Pontiac is dead. Well, dying anyhow; it won’t officially be dead until 2010. Regardless, GM’s performance brand will join Saturn, Hummer and Saab as a victim of GM’s cost-cutting path to profitability. For all you fans, shed a tear.

Pontiac is the only longstanding GM brand to get axed in this current move, and rightfully so in my opinion. Perhaps no other single GM brand exemplifies everything that was right, and horribly wrong, with General Motors over the past several decades. Pontiac was the source of some of GM’s greatest cars, a hotbed of innovation and high-performance. On the other hand, it also boasted the General’s greatest blunders. Once in a while, the bad and good were mixed together within the lifespan of the car. What exactly am I referring to? Click the jump to see what made Pontiac great…and why it’s also pure garbage. If you agree, disagree, or think I missed one or more, sound off in the comments!

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Rumors are swirling about the imminent demise of the long-lived GM brand Pontiac. The first whispers were back in February, but dismissed as speculation. Then, published reports last week that said the brand may be killed outright (along with GMC) instead of continued as a niche player were quickly quashed by GM’s PR machine.

Now comes a story off Edmund’s Inside Line that claims that a new restructuring plan with deeper cuts will be announced on Monday, and that Pontiac will join Saab, Hummer and Saturn in the dead zone. If true, that would mean two things. First, an 83-year-old brand has finally met its maker, and many tears will be shed. And second, you’d better get that Pontiac G8 GXP right now. It’s the best Pontiac available — hell, the best Pontiac in years — and if it winds up being Pontiac’s swan song, it could wind up as a classic some day.

Inside Line