Imagine the 5.7 Corvette V8 stuffed under the hood and that’ll be the coolest American car sold…IMHO

A looker!

Badass. Do it do it do it do it do it do it!

In terms of aesthetics, it looks similar to the Alfa 8C but for only 10% of the price! Do it!!

MGBYG, I am with ya. With a hard top comes a higher output engine. I would love to see a small turbo-6 in there. Mosler or Mallet I think is already cramming the LS1 engine in the roadster with a swap of the front shocks and discs. Makes for convertible Vette performance numbers. The heavier front end though increased understeer. With a turbo-6 we might see better handling.

Too much front overhang. I would like to see the sky redline with this coupe style or better yet the weekend racer concept with the spoiler.

i think you guys are all over looking the biggist advantage of the coupe….trunkspace. maybe. it looks kinda tight, but probably more then the droptop

An interesting twist on a cool product. I like it although the rear window is weird looking–strangely shaped. Those C-pillars might provide some large blind spots, too.

Exactly what I’ve been waiting for… Except I prefer German. I loved the M-coupe.

I prefer this to the soft top.

I think it looks odd. The Solstice looks best with its top down. It was styled to be a convertible from the beginning, and it looks great as a vert. I don’t see the attraction to making this car a hardtop. Not to mention, there is a very limited market for 2-seater hard top coupes in this price range.

how many 2-seater hardtop, RWD are there in this price range? Miata…

I can’t wait to see what the Sky coupe will look like.

Me,

the solstice and sky are based on the opel speedster, so you’re in luck.

The Sky coupe would look much better, I haven’t been a huge fan of the Soltice looks.

“It was styled to be a convertible from the beginning, and it looks great as a vert.”
I thought the original concept was a coupe?

“how many 2-seater hardtop, RWD are there in this price range? Miata…”
Miata is not a hatch/coupe like seen above, like what is being talked about for production. There was, however, a miata coupe concept back ~2000 I think.

“Not to mention, there is a very limited market for 2-seater hard top coupes in this price range.”
Name all of the sub 30k 2 seat coupes and hatches on the market…

Total panty pudding and I usually loathe Americana unless it’s muscle car.

It’s the spiritual successor to the Datsun 240Z.

Oh and it doesn’t have to have a BIG engine to be a good time; Lotus Elise and Exige do it.

Reminds me of the Chevy Nomad concept…speaking of which I wonder if the Bowtie Brigade will ever get their own Kappa roadster. It’d be pretty cool, but I can also understand how they might not want to start spreading the platform out too thin though.

This is a really really pretty car. I think I like the coupe better than the roadster even.. WOW.. They should build **** loads of these because they’ll sell for sure.. If they put about 350 hp behind them they’ll eat up the market for the next five or ten years… Good For you GM.. yes this could be the next 240 Z type breakthrough for GM its that good looking…

Century… GM has realized that not every brand needs every platform.

they need to make a 2+2 coupe out of this…

This current design looks a little too long in the front. Either shorten the front, or lengthen the back

Please no V8 in this small car. What it needs is a small straight V6 and a very short 1st gear (like 5.5:1, for extreme launches) in a 7 speed manumatic (a manual cannot cope with the torque output). Nobody needs it to do 200mph. 0-60mph in 4 sec is much more fun.

what I wanted to say above was “small straight 6″ (not V6), I’m sorry.

@sampson

The long hood is necessary to keep the engine in the middle, for lower polar inertia and better weight distribution. Look at Mercedes SLR or CLS long hoods, they are this way for the same reasons. These cars are front mid-engine cars, and share the dynamic qualities of mid-engine cars and the practicality of a front engine cars (large trunk). The long hood needs to stay there, besides, it gives the car a nice classic look.

2+2 are worthless unless you have friends whose grandparents were in the Wizard of Oz. It’s just added weight and expense to the benefit of no one.

Wow—I don’t know who’s doing the styling of this car and the Sky, but he/she/they should be given a raise. This is a fine looking automobile. And I agree with a couple of the comments on here; it does look like it would have more usable trunk space, and it does sort of seem like the spiritual successor of the original 240Z (which, to me, the current 350Z is NOT). If they do produce this coupe (and even if they don’t), I think they should re-do the interior; the overall look and feel of the current one is kind of cheap.

I think stuffing a monster motor in this thing would be the wrong move. I haven’t driven the Solstice GXP, but with its turbocharged 4 cylinder, and 260 HP, that would seem to be PLENTY for a car this size. On the other hand, I think Huck may be on to something with his idea for a small, straight 6-cylinder; 3 liters, normally aspirated, about 225-250 HP, and gobs of torque. Now THAT would be a sweet combination! I wonder if BMW would sell their 3 liter six to GM for cheap?

Huck i was goin to say da same thing @sampson, don’t forget the 8c, it is because of this reason that i feel that a V8 should be placed in this car cause a V8 would not disturb the weight balance and is just as long as an inline 6 and doesn’t weigh too much more, so I figure either way the car is going to preform the same so it might as well have a v8. I also think that the engine should have a dry sump-lubrication system so that way the engine can be placed lower to the ground for a lower center of gravity.
Lower center of gravity = better handling
Furthermore I understand your point for a manumatic, but the truth is a manual can handle the torque output and is much more fun.

My problem with this car was never the top/rear, it’s the front end. I just don’t understand how anyone finds that rounded front appealing. Its just so… phallic. I’d much prefer the Sky.

The solistice is not based of the opel speedster. the speedster is rear midengined and this is front midengined. The speedster is based of the lotus elise,it has the same chasis but opel engine interior and extirior. There was however a concept of a second gen speedster that was based of the kappa platform and looked a lot like the saturn variant.

davebo, I feel what your sayin i used to hate it too, and I somewhat still do. But that round front end somehow grew on me a little, and as much as I want to see it go if they remove it I would be mad

RE: My Vette engine comment…

Yes, a slick twin-turbo V-6 or Evo-ized 4 cylinder would be lighter, yada, yada, yada.

Dudes, the car is a PONTIAC built by the UAW…The current ragtop is really a POS compared to any Honda or German-built VW.

So, go Amuuricann with it.

Stuff a huge engine (remember DeLorean, when he ran Pontiac, shoveled a huge V-8 into a Tempest to start the whole Pony/Muscle Car thing) under the hood, make it scarey fast, and all is forgiven!!

Nothing beats ****ty build quality than more horsepower. Chrysler has known this for 40 years…

To me Solstice looks a lot like a modern interpretation of Porsche Spyder 550 lines, which is a good thing.

megator - No, not the Opel Speedster. We’re talking about the Opel GT (which is based on the Sky, not the other way around).

Oops. Pardon me, I mispoke. You kinda said that already.

Looks great, but how are they going to make it “exactly” like the concept. I mean the concept has stacked tail pipes.

@Huck and Sharif

I understand the function of it all… It’s just the form starts to suffer a bit… I did a photoshop and took out about 4 inches of the front overhang and was amazed how much better it looked… more 911 than 240z

If they don’t shorten the front, they should just extend the back by a few inches to create more of a balance in the form… just my opinion

@YourNameHere
other RWD 2 seaters… S2000 and 350z

megator,

i meant the opel gt.

I just wish they could shave some weight, I think the Elsise with 190hp is quicker than the Redline or GXP with turbos. But for the price their a damn good buy. Wish I had a pearl white or a yellow Sky, mmmmmmm.

Ahh the reverse lights… Just noticed how freakin big those are…

sorry sampson 350z is not in the same price catagory, no one mentions the 5cylinder from the colorado, the transmission is already from that so might as well put the 5 in, an extra engine option would be sweet.

oh man that is damn sweet ohhhhh man please give it to us… it better cost less than the roadster though and have the same exclusivity levels

kellyp
the solstice/sky is based on the opel GT, not the opel speedster.

I like the look of it, but my problem with this car is that you feel like a sardine when you sit in it. I am 5′7″ and felt extremely claustraphobic when I sat in it at the 2006 NA auto show.

I’m 6′3″ and I feel cramped but not claustrophobic sitting in the Sky (and I’ve sat in a few, I work at a Saturn dealer).
The car has a huge overhang in the front because where else is the radiator going to go? And the whole front hinged hood requires a lot of structure up there.
The 5-Cylinder from the trucks really wouldn’t work, it’s got a really long stroke because of the need for torque, and thus is a really tall unit, and if you’ve ever seen the engine bay of one of these, it’s already cramped.
Just make the 2.0 DI Turbo standard. It’s a badass powerplant.

acura_el2000

Well depends on if you are talking about the base model or the GXP…

the GXP Solstice starts at 27k. The 350z starts at 27K… SAME PRICE

I thought that the opel GT concept was called speedster as well. anyways these cars arent based of any opel. the only opel GT as such is a 1970s car that was designed by the same guy that did the coke bottle shape corvet (and it shows), an if these cars are based of that then gm is further behind than i thought.

I would think GM would use their 2.0 DI turbo 4 cyl. When this car showed a few years ago GM had talked about using a 2.4 (I want to say supercharged but it could have been turbocharged) 4 cyl. It would be more cost effective for them to use an engine that they know will work well with the platform. Since it seems to have been designed, even from it’s concept form to use 4 cyl. powerplants.

do it gm do it now!!!!!!!!

megator,

Your comments are not exactly correct.

The following cars are all based on the 2003 Vauxhall VX Lightning Concept:
* 2006 Pontiac Solstice (released in 2005)
* 2007 Saturn Sky (released in 2006)
* 2007 Opel GT

The Opel Speedster is a different car from the early 2000s, and was also badged as the Vauxhall VX220.

Sure, the Opel GT is the name of an Opel from 1968… but the new Opel GT was announced earlier this year and will likely be a 2007 model. This new Opel GT is based on GM’s Kappa Platform, just as the others I mentioned.

Oooooh… Sexy back!! Yeah!

This car will be an unmitigated success. Judging by the emotion it has evoked here. That is usually a very good sign.

Should be lighter than the drop-top as well.

hey everybody s-60 driver likes blowing chod