May 31, 2009Automotive Casualties: A Look Back

As the automotive industry continues to get trampled by the current recession, Wired Magazine takes a look at the vehicular casualties of this and other difficult economic times.

all photos via Wired

PONTIAC (1926-2010).  Once creator of the impossibly cool GTO (below) and the Firebird, a slight design degeneration in recent years with models like the Aztec and the Vibe, did not help already decelerating sales.  Soon the Pontiac will be nothing more than a vintage artifact of another time…

NASH MOTORS (1916-1957).  Creator of numerous architecturally distinctive autos, Nash lived and died by the slogan “Give the customer more than he has paid for.”  This, evidently, proved to be a losing scenario as the company no longer exists.

DELOREAN (1975-1982).  ”We don’t know why an American car built in Ireland with a French engine and Columbian financing didn’t work out. (WIRED)”

OLDSMOBILE (1897-Approx. 2004).  Its 107-year history, a shortfall in sales led to the company’s demise in the early years of the new millennium.  ”When it was phased out, Oldsmobile was the oldest surviving American automobile marque, and one of the oldest in the world, after Daimler and Peugeot. (WIKIPEDIA)”

To see the rest of the defunct automobiles covered by Wired’s “Goin’ Down the Road in Defunct Car Brands” piece, click here.