Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Suburban Pontiac, Bellflower California

















Above is the build sheet for my '63 GP shipped to Suburban Pontiac in Bellflower, California. Conceived at the South Gate Plant in late July, 1963, the new owner took delivery right before Christmas. That documentation will be posted soon. The car was born, raised, and stayed in California until I adopted it to my Wisconsin home in 2008.

The CCA color code (Cameo Ivory paint top and bottom - "CC", and black interior - "A"), 421 Engine, and A/C are what attracted me to the car--and probably the original owner.

Did a little research on the dealership. Sadly, despite efforts by the community to keep them in town (to prevent the drain of tax base), they closed in 1988 and headed out to an Auto Mall close to the Artesia Freeway. An awesome picture of the Dealership after its prime, but still in full garb, can be found at:

Suburban Pontiac's charm and history has apparently been replaced with a new name: Cerritos Pontiac Buick GMC Hummer--which probably looks like every other Pontiac Buick GMC Hummer dealer in the country. All identification gone, the small picture above shows what the old dealership looked like in 2008.
Of course, the Pontiac brand has recently been eliminated by GM in a confusing move. The brand was clearly not plagued with a "Not your Father's Oldsmobile" image. It was the performance brand, that had finally mastered a good line-up, and was the GM choice among younger domestic buyers. Apparently, GM believed that the 'Your Grandfather's Buick' image was something special--at least in China.

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