My mother, Carmen Rotella was well aware of my obsession with Pontiacs. She could relate—she collected antique dolls as well as vintage Barbies. Many weekends of my youth were spent attending and/or visiting countless antique stores/malls, swap meets, and flea markets. While my mom looked for dolls, my father, Jim Rotella and I looked for postwar-era Lionel and American Flyer electric trains and vintage car magazines.
My mother found this very issue of News From Pontiac at a local garage sale and gifted it to me because she recognized that the Sterling Silver ‘75 Trans Am on the cover looked much alike my own ‘76 Trans Am. Volume 14, Number 1 was the first in my collection.
Not long after I bought my ’76 Trans Am in August 1993 my mom happened across a treasure at a local garage sale. “Here, I got this for you today,” she said while handing me a vintage magazine entitled News From Pontiac. “I saw your car on the cover and knew you’d want it,” she added. I simply couldn’t believe it! On the cover was a black-and-white image of Sterling Silver ’75 Trans Am complete with the optional 455 HO package—identical to my own Trans Am (which was silver at the time), only mine was a 1976 model.
Inside the front cover clearly explains Pontiac’s intent of distributing News From Pontiac to its dealers. In the days before social media or electronic messaging, it was the only way to ensure dealers were kept current.
I’d never before seen an issue of News From Pontiac. As I quickly thumbed through, I found it scrapbook-like containing then-current newspaper clippings and magazine articles about new Pontiacs, features, and people from that era. I then learned that News From Pontiac was a regular publication distributed to dealers by Pontiac’s Public Relations department to share the press that Pontiac was receiving at the time.
News From Pontiac was assembled similarly to a scrapbook and contained clippings of Pontiac information in then-current media.
Naively thinking that its previous owner placed the same dollar value as I would on this unique piece of Pontiac literature, I asked my mom, “How much did you pay for it?” I vividly recall her response. “Ten cents. And I asked the lady—that’s the only one she had.” My mother obviously knew where my mind was going!
I’ve added to my collection of News From Pontiac printings over the years, but finding them can be difficult. Do you have any?
More than 30 years have passed since my mom gifted me my first issue of News From Pontiac. That experience also initiated my quest to find additional News From Pontiac issues. The continual hunt proves difficult, however. To date, I have collected 16 printings. In my discussions with fellow Pontiac literature collectors, however, I’ve been able to acquire scanned copies from their collections. In total, I have approximately 50 issues.
Certain News From Pontiac issues were specific to newly-introduced models and/or features. This 15-page printing contains several newspaper clippings and magazine articles about the ‘69 Judge.
Most News From Pontiac printings are marked with volume sequence that loosely corresponds to each new model year and is further identified by a reference number. It appears that Pontiac began publishing News From Pontiac during the early-60s. Based on what I’ve deduced thus far, publication ceased during the very-early-80s.
This News From Pontiac issue is a reprint of a very-favorable 1971 LeMans road test review that originally appeared in the February 1, 1971 edition of The Dallas Times Herald newspaper. This particular issue consisted of one page only.
My News From Pontiac collection ranges from 1965 through 1980. Some are as short as one page while others are more than 60 pages long! I find reading them quite entertaining and do so from time to time. The excitement within recaps just how popular the Pontiac brand was with the media and consumers during that era. And it also reaffirms how steadfast Pontiac engineers were at maintaining a performance persona across the entire model line and a step ahead of the competition.
Are you familiar with Pontiac’s News From Pontiac magazine? What are your thoughts on it? And do you have any copies in your collection?