For a time, the Grand-Am was Pontiac and Pontiac was the Grand-Am. More than just a model, however, it represented 70s Americana. With a capacious engine and up to 250 horsepower, heedless of fuel averages, it was the muscle car of its day. The oil shocks of the 1970s, along with the better-built European importants all but killed it for a time, but it came back again, to operate for nearly thirty more years.

On this day, May 2, in 2005 the last Grand-Amrolled off the line at Pontiac’s East Lansing, Michigan plant. GM, who owned the Pontiac brand, had decided to discontinue the model as part of their restructuring effort.

The entire Pontiac brand would soon follow the way of the Grand Am. The company started in Pontiac, Michigan in 1893 as the Pontiac Buggy Company. It was General Motors, who bought the brand in 1926, who added the “Silver Streak” trim in the center of the hood, which began the defining look for Pontiacs during the car’s classical era. In the 90s, the company began a steep decline, however, producing few cars that met driver’s taste. In 2010, GM said they would discontinue altogether the Pontiac brand, this ending over three decades of legacy.