When General Motors announced that Pontiac was a done deal last month, the US automotive industry lost the maker of iconic cars such as the GTO and the Transam.
But the fuel-guzzling, adrenaline-inducing cars made by the company in its heyday still live on thanks to enthusiasts who keep the flame going, whether or not the brand is still around.
William England, 36, is one of these. The proud owner of a Pontiac Firebird 400 – “One of 63 ever produced” – and waiting for a GTO to be shipped to him from the UK for restoration, Mr England has Pontiac in his DNA.
“I’ve loved Pontiacs since the day my father sat me in one of them and said I was old enough to take care of it when he was away,” Mr England says, the passion he has for the vehicles already evident in his voice.
“The Pontiac emblem is an American Indian arrow – like the Indians, they never let go of their traditions. Once you’re hooked, you’re hooked for life.”
When he turned 21, his father gave him the keys to the Firebird (and the car itself), and it has been his pride and joy ever since. But, despite all this affection to the car, he does not use it every day – for a very simple reason.
“At 2,000 rpm, the car’s consumption is seven miles per gallon. It’s not the kind of car you want to be stuck in traffic in if you know what I mean” Mr England says.
“Once a car becomes a classic, it’s there to enjoy like a good glass of wine. You don’t take a glass of fine wine every day because then it stops being fun. They give you that inspiration. As I see it: bad week, wash it on a Saturday, go on a drive and unwind, get things off your chest,” Mr England says.
“I almost start speaking to it,” he says, before rushing to defend himself: “It’s not that bad, you know... I sound insane... but once you’re stuck into them as I am, you’re stuck for life.”
His passion for the brand runs to the point that he has five V8 engines lying around just for the sake of it and he also runs the website Pontiaction.com, which he started as a resource for fellow Pontiac aficionados.
Even though the brand closed its doors weeks ago, Mr England believes it had been dying for the past years, more specifically with the company’s decision to pull out the Transam and the Firebird out of its range, in a time where muscle cars were back in demand, leading people to go towards the rival Mustangs and Camaro instead.
He anticipates that enthusiasts will rush to get parts of less common models but he doesn’t foresee many problems with parts as aftermarket companies have access to the moulds and are actually improving on the parts.
The fascination with the brand also runs deep with Joseph Dingli, who “wouldn’t change American cars with anything” and who owns a 1955 Pontiac Starchief, unique for Malta, brought here through the US Embassy.
However, he has no time for the newer models and believes “they don’t make them as they used to”.