Question of the Day: Will You Cry For Pontiac?
Here we go again — the always churning, ever yearning, never learning rumor mill is speculating that Pontiac might be headed for an Oldsmobile style fate (i.e. murdered without dignity). But I remember that when Olds was put down, it had no reason to live. Does Pontiac? And seeing as how my very first car was a Pontiac, do I care if the brand gets driven off one final cliff? Looking at their line up, that’s a tough call. Shall we go one by one? G6 — meh. G5 — double meh. The new G3 (a rebadged Chevy Aveo) is actually grounds for homocide. Grand Prix? OK, that’s just sad. I mean, it’s old, not much bigger than the G6, and its only selling point — you can get the maniac GXP version with a V8 — has been rendered moot by the G8. Torrent — what the hell’s a Torrent? Anyhow, I couldn’t care less. The all new Vibe is a Toyota Corolla. So far, I wouldn’t shed a tear. The Solstice. Oooooh. Suddenly my heart is in this. The Solstice is gorgeous, and a wonderful counter punch to all that the General has accomplished over the last three decades (outliers like the Vette and GNX excepted). Then there’s the aforementioned G8. You will be reading my review of this car next week but let me just say that in my mind the G8 and the G8 alone is reason enough not to kill Pontiac. What do you think?
Cleanup driver for Team Black Metal V8olvo.
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Zerofoo- That's exactly the problem. The G8 is an ill-defined model in North America. In Aussie land you get your modern-day muscle car (be it two doors, four doors, or an el-camino style pickup) and go off to slither around corners and suck fuel with reckless abandon all to a burbling V8 soundtrack. The cars are big, brutish and wonderfully vulgar. Even the Brits get the fun ones in the Vauxhall VXR/Monaro lineup - look up the Top Gear reviews on youtube and see how much fun they have with them. What do we get? The dumbed-down, detuned versions that are de-sportified so that some mouth-breather doesn't sue GM for spinal damage due to the firm suspension setup. On top of that a good chunk of the horsepower (and all of the V8 noise) seems to evaporate whenever something is federalized. Sigh.
Jonny: They're already dead. Whatever you chose would be an automotive cadaver.
Oldsmobile had no reason to live? It was the only division with a nearly entire lineup of DOHC engines, V6 Alero being the only pushrod, and it's cars were easily the best quality version of each platform respectively. Alero was better quality than the Grand Am. Intrigue blew the Grand Prix and Impala out of the water in terms of refinement. Aurora was widely thought to have one of the best interiors GM produced, coupled with a solid platform and the venerable Northstar. But the single biggest reason Oldsmobile had to live is the customers. Those former Olds customers left GM and never came back.
I don't give a damn about Pontiac, but I can't wait to read that G8 review.