They Built Excitement

I’d been expecting this news all weekend, but it was still sad to read that the Pontiac division of GM will be closing as part of its restructuring. This is a little like when they shaved off Oldsmobile a couple of years ago, but closer to the bone: my first car I ever bought for myself was a Pontiac. A midnight blue 1986 Pontiac Sunbird SE 2-door coupe, to be exact. Man, was I proud of that car! The fact that it was a ginormous trade up from the first car I drove–a 1976 Chevy Caprice Classic Estate station wagon, you know, the kind with a roof rack and woody on the sides that I inherited when mom got herself a newer model–had something to do with it.

Lucky me, my grandfather was a salesman for Lipton who had a close relationship with a Buick/Pontiac/GMC dealer, so I didn’t just get a first car. My first car was ordered. I got to pick out exactly what I wanted: stick shift, removable glass sunroof, vinyl seats because those damned velour ones shocked the hell out of me every time I got out of my friend Mary’s Buick Regal, alloy wheels, and fat tires. Big Bill was rabid about having fat tires because of all the time he spent on the road. I noticed a huge difference between the chunky P195/65R 15s on my Pontiac and the pencil tires on most Corollas and Civics. Even today, I worry a little about skinny tires. Inga’s are appropriately fat and steady, which is good, because the lead foot I developed in my zippy little Sunbird hasn’t gone anywhere.

A lead foot’s not the only thing I learned from my Sunbird. Tight suspension, a sense of fun, a cool dashboard (someone said once it looked like an airplane cockpit at night, with the orange backlighting), and enough power to get out of its own way. Ever since then, I’ve demanded that the car I drive, even if its primary task is to haul kids around, is fun to drive. Boring need not apply, which explains while I’ll drive a wagon any day over a minivan. Just no zip when you step on the gas!

Alas, Pontiac’s days are numbered, and in a few years we’ll all have to explain just exactly why a GTO or a Firebird or even a smooth-riding Bonneville was, for a while, some real American driving excitement. RIP, Pontiac.

What about you? What do you remember from the first car you ever bought?