Pontiac Solstice.

Yes, Pontiac is dead. And there won’t be another Solstice. And yet, why not dream a bit?

I test-drove the Pontiac Solstice for a week many years ago. And I have to say this was one of the most fun weeks I’ve ever had driving these press cars. A memorable few days thanks to this great-looking, affordable, and wonderful fun car.

And this was only a first-generation model . Which came out in 2005. I would imagine that if Pontiac was still around, and the Solstice was still in production, it would be in its 3rd or even 4th generation by now. And an even much better car.

I think the Pontiac Solstice looked fantastic. Its designer, Franz Von Hlozhausen is now much more famous for being the head of design at Tesla. As expected, the Solstive wasn’t a huge hit. However, I don’t think it was really meant to be. 1st year sales were pretty good with over 21,200 units. But that quickly went south with around 4,800 sold just 3 years later. (By the way, Mazda only sold 8100 units of the Miata last year…)

The amazing low starting price of around $23,000 was achieved by smartly using many components from other GM cars. Like the rear axle and automatic transmission from the Cadillac CTS. The same engines are in many other GM models like the Pontiac G6, Chevy Malibu, and many more.

The Solstice died when Pontiac was killed. Which is really too bad. Since then, the Mazda Miata has been once more the only affordable 2-seater convertible available.

While it would be very hard to make a business case for a new 2-seater convertible from a dead brand, it’s not impossible. I never thought I’d see a new Hummer model either. We now have 2.

Basically thanks to the Ultium platform it seems to be able to offer and size combination known to man. A new Solstice based on the upcoming small Chevrolet Bolt EV is something that could be done. And again, being based on the Bolt it wouldn’t be really expensive.

I say why not!