Autoblog

Click above for high-res gallery of GM's display on Woodward Ave.

For the past several years General Motors has been using the Athens Coney Island Restaurant on Woodward Ave. as a base of operations for the Dream Cruise. The parking lot this year is again filled with classic, wannabe classic, and future classic GM machinery, much of it brought out from the GM Heritage Center in nearby Sterling Heights. For those who haven't yet seen the new Camaro in production form, the red RS we saw a few weeks ago is on display here in the parking lot along with a ZR1 in police markings and what must be one of the most yellow first generation Camaros anywhere. The powertrain tent at the back of the lot is filled with past present and future powertrains from the Z11 427 to the two-mode hybrid and even a fuel cell stack. The parking lot area is open to the public all day, so come on down. If you can't make it, check the gallery below.

Click above for hi-res gallery of the 2010 Pontiac G8 ST

We often go poking around General Motors' media resources, so imagine our surprise when we were searching for something totally unrelated and found fresh images of Pontiac's iteration of the Holden Ute. Still warm like just-baked cookies, the images show off a great looking dark-hued modern-day El camino. And for what do we deserve a new batch of G8 ute pics? They accompany word from on high that the official name for this trucklet has been decided. Meet the Pontiac G8 ST.

You may remember that GM solicited submissions, or rather suggestions, for what the G8 ST should be named. But after months of waiting and however many submissions, the best they could do was G8 ST? That's the name they started with! Now we feel all cheap and used, like GM knew what they were going to call this thing all along. Whatever, it will be holding court as the king of awesome in your local Pontiac dealer's showroom in late 2009 as a 2010 model. The 74-inch cargo bed and 3,500 lb towing capacity will allow you to haul more than just ass, though the V8 will surely facilitate that nicely. Pontiac's official press release can be found after the jump, and those new high-res images are in the gallery below.

Gallery: 2010 Pontiac G8 ST

[Source: GM]

Click above for more spy shots of the G8 GXP from G8 Nation

Although we thoroughly enjoyed the fleeting time we spent with the Pontiac G8 GT, what whith its 361 horsepower and 385 pound-feet of torque and all, it's the upcoming GXP model that truly looks to catapult the Australian-bred sedan back into musclecar territory. We, along with just about every other gearhead, are especially looking forward to the six-speed stick and clutch pedal with which the 6.2-liter LS3 V8 making 402 hp and 400 lb-ft of torque will be paired. Of course, the rest of the car needs to be up to snuff too, so we are happy to take a gander at these spy photos of a pre-production prototype in Australia that indicate the nineteen-inch GXP-specific wheels and big Brembo disc brakes are present and accounted for. A slightly revised front fascia with a lower splitter combine with the rear diffuser to further signify that this is the high-zoot version of Pontiac's sport sedan.


[Source: LS1.com.au via G8 Nation]

What to do when you want the style of a Lamborghini without the obscene payment? Seek refuge in GM's stunted program of 1980s awesomeness, the Fiero, that's what. Armed with time and skill, a steel fabricator from Canada named Woody has done an incredible job transforming a $60 mid-engined Pontiac wedge into an amazing homage to the Reventon. Obviously talented, the finished Woodighini is going to be incredible, Woody's done a fine job of transferring the Reventon's proportions to the Fiero's chassis.

When you're rocking Sant'Agata styling, you can't make do with an Iron Puke or even the L44 V6. Woody's tucking a hotted-up GM small-block under the engine hatch, fed pressurized atmosphere by a pair of turbos. The blow-through carburetor is a bit too stone age for our tastes, but we're sure it's not going to stand in the way of this car being a wheeled rocket. Flat out amazing work, and it's likely to have the same amount of attention lavished on it by passerby as a real Lamborghini gets; it's sure had as much extreme care in its crafting as anything wearing the Bull.


[Source: Hub Garage(reg. req.) via Motorfoot]

Despite the fact that Canadian Pontiac dealers are already selling the new Pontiac G3 and that the U.S. EPA has certified the model for sale in the U.S., GM is not currently planning on bringing the model over the border. The G3 is basically a badge-engineered version of the Chevy Aveo, itself a relatively new design in five-door trim. While the front-end and grille of the Poncho may actually be a bit nicer looking than the in-yer-face gaping maw of the Chevy, it still features those unfortunate and ungainly fake side vents. Yuck.

Considering that the G3 would be rated at a relatively good 25/34 with the auto and 27/34 with the standard five-speed stick, we wouldn't be surprised if the G3 did eventually make it into U.S. showrooms nationwide. The G3 could be a fuel efficient, entry-level stepping stone into more expensive options at combined Buick/Pontiac/GMC dealerships.

[Source: Inside Line]

General Motor's car czar, Bob Lutz, sat down with the little people of the blogosphere after GM's announcement that it would be reducing white collar expenditures by 20-percent, cutting truck production and eliminating retired health care for salaried workers over 65, all in an effort to boost its liquidity by $15 billion by the end of 2009.

Maximum Bob addressed questions about GM's entire brand portfolio, saying, "Pontiac will be nourished with products" and confirming that GM is in talks with financial institutions about HUMMER, and that, "If we could sell the brand, we'd be interested in doing that."

Predictably, much of the conversation centered on fuel efficiency and the General's plans to address the growing demand for miserly transport in the U.S. Lutz made it clear that "as fuel costs in the U.S. begin to resemble those in the rest of the world" it will be easier for GM to realign its products on a global scale.

[Photo: David McNew/Getty]

Click on the image above for our high-res live gallery of the 2010 Pontiac G8 ST

Even the most die-hard enthusiast, dreaming about the 361-hp 6.0-liter V8 under the hood of the upcoming Pontiac G8 Sport Truck, must be having second thoughts about the cost of feeding that thirsty powerplant. With fuel prices rising significantly in just the last few months, the folks at Pontiac are rumored to be considering a six-cylinder option for the G8 ST. The engine, if it finds its way under the hood, would be the same 256-hp 3.6-liter V6 found in the entry-level Pontiac G8 sedan. Not due until the 2010 model year, the V6-powered G8 ST would share the sedan's EPA fuel economy ratings of 17/25, making the sport truck a more feasible for buyers that want to jettison their daily-driven pickups for something with better fuel economy and a bit of utility.

[Source: G8Nation]

Last week, we linked to a CarDomain piece about a lunch that gang had with GM's Bob Lutz. One of their topics of conversation with the product czar was manual transmissions, and it was reported that the '09 Pontiac G8 GT would be offered with an optional Tremec 6-speed manual transmission. This was certainly welcome news, both to us and readers. Unfortunately, it turns out that this information was, in fact, too good to be true. Pontiac's Jim Hopson dropped us a note this morning to clarify. In it, he writes, "We currently have no plans to offer the Tremec on any other G8 model (including the GT mentioned in the article), although it might be an option we could consider in the future." That's a bummer, and there you have it: The only way you'll be able to get a manual in the Pontiac G8 is if you pony up for the über-caliente GXP performance variant when it arrives later this year. Jim's email, in its entirety, is pasted after the jump.


[Source: Pontiac]

During a dealer teleconference today, General Motors announced it would be launching a zero-percent financing sale beginning tomorrow, while simultaneously raising the prices of its 2009 vehicles.

The "72-hour sale" will run from June 24th through the 30th, and will offer customers 0-percent interest rates for 72 months on most Chevys, Buicks, Pontiacs and GMC vehicles. So far, there's no word on whether the offer will extend to Cadillac and Saturn. GM will also offer $500 in "bonus cash" to buyers who opt to purchase GM products outright rather than leasing them.

At the same time, the General is going to be raising the prices of 2009 models by an average of 3.5-percent "across the board," something that was bound to happen, according to Mark LaNeve, GM's vice president of vehicles sales, service and marketing.

On the production front, GM will be adding a third shift to its Lordstown, Ohio plant to increase production of the Pontiac G5 and Chevy Cobalt, while at the same time boosting production of the Pontiac G6, Chevy Malibu and Saturn Aura through the use of maximum overtime. Also of note: GM has hired Citibank to investigate the future of the HUMMER brand, which comes in the wake of GM's CEO, Rick Wagoner's announcement that "all options" are on the table regarding GM's faltering off-road brand.

[Source: Automotive News – sub. req.]

This has been a big year for GM's organization alignment, with President Fritz Henderson opening up about the brand issue snafu and the appointment of four brand czars. HUMMER was meant to join forces with Cadillac and Saab in a premium channel, but while HUMMER is still in the family, it's apparently been put out on the lawn. GM Inside News (GMI) reports that GM is treating HUMMER as a goner, saying that the H4 program is on life support for handover to the next buyer, and the H3 GMT-700 program is kaput.

The bigger hearsay is that GM's board is considering euthanizing GMC or Pontiac. Those two brands were to be aligned in a brand channel with Buick (PBG). Getting rid of GMC could make some kind of sense, since it's entirely brand-engineered vehicles with some of the worst mileage numbers in the fleet. Shunning Pontiac would be a surprise to us since the Solstice and G8 have given it a nice brand awareness boost and it's got some products in the pipeline. If GMC or Pontiac did go, the GM board would consider folding Saturn into the PBG channel to maintain sales volume. In corporate-speak, we believe this is called GM's "gloves off" phase. Thanks for the tip, Dan!

[Source: GM Inside News]