For many of us the name Pontiac brought back a lot of great old memories from the ’60’s and 70’s. Those were the muscle car days. An era we will never experience again. Speaking about more modern times, Pontiac was extremely competitive in Nascar racing for many years. However, Nascar does not use G.M. transmissions, they use Jerico Transmissions.
I like Nascar, but I used to love it. When Joe Gibbs, who was the Hall Of Fame Washington Redskins coach became involved in Nascar in about 1992, I became involved. Gibbs at the time ran Pontiac’s for years on the tracks. Simply put, with his genius as a great organizer, his team won 3 Nascar titles in 13 years. Not to bad since most drivers never even win a race. It took Michael Waltrip 500 some races to even win one. Joe Gibbs won Three Super Bowls with the Redskins in 12 years…Clearly a genius..
None of us including GotTransmissions.com has anything to worry about. Pontiac built enough cars that there will be many that experience transmission problems and failures. There is no lack of abundance of used, rebuilt and new engines available for Pontiac cars and I see no shortage in supply or demand for years to come.
Basically, Pontiac transmissions are the same as the other General Motors transmissions. Pontiac uses the same bell housing pattern as Oldsmobile, Cadillac and Buick. This allows a wide range of possibilities for you.
When I was being a rowdy teenager in the ’60’s and ’70’s, Pontiac had a couple of bad rides. The GTO was their most souped up model. They also built a few Firebirds that were very cool. I really liked the Firebird GT model, it had a turbocharged inline 6 cylinder engine that would do a number on many hot V-8 cars running around at the time.
We had no emission laws to contend with and gas was about 30 to 40 cents a gallon for hi-test. Muscle cars ran wild all over the place. We don’t have time to list every muscle car made in that era. The choices were mind boggling. We now have to deal with the aspect of ‘going fast‘ in a new way.
Emissions and fuel economy have taken a bite out of the real muscle car image. The ‘new’ muscle cars just don’t have it. Suffice it to say, if you are going for a ride in a 1966 GTO with the 389 cubic inch engine with three deuces and a 4 speed standard transmission for the first time, wear your rubber pants!
BTW, I had a 1966 Vette, which used the same Muncie T-22 Rock Crusher 4 speed transmission. (Called a Muncie because it was made in the Muncie, Indiana G.M. plant) I broke those transmission with regularity. Believe me when I say it had nothing to do with a lack of maintenance!!
Obviously the demand for newer model Pontiac transmissions is still at a peak and should remain there for years. The men at GotTransmissions.com know their Pontiac tranny’s very well. Every transmission sold, regardless of whether it is a good used low mileage transmission or an upgraded rebuilt transmission (you want an upgraded transmission in an early Pontiac muscle car), you can bet it has been pre-tested on an transmission dynamo-meter first, and then hooked to to a scan tool and certified to be in perfect working order. FYI, this pre-testing procedure lasts about 45 minutes. They want to make sure it has not heat related problems too.
No reason to get exited, the GotTransmissions.com Blog will always have Pontiac transmission features for you Pontiac freaks. We also have informational articles on repairs and how to choose the correct replacement transmission in our blog too. Enjoy.
PS. Here are a few pet names for the GTO that makes a GTO lovers not like you anymore:
Get the Tools Out
Garbage Truck with Overdrive
Gas, Tires, Oil
