Jim Wangers Death – Jim Wangers’ passing was confirmed by members of his family and close friends who mourn his death. On the morning of April 27, 2023, he passed away at 97 years old while sleeping. He was described as a marketing genius for automobiles and that he enjoyed telling stories. He found joy in the fact that others gained a deeper understanding of their vehicle and appreciation for their vehicles as a result of his tales.
About Jim Wangers
By 1960, Wangers was practicing what he taught on the drag strip and on Woodward Avenue in Detroit. Wangers, piloting a “stock” Catalina prepared by Ace Wilson at Royal Oak, Michigan’s Royal Pontiac, won the NHRA National drag racing championship in the 1960 Nationals in Detroit, earning Pontiac one of its most significant early racing triumphs. Wangers did not invent the GTO (that honor goes to Pontiac engineers John Z. DeLorean, Bill Collins, and Russ Gee), but he did place it on the front of Car and Driver magazine, kicking off the muscle-car era.
He was the brains behind the Tom McAn GTO sweepstakes, was instrumental in introducing “The Monkees” to the American public with the Monkeemobile, and was a strong voice in DeLorean’s ad hoc team, which created the 1969 GTO Judge and the subsequent brash marketing campaign.
Surprisingly, despite his many contributions to Pontiac, Wangers never worked for the company directly. Maybe it was so he could get away with all the marketing tricks that would have gotten a GM worker fired. He departed the advertising firm McManus, John & Adams in 1972, but he remained a highly respected adviser for Pontiac’s management for the better part of four decades. His 1977 Can Am limited-edition two-door coupe (based on the LeMans Sport) is widely regarded as one of the most famous muscle cars of the late 1970s, right up there with Burt Reynolds’ Special Edition Trans Am.
It’s safe to assume that Wangers was contacted for advice and criticism as soon as 2004 rolled around and Pontiac’s higher management chose to re-release the GTO. The preparations for a memorial service or a celebration of life have already begun.
It is the wish of the family that the memorial (Car Show) will take place at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles some time between the end of May and the beginning of June. An announcement regarding the precise date will be made in the near future. Condolences are been sent to the family members of Jim Wangers who passed away in his sleep.
Jim Wangers obituary and funeral arrangements will be released by family members
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