Oddball Update

At one point in time I was speculating heavily about the next-generation Pontiac Grand Am, scheduled for release in the 2005 model year. Last time I talked about it, not much was certain except that the car would be built on a brand-new platform and would become somewhat larger and more full-featured, following in the steps of the Grand Prix. Now it seems that Pontiac has decided to use their G6 Concept (pictured at right) as a base for the new Grand Am. They’re even dumping the “Grand Am” moniker—the car’s replacement will be called something else, perhaps even “G6”.

Obviously, the production vehicle is getting “quantized” back in line with reality as is the norm when a concept makes the assembly line, and you can see some exclusive spy shots of the ‘05 production Grand Am here. This early production car is hidden behind the usual amount of camouflage, but it looks like it could turn out to be a nice-looking machine. This is obviously the base model we’re seeing, as it features a good amount of plastic up front and an overall very basic cosmetic look—much like a Saturn L, actually. So I’m anxious to see what the top-level model will look like, be it GT or GXP, with its added appointments. Think about the current Grand Am: The SE model looks incredibly wimpy, but the GT—with just some cosmetic adjustments—looks downright mean.

Besides its new looks, another exciting feature of the new Grand Am is its powerplant. It’s rumored that the four-banger is being dropped and a V6 will be standard, and the top-of-the-line model will feature a supercharged version of said powerplant, producing 285 horsepower. Additionally, a retractable hardtop version is said to be joining the new Grand Am lineup. A two-door coupe and four-door sedan version of the car will both be available, but the coupe will actually have four doors—the rear two being “quarter doors,” as first seen on the Saturns of a few years ago.

Personally, I’m pretty interested in this car. My wife and I are currently leasing a Pontiac Vibe, whose four-cylinder engine just isn’t cutting it for us, and the lease will be up just in time for the 2006 model year vehicles to start hitting dealer lots. So we’ve got our sights set on an ought-six Grand Am, G6 or whatever it will be called, and hopefully, will be able to afford one of the nicer trim levels too. Pontiac has said that the car’s price will be bumped upwards a notch, which could spell bad news for them given that affordability of the current GA has got to be a factor in its popularity. Still, we’ll see.

While the G6 concept car is definitely more flambouyant than the production car it is spawning, the Windows desktop wallpapers of the concept are so nice I decided to offer some of them here. The third one is my favorite—and is currently gracing the monitor of both my home and my office PC. (Now I just wish I could Photoshop my Trans Am onto that curvy roadway…mmmm.) The wallpapers are formatted for 1600×1200 screens, and thus are relatively large downloads (100-200K apiece).

Categorized as Cars