There’s A Pontiac Dealership Out There Without Any New Pontiacs
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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.
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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 ???????