Pontiac Police Cars

Pontiac and law enforcement go way back. Pontiacsonline.com has a great visual history of Pontiac Cop Cars through time: Pontiac Police Cars  Trivia: Why are they called "Cops"?  Historically, police officers had copper badges.  Hence, "Cop."

While the Pontiac brand has now departed, the genetic makeup of the great Pontiac G8 lives on in the reintroduction of the Chevy Caprice PPV, which is not available to the general public: 2012 Chevy Caprice PPV  We'll have to wait a few years while these fleet vehicles are gradually retired, auctioned to the public, and replaced before we can get one.

Service at Tom Ray Pontiac

Before I pitched the old dash, I removed the clock for the heck of it.  Somebody had written "Tom Ray Pontiac" on it with what appeared to be a Sharpie.  These clocks, though "jeweled", were not great examples of relaibility.  There was no doubt: The clock in the Grand Prix had been replaced.  It got me wondering.  Was the clock from a Swap meet with the seller's name on it?  Was Tom Ray a dealer?  Using Google and Bing, I did a couple searches.  There was not a lot of information out there.  Turns out Tom Ray Pontiac was located in Glendale, California and had "dissolved" in or about 1982.  The corporate records disclosed the following:

Last statement filed on: 9/7/1982 Corporation

TOM RAY PONTIAC CO.
Number: C0210812 Incorporation Date:10/21/1946 Status:Dissolved
Jurisdiction: CA Type: Domestic Stock
Address
800 S. BRAND BLVD.,
GLENDALE, CA  91204
Agent For Service Of Process
TOM RAY JR
800 S BRAND BLVD, 
GLENDALE, CA  91204

Seems that Tom Ray Pontiac gave it a run for almost 40 years.  What happened to the old dealership?  Did it fall into ruin?  Was it vacant and abandoned? Good news is that the old neighborhood on Brand Blvd. looks to be thriving; and the old Pontiac dealership property itself is now home to Pacific BMW:   Former Home of Tom Ray Pontiac  Footnote: Pacific BMW employees were in the news relatively recently for joyriding a BMW 1M at high speeds-Here's the story: Pacific BMW Joy Ride & One Unhappy Owner  Have to wonder whether Tom Ray, Jr. would have approved of  employees taking liberties with the GTO's, Catalina's, and Trans Ams back in the day.

Every Dealer had it's own Code number at the factory, by Zone.  The Code was found on the build sheet.  Tom Ray Pontiac's was Zone 24 (Los Angeles), Code 271.  UltimateGTO.com has a rolling list of Codes as they are discoverable:  Pontiac Dealer Codes  The shear number of Pontiac Dealers, and the disappearance of them all today, brings a certain amount of sadness.

Paint Trivia: Gulfstream Aqua

The color formulation for Pontiac Gulfstream Aqua (Paint Code Q), also known as Lagoon Aqua for Chevrolet models, and Aqua Mist for Oldsmobiles, was unique to 1964.  Near as I can tell it was a one year wonder.  Source (paintref.com) : http://paintref.com/cgi-bin/paintdetail.cgi?paint=1964%7CPontiac%7CGulfstream%20Aqua

Ford also had a Gulfstream Aqua (Paint Code F), but it had blue aqua overtones as opposed to the green/teal of GM's version.

News of the Bonneville

The Bonneville, in the header above, is getting her paint.  Below are pictures of her wearing her old original clothing, and one of the jambs in new color (Gulfstream Aqua):