Pontiac’s G8 GXP Was a Superb Final Gasp for a Previously Nice Model

Keep in mind Pontiac? I imply, Pontiac because it ought to have been all alongside, not the Pontiac of the Nineties with all its unhealthy plastic, questionable styling and disappointment. We misplaced GM’s “efficiency model” in 2010, and whereas many of the vehicles offered by the model at the moment aren’t value mentioning right here, there may be one which was, and it’s the swan music that Pontiac deserved: the 2009 G8 GXP.

Now, the GM nerds amongst you’ll know that the G8 was primarily based on the Australian Holden Commodore, particularly the VE era, and was constructed on GM’s rear-wheel drive Zeta platform. It was supplied within the U.S. in 2008 and 2009, with trim ranges starting from the 256-hp V6 automatic-only base mannequin to the LS3-powered 402-hp GXP, which might be had with a Tremec 6-speed handbook.

The GXP bought a repute on the time for being a “poor man’s E60 BMW M5” due to its glorious efficiency and tremendous-reasonable $39,995 price ticket. The M5 on the time made round 500 horsepower due to its screaming V10 engine however retailed for over twice what the GXP did ($85,500, or thereabouts). Very similar to the Chevy SS that got here in 2014 and adopted the identical method on the GXP, it supplied a variety of efficiency for the cash.

In 2009, I used to be 24 years outdated, working the components counter at a small Ford dealership and by no means even remotely able to affording a $40,000 automotive, however I dreamed about driving a GXP in a method that I didn’t with different American vehicles on the time. I by no means managed to get behind the wheel of 1 (I did later get to have a go in an SS), but it surely’s a automotive that’s held a particular place in my reminiscence ever since.

Pontiac might not have been an amazing automotive firm for many of its previous couple of a long time, but it surely — very like Saab (however undoubtedly not Oldsmobile) — typically deserved higher than it bought. Let’s chill, take heed to the dulcet tones of the godfather John Davis and pour one out for one of many raddest fashionable American efficiency vehicles to ever hit the streets.