General Motors has announced plans to produce the sporty Pontiac Solstice roadster at its Wilmington, Delaware, assembly plant.
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The production location was announced at the official unveiling of the Solstice at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit on Sunday and the car will be produced as a 2006 model year vehicle.
Said Gary Cowger, GM president, North America: “The Wilmington plant will play an important role in GM’s effort to continue to bring exciting new products to the market.”
The Solstice was first unveiled as a concept car at the 2002 Detroit motor show. It features smooth, uncluttered exterior styling, a rounded front end and an interior covered in leather and free of any unnecessary accents or controls.
Built on GM’s new Kappa architecture, the production model is said to have remained true to the original Solstice concept, including rear-wheel drive, two-passenger seating and a reverse hinged clamshell bonnet that opens to reveal a sophisticated double overhead cam variable-valve four-cylinder engine.
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By GlobalData“True to the thinking behind the original concept, the production Solstice is all about being a ‘back-to-basics’ roadster with gorgeous lines and fun-to-drive characteristics,” said GM vice chairman of product development Bob Lutz. “The key enabler of Solstice is the new Kappa rear-wheel-drive architecture and component set, which allows us to rapidly and efficiently develop an appealing family of compact and affordable sports cars.”
GM said that strong response to the 2002 Solstice concept vehicle helped put the sports car on the fast track to production but, while the concept was designed with production-style elements, the firm had no compact rear-wheel-drive platform on which to build it. Creating a production version of the concept vehicle required marrying the Solstice’s curvaceous design to an entirely new performance body-chassis architecture.
The Kappa platform has full-length hydroformed frame rails and a stamped steel structural tunnel to provide a solid structure to enhance vehicle handling and is combined for the Solstice with all-new technology and proven GM components.
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General Motors vice chairman and ‘car czar’ Bob Lutz drives the new 2006 Pontiac Solstice out onto the stage on Sunday at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Lutz originally introduced the little roadster at the 2002 NAIAS and the production vehicle was developed in less than four months using GM’s new rear-wheel-drive Kappa platform. |
Power comes from new 2.4-litre variable-valve version of the Ecotec DOHC four-cylinder engine, producing about 170 horsepower. The twin-cam, multi-valve design is mated to a close-ratio Aisin five-speed manual transmission.
Independent front and rear suspensions have forged aluminum upper and lower control arms, monotube shock absorbers and coil springs. Eighteen-inch wheels and tyres are standard, as are four-wheel disc brakes.
The interior is oriented around the driver, with a clean design and intuitive controls. Said GM small car line executive Lori Queen: “We wanted to create a comfortable environment suitable for longer drives without sacrificing the ‘personal’ feeling of a driver’s car.”
Unusual interior details include body-color parts while the retractable roof folds flat into the rear clamshell opening, providing a smooth seamless appearance.
“There is no visible stack from the folded top to disturb the shape,” said a GM insider. “In fact, there are no extraneous lines whatsoever; it has a tight, purposeful look, as if it were shrink-wrapped around the driver. We insisted on a lower ride height to ensure the car’s sporty appearance [and that] makes it the lowest, most ground-hugging car at GM. We were adamant that the Solstice look absolutely right from all angles.”
The unique taillamps were designed with special reflectors to eliminate the need for a separate side marker light, eliminating the cost of a separate marker lens and bulb, though GM is hardly the first car maker to do this.
The production Solstice is part of what GM calls “a re-energised Pontiac lineup” that already includes the new Australian Holden-built GTO coupe, the G6, Grand Prix, the [Toyota-joint venture-developed and built] Vibe and a V8-powered Bonneville GXP.
Its fast-track approval and development process followed a similar rapid decision process that helped launch the 2004 GTO in 18 months.
