87GTA
05-07-2009, 10:22 PM
This article is from the July '09 issue of HIGH PROFORMANCE PONTIAC, and it's a very good point of view on PONTIAC's future!
BY TOMAS A DeMAURO
This editorial may be an excersie in futility given magazine lead times, as there may be no GM, let alone a Pontiac, by the time this issue hits the newsstand. It's a sobering thought. Nevertheless, optimist that I am, I'll assume that the government money did come through and GM was able to keep the light on and Pontiac, though "demoted," has survived.
Bad news has been coming out of GM and the industry in general for months. The worst, as of this writing, for Pontia fans came in mid-February with GM saying it was going to "ldemote" Pontiac to a specialty division of sorts that would have fewer models.
Then came the "worser" reports, as news organizations began to sing Pontiac's swan song and broadcast eulogies of the division with stock footage of GTO's and Firebirds and various Pontiacs in better times. Commentators waxed poetically regarding Pontiacs they had known and loved and lamented the current state of GM's once mighty performance division. The problem, most were saying, or at least implying strongly, is that Pontiac was dead already when it really wasn't.
Is it now as you read this? Hopefully, not.
As long as GM is still in busines, Pontiac should have a fighting chance. Though many view the Division's demotion as the end, if handled intelligently, it actually could be a rebirth.
Currently, Pontiac is selling the G8, the Solstice, the G6, the G5, and the Vibe, and the G3 is just coming out. In the not-too-distant duture, the division will be paired down to as little as two lines --- G8 and Solstice. Luckily, those are the two performance ones.
If Pontiac could rebuild from there as a specialty performance division, it should survive. I know it's an old tune by now, I've played it here many times, and I have published the Kevin Morgan renderings (not shown), but wouldn't it make sense to build a Trans Am and Formula once again?
Despite the fact that GM has announced the G8 and Camaro are the last U.S. cars to be based on the Zeta architecture, there are a few more that could save Pontiac from being another casualty of our lates economic situation.
Like the mythical Firebird that rose from the ashes, so too should the Pontiac Firedbird, and bring its Division with it. With the camaro in production, the R&D is already paid for (we hope). How difficult would it be to produce a Firebird? Put a Pontiac nose on it, change the taillights, add graphics, liven up the interior, and you will have a performance car for Pontiac.
Badge engineering, you say? No more so than past Third-Gen and Fourth-Gen Birds, and we appreciate them. Besides, GM isn't going to tool up for any Pontiac that isn't shared with another division or divisions any time soon. And if you design it well and offer comprehensive packages that separate it from the Camaro while providing real valuse, it will be 1970 1/2 all over again.
Here's my layman's approach. Forego the V-6 completely ---after all, this is the performance division, right?
Formula: Install the 400-horse 6.2L L99. Offer the 6L80 six-speed auto or the Tremec six-speed manual; 14-inch, 4-piston Brembo brakes; and the 19x8-inch wheels with 245/50R-19 tires. Add a dual-scooped hood, a short rear spoiler, a modern interpretation of the W50 Appearance Package from the Second-Gen Formula, and full instrmentation. Keep the comfort and convience items to a minimum to hold the price down. Sell it starting as 29,000---a couple of thousand dollars less than the Camaro SS (1SS).
Trans Am: Offer the 6.2L, 426-horse LS3 with a choice of the 6L80 six-speed auto (with optional TAPshift) or the Tremec six-speed manual. Include the 14-inch, 4-piston Brembo brakes and the 20x9-inch rear wheels with 245/45R-20 and 275/40R-20 tires respectively. Add a specific lower front fascia (different from the Formula) with an integrated air dam, High Intensity Discharge headlamps with LED halo rings, a modernized shaker hood, a tall rear spoiler, abd Trans Am graphics. Sell it starting at $33,000---$2,000 more than the Camaro SS (1SS).
Trans Am S/E: Get crazy and install a 505-horse LS7 from Z06 Vette, paint the T/A black with gold graphics, and you'll have the fastest S/E Trans Am ever conceived. GM already put a 550-horse LS7 crate engine in a Camaro for the SEMA show. Chevy shouldn't mind if Pontiac gets LS7. It still has the exclusive 638-horse, supercharged LS9 for its ZR1. Price the S/E at $40,000 and go beat up on Challenger SRT8s.
Here are three new performance cars for Pontiac, based on an existing GM platform and existing drivetrains. Currently, the Camaro SS has the 426-horse LS3, paired with the stick trans only, and then 400-horse L99, with Active Fuel Management paired with automatic only. Once GM gets the technology to add Active Fuel Management to its V-8s with manual transmissions, Pontiac could offer both transmissions with each engine as suggested above, with the slightly lower powered L99 in the Formula and the more powerful LS3 in the T/A, thereby further differentiating these models from the Camaro SS. Add these models to the already moderately successful, yet highly acclaimed G8, G8 GT, and GXP and Solstice coupes and convertibles and you have a reborn specialty performance wehicle division for GM that shows promise.
My plan may appear farfetched when GM is fighting just to survive the next month as I write this, but it certainly seems like a more positive action than watching the once-great Pontiac fade into obscurity, model by model, over the next three years. Am I naive in thinking that any of this is even possible? Perhaps. But hope is better than the alternative.
BY TOMAS A DeMAURO
This editorial may be an excersie in futility given magazine lead times, as there may be no GM, let alone a Pontiac, by the time this issue hits the newsstand. It's a sobering thought. Nevertheless, optimist that I am, I'll assume that the government money did come through and GM was able to keep the light on and Pontiac, though "demoted," has survived.
Bad news has been coming out of GM and the industry in general for months. The worst, as of this writing, for Pontia fans came in mid-February with GM saying it was going to "ldemote" Pontiac to a specialty division of sorts that would have fewer models.
Then came the "worser" reports, as news organizations began to sing Pontiac's swan song and broadcast eulogies of the division with stock footage of GTO's and Firebirds and various Pontiacs in better times. Commentators waxed poetically regarding Pontiacs they had known and loved and lamented the current state of GM's once mighty performance division. The problem, most were saying, or at least implying strongly, is that Pontiac was dead already when it really wasn't.
Is it now as you read this? Hopefully, not.
As long as GM is still in busines, Pontiac should have a fighting chance. Though many view the Division's demotion as the end, if handled intelligently, it actually could be a rebirth.
Currently, Pontiac is selling the G8, the Solstice, the G6, the G5, and the Vibe, and the G3 is just coming out. In the not-too-distant duture, the division will be paired down to as little as two lines --- G8 and Solstice. Luckily, those are the two performance ones.
If Pontiac could rebuild from there as a specialty performance division, it should survive. I know it's an old tune by now, I've played it here many times, and I have published the Kevin Morgan renderings (not shown), but wouldn't it make sense to build a Trans Am and Formula once again?
Despite the fact that GM has announced the G8 and Camaro are the last U.S. cars to be based on the Zeta architecture, there are a few more that could save Pontiac from being another casualty of our lates economic situation.
Like the mythical Firebird that rose from the ashes, so too should the Pontiac Firedbird, and bring its Division with it. With the camaro in production, the R&D is already paid for (we hope). How difficult would it be to produce a Firebird? Put a Pontiac nose on it, change the taillights, add graphics, liven up the interior, and you will have a performance car for Pontiac.
Badge engineering, you say? No more so than past Third-Gen and Fourth-Gen Birds, and we appreciate them. Besides, GM isn't going to tool up for any Pontiac that isn't shared with another division or divisions any time soon. And if you design it well and offer comprehensive packages that separate it from the Camaro while providing real valuse, it will be 1970 1/2 all over again.
Here's my layman's approach. Forego the V-6 completely ---after all, this is the performance division, right?
Formula: Install the 400-horse 6.2L L99. Offer the 6L80 six-speed auto or the Tremec six-speed manual; 14-inch, 4-piston Brembo brakes; and the 19x8-inch wheels with 245/50R-19 tires. Add a dual-scooped hood, a short rear spoiler, a modern interpretation of the W50 Appearance Package from the Second-Gen Formula, and full instrmentation. Keep the comfort and convience items to a minimum to hold the price down. Sell it starting as 29,000---a couple of thousand dollars less than the Camaro SS (1SS).
Trans Am: Offer the 6.2L, 426-horse LS3 with a choice of the 6L80 six-speed auto (with optional TAPshift) or the Tremec six-speed manual. Include the 14-inch, 4-piston Brembo brakes and the 20x9-inch rear wheels with 245/45R-20 and 275/40R-20 tires respectively. Add a specific lower front fascia (different from the Formula) with an integrated air dam, High Intensity Discharge headlamps with LED halo rings, a modernized shaker hood, a tall rear spoiler, abd Trans Am graphics. Sell it starting at $33,000---$2,000 more than the Camaro SS (1SS).
Trans Am S/E: Get crazy and install a 505-horse LS7 from Z06 Vette, paint the T/A black with gold graphics, and you'll have the fastest S/E Trans Am ever conceived. GM already put a 550-horse LS7 crate engine in a Camaro for the SEMA show. Chevy shouldn't mind if Pontiac gets LS7. It still has the exclusive 638-horse, supercharged LS9 for its ZR1. Price the S/E at $40,000 and go beat up on Challenger SRT8s.
Here are three new performance cars for Pontiac, based on an existing GM platform and existing drivetrains. Currently, the Camaro SS has the 426-horse LS3, paired with the stick trans only, and then 400-horse L99, with Active Fuel Management paired with automatic only. Once GM gets the technology to add Active Fuel Management to its V-8s with manual transmissions, Pontiac could offer both transmissions with each engine as suggested above, with the slightly lower powered L99 in the Formula and the more powerful LS3 in the T/A, thereby further differentiating these models from the Camaro SS. Add these models to the already moderately successful, yet highly acclaimed G8, G8 GT, and GXP and Solstice coupes and convertibles and you have a reborn specialty performance wehicle division for GM that shows promise.
My plan may appear farfetched when GM is fighting just to survive the next month as I write this, but it certainly seems like a more positive action than watching the once-great Pontiac fade into obscurity, model by model, over the next three years. Am I naive in thinking that any of this is even possible? Perhaps. But hope is better than the alternative.