Photo: jlord8 / Instagram
Back in 2008, with financial woes mounting and following its massive restructuring strategy, General Motors announced its intention to phase out the iconic Pontiac brand by the end of 2010.
As such, almost fourteen years ago, on October 31, 2010, the Pontiac Motor Division of General Motors was sent to the retirement house with no possibility to return. Why are we talking about Pontiac after so long? This is simple because GM's well-known Design Center shared some images from the archive depicting the "Pontiac G8 concept car, a fully functioning vision of the future design language of Pontiac from 2008."
This was the first time anyone outside GM's headquarters had seen this prototype – the last concept car created by Pontiac before General Motors' corner office head honchos decreed the brand's services were no longer needed. During the early 2000s, General Motors wasn't doing as well as today – they dumped Oldsmobile in 2004, then axed Hummer, Saturn, and Pontiac amid its bankruptcy drama.
If Pontiac were to survive, it would have probably turned into a specific, niche performance brand like Dodge has become for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and now Stellantis. Of course, with that being only a concept car – even if it was a functional one – there is little technical information about its specifications and performance.
As such, it is open to interpretation – and of course, the imaginative realm of digital car content creators isn't going to miss that chance to express its vision. More precisely, Jim, a virtual artist known as jlord8 on social media, loves messing around with all things CGI from the automotive realm, and now he dreams of a 'new' Pontiac Vibe joining the hypothetical roster if that G8 concept would have turned into a series production vehicle.
The original Pontiac G8 was a full-size sedan made by Holden in Australia as a rebadged Commodore sold under the US brand in North America. It was only offered for the 2008 and 2009 model years with a base V6 and two V8 engines plus five or six-speed autos and a Tremec six-speed manual transmission. Meanwhile, the Pontiac Vibe was a quirky compact car sold between 2002 and 2010 – it was jointly developed by GM and Toyota and produced at their joint-venture factory NUMMI in Fremont, California.
This unofficial, hypothetical Pontiac G8 Vibe combines the looks of the newly-released 'old' concept car with the Vibe's style, but instead of a five-door hatchback, it looks way larger and more practical – kind of like a sporty estate vehicle. The reception from the fans was positive, and someone even said that it "needs a strong engine." We were thinking about a hybrid powertrain borrowed from Toyota to rekindle the connection. So, what do you think?
This was the first time anyone outside GM's headquarters had seen this prototype – the last concept car created by Pontiac before General Motors' corner office head honchos decreed the brand's services were no longer needed. During the early 2000s, General Motors wasn't doing as well as today – they dumped Oldsmobile in 2004, then axed Hummer, Saturn, and Pontiac amid its bankruptcy drama.
If Pontiac were to survive, it would have probably turned into a specific, niche performance brand like Dodge has become for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and now Stellantis. Of course, with that being only a concept car – even if it was a functional one – there is little technical information about its specifications and performance.
As such, it is open to interpretation – and of course, the imaginative realm of digital car content creators isn't going to miss that chance to express its vision. More precisely, Jim, a virtual artist known as jlord8 on social media, loves messing around with all things CGI from the automotive realm, and now he dreams of a 'new' Pontiac Vibe joining the hypothetical roster if that G8 concept would have turned into a series production vehicle.
The original Pontiac G8 was a full-size sedan made by Holden in Australia as a rebadged Commodore sold under the US brand in North America. It was only offered for the 2008 and 2009 model years with a base V6 and two V8 engines plus five or six-speed autos and a Tremec six-speed manual transmission. Meanwhile, the Pontiac Vibe was a quirky compact car sold between 2002 and 2010 – it was jointly developed by GM and Toyota and produced at their joint-venture factory NUMMI in Fremont, California.
This unofficial, hypothetical Pontiac G8 Vibe combines the looks of the newly-released 'old' concept car with the Vibe's style, but instead of a five-door hatchback, it looks way larger and more practical – kind of like a sporty estate vehicle. The reception from the fans was positive, and someone even said that it "needs a strong engine." We were thinking about a hybrid powertrain borrowed from Toyota to rekindle the connection. So, what do you think?
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