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Can We All Please Move On? Pontiac Is Not Coming Back in the Real World

As far as Pontiacs go, one might be referring to a Native American war chief from the 1700s, the municipality of Quebec, Canada, a few cities in the United States, several U.S. Navy ships, or an automobile car brand.
Pontiac revivals by jlord8 and TheSketchMonkey 9 photos
Photo: TheSketchMonkey / YouTube
Pontiac revivals by jlord8 and TheSketchMonkeyPontiac revivals by jlord8 and TheSketchMonkeyPontiac revivals by jlord8 and TheSketchMonkeyPontiac revivals by jlord8 and TheSketchMonkeyPontiac revivals by jlord8 and TheSketchMonkeyPontiac revivals by jlord8 and TheSketchMonkeyPontiac revivals by jlord8 and TheSketchMonkeyPontiac revivals by jlord8 and TheSketchMonkey
Since we are all here because we are vehicular gearheads (on two/four wheels, above and below sea level, with wings, or rocket engines, of course), let us just assume that everyone is on the same page and understands that we are only going to be talking about the General Motors division that will soon celebrate its 100th anniversary. Alas, it will be a muted one, unfortunately.

As a word of piety and remembrance, the brand was established by GM for the North American region in 1926 as a counterpart for the parent’s Oakland automobiles. It soon exceeded all expectations, flew past its companion make, and basically led to Oakland’s demise as soon as 1931. Since then, it was neatly tucked in the GM family right above Chevrolet but below the rest of the premium divisions - Oldsmobile, Buick, and Cadillac.

Throughout its life, which was unceremoniously severed in the fall of 2010 following GM’s forced Chapter 11 reinvention, Pontiac has become the stuff of car brand legends with the Six Series, Bonneville, the iconic GTO, Grand Am, and – of course – the legendary Firebird and Firebird Trans Am. At the same time, it also nailed some absolute disasters – chief among them being the 2001 to 2005 Aztek, a mid-size crossover SUV that is widely considered alongside the Fiat Multipla as one of the ugliest cars in the whole wide world.

Soon, in 2026, it would have been the ripe time for General Motors to celebrate Pontiac’s 100th anniversary. Instead, we are afraid that fans may need to celebrate in the shadows while taking a moment of silence in the memory of the (sometimes dearly) departed division. Sure, some of them might do the exact opposite of that, instead ripping it off with GTO burnouts and Firebird Trans Am quarter-mile drags. Others are already building a library of ideas on how to make Pontiac things quirkier for those who already have an example in the garage.

For example, Jim, the virtual artist better known as jlord8 on social media, has decided that he wants to show us more of his Pontiac-based edits, and maybe he’s not just rubbing salt into the wound – even though it might seem like that at first CGI sight. Fans of his digitally altered social media reel of cars, crossovers, SUVs, and trucks know him to love fiddling both with classic models as well as new cars. But his biggest passion (as evidenced by his ownership of a 1986 Buick Regal T-Type) is vintage models, of course – and he recently took a swing for the Pontiac side of GM.

Pontiac revivals by jlord8 and TheSketchMonkey
Photo: jlord8 / TheSketchMonkey / Instagram
As such, in between contemporary stuff like a base C8 Chevy Corvette E-Ray ‘1LT’ and a Toyota Sequoia-based two-door FJ Cruiser TRD Pro or old-school Chrysler, Camaro, and Dodge models, he also found enough time to digitally cook up some crazy Pontiac transformations. For example, there was a tenth-generation (2000 to 2005) Pontiac Bonneville GXP that morphed into a station wagon. Then, there was also an earlier (1988 to 1996) sixth-gen Grand Prix that maybe thought the 1991 GTP Wagon conversion would go by unnoticed.

And that probably gave the author some nostalgic thoughts because he also brought back from the archives some of his other Pontiac CGI edits for us to wonder at and feel sad about some of them not turning into reality. My favorite, for sure, would be the feisty 2+2 but lots of fans had different opinions and many of them leaned toward the classic-looking Pontiac GTO The Judge pickup truck conversion. Well, it is all merely wishful thinking, and I really think that in this climate of universal uncertainty, there are slim to no chances of seeing GM act upon our Pontiac revival desires.

Besides, sometimes these wishes are completely misplaced – just like it recently happened to Marouane Bembli, the virtual artist better known as TheSketchMonkey on YouTube, who was keen to bring back some of the quirkiest designs Pontiac has ever conceived. For example, he mutated the Aztek from an ugly SUV to an eccentric Shooting Brake sports car. And then he did not stop there because, in his latest behind-the-scenes making-of-video (also embedded below), he also brought back the ‘classic’ Pontiac Trans Sport minivan for a two-door modernization!

Frankly, I would not mind seeing some of these CGI designs take flight and land in the real world, but I suspect it would be easier for an intrepid DIY tinkerer or an aftermarket shop being commissioned a no-expense-spared one-off creation rather than General Motors giving Pontiac a new lease of OEM life. How about you, what is your opinion on the Pontiac revival matter?

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About the author: Aurel Niculescu
Aurel Niculescu profile photo

Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution.
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