GMI Preview: 2009 Pontiac G8 ST

[BigAls87Z28]

GMI Preview: Pontiac G8 ST
By: BigAls87z28
http://www.gminsidenews.com

Way back in 2002, Hot Rod Magazine wrote an article about the Holden Ute. It said "Its RWD, Its LS1 powered, It has a 6 speed...and its under 20 Grand." In there they talked about the line up of RWD sedans, from GM's Holden unit. This is the first time the majority of the enthusiast world was introduced to this little band of Muscle Heads from down under. While in America, GM had just killed the remaining two affordable performance cars, the Camaro and Firebird, the market was held by simple bland FWD blah mobiles, large by huge SUV's and Trucks, and Minivans. Performance was out of most of the American car makers line up. But this Hot Rod article brought a new hope to enthusiasts...affordable rear wheel drive performance from the factory. In this article, they also talked about the brand new Monaro coupe, powered by a supercharged 3800 V6 or the LS1 engine. But this Ute struck a chord in the hearts of some enthusiasts. A modern day El Camino. At the peak of its popularity, the Chevy El Camino was a car based pick up truck built of GM's A-body platform. The El Camino shared its design with the Chevelle, and it also shared its power plants. The car would die and come back in the 80's based off the G body platform, but would die once GM went to FWD for its mid sized sedans. Since this article, Holden has become a household name with GM fans, and from Holden we have gotten two very cool cars, the Pontiac GTO and the new Pontiac G8. When the news that the G8 was coming to America, GM fans wanted to know if we were going to get any other of the variants that Holden makes such as the long wheel base Caprice and of course...the Ute body style. Well GM answered our weary and introduced the 2009 Pontiac G8 ST. Now Pontiac has not settled down on the ST name, so they want you to vist there site and have the people vote for what Pontiac should call it. Pontiac will bring the G8 ST here to the US in much smaller numbers then the G8 sedan, and it will be powerd by V8 only. Sorry manual fans, there is no six speed stick planned at this time, but it will get the six speed auto like the sedan. The G8 ST debuted with a brilliant purple/blue suit only outdone by its higher performing brother, the G8 GXP. The car wore the same wheels and has the same running gear as the G8 GT sedan. Inside its just as nice as the sedan, only missing a whole lot of space behind the seats. The bed is big enough and deep enough to haul most of what people would need to carry. The car should perform better then its four door sister due to the fact that the car is a bit lighter. The G8 ST is a cool little niche car for the Pontiac brand, and will supply a coupe like atmosphere with the functionality of a big bed. As Bob Lutz said, the G8 ST will be "A Camaro that can carry 2 dirt bikes". I think that for an active person that needs the functionality and performance, and don't have a lot of friends, this is the car for you.


Original photoshop done by GMI member Aych Es Vee



Press information on G8 ST

[poncho1982]

Thats slick, Monaro was dead on on that chop.

[MonaroSS]

Originally Posted by poncho1982

Thats slick, Monaro was dead on on that chop.

I didn't do that chop.

I broke the story when Lutz told me it wouldn't be a Chevy but GMI Member Aych Es Vee did that Pontiac chop onto the Ute that was used with the story.

[bone]

I sure hope the ST sells well enough to keep it here for more than 3 years.

[BigAls87Z28]

Fixed, sorry to Aych and Monaro.

[ctaylorzl1]

it looks really cool, but those wheels do nothing for it!

[eaton53]

Originally Posted by ctaylorzl1

it looks really cool, but those wheels do nothing for it!

I like those wheels.
Of course, they should offer the HSV wheels as an option on all G8's.

[TaHoE]

I honestly do not see the point of this vehicle at all. I wish I did, but I honestly don't. How many people are there that use these trucks to ferry around their motorbikes but don't need an everyday 4-5 passenger interior or a boot.

[eaton53]

Originally Posted by TaHoE

I honestly do not see the point of this vehicle at all. I wish I did, but I honestly don't. How many people are there that use these trucks to ferry around their motorbikes but don't need an everyday 4-5 passenger interior or a boot.

What did people do before they invented the super cab?
I guess they didn't sell any pickups!

[DirtyMoney]

It might sell as many as the SSR's.

[TaHoE]

Originally Posted by eaton53

What did people do before they invented the super cab?
I guess they didn't sell any pickups!

Point taken. But Pickups and car-based utilities are two totally different vehicles. You honestly believe that a G8 ST would sell as much as a G8 Sedan or a Chev Silverado? It's a really tight niche.

[eaton53]

Originally Posted by TaHoE

Point taken. But Pickups and car-based utilities are two totally different vehicles. You honestly believe that a G8 ST would sell as much as a G8 Sedan or a Chev Silverado? It's a really tight niche.

I think they're only looking to sell 5-10K a year... really not very many.

[stevecmh]

Originally Posted by MonaroSS

I didn't do that chop.

I broke the story when Lutz told me it wouldn't be a Chevy but GMI Member Aych Es Vee did that Pontiac chop onto the Ute that was used with the story.

well who ever did it.. it was dead on.. i like the color too

[RedVee8]

Originally Posted by TaHoE

Point taken. But Pickups and car-based utilities are two totally different vehicles. You honestly believe that a G8 ST would sell as much as a G8 Sedan or a Chev Silverado? It's a really tight niche.

Arh, no.

but thats the point - it is supposed to be something different, unusual. For those that 'get it', they probably don't want to see them everywhere.
Thats where the beauty of being car based comes in. You don't have to carry totally ute specific parts, just more G8 parts, front panels and dash etc.

Hopefully the G8 Utility can find a few thousand sales a year without dramatic discounting. Give the dealers something unique and profitable, give the purchasers something rare and unique.

Holden couldn't supply the numbers anyway if the aim was to match sedan or Silverado. However, if the demand mix between sedan and ute was to change in favour of the Ute, Holden could alter the production mix. Beauty of two products over one.

[PontiacBixler]

I really think you will see these things sitting on dealer lots which will cause a massive rebate at the end of each model year.

I know that I'm obviously not the intended market for this car but with a price point that is going to be in the $30k range, why would anybody want this car that has so much less capabilities than a truck and a car?

I agree with the fellow that said it will sell as many as the SSR sold. Sure the SSR was fun to look at, but for what GM was trying to sell it as, it failed miserably. Even with the Vette engine under the hood, it couldn't perform as touted. Add on top of lack of performance the pricing was a down right slap in the face to the potential buyers. Why would you pay almost the same amount for an SSR that you would for an actual Corvette that had it all done right?