Pontiac

US, 1907 – 1908

Pontiac Spring and Wagon Works, Pontiac, Mich.

The Pontiac car was a two-seater high-wheeler with right-hand steering by wheel. The Pontiac car was powered by a 2-cylinder, water-cooled engine mounted under the body. The drive of the Pontiac car was through a friction transmission and double chains to the rear wheels. The cost of the Pontiac car was $600.

US, 1915

Pontiac Chassis Co, Pontiac, Mich.

A chassis without body was all that this Pontiac car company marketed. This Pontiac car chassis was furnished with a 4-cylinder engine, by Perkins, rated at 25hp, driving through a 3-speed transmission.

US, 1926 to date

(1) Oakland Motor Car Co, Pontiac, Mich., 1926 – 1932

(2) Pontiac Motor Co, Pontiac, Mich., 1933 to date

Oakland’s Pontiac Six was intended as a lower-priced running mate, and prices of this conventional 3-litre sv six Pontiac cars started at $825. Only closed bodies were offered initially, but a sales of over 140.000 Pontiac cars was an indication of acceptance, especially when followed by an increase to 210.890 Pontiac cars in 1928. The 1930 Pontiac cars closely resembled Buick’s Marquette, and had 3.3-litre engines, the six being joined in 1932 by a V8 which Pontiac car was really a revamped 1931 Oakland.

In 1933 Pontiac car company scored an important success with a 3.7-litre, 77bhp straight-8 Pontiac car selling for less than $600 with General Motors’ new no-draught ventilation, the 6-cylinder Pontiac cars being dropped for the time being. The 1934 Pontiac cars had Dubonnet-type independent front suspension, and ‘turret-top’ all-steel bodies. Fencer’s mask radiator grilles were found on the 1935 Silver Streak line of Pontiac cars. Capacities of the six and the eight were 3.6-litres and 4.1-litres respectively in 1937. In 1939 Pontiac car company’s cheaper cars had body shells very similar to those of the Chevrolet, as befitted a make which ranked next in the GM hierarchy – though in fact only $20 separated the cheapest Pontiac car, the 4-door sedan from the corresponding Oldsmobile model.

Pontiac cars Torpedo Streamliners brought back the fastback style in 1941, and the immediate pre-war Pontiac cars were continued with little alteration until 1949, when the whole group’s products were restyled, and Pontiacs emerged with lower bodies, redesigned X-frames, and the option of Hydramatic transmission. Though maintaining high sales – they beat Plymouth cars into 4th place overall in 1954 – Pontiac cars remained conservative in engine design, and the well-tried 127bhp sv straight-8 Pontiac car was not supplanted until 1955, when all US-produced Pontiac cars received a 4.7-litre ohv V8. The L-head six was retained for some Pontiac cars made for the Canadian market.

Along with some of the other staider American makes, such as Plymouth and Mercury, the Pontiac car company stove to build their reputation on performance in the later 1950s; the 1958 Pontiac Super Tempest attained 330bhp, and in 1959 Pontiac car came out with a wide-track chassis and concentrated on a 6.4-litre V8 available in a variety of powers from 245 to 345hp.

The Pontiac Car Division’s compact, the Pontiac Tempest arrived in 1961, and was an unusual ohv oversquare four of 3.2-litres’ capacity, mounted in a unitary-construction hull, with its 3-speed synchromesh gearbox in the rear axle. Floor change was standardon the Pontiac car: it was listed at $2.240. A small V8 Pontiac car was available as an option in 1963. The big Pontiac cars went over to GM’s perimeter-type frame in 1963, when the V8 engine was available in a variety of guises on the Pontiac car, from a ‘cooking’ 215bhp version burning regular-grade petrol at $2.725 up to the sporting Pontiac Grand Prix coupé with 303bhp and a revolution counter as standard equipment, at $3.489. The Tempest’s 4-cylinder engine was dropped on the Pontiac car in 1965 in favour of a 140bhp six or 5.4-litre eight. Sporting qualities were emphasized in 1966, by which time the Pontiac Tempest had grown from a 9ft 4in wheelbase to 9ft 8in, and the range of Pontiac cars included the Pontiac GTO Grand Prix and 2 plus 2 models, all Pontiac cars disposing of more than 330bhp from engines of 6.4 and 6.9 litres’ capacity. In 1967, 3.8-litre ohc 6-cylinder engines were introduced: in the sporting Pontiac Firebird Sprint this unit developed 215bhp.

By 1970 the more sporting Pontiac cars (GTO, Firebird and Grand Prix) had front disc brakes, and all full-sized Pontiac cars came with automatic transmission as regular equipment. New for 1971 was a compact Pontiac car, the Pontiac Ventura II on a 9ft 3in wheelbase. The 1972 Pontiac car range covered most sectors of the market, from the Pontiac Ventura at $2.394 up to the luxury Pontiac Grand Ville with 220bhp 7.456cc V8 engine at $4.368. For the sporting motorist there were the Pontiac Le Mans Sport, the Pontiac GTO, and a wide selection of Pontiac Firebirds up to the Pontiac Trans Am with 300bhp V8 unit, giving the Pontiac car a top speed of about 120mph. Peculiar to Canada was the Laurentian, a hybrid Chevrolet-Pontiac on a 10ft 3½in wheelbase, available with  110bhp 6-cylinder or 165bhp V8 unit. In the main 1973’s improvements concerned styling, the Pontiac cars being longer and wider, but new Pontiac cars were the Grand Am 2- and 4-door hardtops, with 6½- or 7½-litre V8 engines, power steering, power disc front brakes and 3-speed automatic gearbox.

Source: Georgano, encyclopedia of motorcar; MCS

The information is written with the greatest of care. However, if you have any suggested amendments please contact us at office@prewarcar.com

DeSoto

US, 1913 – 1916

DeSoto Motro Car Co, Auburn, Ind.

The DeSoto appears to have succeeded the Zimmerman. This was a large car with a 55hp, 6-cylinder engine, which was furnished with a compressed-air starter. The DeSoto model Six-55 five-seater touring car sold for $2185.

US, 1928 – 1960

Chrysler Motors Corp, Detroit, Mich.

The DeSoto was launched in 1928 as a 3.2-litre side valve six to compete with Oldsmobile, Pontiac and the cheaper Nashes. Styling and general design of the DeSoto were in line with the 1929 Chryslers, and at $885 for a DeSoto sedan 90.000 were sold in the first twelve months. A 3.4-litre straight-8 DeSoto on a 9ft 6in wheelbase was announced for 1930 as the world’s cheapest 8-cylinder car. However, DeSoto suffered badly in the Depression, and in 1932, when flexible rubber engine mountings and free wheels were made available, sales dropped to 26.000 DeSoto cars.
The DeSoto disappeared from the British market about this time, though certain ‘Chrysler’ models listed in England (the Mortlake, Croydon, and some of the Richmonds) were in fact DeSoto cars in all but name. A 6-cylinder version of Chrysler’s advanced unitary-construction Airflow, the SE-type with a 4-litre engine, was brought out in 1934, but was an unsuccessful as its bigger sister. Later DeSotos followed regular Chrysler lines closely though in later years there was a tendency for DeSoto to move into a higher price class than Dodge; by 1952 DeSotos started $300 higher than the companion make.
By 1939 the DeSoto cars for sale were being made with independent front suspension, hypoid back axles and column change. There was a choice at DeSoto of two 6-cylinder engines and three wheelbase lengths, the longest of these being reserved for seven-seater bodywork – DeSoto continued to offer a really roomy family car right up to 1954. A 4-speed semi-automatic Vacumatic transmission became an option in 1941, but DeSoto’s big post-war change of models did not take place until 1952, when the division followed Chrysler’s lead in adopting the oversquare ohv V8; the DeSoto version was of 4½-litre capcity and developed 16-bhp. With the advent of Chrysler’s ‘flight sweep’ styling in 1955, the side-valve sixes were dropped and the standard engine in a DeSoto was now a 4.8-litre eight, giving 185bhp in Firedome guise, and 200bhp in Fireflite form. Though this redesigning saved Chrysler sales generally, the slump in the medium-price class had an adverse effect on DeSoto and in 1959 the DeSoto division was merged with Plymouth. Last of the DeSotos were the 1961 models, unitary-construction cars with a choice of three engines: Plymouth’s 145bhp ohv ‘slant six’ as used in the Valiant, and V8s of 230 and 265bhp, the two former only in Canadian DeSotos. Production of DeSoto cars ceased in November 1960 after only a few had been delivered.

Source: Georgano, encyclopedia of motorcar; MCS
The information is written with the greatest of care. However, if you have any suggested amendments please contact us at office@prewarcar.com