Pontiac was red hot in 1968 with a full lineup of popular models, from Firebird to GTO to Bonneville. Watch the division proudly boost its product line in this short GM promotional film.

With sharp management by a succession of savvy, enthusiastic car guys, namely  Bunkie Knudsen, Pete Estes, and John DeLorean, Pontiac was on a roll in the 1960s. Knudsen laid the course for Pontiac when he took over the struggling GM division back in 1956: youth, performance, and style. “You can sell a young man’s car to an old man,” Knudsen famously said, “but you can’t sell an old man’s car to a young man.” It was a powerful insight on the postwar American car market we’ve repeated often.

By 1968, Pontiac had securely staked out the number three slot in the sales charts, trailing only market leaders Chevrolet and Ford. With red hot performance models like the GTO, Firebird, and Grand Prix, and popular family haulers including the Catalina and the Le Mans, the Pontiac brand nudged hard up against the million-unit sales mark that year. In this four-minute promotional clip entitled Off and Running, the ’68 model lineup is given a surprisingly low-key sales pitch. Low key for Pontiac, anyway—which just goes to show what confidence can do. Video follows.