Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Still Feelin' Pontiac-y: Orphan Brand "My" Way.

For some reason, I've been in a Pontiac mood this afternoon. I just finished the Vibe GT chop, above, started last year when Pontiac was still a living/breathing/kicking GM division. Oh well! I "hid" the rear door handles in the window frame, a la Nissan and Alfa-Romeo, enlarged the rear window, lowered the roof, upgraded the wheels and tires (from a Dacia concept vehicle), and generally cleaned up the body lines.

This is my Safari version of the late, lamented, G8 sport sedan. I used the Australian Holden wagon as the base, but lengthened the rear overhang by approximately six inches for more cargo room. Safari was a long-used name for Pontiac's wagon offerings.

The metal-roofed sedan version of the Solstice roadster, the Winter Solstice, lol. I was sort of shocked when I finished this. It wasn't nearly as awkward looking as I thought it would be. 

Another version of the Toyota/Pontiac Vibe hatchback. I added a set of fender vents to this version, extending into the front doors, and totally deleted the rear door handles. The doors would be accessed via key fob only, powered open and closed "suicide" style.

A four door "coupe" for GM's Excitement Division, the Ventura, another classic Pontiac name from the past. Again, I added fender vents, but cleanly incorporated them into the hood's side edge. I also added a chrome molding to the sides, "hiding" the door handles in the process, another classic styling touch used through the years. The "arrowhead" Pontiac logo on the side, intersecting the chrome upper body molding, would be a European-type side marker light. Pontiac has a history of backlit logos, hood ornaments and rear lettering, so this Pontiac side marker light would have been appropriate.

Lastly, one of my favorite chops of all time, my New Aztek makes its third appearance in my blog, lol. I mashed up a new Acura ZDX with original Aztek styling cues, such as the grille/hoodscoops, triple side strakes, tripe-spoked wheels and fender bulges complete with body cladding. Pontiac often featured flashy/odd styling for its specialty cars, the TranSport and original Aztek come to mind, so I think they might have jumped on the 'Sports Activity Coupe" bandwagon, a la the ZDX and X6.

8 comments:

  1. I really like the Winter Solstice, tell me where I can buy it again?

    ReplyDelete
  2. On Death Row, lol. Pontiac has been history for a while. Unbelievable to me. I really didn't think I'd see entire formerly-successful marques disappear, but Oldsmobile and Mercury are gone too, all cars of my youth! My parents last big car was an Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser station wagon, white with woodgrain on the sides and a blue leather interior.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Great, wonderful!

    I am with Annie. The Winter Solstice is perfect. That would have made such a lovely sedan .

    The Ventura is very handsome, too. It has what the Pontiacs of old had: a dignified sportiness .Graceful !

    Thanks for sharing these, Casey .

    AP
    Malibu

    ReplyDelete
  4. Some very cool looking designs, the Solstice is really cool as Annie mentioned above. What's really sad was that Pontiac was shot right between the eyes just when they started making improvements.

    ReplyDelete
  5. SURPRISE, I THINK I FOUND A CAR I WOULDN'T MIND DRIVING TO A GRANDMA APPRECIATION DAY IF I COULD FIND ONE.[APPRECIATION AT IS]YOUR SOLSTICE IS A RICH LOOKING CAR. I LIKE SIMPLE BUT I THINK I'D LOOK COOL DRIVING THIS CAR.

    HI TO ALL.

    GRANNY

    ReplyDelete
  6. I like all of these -- I've always liked the Vibes better than the Matrices and your touches are icing on an already nice cake. The Safari is amazing. It's such a shame about Pontiac (and Oldsmobile, Mercury, Plymouth) but they went out with a bang. The winter Solstice suddenly makes that design make sense -- it always looked awkward especially from the rear. You've done amazing work on these Pontiacs.

    I'm not a big fan of four-door "coupes" or things like the ZDX. I think Sports Activity Coupes are best consigned to the dust bin or history. Are any of them actually selling? It's always a shock when I see one -- I can't imagine spending all that money for something SO ugly!

    Paul, NYC

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thanks! Paul, I've seen one BMW X6 and one Acura ZDX driving around. I have to say the ZDX almost took my breath away, lol. It is SO dramatic to see it crawling on a road. It could be a sci-fi creature. It looks sharp enough to cut you, but I found that sort of endearing! It is one of the most distinctive cars out there, but as we all know, that's not always a good thing! There is a certain 'ballsiness" to someone producing an almost 5,000 lb "sport" vehicle that basically seats 2 with negligible load space, lol.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I, too, really like the Winter Solstice. Sharp looking! And I like your New Aztec. At least it isn't one of those strange (to me) new cars which can't decide if they want to be a station wagon or an SUV! (And notice, almost no cars are *called* "station wagon" any longer!) Ack!

    The only thing I really know for sure about Pontiacs is if you ride the clutch, you'll ruin the throw-out bearing and it's expensive to fix (if your 17). LOL

    ReplyDelete