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N0KFQ > TODAY 20.01.16 16:55l 54 Lines 2349 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 82382_N0KFQ
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Subj: Today in History - Jan 20
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Sent: 160120/1448Z 82382@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA BPQ1.4.65
1909
GM takes an interest in Oakland Motor Car Corp.
On January 20, 1909, newly formed automaker General Motors (GM)
buys into the Oakland Motor Car Corporation, which later becomes
GM's long-running Pontiac division.
Oakland Motor Car was founded in 1907 in Pontiac, Michigan, by
Edward Murphy, a manufacturer of horse-drawn carriages. The
following year, another former buggy company executive, William
Durant, founded General Motors in Flint, Michigan, as a holding
company for the Buick Motor Company. GM soon bought other
automakers, including Oldsmobile and Cadillac. In 1909, Oakland
became part of GM. The first Pontiac model made its debut as part
of the Oakland line in the 1920s. The car, which featured a
six-cylinder engine, proved so popular that the Oakland name was
eventually dropped and Pontiac became its own GM division by the
early 1930s.
Pontiac was initially known for making sedans; however, by the
1960s, it gained acclaim for its fast, sporty muscle cars,
including the GTO and the Firebird. The GTO, which was developed
by auto industry maverick John DeLorean, was named after a
Ferarri coupe-the Gran Turismo Omologato-and is considered the
first classic muscle car. According to The New York Times: "More
than any other G.M. brand, Pontiac stood for performance, speed
and sex appeal."
Pontiac's sales reached their peak in 1984, with approximately
850,000 vehicles sold (about four times as many as 2008),
according to the Times, which noted that experts believe GM hurt
the Pontiac brand in the 1970s and 1980s by opting for a
money-saving strategy requiring Pontiacs to share platforms with
cars from other divisions.
In 2008, GM, which since the early 1930s had sold more vehicles
than any other automaker, lost its sales crown to Toyota. That
same year, the American auto giant, hard hit by the global
economic crisis and slumping auto sales, was forced to ask the
federal government for a multi-billion-dollar loan in order to
remain operational. On April 27, 2009, GM announced plans to
phase out the Pontiac brand, which had become unprofitable, by
2010. A little over a month later, on June 1, GM filed for
Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and promised to emerge as a
leaner, more efficient company.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: kohiggs@gmail.com
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