Filed under: Convertibles, Coupes, Sedans/Saloons, Pontiac
Solstice coupe due in 2008, Torrent dead, RWD G5 under development
by Damon Lavrinc on Jul 31st 2007 at 9:27AM 
Automotive News has been pumping out a ton of information about the General's future products, and between buffing fingerprints off the crystal ball and making phone calls to unnamed sources, they've shed some light on the future of Pontiac.
According to AN, we can expect to get a hard-top version of the Solstice sometime in 2008 as a 2009 model, complete with a revised powerplant that will boost output, although there was no mention of changes to the GXP. Pontiac will stick with the in-line four for the time being, as a V6 variant is officially off the table, and by 2011 it's assumed that new sheetmetal will adorn the Pontiac and possibly its Saturn-badged brother.
The remake of GM's performance brand will also include the demise of the Torrent, while the G5 will be replaced with the RWD Alpha platform by 2010 – unless CAFE standards put those plans on hold.
Naturally, the big non-news is the upcoming G8, with V8 power and rear-wheel drive, which is expected to be the flagship of the brand. Base models will come equipped with a 261 HP 3.6-liter V6, while the GT model will boast a six-liter V8 producing 362 HP. The bad news: don't expect to see a GTO or Firebird in the near future, as GM contends that the market isn't ripe for offering too many high-po gas-guzzlers. Disappointing, to say the least, but if the Camaro explodes, we'd expect both vehicles to see the light of day.
[Source: Automotive News – Sub. Req.]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
el indiano 9:36AM (7/31/2007)
thats pretty UGLY, hope the final doesnt look close to that.
the design doesnt translate to a coupe very well at all.
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geo.stewart 9:48AM (7/31/2007)
thought just the opposite, that the General did a pretty good job translating it to a coupe; much better than BMW did on its first try.
I'm not sure that the Sky would fare as well. We'll see if that comes out.
el-indiano 9:52AM (7/31/2007)
i agree the z3 coupe is awful. but this doesnt stand out as a rembrandt either. their both UGLY.
policyvote 12:37PM (7/31/2007)
Uhh . . . if you think THAT is ugly, then you don't know the meaning of the word. That is the most beautiful design to come out of GM since, uh, uhm, uhh . . .
Well, it's gorgeous, and we'll leave it at that.
Peace
policy
Rocket Punch 12:42PM (7/31/2007)
Solstice is basically a ugly car, with or without the roof.
All American Dude XX 3:17PM (7/31/2007)
wow i didn't think you could make a solstice uglier....but apparently you can...wait these guys also gave us the aztek....that explains it =\
Don 5:25PM (7/31/2007)
Has some similarities to the Alfa 8c.
J.Crew 9:36AM (7/31/2007)
This is great, more small RWD coupes! Like the Tib yesterday, now Solstice and G5. Not sure they need both, but that is their problem if it does not work out.
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1337 4:02PM (7/31/2007)
G5 and Tiburon are FWD.
J.Crew 9:47PM (7/31/2007)
You would know the next Tib and G5 are going to RWD if you read the two articles that were posted on the same day.
Mike 9:37AM (7/31/2007)
Sweet, so it really looks like Pontiac is going to be moving all their products to RWD.
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AlexP 9:41AM (7/31/2007)
Sky over Solstice any day... But a Sky with a roof would look... Ew, God.
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Dausman 9:44AM (7/31/2007)
Nice. Very nice.
Hope it sells ...see no reason it should not.
Like the burnt orange also.
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1337 9:46AM (7/31/2007)
I'm surprised...Pontiac finally designed something that doesn't look completely anonymous. If you squint, it looks like a Ferrari 612 Scaglietti. Good job, Pontiac!
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el-indiano 9:49AM (7/31/2007)
i want what your smoking, ha
Peter 8:41PM (8/04/2007)
We have to remember it's not Pontiac that designs these vehicles, it's what GM forces on them...looks to me like GM's now doing to them what they did a few years ago to the late Oldsmobile, forcing butt-ugly designs on them & giving them hokey names. Bonneville's gone, Grand Prix will become G8 in '08, Grand Am became G6, Sunfire became G5...actually, I thought the Torrent was always better-looking than the Equinox. Looks to me like GM's deliberately trying to kill off Pontiac!
Owen 10:00AM (7/31/2007)
I like that a lot, I think that's one hot looking coupe, the glass should be a little lower for practicality however. Assuming it prices roughly $1K below the Soft top, that will be the car to have for enthusiasts given the extra rigidity and lower weight the hard top will provide.
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1337 4:10PM (7/31/2007)
I'd pay a premium for the hard top version. Porsche has had lots of success with selling the Cayman for a higher price than the Boxster, touting the fact that the Cayman is, of course, more rigid than the Boxster.
The Solstice looks like a reasonably priced front engine Ferrari--not unlike the secong-gen MR2's resemblance to rear engine Ferraris of their time.
Travis Rassat 10:01AM (7/31/2007)
I like what GM seems to be doing here by cleaning up their product lines and trying to give each line an identity again. I hope it works out well!
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Andrew 10:03AM (7/31/2007)
I like it the Solstice coupe. I doubt there will be a Sky hard top. Only a convertible could appropriately use the name "Sky", right?
It's a mistake to not offer the Firebird or GTO, if Pontiac is supposed to be the "performance" brand. I'm all about 4-door hot rods, and I'd probably buy a G6 or G8 over a coupe, given that I have a family. But there's certainly a market for a Firebird or GTO, if they do enough to differentiate it from the Camaro.
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