Pontiac

Pontiac was General Motors' excitement division. While Chevrolet was reliable and Buick was respectable, Pontiac was the one that made you feel something. The GTO (1964) invented the muscle car category. The Firebird Trans Am became an icon of 1970s rebellion. The Fiero was a mid-engine sports car sold at economy prices.

John DeLorean ran Pontiac in the 1960s and turned it into GM's coolest brand. That energy carried through the muscle car era and into the '80s with the Trans Am and the Grand Prix. But by the 1990s, GM was badge-engineering across its divisions, and Pontiac models became indistinguishable from Chevrolets with different body panels.

The Aztek (2001) is widely considered one of the ugliest cars ever made. It became a punchline. GM tried to revive Pontiac's performance image with the Solstice and the G8 in the late 2000s — both were genuinely good cars — but it was too late. When GM filed for bankruptcy in 2009, it killed Pontiac, Saturn, Hummer, and Saab to streamline operations. The last Pontiac rolled off the line in January 2010. An 84-year-old brand, sacrificed as collateral damage in a bankruptcy restructuring.