History of Pontiac

Pontiac is now known as the "driving excitement" division of GM, but the marque originated as the Oakland Car Company of Pontiac, Mich., in 1907.

Acquired by General Motors in 1909, Oakland introduced the first Pontiac vehicle in 1926; it was so successful that the Oakland name was phased out in favor of Pontiac, the name of an 18th century chief of the Ottawa Indians. Standouts for Pontiac include the 1964 GTO and the Firebird Trans-Am of the early and mid-1970s, a dark era for most "performance" cars.