General Motors will ‘Shut Down’ the ‘excitement division’ – Pontiac – by the end of 2010. Their decision to cut the long time muscle car brand was among several aggressive steps listed in a recently updated survival plan to the federal government. This leaves GM with four core brands to place their focus: Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, and Cadillac. Have we regressed to the beginning of the 20th century?The fate of Saturn, Saab, and Hummer are still to be decided. At this time it appears they will either be sold or also shut down.Pontiac sold twice as many as Buick which is currently set to survive the federal shakeup.These cars were originally designed with wider bodies and pushed out wheels. This ‘wide track’ design made the cars look agile and aggressive – and remained with the brand up until modern times.”There was a time, a long way back now, when you knew exactly what Pontiac stood for,” said Kevin Smith, editorial director for the automotive Web site Edmunds.com.Recent efforts from vice chairman Bob Lutz tried to revive Pontiac’s image. His plans called for Pontiac to produce mainly rear-drive ‘modernized’ muscle cars – such as the 2004 GTO or the rwd G8 sedan. The australian based GTO and G8 had only dismal sales. Bob’s plans were further crushed when gas prices soared and the EPA further tightened their grip on consumer transportation with tougher fuel economy regulations. Pontiac’s lack of providing true value as a brand may finally have brought its demise, said Smith. “That’s just death in a marketplace where there’s so much competition and so much quality,” he said.Not even Knight Rider?s bird can compare to the 73 TA. This is the American muscle car dream!Of the less than 5,000 that were built, the 455 SD (Super Duty) with a 4-speed manual transmission is one of the rarest birds out there with only 72 produced. According to Pontiac?s specs, the 455 SD in a 4-speed manual tranny produced 290 horsepower at 4,000 RPM and 395 Lbs/Ft torque at 3,600 RPM. Until this event, almost no one in America cared about their energy consumption. In 1973, gas prices shot up by several hundred percent followed by the worst recession since the great depression. Suddenly, 30-40 cents per gallon looked cheap compared to the 70+ cents it was heading to.Read more reviews about 1997 pontiac, 1998 pontiac, and pontiac automotive.