Pontiac Soltice

LarryIII · #1 02-13-2004, 04:36 AM

I was watching the local news on TV last night. The big buzz (besides bird flu killing all the chickens downstate) is that the Pontiac Soltice (2 seater) will be produced at the local GM plant in the Wilmington/Newark Delaware area. Our governor was on TV and she was happy as a pig in you know what because it means JOBS. This plant produced the Chevy Beretta and now makes the large Saturn sedan, which is a sales flop.

I just wish that Pontiac had kept their mid-engine 2-seater (I can't recall the name), similar to Toyota's MR-2, in production. It would have evoved into a terrific mid engine sporty car.

The same can be said of our beloved SVXes. If it had stayed in production, it too would have evolved into a better car. It may have become something like a poor man's Aston Martin or maybe something like a very sporty 4-seat Thunderbird.

I think the closest car in concept to the SVX was the Lexus SC-300/400. This car did not sell well either and eventually production was stopped. I have driven the V-8, SC-400. It is a very, very, luxurious touring car, that is less sporty then the SVX.

Mr. Pockets · #2 02-13-2004, 08:24 AM

The Solstice is a nice looking car, but it's not going to have any grunt to back up its styling, as I understand.

Your mid-engined Pontiac was the Fiero. The model lasted long enough to have a major stling revision. I also understand that they're actually pretty good autocrossing cars, but I'll take an MR2 over one any day of the week.

Quote:

The same can be said of our beloved SVXes. If it had stayed in production, it too would have evolved into a better car. It may have become something like a poor man's Aston Martin or maybe something like a very sporty 4-seat Thunderbird.

Or it may have devolved into a Legacy coupe. It's a shame the SVX didn't sell, but at least it stayed what it was. If it had sold, maybe Subaru would have kept true to the marque's philosophy and kept hand-building them. But maybe they wouldn't have.

We'll never know.

I dig the SC400, although I've never driven one. I'd like to some time. That and a BMW 850.

#3 02-13-2004, 09:06 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by LarryIII
........This planr produced the Chevy Baretta ......

You'd think they would have learned their lesson.

My son had two of those POS Baretta's.......

-Mark

BTW- I had a mid-engine fetish for a while; I had a cherry '74 Porsche 914 2.0 and had contemplated the Fiero for a while.

Aredubjay · #4 02-13-2004, 09:30 AM

What will they think of next. A car that fights nasal congestion. Good idea.

Mr. Pockets · #5 02-13-2004, 09:43 AM

You know, if GM wanted a real cool little car, the Solstice should have been based on the VX-220...

benebob · #6 02-13-2004, 05:37 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by LarryIII
I just wish that Pontiac had kept their mid-engine 2-seater (I can't recall the name), similar to Toyota's MR-2, in production. It would have evoved into a terrific mid engine sporty car.

Yeah the Pontiac Fiero was really a decent car by the time they killed it. I just read an article on it in Grassroots motorsports. They claimed that the next model years prototype was to be faster than anything else GM had on the table at least to 60 I'm guessing. The egos of the Camaro/Firebird and Vette owners I'm guessing wouldn't stand for that. To me it is one of the few American cars I would consider. A Corvair Monza would be right up there too.

#7 02-13-2004, 08:35 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by mark10t

BTW- I had a mid-engine fetish for a while; I had a cherry '74 Porsche 914 2.0 and had contemplated the Fiero for a while.

I had the same engine in my 79 volkswagen bus. Thats either really sad, or really cool having a porsche engine in a hippy mobile.

#8 02-13-2004, 09:30 PM

<<BTW- I had a mid-engine fetish for a while; I had a cherry '74 Porsche 914 2.0 and had contemplated the Fiero for a while.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I had the same engine in my 79 volkswagen bus. >>

I had one of those, too. An early '80's Vanagon Camper.

One of our members is going to get me pic's of his Vanagon Synchro with an SVX engine.......

-Mark

Mr. Pockets · #9 02-14-2004, 12:25 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by mark10t

One of our members is going to get me pic's of his Vanagon Synchro with an SVX engine.......

-Mark

Or you could just go look at these:

http://www.smallcar.com/vx.htm

Shadow248 · #10 02-14-2004, 12:42 PM

Wow you guys think differently than i'm used to. You don't like so many GM cars but you like the Fiero? I'm surprised. The Fiero died because the media scrutiny over safety issues and the cost to redesign the thing outweighed the potiential sales. Plus it was a radical departure from anything else GM made at the time. But I agree, it could be quite a contender these days had it survived. Though I would have liked a different name. Fiero just doesn't sound good at all.

You want a fun ride? Drive a last-year Fiero with the V6 and 5-speed tranny. That thing is a stoplight serial killer. Just don't get hit from the side or you'll learn what it's like to be a human candle.

Mr. Pockets · #11 02-14-2004, 12:51 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Shadow248
You want a fun ride? Drive a last-year Fiero with the V6 and 5-speed tranny. That thing is a stoplight serial killer. Just don't get hit from the side or you'll learn what it's like to be a human candle.

I read the same Grassroots Motorsport article that was mentioned earlier in this thread. It certainly was interesting and convinced me that the Fiero was worth considering.

But your points are exactly why I wouldn't consider one for a daily driver.

Then again, I drive a Justy, and I'm probably no more safe in that.

newsvx · #12 02-14-2004, 01:16 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Shadow248
Wow you guys think differently than i'm used to. You don't like so many GM cars but you like the Fiero? I'm surprised. The Fiero died because the media scrutiny over safety issues and the cost to redesign the thing outweighed the potiential sales. Plus it was a radical departure from anything else GM made at the time. But I agree, it could be quite a contender these days had it survived. Though I would have liked a different name. Fiero just doesn't sound good at all.

You want a fun ride? Drive a last-year Fiero with the V6 and 5-speed tranny. That thing is a stoplight serial killer. Just don't get hit from the side or you'll learn what it's like to be a human candle.

The 1988 Fiero GT was one fine car. And like a number of GM (and other American makes) the last year a car was produced was where the needed improvements were (the same can be said of the SVX, I suppose). As for the Fiero GT in 1988, it finally had the handling, braking and horsepower it needed. I believe most of the auto mags at the time said the same thing - they finally "got it right" and then stopped making it. Had they continued, it probably would have sold quite well. But then again, it was also hard to over-come the bad press it received about "catching fire". This was as the result of a leaky valve cover gasket on the four cyl engine. I am still considering one for the future, but one "slightly modified" by a fellow in St Louis, I think. He puts a Chevy small-block V8 in the sucker - says the Fiero trans will handle up to 400 HP

Harry

Shadow248 · #13 02-15-2004, 12:25 AM

From what I understand, the chassis has to actually be modified to fit a modern smallblock in there. Except maybe the Northstar 4.6L V8...but that's a nightmare in it's own right. The real popular thing right now seems to be dropping the 3.4L DOHC V6 from my daily driver ('96 GTP) in the Fiero. That would give it 230hp. That's a buttload of power for that little car. Though I wouldn't wish the maintenance costs of that engine on anyone.

GreenMarine · #14 02-15-2004, 01:40 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by LarryIII
I just wish that Pontiac had kept their mid-engine 2-seater (I can't recall the name), similar to Toyota's MR-2, in production. It would have evoved into a terrific mid engine sporty car.

The Fiero had a problem with catching on fire!!! I researched them a little back in the day when I was looking for cheap cars...

WestCoastSVX · #15 02-15-2004, 11:12 AM

I think they named the car Fiero because they knew about the catching on fire thing.

You serious auto people that like to argue about these things can look it all up, but just going off my childhood memories, I remember when the Fiero very first came out hearing the auto experts say it was a wonderful sports car, if only it had a Toyota engine. A little while later that pretty much came to pass when the MR2 was introduced.

Like I said, I'm going off memory, so if I got it all wrong and the MR2 came out first, etc, then don't get mad at me.

But I was always kinda under the impression that the MR2 and Fiero were based on the same car, a joint venture between GM and Toyota like a GEO Prism/Corolla. Yeah, I'm an idiot and don't have time to look the facts up, I'm too busy working on the web site and meet for flesh and blood SVXers to get together up here in the NW.