Message from the Pontiac Fall Meet host

Albert Golden

 

I am delighted that the Keystone State Chapter accepted our invitation to hold its prestigious Fall Meet at A. W. Golden Pontiac.  Our staff, my family and I will do everything we can to make the Fall Meet a success and assure that all participating and attending have an enjoyable day.

While operating A. W. Golden Pontiac is my business, collecting and driving the great Pontiacs from the past is my hobby.  I may not have been born in a Pontiac, but in January 1947 my mom and dad drove me home from the Reading Hospital in one.  It wasn’t long before the care crazy gene popped and I was in the driver’s seat.

Like many kids growing up in the 1950’s and 1960’s new car introduction time was almost better than Christmas. I vividly remember fall of 1954 when after church one Sunday my dad took me to an old garage on Wood Street in Reading behind the dealership’s then South Fifth Street address where he had hidden from public view the first four all new 1955 Pontiacs. Twin silver streaks, 180 horsepower V8, dual exhausts, two-tone paint!  WOW!

My first Pontiac at 16 was a white 1955 860 two door sedan.  At 18 I was the luckiest guy in the world driving a new1965 GTO, burgundy with a black interior, custom wheel covers, exhaust splitters and 4-speed. All options carefully selected to fit a $3,000 budget.

Following graduation for Syracuse University I got my dream job that had nothing to do with what I studied in college. I was selling John Delorean’s Ram Air GTO’s, Firebird 400’s, Grand Prix SJ’s and 428 Bonneville convertibles, the hottest cars in the USA!

Now many Pontiacs like the ones I sold new are prized collectibles that will be among the great Pontiacs on the Fall Meet show field.  Today with the Solstice GXP, G6 convertible, and the hot new G8 in the showroom, the legacy of the Pontiac brand is secure and as exciting for me as it has ever been!