Good article Z284ever I think I feel a cold comming on though....cough, Firebird, cough, Formula, cough, Trans Am...They were the attitude at Pontiac, they were the performance icon of the old Pontiac and as far as I'm concerned they are what made Pontiac so great and should be the car that takes them back to where they were many years ago. It's time to dominate the streets again and bring fear to your fellow driver, it's time to bring the TA back

Pretty good business case, huh? Well, at least I think so

 

I'm planting a virus on your website if you do When users try to access the site, they'll be diverted to the G6 website with the message "How great does this car look?" plastered across the top

I proudly own the ONLY pre-'05 Pontiac style that isn't festooned with cladding and crap. Sadly, the GP has become what you said. The previous style flat blew it away. I've seen people at clubgp.com admit that they bought an '04, and missed their old one so much they traded back to the previous style!!! That's sad...

I'll never forget the first '04 we got...a silver base model. My mother, owner of a '95, '98 and '01 Grand Prix GTs, took it for a test drive. The whole time she said "my god this thing is ugly," for the ENTIRE RIDE. I correctly predicted then and there this car would flop....and it is.

Unless its a Comp G or GXP, I have less than no interest in a GP. And even then, its the drive and the features (not the look) that gets my attention.

 

Someone was asking about the Rageous... I believe Pontiac would have a big hit on their hands today if they had decided to produce it. As for the Montana/Torrent/Vibe, I wish they would be cancelled. What a sad stain on the Pontiac heritage...

Here's a couple Rageous pix

http://mwshowgo67.com/formula99/imag.../rageous_1.jpg

http://mwshowgo67.com/formula99/imag.../rageous_2.jpg

 

Obviously that is a concept, and in concept form is a bit outlandish, but damn that looks pretty good. It has a nice stance to it, aggressive styling, and looks like a Pontiac. Yet once again, it's not going to be produced. What a surprise.

 

Pontiac today is living with the disastrous decisions of a couple years ago, from the likes of Zarella and Lynn Myers. Cars like the Prix GXP, the G6 GTP coupe, and the 05 GTO are the best hopes and harbingers of Pontiac's future.

 

In the 90's, being the excitement division meant putting ridiculous plastic cladding all over everything. I like the direction that they are taking now, clean, attractive styling.

 

That Rageous concept could make a real sweet car...And I'm diggin' the hood that looks like it came off an '02 TA. I've never seen that concept before, but now that I have I think it would have massive potential

 

In my opinion, what is wrong with Pontiac is that it is seen as the 'me too' division. Almost every product in their line up is an after-thought version of a car designed primarily for another division. Sunfire was an after thought version of cavalier. Vibe=Matrix. Torrent=Equinox. GTO=Monaro. In Canada, we have Pursuit=Cavalier, and Wave=Aveo.
Aztek was unique to Pontiac but awful unfortunately. The Solstice had a chance to turn things around, but before it even made it to production, GM announced the Sky, which it seems has stolen the show from the Solstice.
I think that there should be some products unique to Pontiac in some way, so they can distinguish themselves.

 

Cars like the Rageous are definetly what Pontiac needs. The brand never seemed to be in such dire trouble before, when they were allowed to be outlandish. Turning it into an American BMW was one of the worst ideas I have heard for Pontiac's future. Sounds good in theory, but awful in execution.

 

I don't know. I think Pontiac just needs one blockbuster. Just ONE.

And it won't be the Solstice either. Sure there are pre-orders, but no roadster in history has ever sold more than 20,000 units. Solstice will be no different.

It won't be the GTO. It's numbers are so limited, it will never be a real player for Pontiac in it's current form. And it's restricted numbers negate any reason to make LOTS of people want to buy it. A pity.

The GP? Well I like the GXP, but it's interior is sorta strange and it's exterior is non-too-pretty. Oh well.

Vibe and Torrent? Um well, good luck.

So it all comes down to the G6. G6 needs to make a big splash...and not just with the ladies on Oprah. I wonder what John Z. DeLorean would do today, with a half dozen engineers, one G6, access to the Pontiac parts bin, and a secret weekend? What would he do? I betcha that he'd jam the biggest, nastiest, certifiable motor that would fit in a G6's engine bay. Some engine that Pontiac already has access to. Some engine that no other division uses...or cares about. How about the GP's SC 3800 and a six speed manual? Make it drive so sweet...and present it to Bob Lutz to drive for a week. Make this powertrain available on every body style, (I almost....almost... said, call it GTO...but I didn't, so relax),. Price it at around $25,500. Would lots of people buy a car like that? Would such a car create a G6 buzz? Would it make the cover of any magazine? Altima SE-R-who.

I think that's what DeLorean would do...and so would I.

 

Oh and about the G6 name.....

Has that really worked as well as hoped? OK, I can see some reasons that it wasn't called Grand Am. Grand Am was once a sort of near GTO type nameplate...and it sure worked it's way down the ladder in the past decade or so. But I could think of alot of heritage names that would inspire me more than G6 though.

 

I didn't think 'Grand Am' has been stigmatized with a cheap junk label like 'Cavilier' in the general publics' eyes. Personally I think Grand Am has a better presense and rools off the tongue better. Plus it just sounds 'American'

I think the Vibe is a good car for Pontiac, but I'd like to see a 2.2 eco tech in place of the Yamaha 1.9. And appearently Toyota quality isn't up to standard with this car.

Now to build a killer G6 for it's class, I skip over the SC 3800 for a higher tech engine, like the 3.6 or 4.0 'shortstar' from the last gen Aurora, but bump horsepower to 285-290 (I'd want to balance torque with power, I don't see this as a racer's car but a high performance touring car), 6-speed manual and paddle shift slush box, with the drive train configured for RWD or AWD (simply leave off the front half of the drive train.

Aesthetically, I'd give it some subtle moldings around the entire bottom of the vehicle, subtle flares for the fender lips, and a small chin spoiler. I think with the current shape of the car a sunken hood scoop(s) will look better than something sticking up. I'd color match or black out the headlight surrounds for a meaner look. The gauge faces would match the body (ala GTO). Black out the rear lights. The front 'kidney beans' grill would loose the honey comb grill and have a 'scoop' like look remeniscent of the last Grtand Am GT's (or maybe solid inserts body colored leaving a 1/4 inch or so outline).

Just thinkin' off top of my head...more interesting than work at the moment.

 

That is a Toyota 1.8.
Id like a Delta hatchback with a 2.4 and Turbo 2.2...but when Saturn gets the Astra...whats the point?

IMO, end Pontiac. Yeah, you can all yell at me, but right now there is nothing I cant get elsewhere.
Merge G6 and Malibu styling, and just call it a Malibu for Chevy, and then have the upper class Aura from Saturn.
You have the Astra 3dr,5dr and sedan for Saturn, and then have the Sedan and Coupe from Chevy Cobalt, but give Astra 2.4 standard and 2.2 turbo for Redline.
Sky can easily take over Solstice sales with the addition of a hard top and auto trans.
Give Saturn an aggressive 2dr coupe shared with Camaro.
And then give them a RWD sedan with AWD ability...
I have much hope for Saturn's future....not so much for Pontiac.

 

Anybody else think that its ironic that Saturn could possibly displace Pontiac as the sport division? Saturn was orginally created not out of love for the car and the enthusiast, but as a basic, cheap car to compete in the $10,000 price range. Pontiac stands for building exciting, fast, great looking cars. Yet their future products beyond the Solstice seems incredibly bleak for the driving enthusiast.

 

Oh, I like the Grand Am name also. But it certainly has slipped down the slippery image slope since it's first two generations....when mags like C&D considered it a lower cost, domestic alternative to a Euro sports sedan.

Sure an HFV6 would be nice, but there are cost and political barriers associated with it. On the other hand Pontiac pretty much "owns" the SC 3800. I don't think anyone at GM would fight Pontiac for a piece of that....IOW, no GM division cares enough about that motor to put up a stink. Besides, this motor has created quite an extensive Pontiac performance following and aftermarket. And it's really cheap.

Visionaries like DeLorean would see that the pieces of the puzzle could fit. Maybe going around the system to make it happen....just like the original GTO.

You know.....SCREW IT! This car should be the new high volume GTO. A car that LOTS of people would want to buy. A halo car that would sprinkle positive energy and press over Pontiac's most important car line.