2006 Pontiac Solstice Roadster Concept
March 09, 2004 | By: Matyas Varga - SRO
For far too long, american cars have been characterized as being dull, mundane, oversized, overweight and just plain boring. Even GM's vice chairmen confessed that his company had no drive to pomote anything exciting. Quite often, the average american sedan does little more then meet the bare minimum in terms of what is expected to just simply sell. While the matter is open to subjective interpretations, very few of us can claim that your average grand prix is anyway superior to an Audi A4 or a BMW 3 Series. Their performance figures aren't even comparable, their designs are just plain boring, uninspiring and outright an insult to a true automtive enthusiast. In hopes of abolishing this status-quo, General Motors is finally taking a stance. They first started with the Cadillac line, models like the XLR and CTS were first of this new breed. But now GM executives aspire to tackle a more modestly priced market. In response, designers were handed the task of designing a roadster concept. In the words of the vice chairmen of GM, "they were asked to adress what it is that makes one person want to step into an audi or a BMW roadster as opposed an american counterpart". The Solstice hopes to revamp Pontiac's image, it aspires to transend a whole new culture into General Motors, a cluture that aims to peirce the very core of all that which stands in the way of innovation and excitement.
"Frankly, like all the programs we want to pursue, the litmus test will be how passionately people tell us they absolutely have to have it. At the end of the day, that's all that matters."
The interior is wrapped in saddle-brown Fragola leather surfaces with exterior color and titanium accents on the console and dashboard.
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The Solstice is by no means a unique roadster. It is in every way another roadster. However, it's distinct in that it's the first recently introduced american roadster to have even the most remote chance of measuring up to something worth buying. Don't get me wrong, american cars can be pretty good cars. But no one will take a thuderbird over a BMW Z4. You just sorta buy it because it was well priced. Well, that's petty much how the story went with most american cars that were released in the last decade. In the wake of this new century, let Solstice be a taste of some of the new and exciting breeds soon to emerge from the design studios at GM. During the time in which this article was written, GM released a final 2006 edition of the Solstice. It is moderately different from the one you see here. Stay tuned as we will include photographs of the final product. All together, it's the same, but you might be slightly dissapointed.
Selected Gallery Pics
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