Straightline

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

Just in case you forgot that Pontiac was around for a very long time before the ax fell this year, check out this video tribute to the fallen brand.

A Tribute to Pontiac Motor Division

Categories: Pontiac

GM announced its "Buy and Say Goodbye" incentive program yesterday in a bid to boost sales over the holiday weekend. The "buy" part is a new incentive that offers 0% financing for up to 72 months on select vehicles for qualified buyers. The "Say Goodbye" part is merely a reminder of how many vehicles GM makes that qualify for the new "cash for clunkers" program. 

Normally such incentives exclude the vehicles we really want to get our hands on, but in this case the financing offer is good on the Pontiac G8 GXP. So in other words, if you're looking for yet another reason to convince the wife that you really need a 415-horsepower sedan with a six-speed manual, the government has finally done something to help.   

GM: Buy and Say Goodbye

Categories: Pontiac,Sedans

While JD Power is busy counting problems with vehicles, a company called Strategic Vision says it surveys owners on the totality of their experience in the first year or two of ownership -- both the good and the bad. Hence, the 2009 "Total Quality" Awards.

"The Total Quality Index was calculated from 20,101 buyers who bought 2008 & 2009 models in September to December of 2008," says the company in a press release.

Strategic Vision says that Mini, ranked last by JD Power for Initial Quality in 2009, was the top-rated brand in its survey. Alas, there's no mention of the brand whose owners are least enthusiastic.

The company has also announced winners in 17 vehicle categories listed after the jump.

Continue reading Forget Initial Quality -- Are You Enthusiastic About Your Vehicle?.

Categories: Automaker Feedback,GMC,MINI,Pontiac

In a brief statement (138 words), GM North America President, Troy Clarke today announced the end of GM's joint venture with Toyota, the New United Motor Manufacturing Incorporated (NUMMI).

In the statement, Clarke noted that, "GM and Toyota could not reach an agreement on a future product plan that made sense for all parties." Therefore, the 25-year-old NUMMI has been relegated to the dustbin known as "Old GM," and will not be among the assets the company will continue with when it emerges from bankruptcy. GM's participation will end when the last Pontiac Vibe rolls off the line in August.

Clarke ended the statement with, "...we remain open to future opportunities of mutual interest." He most certainly did not end it with, "It was awesome having you in homeroom this year. Stay cool!!!!"

The days of Vibes, Prizms and Novas is officially over.

Categories: Chevrolet,General Motors,Pontiac,Toyota

No big shocker here as General Motors is basically going through the formalities of winding down a brand at this point. Today's announcement merely added a date to the demise of the Vibe compact wagon.

Production will end in August of this year at Nummi, the plant shared by GM and Toyota plant in Fremont, Ca. GM says it's still considering the production of other future models in the plant, but has no set plans for now.

Categories: Auto Industry,General Motors,Hatchbacks,Pontiac,Toyota

Inside Line tests hundreds of vehicles a year, but not every vehicle gets a full write-up. The numbers still tell a story, though, so we present "IL Track Tested." It's a quick rundown of all the data we collected at the track, along with comments direct from the test drivers. Enjoy.

Since the day the name Ecoboost was first uttered at an auto show, it's been touted as an engine that would offer V8 performance with V6 efficiency. Well, Ford's twin-turbo 3.5-liter V6 is finally here and the 2010 Ford Taurus SHO is the most performance-oriented vehicle yet to offer the new engine.
 
Still, the latest Taurus is a hulk of a sedan. It weighs in at well over 2 tons and stretches nearly 17 feet long. With that in mind, it seemed only fitting to compare the SHO to one of the biggest, most muscular American sedans around (at least for now) -- the 2009 Pontiac G8 GT.

Now technically, the Pontiac G8 GXP is a closer competitor in terms of price, but the GT's power output nearly matches the SHO. Oh, and the Pontiac is 300 pounds lighter, too. We also took into consideration that our Taurus didn't have the optional performance pack that adds a shorter rear end gear, stiffer springs, a thicker rear stabilizer bar, high-performance brake pads and summer tires. More importantly, adding the performance pack also gives you the ability to turn off the stability control system completely, a big advantage when you're running numbers.

So how did the "new" SHO measure up against the "old" GT? Click for the full results; you might be surprised.

Continue reading IL Track Tested: 2010 Ford Taurus SHO vs. Pontiac G8 GT.

Categories: Ford,IL Track Tested,Pontiac,Sedans