2006 Pontiac Solstice Convertible 2-door 2.4l on 2040-cars

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Woodward Dream Cruise Photo Gallery | Classics and American muscle

The 2022 running of the Woodward Dream Cruise just went down, and we were there from morning to evening drinking in the sweet sights and pre-emissions exhaust fumes. Yes, it’s a little smelly on Woodward Ave. this time of year. Just like always, the Dream Cruise invites all comers to cruise their machines on Woodward from Ferndale, MI to Pontiac, MI. Everybody is invited, but the original intent of the Dream Cruise was to highlight classic American muscle cars. YouÂ’ll see plenty of those in our mega gallery above, but weÂ’ve sprinkled it with a bunch of other vehicle types, such as modern muscle and other intriguing American vehicles. Similar to years past, though, sometimes the classics arenÂ’t the most entertaining thing to look at on Woodward. ThatÂ’s why weÂ’ll have other mega galleries coming soon, highlighting the weird cars and (great) dogs of the Cruise, all the imports and exotics you can imagine and a special one for all the trucks of Woodward — perhaps even more so than in years past, the truck population on Dream Cruise day was quite high. Click through above to see all the classics you wouldÂ’ve seen had you been roadside on the day of the cruise. And if you missed this yearÂ’s event, make sure you check out what happens next year. You wonÂ’t be alone, as itÂ’s estimated that over 1 million people attend the Dream Cruise to either watch from the side of the road or to sit in the most glorious traffic jam in the world. Related video Featured Gallery 2022 Woodward Dream Cruise classics and American muscle View 160 Photos Design/Style Buick Cadillac Chevrolet Chrysler Dodge Ford GM GMC Hummer Jeep Pontiac RAM Classics Woodward Dream Cruise

Junkyard Gem: 1984 Pontiac Fiero with supercharged 3800 V6 swap

Like the Corvair, the Vega, and the Citation, the Pontiac Fiero was a very innovative machine that ended up causing General Motors more headaches than happiness, and Fiero aficionados and naysayers continue to beat each other with tire irons (figuratively speaking, I hope) to this day. The General has often proved willing to take the occasional big gamble and huge GM successes in engineering prowess (including the first overhead-valve V8 engine for the masses and the first real-world-usable true automatic transmission) and marketing brilliance (e.g., the Pontiac GTO and related John DeLorean home runs) meant that the idea of a mid-engined sporty economy car (or economical sports car) got a shot from the suits on the 14th floor. Sadly, the Fiero ended up being the marketplace victim of too many issues to get into here, and The General pulled the plug immediately after the 1988-model-year suspension redesign that made the Fiero the sports car it should have been all along. But what if the plastic Pontiac had never suffered from the misery of the gnashy, pokey Iron Duke engine and had been built from the start with a screaming supercharged V6 making way better than 200 horsepower? The final owner of today's Junkyard Gem sought to make that very Fiero, by dropping in one of the many supercharged 3.8-liter V6s installed in 1990s and 2000s GM factory hot rods. The first Fieros came out in 1983 for model year 1984, and the only engine available that year was the Iron Duke 2.5-liter four-cylinder, which generated its 92 horsepower with the full-throated song of a Soviet tractor stuck in the freezing mud of a Polish sugar-beet field. The 2M4 badging stood for "two seats, mid-engine, four cylinders," just as the numbers in the Oldsmobile 4-4-2 once represented "four carburetor barrels, four-speed manual transmission, dual exhaust." This car is a top-trim-level SE model, which listed for $9,599 (about $24,200 today). The no-frills Fiero cost just $7,999 that year, making these cars far cheaper than the only other reasonably affordable new mid-engined car Americans could buy at that time: the $13,990 Bertone (aka Fiat) X1/9. The Toyota MR2 appeared in North America as a 1985 model with a base price of $10,999 and promptly siphoned off the car-buying cash from a bunch of potential Fiero shoppers.

STUDY: Ford owns brand loyalty in 2009; Scorned Saturn, Pontiac buyers will look outside of GM

Ford buyers appear to love their cars more than customers of any other automotive brand, returning back to the American automaker when it comes time to purchase their next vehicle. According to a study by Experian Automotive, six of the top 10 vehicles for customer brand loyalty wear badges from the Blue Oval. That includes the Ford Fusion (62.4 percent), Ford Edge (57.9 percent), Ford Five Hundred/Taurus (56 percent), Ford Freestyle (51.9 percent), Ford Escape (49.4 percent) and the Ford Focus (47.57 percent).
Other vehicles making up the top 10 include the Toyota Prius (52 percent), Chevy Impala (51.7 percent), Toyota Camry (47.8 percent) and Toyota Corolla (47.56 percent). This brings up an interesting question: With the closing of automotive brands like Saturn and Pontiac, where are those buyers to turn for their next automotive purchase?
Apparently, not back to General Motors. According to Experian, Pontiac owners are most likely to look to the Ford lineup for their next car or truck and Saturn shoppers will switch to Toyota or Honda - not particularly surprising given that Saturn was meant to compete with import brands. Experian predicts that GM's overall market share will fall from 20 percent to about 17.5 percent, with most of the slack being picked up by Ford, Honda and Toyota.