Pontiac may have disappeared nearly a decade ago on Halloween, a victim of General Motors’ financial woes and bankruptcy, but for some, the brand continues to thrive. Jim Travers found such a dealership hiding in Norwell, Massachusetts, just south of Boston. The family-owned dealership doesn’t have any new Pontiac models on the lot, but the business has survived by dealing in used cars and relying on the service center.
The Hagerty story has gorgeous photos of the dealership, which looks like time has forgotten it. There’s a large blue, white, and red, old-school Pontiac sign above the showroom windows while the other side of the brick building houses the service center. A gaggle of old Pontiacs out front makes the dealership look like it’s out of a Norman Rockwell painting.
The dealership opened in 1928 with Herb Joseph as owner. Herb’s two sons Art and Philip took over. Today, it’s run by Art’s children Art and John who run the dealership, the third generation to do so. The dealership found success by focusing on service, which included remember customer names and preferences. It built a loyal following, serving as a gas station, service center, and dealership for the town. And the familial successors haven’t changed the winning formula.
Another key to the dealership’s success was ordering cars other area dealerships wouldn’t. Vehicles would be ordered with upgraded wheels, air conditioning, or FM radio—just a little something to set the new vehicles apart from others. The dealership would stock Firebirds with minimal options to keep prices low and would order stripped-down versions of others to help keep costs down for budget-conscious buyers.
More than 90 years after the dealership first opened, the gas station and service center continue to thrive. Returning customers are keeping the business alive, and the dealership’s lengthy history shows how far excellent customer service can go in making a business successful.
Comments
Oh, no, that Native American/ Indian on the Pontiac sign in the main story photo (Haggerty link) might trigger a few SJWs now…
lol
2007 Pontiac G6GTP , 78,000 miles…..stored in Ottawa, Canada …for sale….made in Australia……the only year of production….ladder476@hotmail.com
The G8 was made in Australia and it had a GXP package, the G6 was made in Lake Orion and had a GTP package.
You don’t know what kind of car you own?
I was told when I purchased it in Canada that it was made in Australia…by a company called Holden..
That would be the G8, not the G6. G8 is a big rwd 4 door, either base (v6) GT (6.0) or GXP (6.2)
My favorite brand …
I remember Art from my own days as a Pontiac dealer. He was one of the good guys in the business. Glad to hear that he and his brother successfully navigated the transition to service center.
Our local Pontiac dealership is now a discount home supply store. Good job Art in keeping a great legacy going when it’s really hard to do so.
o7 I salute you.
Our Pontiac dealership fell back on GMC and Buick. Such a good competitive opponent to have in the lineup each year. Really a bad mistake shutting Pontiac down IMO.
The Firebird could have saved Pontiac, that was their last hope
“The Firebird could have saved Pontiac, that was their last hope”
The market for 2+2 coupes has imploded. It wouldn’t have saved Pontiac if Chevy can do the exact same thing with the Camaro, thereby letting GM manage lower risks.
Pontiac was always my favorate GM flavor. Why GM saved Buick instead is a mystery to me.
Buick was saved due to China, they just need a few models to spice it up in the US. The Regal is getting sales traction, CUV sales are good and an Blazer-based CUV is arriving. IMO a rwd/awd Lacrosse replacement is needed.
GMA, don’t get me excited by showing me the Pontiac symbol, I’ll automatically think GM is reviving the brand……
OTOH, do it GM, niche brand, base it in Buick dealers, 1 Alpha based sedan/coupe from 2.7t-6.6 v8 and a turbo CUV (Torrent).
As a kid in the 1950’s I always thought the lighted Pontiac hood ornament was so cool. I always thought Pontiac was sort of the “see if it sells” car for GM. If it works on Pontiac then Buick and Cadillac get it the next year. I bought my first Pontiac in 1976. Ordered it from dealer. 1976 Grand Prix LJ. Loaded. 400 engine and transmission. Positraction, padded landau roof, high back velour buckets with console and floor shift and thick carpeting. All wrapped in a gold pin stripped and maroon package. The longest hood I ever seen. Kept it for 17 years. Now I own a 2005 GT model. Bought new. Still working HUD. Garage kept and put away each winter. Looks as good as first day. Only regrets is I never bought the G8 when it came out. Miss you Pontiac.
When they closed all of the divisions down in the later 70’s/early 80’s it was the beginning of the end for most of these. Remember, they were actual real companies once upon a time. When GM bought them they still remained real individual companies, just owned by GM Holding Corp. Then Alfred Sloan turned them into Divisions only. Which was fine for most. They were still autonomous and built their own unique engines. But when GM closed them and they all became marketing names only, it was over. Nothing but a bunch of fake brand names used on essentially the same cars with the same engines. They weren’t real or authentic anymore… Just marketing fluff.
In reality, GM could have just done away with the now marketing names from that moment forward. Since the early 80’s everything could have just been called GM since it’s all anything has been. The GM Grand Prix, GM Citation, GM 6000, GM Celebrity, GM Trans Am, GM Skylark, GM Blazer on and on… But I suppose they wanted to stick with the old company/division names for better marketing and name recognition. Pontiac naming may be gone but look at what’s left. The name was spared from even further embarrassment IMO. Things just haven’t been the same since. Even Chevrolet has been severely damaged now… About the only thing not damaged by all of this has been GM’s own GM’C’ namesake because literally, it’s just GM.
I’d rather remember Pontiac for what it once was. Real authentic and genuine Pontiac. A Trans Am with a Chevy engine was not a Pontiac in my eyes. A Trans Am with a 400 or a GTO with a 389, that’s a real Pontiac.
This is a great story , I’m old enough to remember when all makes had their own identity , I own two Pontiac a 1980 Y84 with a 1972 455 H.O. complete with the 7f6 heads , a 1979 firebird drag car with a1970 455 . I have been rebuilding and racing Pontiac since the mid 70s . Oh I also have a 2008 G5. You guys rock thanks for keeping the dream alive ,
I agree with Matt for the most part. Pontiac died long before they stopped selling the fancy Chevys.
They did fight back. They did rebel and tried to do the Fiero against GM’s will. It was the last true Pontiac as it was only sold by Pontiac, built in Pontiac and used a Pontiac engine in the Iron Duke. Just not enough funding or support then the Corvette people help kill it when they saw the DOHC V6 coming.
Knowing this was the last shot for authentic Pontiacs, and the Vette guys would be a huge roadblock… what would you have changed about the Fiero or what would you have rather seen built instead? You know the Fiero story well, so I’m curious.
To be honest that is a tough call if you take into context all that was going on.
Pontiac was dying st that time and was on the way of being shut down. Remember how they made the Bonneville from the Lemans?
The Fiero was a Hail Mary by the engineers to drive attention to the show room either the new TA and the new Grand Am.
The problem was Pontiac still had most of the engineers from the cars they did in the 60’s and 70’s but GM really did not understand how to sell Pontiac.
The problem was the Fiero was under funded because GM kept canceling it. Pontiac took money from other projects and went to the parts bin to finish the car for 84.
The car fold well but Pontiac oversold the car. 2 seat cars are a limited market. You sell 200k in the first two years it leaves a soft market.
But they had to sell that many to keep the plant up on capacity. Pontiac was expecting to add the GM 80 program cars to the plant around 1987. Well the GM 80 was canceled and it left the Pontiac plant that had a capacity of 200k plus cars building just over 30k Firth’s.
The Corvette guys saw this and used it to get GM to kill the car. The Vette is always worried about losing sales and was concerned a lower price 2 seater would hurt them. Remember the Corvette did get canceled in the early 90’s but The Vette manager finished the C
Continued
The Vette manager finished the C5 and won a reprieve for the Vette. Times were thought at the end of the C4
The bottom line was Chevy sells more car so Chevy get more say. That is designer John Schinella told me personally the night he showed us the photos of the 1990 Fiero.
Others in the program expected the car would only live on one more gen at best. If you note most 2 seat cars other than the Miata and Corvette last 10 years or less.
GM just never wanted the car. Pontiac too risks they knew were long shots but they did get more people into the show rooms and the Grand Am sales won Pontiac an extended life. Olds became the one on the bubble and the first to die.
The problem is development cost are too much to make very distctivly different cars with dedicated engines and options. GM should have killed a few divisions long ago.
While the later cars were interesting from Pontiac. GM could have badged them Chevys and saved a lot of money with the flops they had at Chevy like the Lumina etc.
Ther is still more too this that can not be covered here. The Fiero and Pontiac issues were very complex.
I have been a Pontiac fan since birth. I have owned or know several collectors that permitted me to drive or ride in most of their greatest cars. GM from the start never understood Pontiac. Even back in the 60’s GM killed the DOHC 8, Fuel Injection, 4 wheel disc brakes, radial tires in 1965 on the GTO. Delorean even had more leading plans that were killed.
After the Fiero most of the great engineers had left or retired from Pontiac. The marketers took over till Lutz but by then it was too late. He had no money or time. It is a crowning achievement he got the GTO,G8 and Solstice done with what little money they had, Lutz understood Pontiac and if he had been 10 years earlier it may have helped. But still GM Did not need so many divisions.
I have also been involved with the Fiefo since I first learned of it in 1980. I have been an owner of one since 1985. I also have collected tons of info and some prototype parts,
I have been lucky to speak yo most involved with the Fieto at Pontiac so I got the info from them. Back when most worked for GM they were afraid to speak openly due to all the hard feelings at GM, Pontiac and with the UAW that were given promises Toby Pontiac that GM took back. Still today most will speak only off the record. This is why there are no books or true documented history on the car.
Note the 1988 and 1990 models were more what Pontiac wanted in suspension and power originally. But they had to sell it to GM as a economy car with the Iron Duke and they just did not have the money for the Suspension in 1984.
Pontiac had used a 2.9 turbo V6 in testing, as well as one V8. They also were going to use the DOHC V6 in 1990 as well as the Quad 4 as a base engine.
Two cars were built also with Aluminum Space Frames that would have cut their 2700 pound weight even more.
Thank you for the insight.
It’s difficult to grasp the number of moving parts involved, and the budgeting constraints when it appears they’ve been so good at throwing money away.
A few things come to mind:
Why wasn’t the Saturn S-series put in Pontiac, instead of starting a brand?
In the Welburn interview, he said about the W-bodies(maybe just the C. Supreme, maybe all including Grand Prix & Lumina), they pushed too far on exterior design and not enough on the interior. He said all the clinics hated the car.
Based on design, Lutz’s cars would’ve worked better in the jellybean 90’s. Did anyone then in GM argue for a GTO instead of the 4th gen F-body, or to abort the Aztec?
The interesting vehicles given to Chevrolet, unless it’s a truck, seem likely to be lost in a large line-up
Going back to Delorean, why couldn’t GM find a better way to use someone like that? I should just look up that one.
It is not difficult to understand if you know what to look for. GM for decades ran as a company that competed with its self when it should have worked together as one.
Hind sight is 20/20 on some things like the Hummer. Lutz says today if he had to do it over he would have made them a model of GMC.
Lutz cars were fine tb3 problem was no money to reborn the Holdens. He had a 5th gen Camaro rebodied as a new GTO but Pontiac died before it could come to market.
The cars Ed spoke of were not all style issues. They went from popular RWD to FWD. Also the quality was marginal.
As for the GTO it gphad been tossed around since the mid 80’s. Once based on a Gand Am, later based on the GM80 in AWD. Much of it was GM just did not understand Pontiac or what to do with them. The engineers knew marketing not so much.
The 4th gen went on because few wanted the GM80 replacment. Note it was FWD and AWD V6. Ford was going FWD with the Mustang but the changed it to the
Rove. They kept the Fox body and so GM killed the GM 80.
Note the 4th gen Fbody was based on the Fiero GT that was planned for 1990. If you look at both in profile you can see where the design was lifted. John Schinella said the design was too good to throw away.
The Aztec was marketing many did not want to do it. Lutz came after it arrived and saw no way to save it hence he killed it.
As for a Delorean. He survived by breaking rules. GM was a company that rules breakers were hated by management. He broke rules on the GTO and was successful as he was on other cars. But he made many enemies with his defiance.
He was moved to the Chevy line at the time the flawed Vega was just coming out. Though it was Ed Coles car John paid the price for the failure and resigned before he was fired.
Even today GM is reluctant to let people run with ideas. Bu5 to be fair most companies are like that today with such high development cost.
Nothing would be lost at Chevy if marketed properly. The problem is there is little money in limited volume niche cars today. Yes some MFGs do them but they also sell them globally.
Honda does that performance Accord but it is built in England and exported everywhere from Japan to the US. Chevy is not able to do that easily. Sales in North America are just too small.
More money in the standard Equinox and Terrain that sell in numbers nearing half a million.
To make a low volume performance car that makes money it means higher prices.
The market has changed and the buyers are much different today.
We as enthusiast are now in a shrinking minority I am sad to say.
When looking at the big picture and seeing what all has to be considered it is very difficult to operate as we once did.
Too often on the web the details get left out. Cost are high and few MFGs can go it alone. We will see more mergers/partnerships. We will also see more failures and companies going away.
I had owned a Pontiac all my driving years until GM killed it. I’ve not owned a GM product since and have no desire to. Nothing in their portfolio is remotely desirable. RIP Pontiac. A very cool story nonetheless.
IMHO GM’s recent announcement that Cadillac will be leading their serious venture into the EV arena was not well thought out. The three remaining GM vehicle brand names are ill suited to tackle the likes of Tesla, European and Asian competitors. GM would be wise to consider resurrecting the sleeping brands, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, and Saturn and create a network of EV only dealers. The Pontiac, and Olds’ names fit much better the vision of power performance and high technology capabilities of the EV. I look forward to the next “Rocket Oldsmobile” blowing the doors off the P100D. Cadillac, Buick and Chevy EVs will always be sucking hind teat to their ICE siblings.
The Euro & Asian brands are also ill suited to tackle Tesla, but everyone’s going to try.
Bolt & Volt are in the top 5 after the Teslas in sales, so GM is well suited relative to everyone else to date.
Good story, always bought Pontiacs my son still drives the 93 Bonneville, and my wife the 99 GP and I drive the 08 Solstice. Never had a problem with any of them just regular maintenance. Nothing GM makes now appeals to me, won’t buy foreign so I guess I’ll have to take good care of them.
I also thought those lighted hood ornaments of the 50s were neat along with the waterfall chrome pieces down the hood and trunk.
What is the name of the dealership…
Joseph’s Garage. So, it may have been Joseph Pontiac before. Just a guess.
Excellent!
My dealership got axed by generous motors in Amherstburg Ontario big mistake now they sell everything new and used. So fare I have had them order my 2015 ATS Coupe and my 2019 Vette G S for me they are like a third party salesman I just have to go to my local G M dealer for service or warranty ( They are still called Thrasher Motors and leasing and still have their G M trained Tecks they did not leave because its a good honest place for them and us, and no administration fees)
I had a ‘68 GTO and, later, a ‘70 442. I liked the “goat” better, but my all-time favorite car was an ‘84 Olds 98. It’s still the best car I ever owned.
I really hope Pontiac is resurrected someday. Yes I know it’s a long shot. But one can dream, No?
Maybe when they give up on Cadillac.
as someone born in 2003 i have quite the old touch when it comes to cars my first car is a 1977 pontiac formula firebird it was a 400 car originally then someone decided they was going to “Restore” it they took the front end off of it and took the rear end out from under it and i bought it for 500$ not bad for a car valued by hagerties at around 77,000$ (it has all of the options exept rear window defrosters and its a glacier blue metallic making it one out of 94 ever built) (no im not going to LS swap it i put a 1968 model 350 in it out of a grand prix put a set of 670 ram air 3 heads put a ram air 4 cam in it put a 428 crank in it and then twin turboed it and where i replaced the float in the carb and the fuel lines it can run on E-85 with that good ol CB radio and snowflake rims)
I really hope Pontiac makes a come back too. My mom all she owned were Pontiac. 1975 grand prix, grand am, and before she passed she was leasing a Pontiac vibe. When my car broke down last year I found and bought a vibe I love how it handles in the snow. In my apt complex people that live here have mostly newer foreign cars and when we had the cold snap a couple of weeks ago their cars didn’t start but my 2005 vibe did.
Ghost of Obwandiyag.
IMO had Pontiac followed the lead of FOrd and Chrysler and brought back a late 60’s GTO clone as did Ford (Mustang) and Dodge (Charger); they would have had the same strong sales the other two manufacturers enjoyed and continue to enjoy from all those aging baby boomers that so wanted a GTO.
Nothing against the Holden model but “when in Rome”.
I owned many Pontiacs from a 65 Custom Sport thought a 74 LeMans through an 88 Bonneville SSE to end with a 92 SSEi
Loved each and every one of them.
Sigh…
BEAMAN Toyota/Buick-GMC in Nashville, Tennessee use to sell Pontiac’s and kept and restored the original Pontiac sign got a permit from the city and it’s now hanging on the side of the the HR building where his private office is and it looks awesome from the interstate…
What can we do to get Pontiac back in business
I love the 93 94 95 grand am wow love the. Style of them I miss theM so bad I want one and can’t find any ???????