1966 Pontiac Dealer Announcement film, full line up of Pontiacs including the GTO, LeMans, Grand Prix and Bonneville. For availability and licensing inquiries, please contact: www.globalimageworks.com/contact Ref: S007
Worked on the line building full size Pontiacs and Grand Prixs in '68. 85 cars per hour 9 hours per day six days per week. There was so much work then in Pontiac Michigan. Now it's all gone. America is a shell of its former self. We had a high standard of living then. Now we struggle to survive.
Some time ago, before the Virus/Pandemic, for sure, our cities were starting to be crime-ridden, deteriorating, we did not know then, that things would get as bad as they are now. We had, back then, quite a bit, decades ago, started to export jobs to foreign countries. Again, decades ago, I espoused the agenda should be "protectionism", that America should strive to be growing and manufacturing all that we need, ie., we should strive to be independent here in the USA. At some point, before Trump, there was a movement to stress a rebuilding of America, a rebuild of our independence, farming, manufacturing, etc. I opined I would believe we were on our way to a successful 'rebuild' of America, when I again saw a successful Detroit. Now, decades after the decimation of Detroit, we are still waiting!
As ZOG-U.S. continues to plummet deeper into the Abyss, Washington and the media continue to flood us with propaganda showing us enjoying the good life. Straight out of George Orwell's 1984.
A new 1970 SS 454 Chevelle was around 3,500 bucks..and gas was around 26 to 30 cents a gallon ..a pop was a dime smokes were 50 cents. Beer was 3 bucks a case... Growing up then was pretty cool...if you had 30 bucks you were good all weekend.
Great idea,if only you could make it a reality - Make mine a Catalina 2+2 convertible,with the 421 Super Duty engine,4 speed transmission,dual exhaust,etc....
Oh man, if only. The only new car I ever bought was a 1999 Trans am, I had it for 5 year and nothing ever went wrong with it. I only replaced the battery & tires, other than that not even a light bulb went bad.
I owned a '66 Bonneville 4dr hdtp, from the early 70s to about '77. I regret many many times selling it. I think it was both the best and the nicest car I ever owned. A beautiful piece of machinery. These autos, I think, actually could (should?) be called works of art. Well taken care of, they will last forever, and are bullet proof. Certainly are many many times better than today's plastic, junk laden, EPA regulated s---mobiles.
Kevin Lofur - The 1967 full size Pontiacs were generally not as attractive as the '66's were (with the exception of the '67 Grand Prix) .The intermediate cars were a mild facelift of the '66 models,and were just as attractive as the '66's were,if not more so...In either case,I would love to be able to buy a new one today..For 1967,I would probably pick a Grand Prix convertible,421,4 speed,buckets,dual exhaust,positraction,etc...
@@kevinlofur8103 When the first 67's arrived at the dealer I worked at, I remember one of the guys from the body shop walking past one and remarking, "they shouldn't have any trouble selling these".
Always had a soft spot for Pontiacs. I was very lucky to have a dad who was a GM man. Every 2 years he would go to our local dealer and lease ,when leasing was a big deal, a new GM product...nothing showy..as he didn't want to be ostentatious, as he explained it to me. I can vividly remember going with him to pick our new 64 Bonneville,( Parisienne in Canada). I was in love with the stacked headlights and the cool vertical taillights..dad punched it on the way home on the QEW highway...said you gotta let er fly to break her in right..miss Dad..those were the days..
I was 15 when my Dad got a 66 Ventura. I talked him into getting the high compression 389 rather than the std 256hp low compression. He figured it would cost $40 more a year for the required premium gas. Unfortunately I couldn’t talk him into a 421. So he went along. Little did he know about a year or so later I could really smoke that car. It had 428 ft lbs torque. How can I remember that but can’t remember what I did yesterday? Those were the days.
My dad bought the 1965 Grand Prix,,,all black, Those were the days and the highpoint of Pontiac, Great solid powerful car with luxurious interior, Went on prom night date in the "bat mobile". All these Pontiacs are still styllsh and 9mpressive after all these years,
My brother and I would irritate the sales people at the Pontiac dealer back in the sixties when we were eight & nine years old. "How do you buy a car? With a wheelbarrow full of cash? Can we get a brochure for the Pontiac Grand Pricks?" It was a badge of honor on who could identify a car the fastest when we were kids. Now all cars are plastic homogeneous spaceships..
You could get a 421 Tri-Power Catalina 2 + 2 as a dealer installed option. My dad had one, along with a dealer installed 45 rpm record player. It actually worked and was designed for not too bumpy roads!
1966, in my opinion, was a banner year for General Motors. All division’s models looked terrific, first year for the Olds Toronado, too. These were the most beautiful Pontiacs in the history of PMD.
My grandma had a 67 Catalina. My pop tells me thing was so strong with the 428 the previous owner towed a trailer with it and went like a bat out of hell and hit 120 mph like nothing. Now that’s a grocery hauler...
@@peteshea8010 speed is speed, power is power, you don't mess up what you call speed and power like short term memory loss. This isn't inflation rate, it's not like 120 miles per hour back in 1966 was 70 miles per hour. Our families 1955 Chrysler went 122 miles per hour, easy start up with push leap forward starters in their unfortunate dying age, popular in the 1930's, would propel the automobiles no matter if they were 6 foot and 1040 pounds, or 18 foot and 6040 pounds in a matter of seconds. Typically reaching the top highest speed would take 20 seconds. It is the top speed after all. However reaching 70 was 9 seconds. It is a performance cruising automobile and all of them should be respected. None of this pathetic entitled modern day whiners that yell at old things and only care about what is new over what they once knew.
@@peteshea8010 0-60 in 6.3 seconds may not be fast by todays standards but it’s still no slouch. The 428 put out 472 ft lb of torque, and running that in a car with 60s tech with no safety tech or power assistance, you better know what you’re doing.
Love that microphone wire... did he say they were smooth and quiet!? LOL Who will complain about having a coat hook? I love these old promos, life sure was simpler and slower paced then.
My neighbour had a 66 Parisienne. Basically a Bonneville with a Chevy engine. Beautiful car. Smooth quiet very roomy with plush unbelievably comfortable seats. And very good acceleration from the small block. The 283 195 horse was standard.
I MOST DEFINITELY AGREE 👍THEY WERE JUST SIMPLY TRUTHFULLY BEAUTIFULLY DESIGNED PERFECT STYLISH 🥰I GROWING UP MY PARENTS HAD A 66 PONTIAC PARISIENNE COUPE 327 275HP
It was Semon "Bunkie" Knudsen, the Pontiac division manager who turned the make around in the 1950's, paving the way for John Delorean (and squelching talk in GM about discontinuing the line), He said "You can sell an old man a young man's car, but you can't sell a young man an old man's car"
I'll grant you Bunkie was the spark plug who put the original team together of Knudsen, Estes and DeLorean but it was John and PR guy, Jim Wangers, who took it to the next step. None of them could have done it alone.
One year later, with the 1967 introductions, the world of Pontiac would change FOREVER... For that was the year that the Ultimate Pontiac would be introduced...... The ***FIREBIRD !!!!***
Back when cars were comfortable, impressive, and good looking. Not the tiny, bumpy riding, all-look-alike, POS we have today. Their only real drawback was their 14 miles to the gallon. lol ! But back then, a gallon of gasoline cost $0.32, not $3.00 !
@@jackmabel6067 Perhaps 20 MPG highway at a steady state 60 MPH, assuming your car were equipped with a "tall" (numerically low) axle ratio.. Average (including "city" driving would have been in the 12 MPG range.
This was probably about the apex of automotive design, especially for GM. At this point every division produced cars with their own personality. Around the next body style change the cars started to be less distinctive and only had styling cues that would separate them, for example the Camaro and Firebird, the Nova, Ventura, Apollo, Omega and Seville, the Vega and Astre. By the mid 70s the specific division engines were gone and we all know what happened with the GM look alike cars of the 80s that were only differentiated on price, but were otherwise the same. I'm not picking on GM here as Ford and Chrysler did the same thing. I was born in 63, but could remember all the cars of this day onward from when I was about 3 and really thought they were cool. This was a time like no other and will never be again. Putting in this perspective I can see how people born in later eras lost interest in cars as the styling became more homogeneous over time.
You correct. I am from the UK and American cars of the 60s were what everyone admired because they were beautiful to look at. Stylish, cool and sleek. All that went in the 70s. I think it was the legislation. All headlights had to be a certain dimension, fender a certain size and height to allow a pedestrian to be tipped on to the bonnet, shit like that. Plus people stopped talking about cars and more about how badly they were made and the smog they were causing. And the attitude that banned Concord. Add Jimmy Carter and you got the picture.
@@taketimeout2share The other problem was that when the malaise era started in 73 where emissions and insurance regulations killed the powerful cars along with bumper regulations that made them look stupid. American cars actually got larger with a focus on luxury, while the Europeans had much better suspensions that while the car would not go like a bat out of hell actually handled well. The Japanese even copied those traits. While these luxo barges sold well to the WWII generation, the baby boomers wanted none of these when they started coming of age and opted for the European and Japanese cars in droves.
yea back when young people could consider buying new cars. most young people today end up working for minimum wage and making student loan payments. their lucky if they can afford a used bicycle let alone a new car.
Yea that's because school systems tell the kids from day one you have to go to college to be anybody. The government is as responsible as anyone buy giving out these student loans and acting like it's no problem paying them off. Ever wonder why you can file bankruptcy on ever kind of debt except student loans?
I didn't realize that the headrest had come out as early as 66. I didn't think that was until like 68. It looks like they were only offered on the Catalina series with bench front seats and not the all models. Interesting. Pontiac always did have the best styling in my opinion.
tiger7199 Headrests were available across the full GM line for including Corvair. reclining seat with a joke, the pivot was a few inches too high to be of any use, and it's discontinued after 2 years
American Motors offered them as early as 1959, and some Chrysler and Ford products had them a few years later (mainly for the passenger seat, when it reclined)
Paul Duca I was talking more specifically about GM cars but interesting about the other brands having them as well. I had no idea they were offered as early as 59.
CORVAIRWILD Yea I didn't know that. I always thought the main reason they started putting them on cars was to prevent whiplash from rear end accidents.
That's because these videos were only intended for the SALES PEOPLE! Not the general public. In sales of any kind, potential customers are called prospects.
Mom had '65 Pontiac Parisienne Sport coupe. 283 2bbl. Chevy power, Canadian Pontiac. Beautiful, buckets console floor shift. Powerglide, and it was hers from 71-78. She piled it up.
Love the dual opposed articulated wipers! Too bad they only use them today on Lexus LS 460 or Toyota Yaris. Such a good idea. I had a '73 Lemans that had them and they work so well...
The young people are going to love these youthful cars designed with young people in mind--with youth built in from the youthful shifter to the youthful exterior lines. Man, oh man, that's youthful!
@@aricsnyder5882 But you have to remember awd, limited slip, traction control and the overall heavier weight of modern vehicles would stop you from breaking traction.
You do realize getting a 300 hp 375 pounds of torque was pretty common back in the 60s right? Your average modern four cylinder gets 90-150 hp. Dumb ass lmao
I worked for a pontiac dealer in Cleveland Heights during those years, and I can say for sure that most of the people driving those full-sized Pontiacs were NOT youths. But the Tempests were a different story. One lucky young man's family bought his immature a*s a new '67 4-speed tri-power GTO convertible for H/S graduation. Before it was six months old, he had launched it into the air at high speed one night on a RR crossing approach. When it came down, the front suspension bottomed out and caught the front cross-member momentarily on one of the tracks, causing the frame to buckle in the middle. He wanted it fixed under the 5-50 warranty so he wouldn't have to tell his dad.
My very first car I owned was a 1966 Pontiac "Le Mans" with a 326 c.i.d. V8. Bought it in September of 1070 for $650! It had a two speed automatic: fast and faster, they were. I liked that car. Bought it used with, I don't remember, how many miles it had. The color was the turquoise, two door. A best buddy of mine talked me into getting a Thrush Muffler on it...like his '63 Pontiac Tempest-Le Mans had. I hated the sound. Changed back to a new regular muffler in a few months. Also, got heavy-duty shocks on it. Oh! Those were good days!
Very beautiful Pontiacs and its cool that the sales man here is a real car enthusiast. It's a shame that Pontiac isn't around anymore cause not only Pontiac was GM's Mopar but it was also America's BMW as well.
These world class American vehicles offered power, luxury, beauty, comfort and safety over 50 years ago. Foreign imports could not compete with American Automotive Engineering in its heyday.
Yep, the 8 lug wheels were the unobtainiun option. Due to conflicts with Kelsey-Hayes and John Delorean they were dropped for the LeMans, Sprint, and GTO for 66.
GT182/66GTO while the GTO never got the 8 luggers, one or two or three sets were made for Corvairs, and one set exists to this day in the Corvair-Hudson Museum in Depot Town, Ypsilanti Michigan. The GTO wheels had a different fin pattern than the full size models' wheels, and the Corvair wheels used 13 inch tires and 5 lugs, and a different fin pattern as well
Instead of a $10.00 timing chain that may break at 75,000 to 100,000 miles, the new $1.75 neoprene belt may last for 35,000 miles. It will still cost you $125.00 to fix and take a week, the part is not available.
the parts were available .and it didn't cost no $125.00 to change.lol.yes 50 years later they are hard to find but that's what a lot of gearheads enjoy..we have 2 firebirds and a couple other big pontiacs with the ohc 6 ,everyone looks at them in awe,ask questions and take pictures.very sought after option.
haha, yes, I did a few timing chains on GM cars, I'm not a mechanic, and the job was relatively easy, chain and new gears too. Really pepped up my 66 Bonneville 389, and my 74 Monte Carlo 350 small block. A timing belt, betcha it's now loads more than $125, and no longer a job easy for backyard mechanic types.
Well, I lived in those days, we thought cars were costly, I bought a new 69 GTO Judge in 69, $3000, after I got $1000 for my trade-in, a pretty 64 Ford 500XL. Costly, but maybe not, as lotsa people were buying new cars quite easily, lots on just my block, my neighbors. Like everything, retooling, musta been not too costly, as the minimum wage was soooo low, my 64 ford, was a one year design, only made looking that way in 64. Those years were absolutely iconic for so many reasons.
the 4 door tempest is the rare car as no one saved or restored them like the opt headrest in the Catalina and gto il take the 2 + 2 and the g.t.o both 4 speeds
@@paulht3251 Actually, I'm a Ford guy who owns two '65 Ford Galaxie 500's. One is a convertible and the other a 2 door hardtop. I also own a '60 T-Bird hardtop with a floor shift 3 speed manual transmission with overdrive. Add a '99 Ford Ranger XLT 4x4x4 pickup and a 2000 Excursion V-10. And they all have lots of ashtrays.
Lucky old Bob. Goes to show you that even with a cheap suit and a receding hairline you can still attract the ladies with a 66 model Pontiac, and that lower tone horn seals the deal.
That BurnOut was UN Impressive. For the overall weight of the car it was Under powered. But WHO can beet 9 MPG. ? I drove a 1970 442 in 1974 Lots of fun. Fortunitly gas was .38 cents a gallon.