yes homeboy its the Holden Torana tt36 concept from the 2004 Sydney motorshow

Anyway, when I saw the cover on Motor Trend detailing the machine what was fated to be the ying to the Grad Prix’s yang — as was the case with the G6 replacing the Grand Am — I was intrigued, but couldn’t help thinking that once again, GM insults our intelligence with styling *and* engineering that, to say it’s watered-down, would be something of a “misunderestimation”. So as you can tell, I wasn’t exactly what you would call “thrilled” by the rendering, but I’d never heard of Holden before and instinctively began to wonder if GM was about to pull another Opel/Saturn deal out of it’s collective hat. At the very least, that cover story was enough to introduce me to Holden and start doing some homework on them. What I learned over the next few weeks prompted me to endlessly think: “Somebody tell me again: exactly WHY can’t we have vehicles of this caliber in the in the USA from the Americans…?” It was insulting. Indeed, it felt very much like the patronizing notion I get when I think about the sexy Ford Mondeo. (OK, so FWD, but whatever.) The more I learned about Holden, the more I became a silent advocate for bringing them here with Pontiac’s touch.

Enter the teaser I saw of the G8 when Rick Wagoner pulled off a little bit of cover for ABC news. To say I was drooling at the potential of this car would be something of an understatement; no one from GM need meet me to know they really hit this one out of the park. After being held prisoner (in a manner of speaking) to FWD for my entire life, this ignited my passion for driving not seen since I was a kid watching Knight Rider. Picking up a 2009 G8 GT configured my specs will be the best thing to happen to me on the road since earning my license. Granted, I’m 26 so I’ve been driving only a decade, but I’ve driven V8 RWD machines before and there’s simply no comparison once you’ve been behind the wheel of a beast like the Mustang Shelby GT500. It’d be like choosing auto over stick – I’m a control freak so this manumatic approximation junk and paddle shifting crap just isn’t for me. Currently, I drive a Mazda3 (in that cool Winning Blue color) and very much appreciate a driver’s car that doesn’t stop me from taking vacations of the road-trip variety. I’ve been on Mazda for years because they build the closest thing I can get to my kind of car – I selected the 3 to tide me (and my wallet) over while I waited for the Aura to be out on the market for a couple of years. My first car was a 1997 Saturn SC1, and I have very much wanted to go back to GM.. great experience all-around for me, but not since then has GM built a car worthy of my business. When I found out stick wasn’t available on any trim of the Aura, I was subsequently crushed. Well, not really, but entirely disappointed all the same.

Then the clouds parted and the sun shined graceful: LLN featured the near-production ready concept of the G8 GT in all it’s glory, and I was beyond floored; I was star-struck and have been ever since. So much so that I called my best friend on the spot and spent the better part of the next two hours discussing GM, it’s history, and now it’s future in our respective garages. It’s as though GM stopped me on the street and asked me to fire off deal-breakers for my fantasy dream car. A four-door sedan with a muscular V8, RWD, 6-Speed Stick (with precision shift action by Tremec, no less) Fully Independent Gran Turismo-style Suspension, Vented Discs front & rear, VSC, and NAV system — with GM’s name to back it up — and all for notably less than 35K?

Sign me up yesterday.

FORD! GET IN THE GAME ALREADY!!!!

Buick will continue to be the official car of the ‘Greatest Generation’ and follow them into the sunset.

Kinda makes sense, I guess.

I totally agree with moving CTS to the “modified” Zeta, it’s a much more refined platform. Killing the STS and moving the CTS upmarket seems rather silly to me though. The CTS should stay on the upper-side of midsized and compete with the A4 and 3-series. Give the STS a new generation and make that the 5-series killer.

A shame we will have to wait for the RWD G6, but when it comes it should be VERY nice! An affordable mid-sized RWD V6 car, can’t go wrong. And if they actually make a worthwhile G6 GXP on it, HELL YEA! I’m very excited about the Alpha platform. This plus the G8 makes Pontiac look like a serious performance competitor in the future, the way it SHOULD have been for years.

Saturn should NOT get the Alpha, though. GM needs to stop this idea that when they design a new car, EVERY brand needs to get a copy of it. Saturn should remain FWD while Pontiac goes RWD to cut down on brand overlap that GM suffers from greatly.

Off-topic: Homeboy…is that you? You’re acting rather adult here and in other threads…and to be frank…it’s kinda freaking me out. To answer your question though, the purple car in the pic is the Holden Torana, on the Alpha platform. If you want to know what the RWD G6 might look like, that’s probably a good car to use as reference.

And a YES YES to the rear drive platforms…