The Poncho Just Might Return!!!

I've always been a huge fan of the venerable Poncho...aka Pontiac Marquee...so this caught my attention this morning, and if so, reviving this once iconic Marquee would be a welcome addition to the once great name and builder. I say just do it!!! cr8crshr/Bill

As an old fan of Pontiac Tin Indians/Ponchos, had many of them
my stepdad was a Pontiac guy too, lots of GTOs & Firebrids super/stocks

a small private company in Fla. IIRC acquired the name 'Trans Am' rights
a few years ago
making Trans Ams of the gen 5-6 Camaros,
there actually was a TV show of the same name

That'd be cool if (big if) they bring back the 'Firehawk' version of a
Trans Am or Formula/Firebird or some GTO, actual performance cars
the rest of it, of the later years, wasn't anything special, rebadged Chevy's
soccer mom cars, Vans & CUVs

Allegedly the reason why they kept Buick
is it is the oldest 'still available in production', USA car company

albeit 1/2 of that is from China & Mexico or Canada now

Buick is really a bid seller in China too, GM plants over there building them

I doubt with the wacky broad running GM that Pontiac will be back.

Meanwhile... Dodge Suspends Charger Daytona EV Production - The Auto Wire

Budnicks said:

Allegedly the reason why they kept Buick
is it is the oldest 'still available in production', USA car company

albeit 1/2 of that is from China & Mexico or Canada now

Buick is really a bid seller in China too, GM plants over there building them

Click to expand...

Yes, that is correct about Buick. However, what was once a very well-built automobile, the latest ones are nothing short of junk as they are now substandard in workmanship, and prone to numerous recalls and breakdowns...Not worth the $$$ they now command just to purchase say a 2025 edition...cr8crshr/Bill

We got stuck with buick as opposed to Oldsmobile or Pontiac - which both outsold buick by a wide margin - when GM sold their soul to the devil, i.e. the red chinese. The ccp said that if GM wanted to build stuff there and more importantly have access to the chinese [and satellite] market , then the cars would have to be labeled 'buick' as immortal leader mao seemd to have a thing for the marque, owning 7 or 8 of them. [but I thought communists eschewed the trappings of decadent Western capitalism?!?!?!!?...] So during 'rationalisation' at The General, they did everything they could to save the buick nameplate. This was told to me many years ago from someone inside GM at the time.
Doubtful that Pontiac will be brought back tho as GMs market shares continue to shrink pretty much worldwide.

GM better get their house in order before launching off down the Poncho path.

General Motors Facing New Class-Action Lawsuit Over 6.2-Liter V8 Issues​

The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.
By Lucas Bell
Published: May 21, 2025 11:56 AM EDT

In the wake of this April’s major recall of 598,000 full-size trucks and SUVs due to issues with their 6.2-liter V-8 engines, General Motors is now facing a new class action lawsuit. The case was filed on Monday, May 19 by Seattle’s Hagens Berman law firm in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. The plaintiffs allege that GM knowing sold vehicles containing a definitive engine, fully aware of the safety hazards that decision presented.

The lawsuit, featuring plaintiffs from Washington and California, details familiar issues with the L87 engine, specifically in vehicles manufactured for model years 2021–2024. As outlined in that April recall, the engines may feature sediment on the connecting rods or in the oil galleries for the crankshaft, which can lead to rod-bearing damage. GM has also acknowledged some engines may feature a crankshaft that is out of production spec. Any of these issues can result in a catastrophic engine failure.

The engines were installed in popular models like the Chevrolet Silverado 1500, Tahoe and Suburban, GMC Sierra 1500, Yukon and Yukon XL, as well as the Cadillac Escalade and Escalade ESV.

Beyond the safety issue, the plaintiffs allege that this situation is causing financial harm due to decreased vehicle values. They further claim that replacing the defective powertrains with new L87 V8s doesn’t properly address the bearing issue, leaving owners at risk of further issues.

While that sentiment is understandable, GM maintains that the faults have been remedied for model year 2025. The automaker’s internal investigation was able to locate a specific manufacturing defect that reportedly only impacted engines built between March 1st, 2021, and May 31st, 2024. That said, the lawsuit specifically includes model year 2019+ Silverado 1500 and Sierra 1500s in its list of impacted vehicles.

https://www.roadandtrack.com/news/a64839803/general-motors-6-2-liter-v8-new-class-action-lawsuit/

Is this the same source that's been telling us we're getting a new Dakota for the past five years?

If you watch Lake Speed's channel on YT called "The Oil Geek" he did a video all about this issue and how it happened. He says there are 2 factors that combined to make these engines fail. The first is the rod throws on the crank don't have the correct finish and eat the bearings. The second is that GM had to cut the oil viscosity, 0w-40 to 0w-30, to meet the CAFE standards (fuel mileage) requirements. Both of those issues combined made it lose the rod bearings. New vehicles with this engine still in dealer inventory had the oil changed to better viscosity, 0w-40, along with owners manual update and engine compartment rebadging. You can buy a GM outside of the US with that same engine and it has no issues because it has the correct oil to make the engine live.
Check out his YT channel as he does lots of cool investigations and comparisons.

Idk… all their good engines after the SD421 were cast crankshaft. They called it cast Armasteel. Whatever. I’m sure now you can get a decent forged unit, but back in the muscle car era, much like Buick… as soon as you leaned on them above stock they let go.

I'll believe it when I see it. GM has a problem with multiple brands competing in the same niche. I had a 2008 Pontiac Torrent GXP, I liked that SUV, very fun to drive with performance suspension and 264 HP. However, at the same time, GM was also selling the Chevy Equinox, Buick Rendezvous, Oldsmobile Bravada and even the Saturn Vue, all of which shared the same platform. Ridiculousness!

We're almost done with the '71 Charger 500. The '73 Grand Am is next in line. Paint is done, 455 is done and in.