NYIAS 08: 2010 Pontiac G8 Sport Truck

[JeffInDFW]

Great vehicle, and with coming CAFE BS, it is really needed. But making it a Pontiac is idiotic on a thousand levels.

1. "Pontiac is car", well, sorry, we forgot we are going to build a freaking PICKUP TRUCK.
2. Hey, lets combine Buick, GMC, and Pontiac together and get rid of models to lessen model overlap! Well, but lets build a giant SUV (Enclave) for Buick and then lets build a pickup for Pontiac, even though GMC is supposed to be our truck division, and have them share a showroom.
3. Herritage has it that Chevrolet had a vehicle in its past just like this (El Camino), but when we bring it back, lets give it to......PONTIAC! I have an idea. That Camaro they have been showing for the last 3 years, how about if instead of giving it to Chevrolet, lets give it to Saab and call it the Camaro!
4. We want to make Pontiac in the image of BMW (GMs stated goal), so lets give Pontiac a......PICKUP!
5. We want the G8 to appeal to people who are more upscale than Grand Prix buyers, we want those BMW buyers to consider the G8.....so to do so, lets give them a vertion that is a PICKUP!

AGHHHHGHGHGHGH!!!!!! Are you kidding me?!!??!! I can't take being a GM fan anymore.

[TriShield]

THIS IS NOT A TRUCK.

I can't believe how misunderstood this CAR is on a site full of supposed auto enthusiasts.

IT'S NO DIFFERENT MECHANICALLY, VISUALLY AND INSIDE FROM THE G8 SEDAN. It is not made to tow huge trailers or haul heavy loads or go off-road or on worksites.

This car is built to play hard when you want to, it's built to be comfortable when you want to, it's built to blitz freeways, mountain roads and drag strips, it's built to be versatile for your home or weekend errands, and above all it's made to be unique and fun. It's Australia's #1 fun coupe and a muscle car, plain and simple. No different than the classic El Camino SS cars that people restore and show. It's an ideal performance car for city slickers like myself who commute and need to run errands to Home Depot and do not need the overkill of a stupid truck.

If GM produces an ST GXP in orange it will be my next car and they will have retained me as a customer.

Thanks Lutz and GM for taking a chance on this unique and terrific muscle car. They deserve some credit for making Pontiac into a brand with some big big balls for releasing this car. I hope it gets the clever marketing to back it up.

The names I submitted were G8 UTE and G8 SPRINT. I like Orbit's G8 STORM idea too.

[bigtime]

You guys who argue it should be an el camino are wrong, that would only work if it were-
A. based on a chevrolet model,
B. were more mainstream and less performance oriented.
C. It were actually a pickup! Its not you tools! Its got a bed, so what!
D. This absolutely can compete with BMW and attract upscale buyers! Its performance oriented and different. Like a BMW Z4 coupe.
E. Nobody whose going to buy these (like myself) gives two craps about the el camino. I laugh at el caminos and the whiskie tangos that drive them.

p.s. - why the pontiac lightfoot? Should be pontiac leadfoot. Anyway...

Call it the Ute. It needs a unique name, something as unique as it is. G8 VE ST or whatever, stinks. It can't be that blah.

p.s.s. - To market it, do not do another dumb spy hunter P.O.S. ad. Check youtube.com for some good holden ute ads. Seems australia even knows how to market the vehicle! Maybe we should dump the pontiac name and just call them holdens? Too many of you want to live in GM's past. That pontiac is never coming back, sorry.

[ACross32]

My name: Pontiac G8 GXT

[coaster.n3rd]

I'm with Jalopnik on this.

[Frankster177]

Its a practical muscle car.
After the dross that GM and Pontiac has been making for years u need something with some balls.


Dont knock it till u drive it.

[BlueMontreal]

I wish it had optional AWD. Because up here we have one of our worsts winters ever and I don't think that a RWD car with a light bed would be the best choice to get out of the snow banks or climb anything.

[Orbit Orange]

Originally Posted by TriShield

THIS IS NOT A TRUCK.

I can't believe how misunderstood this CAR is on a site full of supposed auto enthusiasts.

IT'S NO DIFFERENT MECHANICALLY, VISUALLY AND INSIDE FROM THE G8 SEDAN. It is not made to tow huge trailers or haul heavy loads or go off-road or on worksites.

This car is built to play hard when you want to, it's built to be comfortable when you want to, it's built to blitz freeways, mountain roads and drag strips, it's built to be versatile for your home or weekend errands, and above all it's made to be unique and fun. It's Australia's #1 fun coupe and a muscle car, plain and simple. No different than the classic El Camino SS cars that people restore and show. It's an ideal performance car for city slickers like myself who commute and need to run errands to Home Depot and do not need the overkill of a stupid truck.

If GM produces an ST GXP in orange it will be my next car and they will have retained me as a customer.

Thanks Lutz and GM for taking a chance on this unique and terrific muscle car. They deserve some credit for making Pontiac into a brand with some big big balls for releasing this car. I hope it gets the clever marketing to back it up.

The names I submitted were G8 UTE and G8 SPRINT. I like Orbit's G8 STORM idea too.

I've given up trying to understand why people feel the need to hate on this. Let them hate away, means greater choices for me. I understand your frustration though on their incessant need to bash and needle away at it. Just remember this, our hard earned $$$ will speak volumes to those that bring the ST here. Their animosity isn't worth the bandwidth it takes up. Money talks BS walks. Of course we'll be riding in a new G8 ST. Don't let them rain on our (and all fans of the ST) parade.

[Tony's BlkGTP]

I have seen babies doing less crying than some of you poster to the site. People, get over that fact that the Firebird is gone. As much as I loved the Trans Am, I was very sick of the Camaro always over shadowing it. They were basically the same vehicle with different trim, which I definitely preferred over the Camaro, but it's gone. I really hope it doesn't come back, unless it is different from the Chevy.

I think the vehicle will do just fine in low numbers and still get people to look at Pontiac as a performance division as GM should have it to be. As for a name, I sort of like G8 GXT as well.

[TriShield]

Originally Posted by Orbit Orange

I've given up trying to understand why people feel the need to hate on this. Let them hate away, means greater choices for me. I understand your frustration though on their incessant need to bash and needle away at it. Just remember this, our hard earned $$$ will speak volumes to those that bring the ST here. Their animosity isn't worth the bandwidth it takes up. Money talks BS walks. Of course we'll be riding in a new G8 ST. Don't let them rain on our (and all fans of the ST) parade.

It's a niche car that will appeal to a niche of people. Judging by the popularity of El Caminos and Rancheros as well as the G8 (1 week in anyway) GM will have no issue selling them in my area. I suspect that it will be the same for the other Southwestern smile states as well as Texas and Florida.

Perhaps my plate should say NTATRUK.

[bigtime]

For those tracking the names suggested here:

G8 GXT. Yeah, thats clever.

G8 ST. See G8 GXT above.

Sprint. Uh, the last sprint GM made was a P.O.S. econobox.

Storm. See sprint. Some guys thought it was a sports car. The girls who drove most storms knew otherwise.

G8 VE GXP or some combination of letters. Sorry, I already forgot.

G8 Ute. The ONLY name that makes sense. It has to be unique as the car and eventually talked about/part of popular culture like other famous/historical pontiac names like GTO, etc. A lot of companies are using some mix of numbers and letters, we can do better.

[SCCA1995]

I'm liking the name Ute. That's what it's known as in OZ. For anyone that hasn't read the press release, this will be a niche car/truck/vehicle. Probably fewer will be brought over than were '04-'06 GTOs. So before people can say it, that does NOT make this a sales failure. If it sells all that GM brings over, it's a success. Plus, the whole "Pontiac is CAR" slogan will be gone by the time this hits the market. I'll bet on that.

[steined]

Nothing like giving the media something to make fun of GM for. This has mullet written all over it despite what practicality and usefulness it might have. The US media isn't ready for it, and GM isn't ready for an onslaught from the US media. Just my $.02

[coaster.n3rd]

Originally Posted by steined

Nothing like giving the media something to make fun of GM for. This has mullet written all over it despite what practicality and usefulness it might have. The US media isn't ready for it, and GM isn't ready for an onslaught from the US media. Just my $.02

I don't think their will be an onslaught of attacks from the media and GM has several very good class leading vehicles now (and more on the way), so any backlash would be minimal.

[ponyok67]

I voted a little while ago...

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