The ad below looks like an ordinary advertisement from Pontiac for its 1972 wagons with a Grand Safari in the foreground and a LeMans wagon at the back right. But this ad is Canadian, and the car in the back left is a Vauxhall Firenza, which was made in England by Vauxhall and sold by Canadian Pontiac dealers. Interestingly, in all advertising for the Firenza wagon, it was never referred to as a Vauxhall Firenza or a Pontiac Firenza. It was simply called Firenza. Not to be confused with the mid-80s Oldsmobile Firenza. The Firenza looks a lot like the Chevy Chevette and Pontiac T1000 that would debut in 1976.
I don't know for sure that it was Pontiac specifically, but certainly GM would have done the importing as GM has owned Vauxhall since 1925. It could be simply that Pontiac was chosen as the dealer network in Canada through which the Firenza would be sold.
In the late 50's, in the US, Pontiac dealers sold Vauxhalls while, Buick dealers sold Opels. Pontiac's arrangement was short lived, while Buick continued to sell Opels well into the 70's.
From what I understand the US Pontiac/Vauxhalls thing was from 1957 to 1960 and ended in when the 61 Tempest's came out. In Canada I understand that Chevy Dealers Sold Vauxhalls until the Vega Came out, Then for 72 only they were sold at Pontiac dealers (suposedly due to a year remaining on the contract with Vauxhall.) I only know that as I was tempted by a very nice 72 Firenza Coupe on P. E. Island about 10 years ago. I had never heard of a Pontiac Firenza before. So I had some Canadian car guys help me out, and did some online research. But at the time $$$ was an issue, I had thoughts of putting a Turbo echotech 5-speed in place of the stock 1.1 liter 4-speed. I figured it would be the only one southe of the boarder! Probably a good thing I didn't have the money for that crazy Idea!!!
The Vauxhall Victor 4 door sedan and wagon, as well as the Vauxhall Victor Super (Velox in the UK) 4 door sedan were the three Vauxhall models sold by Pontiac dealers during the 58, 59, and 60 model years. Apparently after 1960, some Pontiac dealers continued to offer Vauxhalls on a special order basis. According to the book, "75 Years of Pontiac", by John Gunnell, there were almost 11,000 1960 Vauxhalls sold in the U.S. and that was less than half the 1959 totals. According to the author, poor quality and pricing that was higher than the Ford Falcon, pretty much killed the demand for Vauxhalls in the U.S. by the end of 1960. I guess its also obvious that Pontiac's own compact Tempest, which would be introduced in '61, would have eliminated the need for a small import for Pontiac.
