Solstice F430: Abomination or Pontiac perfected?
click above to view more images of the Solstice F430
There's a pretty healthy argument to be made for leaving the styling of your Pontiac Solstice alone. It did end up in production virtually off the show floor, as evidenced by the cockpit's spaciousness and spectacular materials (hint: saracasm). But there's always at least one person who's not content to leave well enough alone. Luckily, Mr. Paul MadMods seems to have what's known in the biz as mad skillz. What that means is he has a way of working with his hands in a painstaking manner to turn out customized cars that don't scream "HACK JOB!"
Aesthetics, however, are another whole thing, and we're sure that this choice of colors and body mods won't sit well with everyone, but you have to give the guy credit, it's all nicely done. We also have to give props for not creating a full-on Ferrari replica. Paul states that his intent was just to incorporate cool cues from cars that he sees. Thus, his Solstice wears an F430 nose, Porsche Cayman side intakes serving as extractors in the front quarters, tons of custom electronics and a snarling custom turbo installation, too. It's pretty amazing to see how much like a kit car the Solstice actually is. It's not the most comfortable little mini-'Vette, but it's well engineered platform-wise. After seeing how easily the Solstice takes to wrenching, we want one of our own to trick out. When we need an F430 nose, we know who to call.
Thanks for the tip, Aman!
[Source: CarDomain via KitCarsForum]
Get a WordPress.com Blog
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
madmods 4:03AM (3/18/2008)
I'm laughing at all you fools while I'm on set of the upcoming fast & furious 4.
Reply
AMcA 5:59PM (12/28/2007)
In a word: HIDEOUS.
Reply
Zane 6:01PM (12/28/2007)
Wow .. the F430, Cayman, 911, Solstice and Cayenne went to an orgy.
Reply
EJ25RUN 6:03PM (12/28/2007)
piss on it *twice*
Reply
Reality Check 6:11PM (12/28/2007)
Everyone has their own taste but the interior is just bad taste...... The rest of it looks like most modern kits, more bad then good.
Reply
K Prasad 6:13PM (12/28/2007)
this is the last time I try eating and reading autoblog at the same time
Reply
LX builder 6:27PM (12/28/2007)
Oh my God! what did they do to that poor car.
Reply
Eric 6:49PM (12/28/2007)
Ugly, and they need to fire whoever it is that mixed their paint. None of the new pieces match the original color.
Reply
wiggyx 7:00PM (12/28/2007)
I would hardly call this mod "nicely done". The colors clearly don't match up, the part breaks look really inconsistent (read: huge gaps and misaligned), and the interior looks dopey. What's with the gauge pod on the passenger side with the hokey tacked on pod? Barf.
Reply
WillDaThrill 6:44PM (12/28/2007)
First mistake....Chrome Yellow. Need to give it ten years to die out and become popular again. I'm no body mod major, but damn, he couldn't get those seams to marry-up a little better. Those rims *swallows own vomit* aweful.
Reply
R 7:15PM (12/28/2007)
Well, at least it's relatively fast in a straight line.
Reply
nate_687 7:28PM (12/28/2007)
It is just Terrible. Take a look at pictures 3 and 4, the body lines have crazy gaps where the fender and the extractor meet. Not to mention the side skirt looks terrible and the color is off. Completely hideous.
Reply
3seriesisking 7:49PM (12/28/2007)
Agreed. I can't quite stand to look at it.
SPF 8:00PM (12/28/2007)
This car will get rid some "Eating my hamburger+fries and will get to my sundae later while I'm driving" people.
Reply
Cypher09 8:03PM (12/28/2007)
Poor car.
Reply
Dave 8:08PM (12/28/2007)
If anything, the Solstice is overstyled to begin with.
This is awful.
Reply
Corey 8:27PM (12/28/2007)
Someone should be shot for this.
Reply
madmods 8:51PM (12/28/2007)
I own the car, and you are looking at very old pictures.
The car was resprayed
in october. I have just not posted any new pics. There have been a number of changes done as I have picked up new sponsors for the new HIN car show season. I have continued working on getting more HP from the motor. I should be at about 350 hp at the moment. I have been having fun killing 350z's and porsches in my area. If you non-solstice guys see a yellow blur, its probably me.
Reply
Bling Bling Boy 9:57PM (12/28/2007)
Ha! I own a Z car and I still say that Soltice looks like a "cheese burger"...lol
J/K man...I think the exterior is baddass, but the interior is, well _____ *ahem*..
and how in the world were you able to get over 300hp out of a four banger?
DS 12:13AM (12/29/2007)
@bling bling boy
Out of the ecotec engine, 300 hp is modest with modding
you can EASILY get them up to 500 hp