Pontiac once built a fabulous G8 concept car. It was a four-door coupe at a time when the segment was just starting to gain ground. Even though it screamed "series production," Pontiac decided to shelf the project. The brand would fall into oblivion in 2010.
The Pontiac designers penned the spectacular concept car in 2008, but the brand has kept it a secret since. General Motors has now finally decided to let it out in broad daylight as one of the automaker's series of never-before-seen concept cars.
In 2008, Pontiac was on the verge of being eliminated from the market. Low sales kept pushing the brand off the stage. The last Pontiac rolled off the production line in Orion Township Assembly Plant in January 2010. Hummer and Saturn had the exact same fate as Pontiac. So, fabulous concept cars were scrapped as if they had never even existed.
With the creation of the G8, Pontiac was hoping to create a new design language. But it no longer made sense. The brand was going to make its exit through the back door of the automotive world.
Now, straight from GM Design's "From the Vault" series, the G8 concept car emerges from its hiding place for the first time. Sixteen years after it was penned, the car still breathes futurism and innovation through every pore.
The concept car was created by GM's design studio in California and was specifically made to inspire future-generation car design. It is a four-door coupe, designed in an era when the segment was just starting to gain traction. Mercedes-Benz had created the sleek CLS four-door coupe, the first of its kind to hit the market.
Photo: GM Design | Instagram
The front end of the Pontiac G8 sports aggressive lines. The dual grille is flanked by headlights elongating upwards in a vertical display.
Muscular proportions, a low stance, flush door handles, big wheels, and very narrow side mirrors round up the sideline of the concept car. At the opposite end, the designers cut into the bumper to integrate a quad exhaust, while the taillights stretch to the rear fenders and wheel arches.
The cabin sports a four-seat layout, while the dashboard seems to gravitate around the driver, who would control steering with the help of a three-spoke steering wheel. The interior is dipped in white and turquoise.
Pontiac did have a G8 model in its lineup in the shape of a sedan, which entered production in 2007 and had nothing to do with the concept car created one year later. It was, in fact, a Holden-made product, manufactured in Australia for export to the United States. Production stopped mid-2009 when GM decided to phase out the Pontiac brand.
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