Pontiac owners and fans howled in dismay when General Motors recently dropped their favorite make. No more Pontiacs! An outrage! "Tar and feather the bums who did this!"

Pontiac had been one of the most popular cars of all in the flashy 1960s, when bigger was better, and following the dazzling debut of the 1959 Pontiac with its big, broad wide-track styling. Pontiac was on a roll then, under the aggressive leadership of John De Lorean, CEO of GM's Pontiac division at the time. With powerful V-8 engines and formidable bulk, the great Pontiac highway cruisers of the 1960s were no gas-sippers, but the comfort and sheer luxury were worth the extra fuel cost. Anyway, gas was only 25-33 cents a gallon before mid-1973, when gas shortages and big price hikes took over.

Pontiac introduced the luxury Grand Prix two-door hardtop for 1962, and like other Pontiacs of the '60s, it caught on big — nearly 64,000 of the illustrated '64 GPs were sold, and nearly a half-million '64 Pontiacs (counting the various other models and body types available).

Sadly, things changed after the 1970s, with continual downsizing and smaller engines, to compete with the popular imports. And beauties like this Grand Prix were considered old gas-guzzling "dinosaurs," all for the sake of economy.

But this '64 GP is now prized by collectors, and has a market value ranging from $880 to $22,000.