PONTIAC, Mich. (WXYZ) — The Pontiac Transportation Museum opened just two years ago, but inside, visitors will find a history that stretches from the carriage era to the vehicles that helped move America.
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Terry Connolly, board chair of the Pontiac Transportation Museum, said the city's legacy in transportation is unmatched.
"In the teens and 20s, Pontiac was arguably the Silicon Valley of the whole United States. The manufacturing technology and the manufacturing progress that was happening here was unbelievable," Connolly said.
Connolly said Pontiac and nearby Flint together produced a quarter of all carriages built in the United States — and when the internal combustion engine arrived, the transition to automobiles was a natural one.
"All of a sudden, the first cars looked a lot like carriages," Connolly said.
Pontiac also played a significant role during World War II. While men were on the battlefield, many women — some working their first jobs — were building large military vehicles, including the truck on display at the museum known as the "Deuce and a Half."
"GMC built 526,000 of these for the US Army, and General Patton actually called it the true hero of World War II because he had a reliable truck and really high volume. Yeah, if you look at the pictures, women built these trucks," Connolly said.
The city's manufacturing reach extended well beyond military vehicles.
"They built about 80% of the transit buses in the whole United States for about 40 years," Connolly said.
That production included the famous Rosa Parks bus. The museum also features classic Muscle Cars, among them a legendary 1969 GTO Judge.
Ed Palazzo, who has owned dozens of Pontiac cars throughout his life, volunteers at the museum and said the experience of driving one is hard to describe.
"It's like an old friend," Palazzo said. "It fits like an old shoe. It's.. you just feel like you know it. It's fun because it's fast."
GM's Pontiac brand received its name as a tribute to the cars being made at the Oakland Motor Car Company in Pontiac. The name also honors the city's legacy and 18th-century Odawa leader Chief Pontiac.
For Connolly, watching visitors connect with that history is what makes the museum meaningful.
"It's really rewarding as people come in here and say my grandfather worked the line in 1935, and here's what did associate with that car, and they're very proud of it, and we just see this pride re-instilled in Pontiac for all the wonderful stuff that they did," Connolly said.
This year marks 100 years since the Pontiac brand was introduced. Enthusiasts from around the world will gather at the museum later this month for the 54th Annual International Pontiac Car Convention.
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