Interesting article. See other car company executives praise Pontiac's job on Solstice.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/04/automobiles/04auto.html?ex=1081659600&en=00b3958d6455d11c&ei=5 062&partner=GOOGLE

Ralph Gilles, DaimlerChrysler
Design director for the Chrysler Group in Auburn Hills, Mich.
PONTIAC SOLSTICE: "I have to give G.M. a lot of credit for making that vehicle for that price [about $20,000]. It has a pretty dramatic proportion for its size. They are aiming that vehicle at young kids, but I think they are going to be surprised that it will actually be older people that buy it.

Peter Horbury, Ford
As executive director for design, North America, he is responsible for overseeing the design strategy and execution of all Ford, Lincoln and Mercury products in North America.
PONTIAC SOLSTICE: "The surfacing of the car was extremely well done. When light reflects off the body of the car, it has to line up and enhance the overall shape of the car rather than destroy it or camouflage it."

Len Hunt, Volkswagen
Vice president for sales and marketing, Volkswagen of America.
PONTIAC SOLSTICE: "I think it even went beyond where the concept was. We all liked it when we saw it as a concept. Then we saw the real one and thought that's even better. We can now really give to the customer the designer's dream. It used to be that concepts got everybody juiced up. I use Porsche as an example. Everybody saw the original Boxster and got a bit disappointed when they saw the real one. Nowadays they seem to even improve it from the concept."

Kevin Hunter, Toyota
Vice president for design and studio activities at Calty Design Research in Newport Beach, Calif.
PONTIAC SOLSTICE: "It's such a big departure from where Pontiac has been and a very positive direction. It really stands out. Sometimes it's hard to retain the same level of spirit and flavor that a concept car has when it goes into production, but I think they did a real nice job of transferring the design."

Mays, Ford
As group vice president for design, he has led the development of more than 65 new products that will be introduced in the next five years.
PONTIAC SOLSTICE: "I think they've done a very nice job of bringing it into production, and if they can bring it to the market for under $20,000 it's a very high-quality little two-seat roadster. It's a nice proportion; the shape has lightened and matured from concept to production."

Joel Piaskowski, Hyundai
Chief designer, Hyundai Kia Design and Technical Center. in Irvine, Calif.
PONTIAC SOLSTICE: "It is a pretty darned good interpretation of the show car. As a designer you can see some things that were compromised to allow for federalization and packaging. Some of the proportions changed a little bit; the car got a little bit larger. But to Joe Public, it's a show car at a price point that's going to be very affordable, and that's exciting for Pontiac."

Jeff Schuster, J. D. Power & Associates
Director of North American Forecasting in Troy, Mich., for the big market research firm.
PONTIAC SOLSTICE: "It's elegant. It has pizazz. That isn't easy to do. That will be a hot vehicle in the competitive lower sporty segments where it competes against the [Mazda] Miata and the [Toyota] MR2 Spyder. It's unique in that it's an image car at the low end of the price scale, which we don't see a lot. It gives the Pontiac brand an overall boost in terms of its image. and offers it potential access to a new buyer."

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2006 VIN #30, first 1000 series, black exterior, sand/steel interior
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That was indeed an interesting article. I was a little put off by the fact that they really didn't say anything bad about any of the cars. Maybe some 'I'll scratch your back....' thing going on. But the more I read the article the less I thought that.

It was nice to hear what other peeps in the industry had to say about the Solstice. Thanks for sharing!

Agree considering they are competitors it's a bit fluffy. Interesting how many chose to talk about Solstice unless they were prompted by the reporter.

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2006 VIN #30, first 1000 series, black exterior, sand/steel interior
Index of useful threads: General, Tech

Excellent article. Interesting to read their thoughts. One more on the Solstice from a guy at Nissan:

PONTIAC SOLSTICE: "The interior quality is very nice, and the exterior surfaces were very beautiful. If you look at the rear deck and the way the headrests are integrated into the sheet metal, it's very, very beautiful and quite elegant. I don't think anybody has challenged the Miata in that range for a long time."

I imagine most of the comments were pretty positive since they were asked to pick their favorites. Good to see so many of them mentioned the Solstice. Pontiac definitely has an image-changer with this car. Can't wait!

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Thanks for building it Bob!