By: Chris Stanley

Keith Godshall always liked Pontiacs. "I was always a huge Pontiac fan growing up as a kid," said the sales manager at J.L. Freed in Hatfield as he sat at his desk in the middle of the showroom recently. "My uncle worked here, so he'd have all the GTO brochures and I got hooked on them early."

Now after 29 years of selling everything from GTOs and Trans Ams to G8s, Godshall will soon be selling his last Pontiac.

General Motors recently announced they are discontinuing the 85-year-old brand, as part of an ongoing streamlining process of the company.

J.L. Freed, which started as a Lansdale farm equipment dealer in 1883, has been selling Pontiacs since 1931, when they took on the brand after dropping Essex and Hudson sales.

The dealership also sells Cadillacs (since 1929) and Hondas (one of the first on the East Coast in 1971).

And though Godshall says he will miss Pontiacs — etched into pop culture by the song "Little GTO," used by the Monkees in their 1960s TV show, and serving as the talking KITT car in the 1980s show Knight Rider — the decline was no surprise to him.

"You see what Pontiac has become over the last several years, from a viability standpoint as far as sales go, it's just been a downward spiral for the last 5 to 7 years," he said.

"It was almost inevitable, you could tell. It's not just us locally, it's nationwide.

"They were kind of the alternative to Chevrolet ... a little bit of sportiness to them. In the '60s and '70s, they were the 'excitement division.' That's when they became known for

the GTO, the LeMans, the Tempest, and then the Firebirds and the Trans Ams.

"When I got here (in 1980), they were going through an identity crisis, because of all the pollution regulations, EPA regulations. Even the 8-cylinder Trans were really being choked down to about 150 horsepower. Our big Bonnevilles were shrinking. It was an identity crisis for Pontiac, because they weren't really excitement anymore; they weren't sure what they were.

"But slowly they started to get more performance and regain themselves again. They came out with the Pontiac Fiero in 1984; they morphed from lost their way to being exciting."

Godshall says some of Pontiac's sporty reputation returned again recently with favorable reviews of the current G8 model.

"Now that Pontiac announced they are closing down the brand, all the auto sites are clamoring for the G8 to continue as a Chevrolet," he said.

Godshall said that sales of Pontiacs and Cadillacs are a small part of J.L. Freed's business, and he expects the loss of Pontiac to have a minimum impact.

The dealership is renovating a former Volvo dealership on Route 309 in Montgomery Township, and plans to move all the operations there later this year from the current building they have occupied since 1967.

"Honda came on in 1971, and that was obviously a great move. Back then you had the huge Cadillacs with the big long Fleetwoods next to the little Honda 600, with nothing more than a glorified motorcycle engine in a car. Talk about culture shock in the showroom, with the two extremes," Godshall said.

"They took a shot (with Honda), and it was a great move. We went through a lot of energy crises where the Hondas were great, then you had a lot of times when you had the pro-American buying. Some of our Honda customers were looking at Pontiacs, so we kind of covered both bases which was nice," he said.

"It's going to be tough going for any of the domestic dealers right now."