True we had the Fiero coupes, and they were daring enough to offer different and mostly unique body styles. However, not daring enough to let their convertable concept loose to the public.
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Solstice and Sky Fan
Retired Solstice Forum Super Moderator (Apr 2005-July 2009)
Very true. What is probably the key in the Sol’s transformation here to a coupe, and having it come off very well, is that the original show car was also shown in coupe form and was also very well accepted. It’s not an odd or unexpected transformation, and nobody saw the original coupe concept with disgust. In fact, quite the opposite.
Basically, it was the intent of the design from the start to look good as a coupe. It wasn’t an afterthought… and in this case it works.
The original concept drawing by Franz von Holzhausen was a coupe...
Bob Lutz for years dreamed of a roadster...so had Franz convert his concept coupe to one..
And now you have it full circle from artist's coupe conception to Lutz's roadster dream to production back to artist's original coupe conception to production....I wonder if Franz is getting any residuals on this now that he is working for Mazda??? It's was his original design....I would hope so.
Notice Franz's concept B pillar looks very similar to '09 production coupe.
Photos from The Pontiac Solstice Book by Gary Witzenburg.
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Mysterious 2007 N/A 2.4. "DarkSol" is the name.
Mods: Billet front grille.
Venture shield clear bra
GM mud flaps (front)
Carolina Custom armrest pads
ASAP Signs & Graphics, Back up Lite Covers
Carbon fiber license plate frame
Solo Mach Split Duals for N/A with Resonator (Amazing Sound! DarkSol now has DeepSol's voice)
Norm's "Fabulous" Fiberglass Split Dual Rear Fascia
Lovin' AZ
Pontiac: "We Used to Build Excitement! Now We Build Nothing"....
Last edited by AZDarkSol : 03-20-2008 at 04:55 PM.
Will they put a V-8 in those cars? I can't believe they could fit a V-8 in the S2000 chassis.
The rumor mills were stating the Honda "SC-alike" would be based on a lengthened S2000 chassis in order to accommodate a back seat similar to the Lexus SC. Don't ask me why, but apparently the marketers think four seats, even if two are unusable, are a good idea. The new NSX is a long ways from market and chances are it would be a lengthened chassis, too, when in final configuration. I agree they'd need more room for that engine and the cost of continuing to make a S2000 chassis for the NSX when the S2000 is dead and the SC-alike uses a longer version just doesn't make sense. Building an NSX off a longer SC-alike chassis makes more financial sense.
And today just really sucks, one of the girls at the office is just going on and on about ragtops being crap.
The rumor mills were stating the Honda "SC-alike" would be based on a lengthened S2000 chassis in order to accommodate a back seat similar to the Lexus SC. Don't ask me why, but apparently the marketers think four seats, even if two are unusable, are a good idea. The new NSX is a long ways from market and chances are it would be a lengthened chassis, too, when in final configuration. I agree they'd need more room for that engine and the cost of continuing to make a S2000 chassis for the NSX when the S2000 is dead and the SC-alike uses a longer version just doesn't make sense. Building an NSX off a longer SC-alike chassis makes more financial sense.
And today just really sucks, one of the girls at the office is just going on and on about ragtops being crap.
Ahhh ... whadda girls know about ragtops or cars anyway??
__________________ I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it!
#139640 '07 NA Sly Fully Loaded 12/1/07
#106614 12/15/05 NA Sly Traded @ 35k Miles
"There are two ways to be fooled: One is to believe what isn't so; the other is to refuse to believe what is so." ~ Soren Kierkegaard
i actually like it a lot. out of curiousity once the parts are availible i might see the actual cost of converting a convertable to the coupe. best i can tell all those parts are non structual shouldnt be anything more than a little labor. i really dont think it would be more than 4 grand at the most, way less the trading up and you dont need to get the paint tara panel if you dont want which would save on costs. i honestly think changing out the glass in the doors would be more of a pain than doing the rest of the work
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2007 Mysterious Solstice gxp... solo center exhaust no muffler, solo high flow cat, fujita intake, fujita intercooler pipes, 5% tint, custom engine cover, custom fuse box cover, Hahn intercooler, and norm's fenders, rear diffuser, and westes's hot tune.
i actually like it a lot. out of curiousity once the parts are availible i might see the actual cost of converting a convertable to the coupe. best i can tell all those parts are non structual shouldnt be anything more than a little labor. i really dont think it would be more than 4 grand at the most, way less the trading up and you dont need to get the paint tara panel if you dont want which would save on costs. i honestly think changing out the glass in the doors would be more of a pain than doing the rest of the work
Oh yeah, go for the classy look and leave the new targa top and fastback in primer gray/white.
As for women & cars, two of them were going on last night about running out of gas. Apparently the idiot light & the DICs these days are too complex. They would only fill up on a certain day of the week and if their schedules got goofed up or they went on vacation, poof, empty tank. And yes, I know there are some brilliant female mechanics and engineers out there, plus some real car buffs, but still, you hear stuff like this a lot and it makes one wonder.
The HP gains and new interior come in 2010. GM needs to keep the upgrades coming in sequence to maintain interest in the car.
I don't see them doing a new interior in 2010; if they plan to update the whole car in 2012.
They haven't even bothered to change the stink'n grills to a cooler inset look like all the other Pontiac cars have. The only way I see a new interior happening is if they give us the Saturn's interior with a few updated trim pieces that both cars would share.
HP increase, maybe, but only if it's a corporate-wide change to the 2.0 or 2.4 engines that the Solstice just happens to benefit from.
I am all for change, when its good. Problem is they didn't change enough. But I applaud the effort. Looking at all the pics, I conclude that they needed to give the coupe its own identity, instead of just tacking on stuff to the convert.
However, I hope they produce and sell tons of these things (and slow waaaay down on roadster production...k'ching!)
I think I will have to stay with my GXP, I like the idea of the extra space in the trunk, but not being able to store the hard top on board would be an issue with me. The photos of the soft top appears "cheap" for the lack of a better description to me.
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It's was his original design....I would hope so.
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