| |
N0KFQ > TODAY 20.01.13 19:09l 50 Lines 2356 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 34707_KB0WSA
Read: GUEST
Subj: Today in History - Jan 20
Path: IZ3LSV<IW0QNL<IK6ZDE<VE2PKT<N4JOA<N4ZKF<N0KFQ<KB0WSA
Sent: 130120/1640Z 34707@KB0WSA.MO.USA.NA BPQK1.4.53
...
Jan 20, 1909:
GM takes an interest in Oakland Motor Car Corp.
On January 20, 1909, newly formed automaker General Motors (GM) buys
into the Oakland Motor Car Corporation, which later becomes GM's
long-running Pontiac division.
Oakland Motor Car was founded in 1907 in Pontiac, Michigan, by Edward
Murphy, a manufacturer of horse-drawn carriages. The following year,
another former buggy company executive, William Durant, founded
General Motors in Flint, Michigan, as a holding company for the Buick
Motor Company. GM soon bought other automakers, including Oldsmobile
and Cadillac. In 1909, Oakland became part of GM. The first Pontiac
model made its debut as part of the Oakland line in the 1920s. The
car, which featured a six-cylinder engine, proved so popular that the
Oakland name was eventually dropped and Pontiac became its own GM
division by the early 1930s.
Pontiac was initially known for making sedans; however, by the 1960s,
it gained acclaim for its fast, sporty muscle cars, including the GTO
and the Firebird. The GTO, which was developed by auto industry
maverick John DeLorean, was named after a Ferarri coupe--the Gran
Turismo Omologato--and is considered the first classic muscle car.
According to The New York Times: "More than any other G.M. brand,
Pontiac stood for performance, speed and sex appeal."
Pontiac's sales reached their peak in 1984, with approximately 850,000
vehicles sold (about four times as many as 2008), according to the
Times, which noted that experts believe GM hurt the Pontiac brand in
the 1970s and 1980s by opting for a money-saving strategy requiring
Pontiacs to share platforms with cars from other divisions.
In 2008, GM, which since the early 1930s had sold more vehicles than
any other automaker, lost its sales crown to Toyota. That same year,
the American auto giant, hard hit by the global economic crisis and
slumping auto sales, was forced to ask the federal government for a
multi-billion-dollar loan in order to remain operational. On April 27,
2009, GM announced plans to phase out the Pontiac brand, which had
become unprofitable, by 2010. A little over a month later, on June 1,
GM filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and promised to emerge
as a leaner, more efficient company.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ KB0WSA.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: kohiggs@gmail.com
Outpost Version 2.6.0 c29
Read previous mail | Read next mail
| |
