Leftlanenews.com reports that Pontiac will show a targa version of the Solstice at the New York Auto Show. A targa would be welcome; ridding the model of its fidgety folding canvas roof thingy. But will putting the panel in the trunk totally kill the Solstice's other bugbear: less storage space than the Bugatti Veyron's Hermes purse? I'm thinking yes. LLN also reports that GM is considering a Solstice coupe. Sometimes a new bodystyle can jump start sales of a car. Other times, it just adds to the 176-day supply of Solstii sitting on dealer lots. If you think that a sad stat– buyers were paying big ass premiums for this car just two years ago– consider the fact that GM hasn't even begun work on a second generation Solstice, or announced any improvements to the car's too much grip not enough fun driving dynamics. The GM's old next big thing ain't so big; it's just small, that's all.
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I hope the production version looks better than your picture. It looks like a Del Sol uglified. Solstice looks best with the top down.
That is a del sol buddy.
IIRC, the Solstice got quite a boost from being a task on the Apprentice.
Joking right? I’m pretty sure that is a Del Sol, and I think it actually looked good (the Solstice coupe pictures I’ve seen look ok). The last gen CRX still looks even better to me. If Pontiac can get a small, lightweight, RWD coupe to market around 20-25k I think they will hit a market that has for a long time had to make a choice between bloated muscle cars and FWD pocket rockets. The 1-series is a good example, except for being way overpriced (lux+overweight).
The solstice should’ve been a hardtop to begin with.
Sorry. Never realized del sol was so ugly.
I had a Solstice for about a year and I really liked the car. The rock solid structure impressed me most.
I’m actually a little surprised to hear this. After GM said that Pontiac would no longer be their performance division, I was half expecting the Solstice to go bye-bye along with RWD coupes in general, since it’s such a small market. Hopefully they won’t make a Saturn version. Should the Sky be killed, or could they make a shooting brake version without too much overlap?
Mama always said think before you speak haha.
And the Del Sol was always ugly, they just found a camera angle that somehow made it look worse.
The solstice is the only car one would actually consider putting smaller tires than stock on it.
And that is not a Del Sol… it looks very similar to one, but it is really the new targa solstice. Really. No really.
The Solstice coupe concepts were pretty attractive (or at least I thought so), so I would expect the targa to look better than this. The Solstice may not be all that, but looks aren’t its downfall.
Didn’t the Solstice outsell the Miata in 2007?
Does anyone have those figures…I’m too lazy to look?
Why doesn’t anybody ever mention the one 2-seat sports car which should have been a magnificent rag-top, or an excellent targa, from the get….
the original RX7 ….it would be cool to see what TTAC’s chopshop could do making a picture of that. Why some genius designer looking for something of retro-hit with a small two-seater didn’t look at (steal from?)that design is a question I’ve pondered….Mazda couldn’t do it…they have the Miata/MX5….
Didn’t the Solstice outsell the Miata in 2007?
Yes, by a whopping difference of about 1,700 cars. At the current sales pace and with economic conditions as they are, I doubt that either one will be a screaming success during 2008.
I would put money on this — ten years from now, only one of these companies will be selling a two-seat roadster. And Pontiac won’t be one of them.
Pontiac still should have called the Solstice the “Fiero.”
Another great example of an awesome GM idea left to languish at the hands of the beancounters. The 1988 V6 edition was absolutely incredible. Some years ago, I met one of the members of the design team for the Fiero, and he still was upset that GM watered down the concept by the time it arrived in 1984.
Ugh, fiero.
I would suggest a targa coupe with a hatch could add storage space, AND end the lousy roof problems. Mini pontiac vette anyone?
The real trick would be making it more fun to drive though. Sounds like smaller wheels might be in the recipe?
What does it matter what type of roof the damn thing has? These cars are crap. I’ve never been a GM fan, but I almost fell in love with this car when it came out. That is, until I started reading reviews. Not a single review, IMO, has been good.
Fast is great, but first and foremost, a sports car should 1. Stay glued around the corners and 2. Brake like crazy (without fade!!). I can buy a used sedan and hit the same numbers going forward, but sadly the same used Sedan can out-brake and out-handle this “sports coupe.”
Hard-top, Targa, T-Tops (my favorite), Convertable, these things are all aesthetic. Fix the suspension and brakes, then we can talk (I do like what I’ve read about the Turbo engine, though).
Well, I am really not a fan of the styling or interiors of the Solstice. Now, the Saturn version is really handsome but suffers from the same interior issues… nasty plastic, no storage, LOUSY after-thought cup holders… need I go on? The worst offense may be the top/trunk… neither of the two items should even qualify… the trunk is a mess of mechanicals and a tiny tiny space to shove something in… not even a shoe box would fit. That is just plain LAZY engineering.