[3] Pontiac quickly overtook Oakland in popularity and supplanted its parent entirely by 1933, in turn establishing its position as one of GM's dominant divisions.

[4] By emphasizing its "Wide Track" design, Pontiac billed itself as the "performance division" of General Motors that marketed cars with the "we build excitement" tag line.

[11] Franchise agreements for Pontiac dealers expired on October 31, 2010, leaving GM to focus on its four remaining North American brands: Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac, and GMC.

Horsepower was rated at 85 hp (63 kW; 86 PS) @3200 RPM using three main bearings, solid valve lifters and a Marvel one-barrel carburetor.

[18] A major change occurred in 1937, when all Pontiac models except the new station wagon began using the all-steel B-body shared with Oldsmobile, LaSalle, and small Buicks.

This coincided with major body styling changes across all models that introduced increased glass area, twin V-shaped fins, and lower hood profiles.

The 1960 models had a complete reskinning with the exception of the body's canopies, which remained identical to the 1959s, but removed the tail fins and the distinctive split grille.

All three BOP cars were unibody, dubbed the Y-body platform, combining the frame and body into a single construction, making them comparatively lighter and smaller.

The Tempest featured a 194.5 cu in (3.2 L) inline slant-four cylinder engine, derived from the right bank of Pontiac's 389 V8, enabling it to be run down the same production line and reducing costs.

Pontiac capitalized on the emerging trend toward sportier bucket-seat coupes in 1962 by introducing the Grand Prix, taking the place of the Ventura, which now became a trim option on the Catalina.

Although GM officially ended factory support for all racing activities across all of its brands in January 1963, Pontiac continued making larger engines with more power available across all model lines.

For 1963, the Grand Prix received the same styling changes as other full-sized Pontiacs such as vertical headlights and new body lines with a squared-off roofline with a concave rear window, along with less chrome.

The February 1965 issue of Motor Trend was almost entirely devoted to Pontiac's Car of the Year award and included feature stories on the division's marketing, styling, engineering, and performance efforts along with road tests of several models.

Full-sized cars got a major facelift with rounder wasp-waisted body lines, a name change for the mid-line series from Star Chief to Executive as well as a one-year-only Grand Prix convertible.

Pete Estes, who like Knudsen had moved to be general manager of Chevrolet in 1966, and DeLorean, general manager of the Pontiac division, needed a car to take the place of the sagging sales of the full-size Grand Prix, but the development cost of the car was too much of burden for Pontiac division alone, so Delorean went to his old boss at Chevrolet to gather support for the development cost of the new "G" body Grand Prix.

Estes agreed to share in the cost and allow Pontiac to have a one-year exclusivity on this new car; the next year Chevy would follow with its version which was called Chevrolet Monte Carlo.

[27] Increasing insurance and fuel costs for owners decreased demand for muscle cars, along with federal emissions and safety regulations, put an end to the unrestricted, powerful engines of the 1960s.

This, coupled with trying to build cars as plush as GM's more luxurious Buicks and Oldsmobiles, contributed to the start of Pontiac's slow decline from its late-1960s highs.

For 1973, Pontiac followed suit with the rest of the General Motors divisions and introduced their variants of the all-new GM "A" body, known as the 'Colonnade' style due to the roof treatment's pillared look.

At the end of the 1991 model year, the 6000 was discontinued in favor of the newly expanded Grand Prix lineup and the new Trans Sport minivan, which replaced the 6000 station wagon.

The Solstice concept shown in 2002 was approved for production as a roadster (2006-2009) and, for a few months, a total of 1,266 coupes (2009) were built in Wilmington, DE before the end of Pontiac.

On December 2, 2008, General Motors announced that it was considering eliminating numerous brands, including Pontiac, in order to appease Congress in hope of receiving a $25 billion loan.

However, GM had already decided to retire the brand as it has begun to sell off its remaining inventory and said that, unlike Saturn, Hummer, and Saab, Pontiac was not for sale.

This was updated to the Native American red arrowhead design for 1957 for the remainder of the brand's run in all usage except the high-beam indicator lamp, which retained the original logo through 1970.

Besides the logo, another identifying feature of Pontiacs was their "Silver Streaks"—one or more narrow strips of stainless steel which extended from the grille down the center of the hood.

In its statement, the Cherokee Nation cited GM's use of Pontiac as well as the RV manufacturer Winnebago Industries as other examples of Native American names being used on vehicles.

In 1958, the "Strato-Chief" replaced the "Pathfinder Deluxe", and in 1959 the line was reorganized with "Laurentian" in mid-range and the new "Parisienne" inserted at the top (similar to the U.S. market Bonneville).

GM Canada also built right-hand drive versions of their Pontiacs for export to Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa as knock-down kits until the late 1960s.

Importing the Tempest into Canada from the United States was not a viable option as the duties that would have had to have been paid would have substantially increased the price of what was supposed to be the least-expensive Pontiac.

Even after the 1965 Autopact (and Canada–United States Free Trade Agreement that replaced it in 1988), the practice of building Pontiac-badged Chevrolets for sale at Canadian dealers continued until the brand was discontinued in 2010.