists and general public: Pontiac is back??
GM: Nah, we never said that
GM: Sike!
@@manher4335 It's like that SpongeBob episode with barnacle boy and Patrick "you dropped your wallet"
"Yes"
"It has your ID in it. And that is you"
"Yes"
"So this is your wallet?"
"No"
@@jacobwebb8818 Hmmm there might be a lot of truth to that besides this occasion. Like Pontiac 82' and beyond.
I hope GM brings Pontiac back and gives them some room.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣I have a bridge in Arizona and Pontiac stock shares for sale......😂😂😂
Obviously this is intended to create hype with the hopes of making a Pontiac come back viable. I think that someone at GM collaborated with Car & Driver to come up with the idea for the ad and secured permissions for the use of GM copyrighted materials but left the ad officially in the hands of Car & Driver to avoid backlash for a fake ad in the event that it doesn't create enough hype to make the comeback viable.
Agreed.
I was 18 I had a 76 trans am. 3 years old that car Bring me into the car world. I did exhaust intake carb and headers so many memories with that car. I miss it tell today.
Had a 70 firebird esprit and a 78 ta both with 400cid. Man I miss them 😪
My ex-wife had a 74 Esprit when I met her. It had the same 400 powerplant and radial tuned suspension as the Trans Am, but without the higher insurance costs.
@wushock92 yeah, most don't remember the esprit models.
How truly bizarre. An ad in a car magazine for a dead GM brand not created by GM. I don't get it. Why would Car and Driver create the ad and take away an expensive ad placement from an advertiser? Something doesn't add up.
Even though I got an answer from Tony Quiroga, the head editor, he didn’t explain that. My bet is on to get attention on Car and Driver, get people talking, or try to start a campaign for the revival of Pontiac. Just my two cents.
They couldn't sell the ad, so why not do something fun?
🤣🤣🤣🤣
Have you read a magazine lately? They keep getting thinner and thinner. Car and Driver probably cannot sell that ad space so they decided to do an edgy publicity stunt to get people talking about Car and Driver again.
@@andrewgee241 seems that way sadly
Car and Driver does do joke stuff sometimes. Joke articles used to be pretty common for them. Chevrolet Beretta vs. Beretta 9mm. Ford Mustang vs. P-51 Mustang. I think they did some fake ad before, but I can't remember what they were. So, I mean, it could be just a joke. But you might be right and GM is testing the water. You know there are some loopholes in the laws where small volume manufacturers can get away with building crazy stuff. I think that as EVs slowly take over, car companies will start small spin-off companies to re-play their greatest hits.
It's not an April issue, and as was said, that space is VERY valuable. Everyone who knows marketing knows this. They aren't wasting the back page on a joke about Pontiac if they're smart.
Those are articles though, this is an ADVERTISEMENT, with several trademark violations in it, They aren't going to Violate Federal Trademark Laws and face 100's of thousands of dollars in fines just to sell magazines...... That would be cutting off their nose to spite their face. I know several people who work for GM, one VERY high up in the company as a "Head of Production" at an Assembly plant and there has been "whispers and rumor" about GM bringing back Pontiac or Oldsmobile or BOTH to be the "car only" brand for the last 2-3 years. I'm 1000% convinced that this was GM testing the waters to see how the public fells about bringing back a brand.
Hotrod did the same a few years back, and claimed AMC was coming back with the Javelin. Tons of people believed it. Others wanted to put down payments on a new Torino. It was April fools. Don't be so gullible folks. And no, there isn't a 50 cent return credit on used milk cartons.
The infamous " or we will shoot this dog.."lol
A joke? What's the punchline?
My first car was a 1997 Grand Prix with the 3800 V6. Loved that car. It had over 240,000 miles when it finally gave up the ghost. I always enjoyed the quirkiness of Pontiac back in the 90s and 00s.
My uncle had a 2001 Grand Prix I think, 3800 powered of course. He claimed it was one of his two favorite vehicles EVER, and the dude owned at least 40 vehicles in his life.
That 3800 was probably the best V-6 GM ever made. The damn thing was bullet proof and had some snap. I had an early '90's Bonneville and that 3800 made that tank move.
The 3800 is a great engine. The transmission, not so much. 150k is all you'll get
@@TeddyRumble Would love to buy a clean '08 GP GXP and swap the trans.
How do you get people to talk about an old school magazine in an internet world? This very well could be a stunt from Car and Driver because look at how many people are talking about them now.
Exactly.
Especially with no reply from the magazine.
@@volvo09 I got this back when I reached out:Hi, Noah,
Thanks for taking the time to write. The Pontiac advertisement is satirical and created by the editorial staff at Car and Driver.
Best regards,
TONY QUIROGA
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF | CAR AND DRIVER
at the end of the day I think that's the case - I no longer get the magazine after almost two decades of being a subscriber - it has gotten "lost" in the mailbox based on being so thin - it's not that writing is bad now - it's always been very good the letters and editorials are still good too - I think too many people just have their face buried in their devices these days....
I had no idea magazines still existed.
I still subscribe to Car and Driver.
It probably is fake, because GM can't produce ads that good. I'm a Ford guy and that ad gave me chills.
I'm thinking this is just a ploy from car and driver to drive up physical magazine sales which I'm sure have been on a decline for a while. Heck, I was tempted to pick up an issue just for the buzz from the ad.
This^
It’s just a way to get curious readers to buy more copies of that edition car and driver magazine and drum up more interest in C&D as a whole.
They never made a good argument on why they should cancel Pontiac or for other brands to trim down the amount of dealers. They said it was to save money but I remember seeing a dealer back then asking how but saves money. The dealer pays all the bills at the dealership not Pontiac or Plymouth.
They did. It was actually one of the hardest decisions they made
@@JRLL81_ I never heard a good reason just “to save money” but not how these actions would save money. I think they had to do something even if that something didn’t make dollars and sense.
Am I missing something here? It literally says on the bottom of the ad "DISCLAIMER: Do you need to be told that this advertisement is fake and not to be taken seriously? Our lawyers think you do."
But why do this? Unless it's just Car and Driver...
@@TeddyRumble It's not "just Car and Driver", there's too many Trademark Violations in this Ad that they would have to pay 100's of thousands of dollars in fines for.
@@TheREALOC1972that's why the fine print. Allows them to claim fair use under parody. Because its a "joke"
Also Pontiac is defunct, and while GM only keeps the trademarks for licensing purposes and specifically to keep anyone from reviving Pontiac. Have to either be clever enough to strike a licensing deal with them to let one manufacture new Pontiacs, or unbelievably wealthy enough to convince them to sell off the trademarks.
@@3xeplodng_3agle_studios There's more to the Fair Use clause than "It's just a joke" though, you need to go read it, fair use means they use it and distort/change/tweek it without violating the trademark, you can;t use ALL it and claim "it's a joke".
Maybe it's a ploy, to see if enough people are interested to bring Pontiac back?
GM has alot going on, the camaro isn't dead, the el Camino is coming back, and there's a big name coming back into there line up. Keep your eyes open! There's a reason that set companies are making cheap cars!
My fantasy about Pontiac would be if they came back and made a newer version of the Pontiac Sunfire, but something that looks closer to the body style that they used in the '95-'97 coupe models. It was such a good looking car
Sorry to burst your bubble but I got into contact with Tony Quiroga the chief editor at C&D. The Pontiac ad is sadly really well made satire. Apologies to everyone. I’m as disappointed as everyone else. Maybe GM asked C&D to make the satire, but who knows. I personally want to see Pontiac make a return
If it's satire, ok. But to what end, what purpose? That's a chunk of ad copy for C&D to just give away for a joke.
If it is purely satire it's not very funny. That's why people are asking questions.
@@marcforget33 Funny if you ask me, a bunch of grown adults being fooled so easily. And ad revenue? They have just gotten tons of free advertising from gullible folks talking about it online. Oh now you'll explain to me what "funny" is and that's not funny, this is soo very very serious blah blah fart gas fart gas bullshit fart gas. You'll just be proving the point. Relax and have a laugh now and again.
@@bbb462cid You're the one who's being fooled if you think C&D can use the Firebird logo without permission from GM.
@@marcforget33 Oh, good, you've made it straw man time!! Quote where I said anything at all about that. Take your time and look hard. Harder than that, squint if you need to. And report back,. thanks.
There are some GM-cars I'd like to see returning: Fleetwood, Coupe de Ville, Eldorado, Riviera, Monte Carlo...
We have some few sporty cars, mounts of stupid trucks and SUVs. But what's very missing is comfort and luxury!
Id love a modern Caprice
luxury is gone, cadillac is going full muscle while chevy is going away from it, and buick has became the American MG
The worst new car I ever bought was an Eldorado. Junk.
I want a retro styled Pontiac Firebird and Oldsmobile 442, Toronado, and Cutlass.
I remember seeing those Firebirds as a kid and thinking, dang those are awesome! Would love to see them back! Thanks for the stream TFL.. Can't wait to see what happens! Really miss the Pontiac name!!
Going Full EV for Cadillac is such a big mistake its going to sink GM if they continue to follow down this path. Most US city infrastructure is not equipped to handle full EV, Now hybrid vehicles that is a good Idea. I Would love to see a Pontiac come back.
Pretty sure the Escalade is not going EV only
@@GoogleDoesEvilThey have already shown the Escalade EV. It is called Escalade IQ.
And you saw crooks are cutting Tesla charger hoses for the copper. Hahaha.
I'd love to see Pontiac back, bring back the GTO, Firebird, Fiero, Aztek and whatever else tbh, so yeah
That’s probably not a good idea unless they made something like the Chevy SS again it would probably end up being crossover EV
@@Vex22778 Maybe, if they bring back the GTO, they should bring back the Tempest and the Le Mans as well, also the Grand Am and the Grand Prix too, also the Trans Am is a performance package for the Firebird and act as Pontiacs version of the SS performance package for their range, so yeah
Also, Chevy SS does need to come back tbh, but yeah
Also, GM had a potential to bring back the Firebird when the 5th Gen Camaro Concept was revealed, could may save Pontiac and Firebird is the twin sister to the Camaro, so it won't change much tbh, but that's just my thinking tbh
GP, GA, Bonneville
@@bradwhite5884 Now that Camaro is gone, that leaves space for them to bring back the Firebird.
With the way this is buzzing, it would be so cool if GM went to the drawing board and retorted with an actual ad - signaling a commitment to bring Pontiac back
As the owner of three fourth gen Firebirds, i sincerely hope Pontiac returns. Who would pay for a fake ad? It has to be real.
The HUMMER is back as a GM model, not a brand
Kase and Tommy are the best duo on these channels
They are the Ace and Gary of this channel haha
I agree with your Magazine Source, First there are atleast 3 Trademark Violations in that ad for it to be "Car And Driver completely behind this ad". They aren't going to Violate Trademark Laws and potentially pay 100's of thousands of Dollars in Fines just to fill a full page ad in a PRIME Advertising Space just to "Get people talking and to sell Magazines, that's cutting off there nose to spit their face. Second I know several people who work for GM, including 1 that is the Director of Production at an Assembly Plant and there has been "Whispers and Rumors" for the last 2-3 years of Pontiac or Oldsmobile or BOTH coming back as the Car ONLY division. I'm 10000% convinced that GM ran this ad to test the waters and see what the public thinks about a brand return.
It is satire and cover by fair use doctrine.
I haven’t seen the articles, but this doesn’t surprise me. one thing you need to remember is that General Motors licensed or sold the name Pontiac and TA and logos to the company TranaAm World Wide, that was making the re-created trans from Camaro bodies, and have since moved on to the Chevelle SS recreations. This would mean a very complicated and expensive legal situation for GM to re-introduce those product lines. I think maybe contacting Trans Am worldwide and getting their take might be beneficial.
Licensed is my bet. They'd have to be bankruptcy or sumptin' to do that. Oh wait...
I’ve been saying that about the Aztek since the Nissan Juke & Jeep Cherokee 😂😂
Really, most crossovers owe their heritage to the Aztek. It was poorly executed, but you have to give that ugly duckling credit for being ahead of its time.
Mary Bara is gauging the reaction to the ad. So far the reaction has been overwhelming. A Firebird Trans Am return would break sales records. I'm sure GM is aware of this.
In the ad it states "our lawyers think..."
Who's lawyer? GM or C&D?
Also, the reply from GM stated it was all C&D and they didn't have anything to do with the fake ad. They can technically say it was a "fake" ad because that's what's stated in the ad, but GM did not technically say they were Not bringing Pontiac back.
It's like asking a politician if their son or daughter is involved with organized crime and they reply, "The allegations are utterly absurd or ridiculous." They didn't say, "No, they're not."
If Chevy, Buick, and Cadillac are all heading Electric, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, ETC would be great to have 2-3 cheaper gas models of other models.
There is a company that makes custom cars and the Firebird is one of them. It is very expensive.
Id love for Pontiac to return. My first new car was a sunfire and that was a blast to drive and more comfortable than the Chevy equivalent. I just wish they stayed around so i could have upgraded to a GTO. Never cared that it was a rebadged Holden. GtO again just looked like a fun car.
Sunfire? Sounds like you want Togliatti, Datsun, Yugo or maybe a Talbot Tagora back. Then you could "upgrade" to a Matra.
@@Santor- Nothing wrong with a Sunfire as a first new car back in the late 90's - early 2000's. Not everybody could afford a Firebird or GTO. Fact of the matter, models like the Sunfire, Grand Am, G6, and Vibe brought young buyers to GM dealerships who probably would have gone straight to Honda or Toyota if there was no Pontiac and only the Chevy equivalents were available.
Sells a crap ton of in-print magazines - I can see C&D saying: "Worth it...." That said if there were to be a Pontiac returning I'd be in line to buy one and I've not owned a GM product for 30 years now....
As a Pontiac owner....I'm all for bring back Pontiac! Solstice (affordable Miata/GR86 fighter), Trans-Am (focused sports car), GTO/Grand Prix (2-Door, 4-Door a la Dodge charger) line-up.
You mention that you actually like the Aztek. Well, As funny as it may sound, My ultra low mile Pontiac Aztek was featured in POCI Smoke Signal’s magazine back in 2017. It has been mentioned on VinWiki, and also featured on Original Motor Car. I own a nice collection of Firebirds…who would think that I would get my claim to fame from a Pontiac Aztek.. or as I call it “The Edsel of Pontiac”
Would love a Pontiac GTO! 69 and 70 GTOs are my dream car!!
Buddy of mine has a 70 GTO he bought new when he was in the Air Force. It was Chevy powered for a while when he rebuilt the engine. Still drives it today.
Boy I feel old. They keep referring to the latest issue of Car& Driver as an episode. You could see why magazines are dying. People their age don’t read them.
I read this magazine on an airplane last week, and boy let me tell you, when I reached that last page, my jaw hit the floor. I could hardly contain my excitement. No way this ad is actually fake, GM is definitely feeling out the market and generating some early interest. Money well spent on that ad.
GM has to be doing something because after this current Nascar season there won't be any GM cars... 🤔🤷♂️
What I would do if I ran GM: 86 Chevy trucks and make GMC the dedicated truck/SUV brand. All engines would be built by Pontiac or make Pontiac like an AMG performance house like it originally was. Throw Buick in the trash and have Oldsmobile replace the Buick brand. And I’d remove redundancy from car lineups. We don’t need 3 brands of the same car. If you want three row crossover (traverse) make it a dedicated GMC and the blazer could be an Oldsmobile branded whatever.
Since the government requires electric cars, I'd bring back saturn as an electric brand instead of bringing back oldsmobile. But buick definitely needs to go. The last time buick did anything good was the early 2000s. Also, the firebird and fiero would be making a return using camaro and c8 corvette platforms
I work at a GM dealership parts desk, my colleagues and I always say they need to bring Pontiac back for the fun and/or cheap stuff. Even other customers of ours would love to see Pontiac make a come back. I would KILL for a new Vibe or Sunfire type car myself.
This would be so cool to have Pontiac come back with a new GTO. Let the Aussies design it. Their Holden brand had some great designs.
I think GM should just call all their dealerships "GMC" dealerships, and sell everything they've got at each dealership, including cars branded with legacy GM names. For example, why shouldn't GMC be able to sell a car called a Pontiac Trans Am at its GMC dealerships? Or an Oldsmobile 442?
I had a very similar thought. I wish GM would listen to you lol
It's silly to name all their dealers GMC but I can absolutely see Pontiac return under the GMC umbrella or GMC dealers.
@@ljmorris6496 Why is it silly? Because it just wouldn't make sense to have cars so different from each other as a Buick and a Chevy on the same lot?
I've seen a bunch of posts about this on Facebook, and as a lover and owner of two Pontiac Trans Ams, I knew this was all BS. I never paid any attention to those Facebook posts and this is the first video I've watched addressing this crap.
If GM were to actually bring back Pontiac and the Firebird lineup, I can almost guarantee the designers would screw it up and it would more than likely be a failure, much like the Camaro. Outside of the Corvette, GM brands aren't exactly in tune with what people actually want and their designers kinda suck.
👎
Forget the designers/engineers, GM Corporate Fd over Pontiac for decades. I doubt they're competent enough to successfully revive the brand, let alone manage it.
They shelved the Camaro for a second time; they have no interest in competing with their beloved Corvette (ironically derived from a Pontiac design).
Hmmm, C&D puts out an ad that generates massive clicks, more clicks = more advertising dollars. The cost is C&D credibility. Yeah, that sounds about right.
I think this was supposed to be an April fool's joke in car and driver, and something terrible happened and it went into the wrong issue.
We need an 80s retro 3rd gen inspired Trans Am asap! Make it with a V8 base model or optional V8 hybrid like the Corvette E-Ray.
What's funny is that '80s 'wedge car' is more aerodynamic than 99% of the cars on the road, to include the C8.
I would love to see a new Firebird, Catalina or Bonneville, I seriously doubt we will see any new build production Pontiacs in the near term or far term future. I miss the Pontiac brand.
This ad is absolutely genius & I hope it's not just a stunt. I for once am a fan of the Pontiac brand as a whole (& yes I'm a Knight Rider's kid).
The last years of Pontiac were a bit underwhelming to be fair but the nostalgia is all the rage in the automotive world these days (I'm seeing a lot of Pontiac YT content these days, old and recent). So who knows.
A 3rd gen Trans Am retro futuristic incarnation with electric or hybrid (groan...) motor & cyberpunk flavor would imo be a killer.
Car and Driver magazine and Pontiac had intertwined history. PMD had the right amount of edge and sometimes controversy, and effectively kicked off the great musclecar era. The C&D issue comparing the 64 Pontiac GTO to the Ferrari GTO really fired up the magazine as did other issues like the big multicar 1969 comparison test featuring the Judge as well as the classic test of the 73 SD-455 TA. This new ad smacks of the same corporate teasing as done in recent years by Mopar for the Demon and Ford for the Shelbys and Darkhorse Mustangs. It's hard to ignore the enthusiasm these days for 50-60 year old Pontiacs. So maybe somebody is up to something. Car makers don't joke or prank a whole lot.
GM could have banked on the recent revival trend of bringing back the classics (Hornet, Supra, Bronco, etc.). When EV's took off, they could've easily announced a new Saturn EV/Hybrid cuz that's what that brand was all about. Being economical, and different (and they even looked weird/unique which is an apparent staple of new EVs). Pontiac being resurrected would have been perfect right around the time the c8 was announced, considering they had a previous rear engine car, the Fiero, which could have been an affordable/entry level ports coupe alternative to the c8, to rival the likes of the brz, nissan z, and more. The Grand prix or bonneville could have been a challenger to the Charger, and the Trans Am's return could have been an alternative to the Camaro, opposing the challenger and Mustang. So many missed opportunities. It'd be cool to see Pontiac to actually return as a performance division again, tho. I'm getting tired of all the different trim level c8's being announced. Give us something new.
I've had similar wishful thinking myself. Unfortunately, for as iconic as many of their products are, GM has always been terrible at managing their own brand. It's covered extensively in John Delorean's biography, _On_ _a_ _Clear_ _Day_ _You_ _Can_ _See_ _General_ _Motors_ . Great read if you appreciate the Pontiac brand.
This was done by the C&D editorial staff to generate sales of the print mag. That's all - the writing is all editorial - no advertising messaging.
Sorry but no.... There's too many Trademark Violations in the ad for it to be Car And Driver Magazine, They aren't Violating Federal Laws and paying 100's of thousands of dollars if not more in fines just to sell magazines.... That would be cutting off their nose just to spite their face, any profits they get would be taken away from them plus some.
I know I've let my C&D print magazine subscription laps over the past year or so - I've often mistook it in the mailbox for a monthly "Penny Saver" coupon flyer (aka it's been very thin but still containing about the same ad content)....
@@TheREALOC1972You clearly have no law degree, so to state what's legal or not is as accurate as me stating your socks smell. There's a reason why there is s disclaimer at the bottom of that page Sonny.
I wonder if Pontiac is going to comeback as an OEM for Nascar since Chevy discontinued the Camaro and doesn't have a vehicle to replace it. Switching from Chevy to Pontiac with a car that's closely related to what they have may be an easy switch
“Hey bandit, me an Fred gotta question”
“Well whaddya you a Fred want?”
“How come we doin this??”
“Well why not?!”
“Welllll, they said it couldn’t be done.”
“Well that’s the reason son!”
“That’s good wit Fred. We clear”
Tommy looks like he had a rough night.
Well he is a co ceo with Roman and kase and Andre and Alex. So yeah. But he still delivers. Dear lord let tommy get more rest amen 🙏.
I can assure you that GM would never joke about caffeine and four loko. They are too big to have fun with this. There are likely 5 committees in their marketing org that need to review every word of each ad and they’d call out the reference to the caffeinated lemonade due to it killing a person or two. Car and driver is a more fun brand, and is leaning into it here because they have a more narrow demographic that isn’t as easily offended.
It's that exact behavior which killed off so many of GM's brands. Pontiac was GM's youthful, exciting 'Performance Division,' and they sucked the soul right out of it.
I'm fixing to get into my 1988 Pontiav Fiero Gt and drive to work. Seriously. Still love that car!!
They really did build excitement!!
If I understand correctly 2 brothers in Tallahassee Fla purchased the rights to the name and/or trademark Trans Am. They build new cars by converting Camaros and it
is a very sharp modern high performance car. A much better looking car than the Camaro. If Pontiac came back I assume they could still offer a Firebird. I don't believe it will happen anyway.
I'm guessing licensed it, not bought it. Huuuge companies are not stupid.
Bring back the Pontiac Solstice/ Saturn Sky and sell it as a Firebird. Regulations are killing muscle cars and sports cars; but we can still have fun lightweight roadsters to compete with the Miata.
No, those are two _entirely_ different classes of car, one with a rich heritage that is to be respected.
The Firebird was always a pony car punching well above its weight. It did the impossible; it defeated the competition it was assigned (Cougar); then, it went after the Corvette (a stolen Pontiac design), so GM killed it.
As someone who has worked at many auto ad agencies from 1996 to 2015, I know the legalities that real ads have. This is fake! The Pontiac Arrow Head (the red pointed triangle like logo) would be present and a GM Motorcars or some small printed tag line would be there. Good job though, the fonts are correct that Pontiac would use. It appeared to me incomplete without that.
im not saying i doubt you, but wouldn't it be illegal for anyone that's not GM to use the screaming chicken logo? especially for an ad like this? like isn't that trademarked? they'd need permission for that surely. its still fake, the disclaimer at the bottom says so, but still, what are the legalities for that?
@@fadedsoul23 There's a company that licenses the Pontiac brand from GM. It's possible they got permission from them. Otherwise, this potentially opens C&D up to legal liabilities, even if they're claiming fair use, satire, w/e. Not saying GM would go after them (would probably get bad press), but they really should have had an actual disclaimer in the "ad;" it's far too informal to hold any weight.
@@redslate I suppose that makes sense
@@redslate C'mon! You think C&D is so stupid as to not contact GM???
C&D wouldn't waste a whole back page ad on a joke.
Literally texted my son two days ago:
“Some articles are saying that's put there just in case GM decides not to bring Pontiac back, but they're testing the waters to see if people are interested. 2026 would be Pontiac's 100th anniversary.”
I'm guessing it's something like Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars: a pre-arranged stunt that looks real enough that people get into debates over whether it's fake or not, and is designed to do exactly that: get people talking about something and bump up the interest.
If that was genuinely a publicity stunt, someone in the Will Smith camp wildly miscalculated and needs to be fired. I tend to find it easier to believe he’s a troubled man with anger management issues in a toxic relationship with a less than pleasant woman.
@@CIRCLEDARK Not if that was the whole plan. What gets people talking about something the best? Scandal. So if they planned a scandal of their own, they could have had Will Smith be the sacrificial lamb, and then his getting banned would have been deliberate.
For me personally, I am unable to reconcile Will being shown laughing at the joke, and then literally a few (off-camera) seconds later, he's a completely different person, striding up on stage. That change in reaction was too sudden and dramatic for me to believe it was genuine. Add in the fact that Oscars viewership had been going down the toilet for years, and it makes sense that they would come up with some shock event to renew interest.
"That Engine and Horsepower Number is not that far off the C8 E-Ray. Which is a 670hp V8 Hybrid... Hmmm ???"
GM (literally): We have nothing to do with this fake ad. We even called it fake in our response.
People who don't work at GM: I don't believe them.
Car & Driver: Well, THAT certainly boosted our lagging print media sales...
this ad really pissed me off
I had an '85 Si, and an '88. Great cars
GM needs to focus on improving their existing brands instead of trying to bring back a dead one.
Pontiac did not leave us the gm bought Pontiac and killed the Trans Am because they could not compete with the Camaro, with the TA out selling the Camaro 2/1! Much like Disney and Star Wars!
Wow! I would LOVE to have another pontiac! I had an old pontiac 6000 from the eighties, then got my dads hand me down Bonnevilles-89 and 92 series SSE's.
Welcome back Pontiac! GM will be well served to bring back the Firebird only. Don't do what Dodge is trying with the Hornet. No one wants it!!!
I think they could bring Gto back too!
The bandit is back and it’s time to bring back the fun on the road. Enough boring suv. I can’t wait for the bird to come back.
I'd love to see Ford bring back the Mercury division. Bring back 3 unique cars: Cougar, a 2 seat V8 sports car, Monterey a 4 door family sedan/station wagon with a turbo charge V6 and Marquis, a personal luxury car.
I'm sure they've looked at that. Thr numbers just don't work out I'll bet.
When they killed Oldsmobile, I wish they would’ve brought Holden here to the United States. They were building stuff we wanted, but they did not do it. It took him a long time to do something about the GTO/and the G8 not to mention it also live the life as the Chevrolet SS . General Motors did not give a damn about their customers. They still don’t give a damn about their customers and now it’s 2024 they still don’t give a damn about their customers. I’m a GM man, but I will never buy a new General Motors product ever again. In Pontiac, they’ll never bring it back again. And it breaks my heart I own two Pontiac Fiero’s and three Pontiac Trans Am. I still love these cars.
You obviously don't know anything about Buick; they released plenty of fire breathers.
Yeah, made before either of these two were born. It's not the 80s anymore Grandpa.
@@Kahless00 Incorrect, Lucerne and Lacrosse super, V8 Rainier, regal gs, supercharged Riviera, the final gen lacrosse was a great car too
@@samuelsabo9493 those were not fire breathers. They were boomer commuters. The only half decent thing they had after 1986 was a rebadged Opel with the lnf in it and it was merely adequate.
@@Kahless00 - Those "boomers" you so childishly mock didn't have to drive puny turbo 4-cylinder cars with CVTs that all look exactly that same, and pay at least $50,000 for them.
@@Kahless00 I was born in the 90s like these two, and still have appreciation for Buick's; troll
If GM had no part in this ad, then why did C&D do it?
This begs the question... Did Trans Am Depot/Trans Am Worldwide sell back the rights to the Trans Am name they bought back when they began rebuilding 5th then 6th Gen Camaros into Trans Am clones?
Moving forward, the only V8 muscle car left is the Mustang... GM would be stupid not to bring back The Fire Chicken... The Corvette is now a supercar killer, not muscle...
This could all have easily been avoided if people would just read the bottom
Just the magazine goofing off for attention.
The magazine probably couldn't even sell that full page ad page, so why not try to rifle up some attention and get some subscribers back.