Who is bunkie knudsen

The Pontiac Bonneville and the "wide-track Pontiacs" came from this effort. Pontiac's new-found performance image eventually led to a dramatic rise in new car sales with the division reaching to third place in industry standings by In , Knudsen submitted a request to add a new personal-luxury car to his division's lineup to better compete with the Ford Thunderbird but was turned down as the car was assigned to Buick, which introduced it as the Riviera.

Knudsen then ordered his division to fancy up the full-sized Catalina hardtop coupe with sporty and luxurious appointments, which became a reality as the Pontiac Grand Prix for Knudsen's success at Pontiac led to his promotion to general manager of Chevrolet Division in While at Pontiac he was noted for his interest in performance, and this continued with the introduction of the Chevrolet Super Sport models.

Knudsen also reportedly rejected an idea to offer a Pontiac version of the revolutionary Corvair in favor a front-engine compact car to be offered by Oldsmobile as the F and Buick as the Special for Pontiac introduced its version of the Buick-Olds-Pontiac compact as the Tempest for , but gave that car some unique engineering features such as a slanted four-cylinder engine which was really half of a Pontiac V8 , rear swing axles and a rear transaxle both derived from the Corvair driven by a flexing shaft to eliminate the driveshaft hump for increased interior space.

Knudsen was elected an executive vice-president of GM in Rumors at the time suggested that Knudsen's move to Ford was prompted by his having been passed over for the GM presidency in favor of Ed Cole, the father of the Corvair. Henry Ford II was looking for a seasoned executive to take charge at his company, which would allow him to spend more time on outside activities; and so the opportunity for Knudsen was ripe.

Certain GM-like styling cues in several Ford products attributable to Knudsen became reality starting with the model year, including the new 'eagle beak' on the Thunderbird. Grant, who rescued a fading Chevrolet Division, in the 's and invented most of the marketing techniques still used by the industry. However, at the time he wanted the position that was given to the late Ed. Cloe which was a GM Presidency position. Unfortunately, Knudsen's position was very short lived at Ford Motor Company.

Ford, on September 11, issued this statement. It is unfortunate, but I don't want to say anything more than that. Knudsen's scorecard and experience at General Motors made him a great candidate for the White Motor Corporation. The White Motor Corporation produced and manufactured heavy trucks and farm equipment.

Although Mr. Knudsen had worked at the White Motor Corporation for several years as chairman and chief executive officer, he would later retire as Chairman.

Bunkie Knudsen, automotive executive leader died of congestive heart failure at William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak Michigan; he was 85 years of age. Knudsen was general manager of Pontiac and is credited with drastically changing the division's reputation and improving sales. So even though he went on to other duties at GM, it's highly likely that he kept a fatherly eye on Pontiac.

Pontiacs began to grow noticeable central grille noses by around and these became fairly large by the model years. Even though he had left General Motors before the Pontiacs were announced in the fall of , there is little reason to doubt that he was aware of the direction Pontiac styling was taking.

He liked this theme, and so had it applied on some Ford company models whose styling was set while he was president.