Pontiac: A Requiem for GM’s “excitement” brand

[svgallery name="2009_pontiacs"] Story by John LeBlanc Only recently, General Motors had big plans for Pontiac. The Solstice  and Aussie-built G8 sports sedan were just the start of a rear-wheel-drive renaissance that would have allowed the brand to be a true "poorman's BMW" that years of marketing hype promised but never delivered. But time and money ran out. GM will stop selling Pontiacs—along with Saabs, Saturns and Hummers—by the end of this year. Of these last Pontiacs, which are you most sad to see go? And which ones will just pass into the night quietly without any tears shed at all? G3 Wave subcompact sedan and hatchback No crying here. The front-wheel-drive subcompact G3 Wave is about as far removed from Pontiac's "performance" brand ethos as Newfoundland is from B.C. Starting life as the GM-owned Daewoo Kalos seven years ago, the aging Korean-made G3 Wave debuted here in 2005 as a near-identical twin to the Chevrolet Aveo and Suzuki Swift+, both of which continue to be sold. At $13,770, the G3 Wave is one of the lowest-priced cars you can buy in Canada. You'll also be reminded of that fact everyday. The Aveo-G3 Wave-Swift+ triplets competitively sit at the back of the subcompact class (Honda Fit, Toyota Yaris, Hyundai Accent, etc.) in regards to build quality, performance and fuel economy. G5 coupe and sedan Like its Astre, J2000, 2000, Sunbird and Sunfire compact predecessors, the G5 is another off-brand Chevrolet-badged-Pontiac economy car created to give dealers something cheap and fuel efficient to sell. It didn't help that the G5 first arrived in 2005 as the Pursuit. Then by mid-season '06, it was sold as the G5 Pursuit. Then it lost the Pursuit altogether. And this year's top model is a performance dud. The 155-hp G5 GT Coupe cowers when a 260-hp Cobalt SS Turbo rolls up beside it at a stoplight. Vibe compact hatchback Even a GM official admitted the Vibe's only problem was that it's a Pontiac. It's been around since 2002 as a twin of the popular Toyota Matrix and was substantially updated for 2009. The Vibe is a well-made, relatively inexpensive, fuel-efficient front- or all-wheel-drive wagonoid that's big enough for most Canadian families to use as their only car. Note that new small wagons like the Kia Soul, Hyundai Elantra Touring and Nissan Cube are targeted right at the Vibe's sweet spot. G6 mid-size coupe, convertible and sedan You may remember when G6s were given away to each of 276 audience members at a taping of The Oprah Winfrey Show back in 2004. Or that the Grand Am replacement was one of the first "clean" Pontiacs that didn't come with yards of corrugated side cladding. Sharing a platform with the Chevrolet Malibu, Saturn Aura, Saab 9-3 and some Euro Opels, the G6 was a huge step up from the decrepit Grand Am. And unlike the Malibu, the G6 offered a coupe and a retractable-hardtop convertible. In the end, the G6's leap wasn't big enough to take on the likes of the Nissan Altima, Honda Accord or Toyota Camry, let alone the more refined and fun-to-drive Mazda6 or Ford Fusion. Montana SV6 minivan After the introduction of GM's large crossovers (Buick Enclave, Saturn Outlook, Chevrolet Traverse) I bet you thought the automaker was out of the minivan business. South of the border, it was. But Canadian demand kept a short wheelbase Pontiac version of GM's older minivan platform. One could argue that, as the only GM minivan left, the Montana SV6 tooling should revert back to the canned Chevrolet Uplander. But it's too late. The last one was made at GM's Georgia plant last September and the factory has since shut down. Torrent compact crossover Introduced in late summer 2005, the Torrent really couldn't do worse than its predecessor, the much-maligned Pontiac Aztek. Like the G3 and G5, though, the Torrent was just another badge-engineered Chevrolet – this time, the last-generation Equinox. Solstice Roadster and Coupe When the Solstice Roadster arrived for the 2006 model year, it had one thing that had been missing from Pontiac showrooms since the departure of the Firebird sports coupe four years earlier: Passion. There's about enough cargo room for your Speedo, and little else. But as a rear-drive two-seat roadster with Hollywood starlet looks, the Solstice gets cut a lot of slack. Especially the just introduced (and gorgeous) Solstice hardtop Coupe, a potential future collectible. Also cloned as the Saturn Sky (which is being canned as well), the loss of the Solstice Roadster, Cadillac XLR, G6 convertible and Saab 9-3 Cabriolet means the last GM convertible standing will be the Chevy Corvette.

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