Pontiac Straightline Archives

GM has released another press release stating that the Pontiac Vibe is safe to drive despite being on Toyota's sticky pedal recall list. Specifically, GM says it tested two Vibe vehicles to see if the brakes were powerful enough to overcome the engine at full throttle.

"We ran the Vibe wide open at 60 miles an hour and the brakes were able to bring the vehicle to a safe stop within 169 meters, consistent with our internal requirement for brake performance." said Martin Hogan, GM director of brake systems.

So there you have it, should your Pontiac Vibe take off in a fit of acceleration just press the brake and hold.

GM

Categories: General Motors,Pontiac,Toyota Recalls,Wagons

GM has released a statement regarding the 2009-2010 Pontiac Vibe that was recalled along with a whole bunch of Toyotas last week. GM says that based on its experience, "the Vibe is safe to drive," and it received no complaints of unintended acceleration prior to the recall.

Notably, GM says that after the recall it received several complains about sticking throttle pedals from customers. None of the claimed incidents caused any accidents.

Think people might be watching the news just a little too much?

GM

Categories: Auto Industry,General Motors,Hatchbacks,Pontiac

We've got to give General Motors some credit here: The company cancelled the Pontiac G8 program, yet we cannot shut up about it. First, there was all the talk of the G8 being resurrected as a Caprice. Now, Mark Reuss, president of GM North America, is offering hope that the Ute open-bed verision of this rear-drive Holden might come to the U.S. as an El Camino.

"I think another brand with the Ute would be pretty attractive," Reuss told PickupTrucks.com in an interview. He then suggested that brand might be Chevrolet.

The prospect of using more fuel-efficient direct-injected V6 and V8 engines this time around might make the proposition more feasible, he added.

We of course saw the Holden Ute when it was dressed up as the Pontiac G8 Sport Truck at the 2008 New York Auto Show. It had the go-ahead for production, but then, well, you know what happened. Thanks go to Bob Holland for the tip.

PickupTrucks.com

Categories: Chevrolet,General Motors,Pontiac,Trucks

General Motors' sales chief, Susan Docherty, says only 796 new Pontiacs are left in inventory. If you search on AutoTrader, you'll turn up 121 Pontiac G8 GTs and GXPs listed nationally. So if you want one of the desirable G8s, they're getting quite scarce.

A search for the far less satisfying V6-equipped G8 turns up 73 listings.

Auto Observer

AutoTrader

Categories: Auto Industry,Pontiac,Sedans

Long goodbyes are painful (and bad for public relations), so General Motors is offering dealers a big incentive to sell off the remaining Pontiacs and Saturns, according to a Wall Street Journal report. GM will pay $7,000 for every car moved out of new car inventory and into rental- or service-vehicle fleets before Jan. 4.

Said vehicles must then be sold as used cars, but when the dealer passes the cash along to the customer, the savings could be quite significant. However, this can't be combined with the 0-percent, 72-month loan terms or the $6,500 rebate GM has already been offering.

The program is of course expected to inflate GM's December sales, though Saturns and Pontiacs have been very difficult to move in recent months, averaging a combined 13,000 deliveries per month. The problem? Dwindling inventories make it unlikely that you'll still find a car as desirable as this G8 GT. But if it's a G3 you want, step right up.

Wall Street Journal

Categories: Auto Industry,General Motors,Pontiac,Saturn

Curious whether the new 2010 Honda Accord has an optional neck massager? How about the tow rating on the Ford F-150? And what about those European cars, they're always adding some new totally nonessential technological "feature."

Now there's an easy way to find out. Our 2010 Buyer's Guide lists every model change from every manufacturer. From colors to options to full redesigns, it's all there.

2010 Buyer's Guide 

Categories: Acura,Aston Martin,Audi,BMW,Bentley,Bugatti,Buick,Cadillac,Chevrolet,Chrysler,Dodge,Ferrari,Fiat,Ford,GMC,General Motors,HUMMER,Honda,Hyundai,Infiniti,Jaguar,Jeep,Kia,Lamborghini,Land Rover,Lexus,Lincoln,Lotus,MINI,Maserati,Maybach,Mazda,Mercedes-Benz,Mercury,Mitsubishi,Nissan,Pontiac,Porsche,Rolls-Royce,SMART,Saab,Saturn,Scion,Subaru,Suzuki,Tesla Motors,Toyota,Volkswagen,Volvo

This is yet another attempt to bring back the Trans Am glory days. It has the name and a big 455 V8 up front, but the Lingenfelter 455 T/A just doesn't look right.
 
Essentially a new Camaro with a heavy makeover, the LPE 455 T/A's proportions are all wrong. If anything, this vehicle highlights the size differences between the new Camaro and the first-generation version. Add on all the Trans Am bodywork and it only gets worse.
 
At least there's some real muscle under the hood. Lingenfelter built an all-aluminum 455 that the company claims makes 655 horsepower and 610 pound-feet of torque. There's a heavy-duty clutch setup and reinforced half shafts that feed the power to 20-inch honeycomb wheels with 315/35ZR20 tires.

Categories: Chevrolet,Classic Cars,Coupes,Pontiac,SEMA Show,Tuners and Modifications

Fisker Automotive, which has yet to build its first car, is expected to sign a deal to buy GM's shuttered plant in Wilmington, Delaware that previously built the Pontiac Solstice and Saturn Sky. Vice President Joe Biden is scheduled to make an appearance in his home state tomorrow to announce the deal.

Fisker has already contracted production of its upcoming Karma electric sedan to Valmet Automotive of Finland. The Wilmington plant would be used to build Fisker's second vehicle which is expected to have a price closer to $50,000 when it debuts in 2012.

And how can an automaker with no revenues afford to buy an entire auto plant? Easy, the government gave it to them. Actually, the government gave Fisker a $528M loan, which should be more than enough to pay for the idled plant. The money will then go to GM which just so happens to owe the government a big chunk of money itself. And just like that, the government gets its money back. Now that's a deal.

AutoObserver: "Old" GM May Offload Plant on New-Age Automaker
 

Categories: Auto Industry,General Motors,Pontiac,Saturn

Ever the promoter, Jim Wangers promised us "a hokey little show" to accompany the unveiling of the reincarnated 1969 Pontiac GTO Judge being built by Big 3 Performance that will bear his signature.
 
Billows of smoke engulfed a garage door, from behind which came the rumble and roar of a big V8. The door opened and there was Wangers behind the wheel of an iridescent orange GTO, smiling like a kid of 23 (not 83), as the unmistakable prow of his latest automotive endeavor parted the smokescreen.
 
Wangers, as the logo on his golf shirt proudly proclaims, is the "Godfather of the GTO," based on the innovative marketing tactics (and at times pure hokum) he devised to enhance the high-performance image of the model created in 1965 by Pontiac's Russell Gee, Bill Collins and John DeLorean. The promotional campaign that Wangers managed so successfully tapped into America's love of fast cars that it ignited the muscle car craze of the 1960s. 

Continue reading 1969 Pontiac GTO Judge Jim Wangers Edition.

Categories: Carnival of Cars,Manufacturers,More Categories,Pontiac,Tuners and Modifications

Duck-tail spoiler? Check. Fender vents? Check. Twin-port front grille? Check. Raised white-letter tires? Check. A 445 cubic inch V8? Check. Honeycomb wheels and a screamin' chicken? Oh, hell yeah.

Call it an homage or a re-creation or whatever you'd like, but the 455 TA that Lingenfelter Performance Engineering is bringing to the SEMA show in early November is a peculiar kind of awesome. Inspired by (or copied from) the second-generation 1971 Pontiac Trans-Am with the 455 engine, the Lingenfelter hits most of the right visual notes. Certainly, we think the time for the return of the honeycomb wheel is past due.

Built on a current Camaro body, the 455 TA packs a GM LS-based, aluminum-block, 655-horsepower V8 with an 11.5:1 compression ratio and ported and polished LS7 heads. It uses the a variation on the Corvette ZR1's twin-disc flywheel and clutch assembly. The wheels are custom 20-inchers wearing Nitto tires.

Lingenfelter promises "custom classic interior" to match the exterior style. Look for more information from the SEMA show floor on November 3. The vehicle is a one-off for now. But Lingenfelter claims, it'll be gauging whether there's enough interest to build a run of customer cars.

Categories: General Motors,Pontiac,SEMA Show,Tuners and Modifications

Pontiac may be dead as a division of GM, but the enthusiast community will be around a while longer. Jim Wangers helped build up Pontiac's performance credentials in the 1960s, and he is the reason you know the name GTO today.

Big 3 Performance has created the Jim Wangers Signature Edition Pontiac GTO, taking the original body of a '69 GTO and placing it atop a modern chassis custom-fabricated by Roadster Shop. Big 3 says it built its GTO to handle track work; the front suspension is borrowed from a DSE (Detroit Speed & Engineering) C6 Corvette and the rear is a triangulated four-link design.

The engine, supplied by Butler Performance, is a 505-cid (8.3-liter), fuel-injected V8. It's hooked up to a Dodge Viper-spec, 6-speed Tremec manual driving the rear wheels through 3.73 gears. HRE wheels measure 19-by-10 inches up front and 20-by-12 inches in the rear.

There's not much old Goat heritage in the cabin, which is apparently lavished with heated/cooled Recaro seats, air conditioning and power this and that. You can see this GTO for yourself at SEMA in November, or at the Tour de Wangers in mid-October.

Inside Line News: Jim Wangers Announces Signature Edition GTO

Categories: Classic Cars,Coupes,Pontiac

Categories: Pontiac

This semi-regular column is written (in his own blood) by an automotive sage and noted malcontent, known as The Mechanic. Mercilessly beaten as a child with rolled-up back issues of old car magazines, our free-spoken hero developed a unique "for your own good" take on cars and the auto industry, along with an unfortunate habit of setting himself ablaze. Later, after a distinguished career as an automotive journalist and magazine editor, he cast off the reins of his musty oppressors, carved out his superego with a plastic spork and became The Mechanic.

Cash for Clunkers officially ended exactly one minute ago. Sad. A real shame. Now what is America's trailer trash going to do? Where's their next handout going to come from? Meth isn't getting any cheaper, ya know. Not even in this down market. Obama better get busy figuring out another way to give away my tax dollars.

Oh wait, that's right, his health care system will supply the great unwashed with plenty of my hard-earned money. Something to look forward to.

One good thing about Cash for Clunkers is how quickly it rid the world of Pontiacs. The brand just had its best few months in years. It's practically sold out of the very same crapmobiles it couldn't give away before Obama made Bubba's rusting lawn art worth $4,500.

What's that? You need a Pontiac G5 for target practice (basically the only thing it's good for), well you're out of luck. Some big-bellied, chain-smoker with beer on his breath and food stamps in his pocket just traded in his 1992 Bonneville SSEi on the last one. He's a guest on The Jerry Springer Show tonight and wanted to arrive in style.

Continue reading Clunkers and the Trailer Trash.

Categories: Auto Industry,Chrysler,Coupes,General Motors,Hatchbacks,Pontiac,Sedans,The Mechanic

There's been plenty of talk lately about the soon-to-be-extinct Pontiac G8. First, Lutz said it might be resurrected as a Chevrolet, then his boss said forget it.

It's made for a nice little drama in the first few days of the new General Motors Company, but it also obscured an often-overlooked fact: the Pontiac G8 was a sales flop.

An analysis by the Edmunds data team shows that although the G8 was an enthusiast's dream, it only sold well when GM piled on the incentives. Not exactly the kind of car you keep around to help drag your company back to profitability. And as Bill Visnic notes on AutoObserver, not even Lutz could talk his way around that fact. 

AutoObserver: The World's Best Car Nobody Was Buying

Categories: Celebrities,Pontiac,Sedans

Just as quickly as GM's vicechair of "creative" development, Bob Lutz, began making big statements about the future life of the Pontiac G8 as a Chevrolet Caprice, he is backpedaling hard.

Yesterday in an entry of GM's FastLane blog, titled It "Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time," Lutz wrote, "OK, I have some late-breaking news for you from the world of GM, where things are indeed moving quickly, and what I'm about to say is proof.

"...The G8 will not be a Caprice after all. I'd mentioned it, and said we were studying it, giving it a serious look, because a car like the G8 was just too good to waste.

"That's all still true. But I have to say that, with my new 'marketing' hat on, upon further review and careful study, we simply cannot make a business case for such a program. Not in today's market, in this economy, and with fuel regulations what they are and will be."

GM FastLane

Categories: Auto Industry,Chevrolet,General Motors,Pontiac