Pontiac Solstice Roadster
Pontiac, a division of the GM corporation, had long positioned itself as the 'sporty' marque within the heirarchy of GM brands. This had begun in earnest in the late 1950's, as the existing Pontiac's North American Indian (Native American) theme, badging and naming regime had begun to brand it as a 'old man's car'. The apparent symptom was exhibited in falling sales. Under the leadership of John Z. DeLorean, Pontiac broke away from its heritage position, and targeted a younger, more enthusiastic customer base. Styling grew much wilder, and did so very rapidly. For the 1959 model year full-size car, Pontiac expoited the B-body width with new 'wide-track styling', which ironically, also improved the handling of their cars, along with the looks.
Thereafter POntiac asked for the biggest engines, the widest tyres and the grooviest names is an attempt to stay at the cutting edge of cool.
Fast forward 40 years and the GM division, a purveyor of speed, had suffered twenty years of neglect within a corporation run by accountants. Most of the cars were slightly warmed up leftovers from the volume-selling Chevrolet division. Styling consisted of a twin-nostril grille executed with none of the grace found in the similar BMW theme, plus some ribbed plastic along the flanks. To say the target customer was a youthful enthusiast was still true - but they were more likely be seen by most of the car-buying public as rednecks. What can you say when the iconic brand standard bearer for twenty years is a Firebird Trans-Am with a 'screaming chicken' decal on the hood?
The decline was not yet terminal, and it appeared, for a short time that someone high up realised that it took more than tacky plastic to deliver a performance division. First up was the GTO, and coupe-derivative of the Holden Commodore, designed and sold in GM's Australian division, enhanched with Pontiacs distinctive maw. Though critisised for being to discrete, the GTO's Vee-eight and RWD performance added some steak to the Pontiac sizzle. The GTO was followed by the G8, again an Australian import based on the sedan VE Commodore, upping the power, performance and credibility of the Pontiac promise.
With the demise of the Pontiac Firebird in 2002, the Pontiac division had been left without a true 'sports car'. Though the Firebird's Chevrolet twin, the Camaro had been reborn in 2009 (ironically, a Holden Australia engineered car sharing the Commodore and G8's platform), there was to be no new Firebird. Instead, a different RWD platform, code named Kappa had been developed for the low-volume GM sportscars. The platform was significantly smaller than any RWD GM product had seen, measuring about 4.0 metres (160 in), targeted more towards a Mazda Miata or BMW Z3 in size. Lightweight also helped the performance and handling, and allowed the fitting of 4-cylinder engines, including turbocharged editions, to allow for a competitve cost and fuel economy targets.
The car was launched in 2006 as the Pontiac Solstice, and was co-developed under the Saturn brand as the Sky. There was also a version developed for Europe, wearing similar styling to the Saturn, known as the Opel (or Vauxhall) GT. The initial Roadster form was joined in 2009 by a Solstice Coupe, a targa topped hunched fastback. Alas, as GM spiralled downward into bankruptcy brought on by years of mismanagement and the emerging Financial Crisis, Pontiac was targeted as a 'redundant' division, and was closed, along with Saturn and Hummer, spelling the end of the Solstice and the Kappa platform.
What had emerged as a real solution to the Pontiac performance promise, Solstice, G8 sedan and the propoed G8 Sport Truck and Sportswagon, was jetisoned as an accounting decision. Mercifully, the resources that would have otherwise been allocated to Pontiac have allowed the creation of the range-extender electric GM Volt, and a renewed sense of product purpose at Cadillac and Chevrolet. Ironically, the cancelled G8 program is appearing under a different guise as the Chevrolet Caprice PPV (Police vehicle), Chevrolet SS performance sedan (featuring as the 2013 NASCAR entry), and rumoured El Camino Sport Truck and Nomad Wagon.
Imagine though, what the potential would have been for a Kappa platformed RWD compact Nomad, as envsioned in the 2004 concept.
Alas, with the death of the Solstice, we shall never know.
This Lego model Pontiac Solstice Roadster and Solstice Coupe has been designed for Flickr LUGNuts 62nd Build Challenge, - 'Space is the Place', - celebrating vehicles with Space related names. In this case, the 'Solstice', the astronomically event occuring in mid-winter and mid-summer where the inclined axis of the Earth's rotation is aligned with the axis of the sun, creating the longest day (and shortest day in the opposite hemisphere) of the year.
Pontiac Solstice Roadster
Pontiac, a division of the GM corporation, had long positioned itself as the 'sporty' marque within the heirarchy of GM brands. This had begun in earnest in the late 1950's, as the existing Pontiac's North American Indian (Native American) theme, badging and naming regime had begun to brand it as a 'old man's car'. The apparent symptom was exhibited in falling sales. Under the leadership of John Z. DeLorean, Pontiac broke away from its heritage position, and targeted a younger, more enthusiastic customer base. Styling grew much wilder, and did so very rapidly. For the 1959 model year full-size car, Pontiac expoited the B-body width with new 'wide-track styling', which ironically, also improved the handling of their cars, along with the looks.
Thereafter POntiac asked for the biggest engines, the widest tyres and the grooviest names is an attempt to stay at the cutting edge of cool.
Fast forward 40 years and the GM division, a purveyor of speed, had suffered twenty years of neglect within a corporation run by accountants. Most of the cars were slightly warmed up leftovers from the volume-selling Chevrolet division. Styling consisted of a twin-nostril grille executed with none of the grace found in the similar BMW theme, plus some ribbed plastic along the flanks. To say the target customer was a youthful enthusiast was still true - but they were more likely be seen by most of the car-buying public as rednecks. What can you say when the iconic brand standard bearer for twenty years is a Firebird Trans-Am with a 'screaming chicken' decal on the hood?
The decline was not yet terminal, and it appeared, for a short time that someone high up realised that it took more than tacky plastic to deliver a performance division. First up was the GTO, and coupe-derivative of the Holden Commodore, designed and sold in GM's Australian division, enhanched with Pontiacs distinctive maw. Though critisised for being to discrete, the GTO's Vee-eight and RWD performance added some steak to the Pontiac sizzle. The GTO was followed by the G8, again an Australian import based on the sedan VE Commodore, upping the power, performance and credibility of the Pontiac promise.
With the demise of the Pontiac Firebird in 2002, the Pontiac division had been left without a true 'sports car'. Though the Firebird's Chevrolet twin, the Camaro had been reborn in 2009 (ironically, a Holden Australia engineered car sharing the Commodore and G8's platform), there was to be no new Firebird. Instead, a different RWD platform, code named Kappa had been developed for the low-volume GM sportscars. The platform was significantly smaller than any RWD GM product had seen, measuring about 4.0 metres (160 in), targeted more towards a Mazda Miata or BMW Z3 in size. Lightweight also helped the performance and handling, and allowed the fitting of 4-cylinder engines, including turbocharged editions, to allow for a competitve cost and fuel economy targets.
The car was launched in 2006 as the Pontiac Solstice, and was co-developed under the Saturn brand as the Sky. There was also a version developed for Europe, wearing similar styling to the Saturn, known as the Opel (or Vauxhall) GT. The initial Roadster form was joined in 2009 by a Solstice Coupe, a targa topped hunched fastback. Alas, as GM spiralled downward into bankruptcy brought on by years of mismanagement and the emerging Financial Crisis, Pontiac was targeted as a 'redundant' division, and was closed, along with Saturn and Hummer, spelling the end of the Solstice and the Kappa platform.
What had emerged as a real solution to the Pontiac performance promise, Solstice, G8 sedan and the propoed G8 Sport Truck and Sportswagon, was jetisoned as an accounting decision. Mercifully, the resources that would have otherwise been allocated to Pontiac have allowed the creation of the range-extender electric GM Volt, and a renewed sense of product purpose at Cadillac and Chevrolet. Ironically, the cancelled G8 program is appearing under a different guise as the Chevrolet Caprice PPV (Police vehicle), Chevrolet SS performance sedan (featuring as the 2013 NASCAR entry), and rumoured El Camino Sport Truck and Nomad Wagon.
Imagine though, what the potential would have been for a Kappa platformed RWD compact Nomad, as envsioned in the 2004 concept.
Alas, with the death of the Solstice, we shall never know.
This Lego model Pontiac Solstice Roadster and Solstice Coupe has been designed for Flickr LUGNuts 62nd Build Challenge, - 'Space is the Place', - celebrating vehicles with Space related names. In this case, the 'Solstice', the astronomically event occuring in mid-winter and mid-summer where the inclined axis of the Earth's rotation is aligned with the axis of the sun, creating the longest day (and shortest day in the opposite hemisphere) of the year.