[DaveOC]

This question dates back to probably 2002, maybe a bit earlier, but does anyone know why?

I don't think I've ever seen a description of the naming process.

.

 

[njtex]

Because Lutz signed off on it!

 

[MomsSol]

I'd have to check my Solstice Book....if I could only find it!

 

[DaveOC]

I'd have to check my Solstice Book....if I could only find it!

My question was not answered in the first 35 pages of the Solstice Book. It is always just referred to as "Solstice". This is why I asked the question.

So, who named it? Wayne Cherry? Bob Lutz? Franz von Holzhausen? Someone else?

.

 

[KappaKadet]

:smash: "Ladies & gentlemen, start your search engines." :driving:

 

[2KWK4U]

If memory serves, we had this discussion when the forum began. Came to the conclusion that it has to do with the car being the pinnacle of a Pontiac sports car while at the same time being introduced during the company's darkest days...

or some such BS...

 

[2KWK4U]

Here's a crusty old thread for your reading pleasure:

http://www.solsticeforum.com/forum/f11/complaint-name-6612/

 

[ChopTop]

Edited because originally thought question was how was the Kappa name come up with, not Solstice. Regardless, I somewhat get the name in that it was developed during Pontiac's darkest days and possible hoped to be one of their high points. Just wished Pontiac had taken the time to come up with a really cool insignia because I still think the Fiero Pegasus was one of the car industry's cooler emblems. It's currently Fiat Abarth scorpion. Nice graphic, but car looks so-so. Solstice reminds of a happy face t-shirt I used to own, though mine had a bullet hole in it's head with a trickle of blood running down it's face to reflect my warped sense of humor toward that lets be happy crap. :brentil:

 

[GrandpaSolstice]

The Chevy Equinox was introduced before the Solstice as were the Vega, Astro, and Nova. Then there was the Saturn Sky. But maybe I'm trying to make a connection where there is none.

 

[KappaKadet]

According to an April 2002 article in Popular Science , Bob Lutz decided to place his new sportster concept car under the Pontiac banner. It was indeed Pontiac which came up with the name, apparently sometime in late September of 2001.

 

[DaveOC]

According to an April 2002 article in Popular Science , Bob Lutz decided to place his new sportster concept car under the Pontiac banner. It was indeed Pontiac which came up with the name, apparently sometime in late September of 2001.

Naming the car was another challenge. Pontiac, which had just painfully announced that 2002 would be the last year of its 1960s-era muscle car, the Firebird, desperately needed a lift. So Lutz put the new concept car under Pontiac's imprint. None of the designers or engineers was particularly cheered when Pontiac proposed the name Solstice, but it stuck after more evocative suggestions failed legal department scrutiny.

Good Job hunting there Mr. KKadet, I suspect that is as close to an answer as is out there.

:dthumbs:

 

[MomsSol]

Other than the Chevy Equinox...what other car can celebrate a change of season!

The Solstice brand celebrated it's first Summer Solstice in Kansas City, MO in 2006 (one Sky attened) and with the exception of the NASSM in Las Vegas, we have celebrated it every year on or near that date through today in Flagstaff.

IMHO they hit it big with the name Solstice!

 

[KappaKadet]

Happy summer Solstice 2013 !

IMHO they hit it big with the name Solstice!

Yeah, at least the dreamers at Pontiac didn't call it a SPARK willy: Chevy).

 

[DaveOC]

OK, now we sort of know that the name "Solstice" came from Pontiac Division in late 2001, but we still don't know why it became "Solstice".

I suspect the answer to that question will remain steeped in obscurity forever, but I welcome anyone to take a shot at it.

 

[LatinVenom]

Why not send an e-mail to BOB Lutz and see if he responds.

 

[Goat67]

I don't who or where the name came from, but poetically it fits fairly well. Solstice is a change in seasons or weather, for Pontiac it was the last blast of heat before things got real cold.

 

[njtex]

The answer is simple, the concept car was called Solstice and Pontiac decided to keep the name when they put it into production.

So why was the concept called Solstice?

 

[OSUCherokee]

The answer is simple, the concept car was called Solstice and Pontiac decided to keep the name when they put it into production.

So why was the concept called Solstice?

I think it's much simpler than folks realize. It's a Summer car, and June 21st has the most amount of daylight for the northern hemisphere. So, being that it's a North American, convertible car. The best possible time to drive it would be June 21st as you'll have the most daylight with warm temperatures to enjoy it.

 

[drgronk]

I think it's much simpler than folks realize. It's a Summer car, and June 21st has the most amount of daylight for the northern hemisphere. So, being that it's a North American, convertible car. The best possible time to drive it would be June 21st as you'll have the most daylight with warm temperatures to enjoy it.

I like the simple theories, but there is the winter Solstice too of course, in fact that's when I picked my baby up a few years ago. Also longer days in summer apply to the southern hemisphere as well as northern (their winter = our summer).

I'll hazard another theory for examination though...

Solstice comes from the latin Sol (Sun) and Sistere (stand still) since the Sun appears to stop in it's angle of declination to earth (either at the tropic of capricorn or cancer) and change direction for the next 2 seasons.

So the connection for me with this slowing and shift in sun direction is that either while slowing down and stopping at a light (I love the down shifting gurgle of the Mach exhaust), or taking off afterwards my solstice is usually the star everyone is watching at that precise moment. Also how many looks does the car draw just parked in the sun?

 

[GrandpaSolstice]

Solstice can also mean a furthest or culminating point or a turning point. The theme song for Grandpa's Solstice (which you may have heard a few times at the last few nationals as it headed out on a run) is End of the Line by The Traveling Wilburys.

We're going to the end of the line.