At lot of us here remember the Pontiac fondly, which dates us right there. Almost two generations have grown up in this country without being excited by any American-made car, much less the latter-day GM afterthought the Pontiac has become. Well, after today, even that will be gone.

You’re going to hear and read a lot this week about the GTO, the Firebird, even the Tempest, but when I think of Pontiacs, I remember Fireball Roberts. Roberts became one of the most successful stock-car drivers in NASCAR, back when the sport was making the transition from dirt to asphalt, when they drove real stock cars and when only a southern boy such as myself was likely to have heard of Fireball Roberts.