[omw41]

I know the Pebble Beach Story about seeing the Cheetah and incorporating that into the Solstice design, but is it just me, or do I see the Solstice here? That would predate the Pebble Beach Story by more than 50 years, no?

 

[rob the elder]

Very cool. I see it too.

 

[jeff465]

Looks like a custom Vette in 1954.

 

[omw41]

Looks like a custom Vette in 1954.

You called it right on the money.

1954 Pontiac Bonneville Special

 

[chickenwire]

Can Norm make the bubble top for the Sol?

 

[omw41]

Can Norm make the bubble top for the Sol?

I would buy one.

 

[1 LIL NDN]

The thing is they only Made (2) and both were suppose to be Destroyed. This one was taken and stored and still lives somewhere. I think it is in Calif somewhere . Who knows maybe Jay Leno has it.

 

[Dan Furr]

Yep....... I agree. ...The way I've heard it, it took Pontiac 50 years to get permission from GM to put out a true roadster.

 

[HUH]

The thing is they only Made (2) and both were suppose to be Destroyed. This one was taken and stored and still lives somewhere. I think it is in Calif somewhere . Who knows maybe Jay Leno has it.

The other one is part of the Bortz collection in Illinois

See:
1954 Pontiac Bonneville Special

 

[GrandpaSolstice]

Don't forget the 1954 Buick Wildcat II roadster. Every division wanted a piece of the action. Click here for Buick Wildcat II photo.

 

[The_Ghost]

Yep....... I agree. ...The way I've heard it, it took Pontiac 50 years to get permission from GM to put out a true roadster.

Lest we forget the Fiero???? The Fiero would have been the first true roadster had it not been discontinued. There were plans to have a convertible option and by the early 90's they wanted something about 220hp... Then the Corvette division stepped in and said nope....because they were getting beat in testing. Pontiac division at that particular moment blew a HUGE opportunity to step in and say we want to be the performance division for GM. Who knows what 2015 might bring! Just sayin....

 

[omw41]

It's just nice to know that we own an American made car that came from a GM Division that embraced forward thinking R & D and was not afraid to take a chance at the strip or the track.

 

[RedSkyMan]

The rarest concept car is the Olds F-88 Rocket Concept that looks a lot like the 53 Vette. The Rocket still exist today in a private collection after being restored from parts stored in boxes and sold at auction for 3.24 million back in 2007.

 

[omw41]

The rarest concept car is the Olds F-88 Rocket Concept that looks a lot like the 53 Vette. The Rocket still exist today in a private collection after being restored from parts stored in boxes and sold at auction for 3.24 million back in 2007.

:agree:

The rear looks a lot like a Cadillac to me, but I still can see traces of the Solstice there. I suppose I am just stuck on the idea that our car was not thrown together as fast as it is sometimes suggested. A Pontiac roadster like ours was years in the making. The Fiero came close, but I can't think of another one from Pontiac. Was there another two seater besides Fiero and Solstice? I work at night and it is early in the day for me, so if I am missing something obvious...

 

[DaveOC]

:agree:

The rear looks a lot like a Cadillac to me, but I still can see traces of the Solstice there. I suppose I am just stuck on the idea that our car was not thrown together as fast as it is sometimes suggested. A Pontiac roadster like ours was years in the making. The Fiero came close, but I can't think of another one from Pontiac. Was there another two seater besides Fiero and Solstice? I work at night and it is early in the day for me, so if I am missing something obvious...

Pontiac Banshee - 1964 - another concept, not a production car.

 

[omw41]

Yeah. Cool. Now I remember; I had that Hot Wheels.

 

[ChopTop]

1953 Chevrolet Corvette
Designed to woo returned American servicemen who fell under the spell of Jaguars, MGs and Triumphs during their World War II service in Europe, the Chevrolet Corvette was the first proper American sports car. And its primacy simply cannot be overstated.

The Corvette was invented in 1951 by GM designer Harley Earl, who was inspired by the great European sports cars of the day and wanted to create an American sports car that could compete and win at the race track. The name "Corvette" was borrowed from a line of small, fast navy ships used in World War II.


Pontiac Bonneville
Renowned GM designer Harley Earl was inspired by a trip to the Bonneville salt flats. He wanted to create a car which captured the essence of the Bonneville racers and show the public that Pontiac was leading the industry in innovative thinking.

Designed as Pontiac's answer to the Chevrolet Corvette, the flashy 1954 Bonneville Special conveys a look of high speed. Following the trend of jet-age styling, the Bonneville features a distinctive aircraft-style Plexiglas bubble top with gull-wing glass door tops over the cockpit and the a radical continental kit, designed to look like a jet turbine.

Only two of these cars were built so they could be displayed simultaneously at the Los Angeles and Detroit Auto Shows. After touring the country for spectators to see, Motorama concept cars were typically destroyed. However, these two Pontiacs somehow avoided their date with the crusher and survived.


Pontiac Solstice Book Gary Witzenburg
Portrait of the Artist.
Franz Von Holzhausen was inspired by yearly pilgramages to Pebble Beach and Monterey Historics Races every year with a bunch of friends, camp out at Turn Six and wake up to the cars going WHOO, WHOO out on the track. It's cold on those mornings, and looking down, the track is right there, and the cars are very visible. It's great fun, very cool, It's a tradition.

I came back to our California studio inspired by walking around the pits and seeing some of the classic cars--not as pieces of jewelry out on a lawn but in the environment where they really shine--on the track, the dirt and grime and the smell of oil and gasoline. I'm talking E-Types Jags, Cheetahs, RSKs, early Ferraris.

 

[1 LIL NDN]

Chop Top , Very good right up & details ( You did your homework well ) :yesnod: :thumbs: :grouphug:

 

[The_Ghost]

Only two of these cars were built so they could be displayed simultaneously at the Los Angeles and Detroit Auto Shows. After touring the country for spectators to see, Motorama concept cars were typically destroyed. However, these two Pontiacs somehow avoided their date with the crusher and survived.

This actually happened to Ford in 1995. There were 7 Ford Mustang GT's built with removable hardtops. A blue, green, red, yellow, black, orange and purple one....all with white interior and a white canvas top, but with a removable hardtop. They were supposed to go to the crusher as they were just prototypes. However, they accidentally got sent to the exec sale lot and were quickly purchased before anyone could realize the mistake. Only 2 are still known to exhist (as of the last Mustang meet in 2008 I was at), the purple one and the yellow one. Rumor has it Ford tried to buy it back from the current owner for about $50k.....and it has close to 150k on it. My Mustang was 1 of 15 built in '98 that was yellow with white leather and a white top. Only 12 were known to exhist in 2006 and I sold it this last fall for $6500 with 140k on it....

 

[KappaKadet]

The following year Lincoln got on the space age bandwagon

with their own sporty little concept car, the 1955 Futura.