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In this article, we take a look at the Pontiac Ventura car and some of the things about it which made it the classic car that it is today.
When it comes to modern generations and gaining an interest in cars, a lot of people focus on the newer sports cars which even though they are fairly impressive vehicles and have made a bigger name than some classic cars, lack something that a lot of older cars do. Unfortunately, a lot of these people never get into older cars, but it’s important that if you find a new hobby that you do your research and go all the way to the beginning, starting with the very first vehicles that were around.
In this article we are going to focus in on the Pontiac Ventura which had been produced from the year 1960 and was manufactured up until the year of 1977.
The Manufacturer
The manufacturer of the Pontiac Ventura was of course, Pontiac. Pontiac was originally founded in the year of 1926 and continued manufacturing a variety of Pontiac parts up until 2010.
Throughout its existence, Pontiac was considered a sub-division of the much larger motor giant, General Motors.
After a successful 84 years of manufacturing several different models of cars and selling hundreds of thousands of cars at a Pontiac dealership, the company begun struggling with financial problems and although General Motors done all they could to stabilise the company from a financial standpoint, the changes which were made failed to turn the company around and ultimately resulted in the company’s closure.
It’s worth noting that all of the parts which Pontiac had used to manufacture their care were made by Pontiac themselves. This meant that they knew everything they needed to know about the parts which they were putting into their cars and that they weren’t being purchased from large Pontiac parts manufacturing companies. While Pontiac produced a variety of different models over the years that they functioned, today we are going to focus in on a few of their older vehicles. Both the first and second generation of one of their finest models, the Pontiac Ventura.
The Pontiac Ventura (First Generation)
The initial production of the Pontiac Ventura begun in 1960 and was considered as more of a luxury car, opposed to it being considered a budget car towards the end of its production. There were two versions of the car available. There was a 4-door sedan available, as well as a two-door version. Some notable features about the Pontiac Ventura are:
- The wheels were fitted with deluxe wheel covers
- It included a sports steering wheel
- The exterior, seating included, was fitted with Pontiac’s custom vinyl which provided the interior with a luxury feel.
The first generation of the Pontiac Ventura continued up until 1961 in the form of a series, although from the year 1962 up until 1965 it was considered as a “custom trim option” on another of Pontiac’s models, the Catalina. This continued up until 1965. From the year 1966 up until 1969, the Pontiac Ventura series returned and continued onwards. However, in 1971 it was replaced by the Catalina Brougham series and was discontinued.
The Pontiac Ventura (Second Generation)
The production of the second generation of the Pontiac Ventura begun in 1971 and was known as the “Ventura II”, which was produced up until 1977. In 1972, it was renamed once more to the “Pontiac Phoenix”. Similar to the first generation, this generation offered two different versions of the car. There was a 4-door sedan version available, as well as a two-door coupe version.
One of the main technical differences between the first and second generation of the Pontiac Ventura is that the first generation used a B-body while the second generation used a X-body.
The Pontiac Ventura SD
In 1972, a limited edition “Ventura SD” was produced and a limited number of this car were produced. They were targeted towards the south of California and were considered as a somewhat sport and luxury car. The release of this limited edition Ventura SD hit the market and received overwhelming attention. Because of the fact that this car was limited edition and was manufactured with luxury in mind, a heavy price tag was attached and following that, only 250 of them were built. The Pontiac parts used were made by Pontiac themselves and were put together in one of Pontiac’s assembly plant in California. The few features worth mentioning about this car are:
- The seatbelts that were added to the Ventura SD were the same seatbelts which were in the Pontiac Firebird model
- Similar to the first generation of the Pontiac Ventura, a custom sporting steering wheel was implemented along with Rally II wheels
- One of the biggest differences between this car and the other Pontiac Ventura cars is that this had an uprated suspension along with several other performance improvements
Due to the fact that only 250 of these cars were produced, or close to, if you are looking to purchase a Ventura SD or are looking for Pontiac parts which were specifically manufactured to be used with the production of this car, it will be a difficult task to succeed in.
Pontiac Dealership
Although Pontiac was discontinued as of 2010 due to the financial issues that they struggled to deal with, there are still several Pontiac dealership across the world which offer Pontiac cars. However, if you’re looking to purchase a Pontiac Ventura or Pontiac parts, you will more than likely struggle to locate somewhere to purchase them.
To Conclude…
The Pontiac Ventura series was undoubtedly one of the greatest models of its time and will be remembered throughout the car industry due to the success it had. While the first and second generations are alone, very impressive, the limited edition Ventura SD was a bold yet brave move by Pontiac and was shown to be a smart one. If you’ve recently peaked an interest in the car industry and are unsure of where to start and which cars to look into, then choosing Pontiac as your starting point and looking into the Ventura model is a worthwhile thing to do.
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