Just over a month before filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in June 2009, General Motors announced that the 83-year-old Pontiac Division could be “phased out” by the tip of 2010. Only three Pontiac vehicles were sold as 2010 models in the US: the Solstice, Vibe and G6 (recent G3s were sold here during 2010 but they were all 2009 models, while the G5 was available as a 2010 model only in Canada and Mexico). Today’s little bit of junkyard automotive history is one in all the very last Vibes ever built, present in a yard near Denver, Colorado.
This automobile is critical not only as one in all the ultimate vehicles to bear Pontiac badges but in addition as one in all the last cars built by the New United Motor Manufacturing Incorporated GM-Toyota three way partnership in California, higher generally known as NUMMI.
The NUMMI factory began life as GM’s Fremont Assembly, which built its first vehicle (a C-Series pickup) in 1963 and closed in 1982 after constructing its final vehicle (an Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera). Rebooted as NUMMI, the primary 1985 Chevrolet Nova (an Americanized AE82 Toyota Corolla Sprinter) rolled off the road in December of 1984. 1 / 4-century and higher than eight million vehicles hence, NUMMI shut down production after its last Corolla was finished on April 1, 2010. While there was some noise in regards to the Oakland Athletics constructing a brand new stadium on the location on the time, Tesla ended up buying most of the location soon after that. Tesla now builds more vehicles per 12 months there than NUMMI ever did.
The Vibe was co-developed with Toyota and based on the identical platform because the ninth-generation Corolla. The Toyota Matrix was mechanically an identical and was inbuilt Canada, while the Japanese-market version (generally known as the Toyota Voltz) was built on the identical NUMMI line because the Vibe and shipped across the Pacific. The Vibe/Matrix/Voltz got a redesign for the 2009 model 12 months, but few noticed resulting from all of the turmoil within the GM world on the time.
The ultimate Vibe was inbuilt August 2009. This automobile was inbuilt July of 2009, just before the tip.
It was living in West Texas just prior to coming to Colorado. El Paso is a few ten-hour drive from this automobile’s current location.
Once within the Centennial State, it got parked somewhere it shouldn’t have been and ended up being auctioned to Pick Your Part.
An occupant of this Vibe had time to sample a few of the local agricultural products before that happened. At the very least there have been no dispensary stickers over the speedometer or on the windshield directly in front of the motive force’s eyes.
It is a base-model front-wheel-drive Vibe, though it does have the optional automatic transmission. It is a protected bet that it began life as a rental automobile.
Kiss her within the rain, check off that achievement, then get back in your recent Vibe GT. Pontiac also hired Shwayze in a not-so-successful try and lure The Youngs into the second-gen Vibe.
In Japan, Toyota pitched the Voltz with an exceptionally frantic skate-punk-themed industrial.
This Article First Appeared At www.autoblog.com
