Jalopnik: Pontiac G8 El Camino

Pontiac Rear-Wheel-Drive Excitement On Hold

Ben Wojdyla — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 11:40:00 EDT

There was some speculation floating around which opined the future of Pontiac would be an all rear-wheel-drive one. Exciting as that may be, those rumors have been quashed. Despite the introduction of the RWD Pontiac Solstice, Pontiac G8 and pending Pontiac G8 ST, the market shift toward fuel economy is forcing GM to keep wrong-wheel-drive firmly in place for future product plans at the pointy-spear division. So what kind of cars will we be seeing as a result?

With the Pontiac G6 in refresh limbo and a probable Pontiac G5 based on the Chevy Cruze, it's a hard to argue the case for an all-rear-wheel-drive lineup at the moment. MotorAuthority contradicts an earlier GM statement saying we wouldn't be seeing the Pontiac G3 in the US. They go one step further and imagine a car between the G3 and the G5 — we're no rocket scientists, but "G4" is a good bet for a name. So, lets count it all up: No rear-wheel-drive lineup and a rebadged Aveo? We don't like this story; put it back. [MotorAuthority]

Pontiac G8 ST El Camino To Get Direct-Inject V6

Ben Wojdyla — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 09:40:00 EDT

Sources at GM are beginning to whisper that the ~~2010 Pontiac G8 El Camino~~ Pontiac G8 ST will be getting a version of the direct injection V6 present in the Cadillac CTS. First to tell us a two-engine plan for the new ~~El Camino~~ G8 ST was a real possibility was Pontiac marketing director Craig Bierley, who told us the option was "absolutely on the table." Now Edmunds' site always with the exclusive Inside Line on happenings at the General claims it's more than likely not just a possibility, but a reality.

Jalopnik Snap Judgment: When we speculated on the success of the Pontiac G8 ST with only a big honkin' 361 HP V8, we wondered aloud if a V6 option might not make a lot of sense. Given the disintegration of the full size truck market, and a largely unserved compact truck market, a 3.6-liter V6-powered ~~El Camino~~ G8 ST could be a huge success. Is it wrong that we're almost more excited about a well designed V6 in the truck-car than the tire melting power of a V8? Note we said "almost."

NameG8 Continues: Pontiac G8 ST Press Photos Show Photoshop Fun

Ray Wert — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 12:00:00 EDT

Along with the press release on the official name of the Pontiac G8 ST, GM's press team released a bevy of photos of the new ute from the brand all about the arrowhead. Pontiac marketing director Craig Bierley told us Pontiac "didn't really have ST as the name when we engaged in the process" but the press photos from last night display a remarkable similarity to the original shots released back in March. Do they make you wonder whether perhaps "ST" was going to be the name all along, regardless of what entries were received? All we know is we're still in mourning over the loss of the El Camino name.

2010 Pontiac G8 Sport Truck, Down Under

Ben Wojdyla — Fri, 23 May 2008 13:20:00 EDT

Despite the small size of the image, it appears the 2010 Pontiac G8 Sport Truck has moved on from cobbled together show car to pre-production tester. A forum member over at GM Inside News spotted these camouflaged (why?) cars around Melbourne and snapped one off before the driver made a speedy getaway. The grille on the bottom car looks Holden-like to us, but maybe the top one was the Pontiac, or maybe our eyes need to be tested. Is it wrong to want to liquefy those tires as part of the break-in procedure? [GMInsideNews]

Wards Ignores Jalopnik At Epicenter Of El Camino Campaign

Ben Wojdyla — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 10:45:00 EDT

Seems Wards Auto noticed our little campaign to resurrect the El Camino moniker for the 2010 Pontiac G8 sport truck, even going to far as to quote Bob Lutz's response to our question at the New York Auto Show. But when it came time to assign a location from which the hootin', hollerin' and shoutin' was emanating from, the best they could come up with was a vague pointing in a direction other than them. Although they were able to see the tens of dozens of press walking through the show wearing our "Vote El Camino Today!" pins, they apparently missed the name Jalopnik printed right underneath it. But at the very least they think our campaign has been "skillful":

"To date, El Camino has a massive head start, thanks to skillful grassroots campaigning."

Although now we're thinking maybe we should re-register our domain name to "skillful-grassroots-campaigning.com." Might not be the worst idea with campaign season upon us — bet it'll do pretty well in the ol' search engine optimization thing Wert's always talking about. That's alright though, no hard feelings on our part. This whole "El Camino" campaign isn't about our glory, we're merely humble servants to the cause. But the shout-out to our ~~readers~~ grassroots campaigners would have been nice. [WardsAuto]

2008 Pontiac G8 Spotted, Decked Out In Racey Duds

Ben Wojdyla — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 09:20:00 EDT

We're big fans of the Aussie import that is the Pontiac G8. If it's ever revealed, we' ll be even bigger fans of the Pontiac G8 ST. Then last night we saw this. On the way to happy hour we caught this Pontiac G8 in Royal Oak with all manner of lovely regalia. We can't confirm or deny the rad stripes, massive spoiler, and bitchin' wheels are part of some kind of appearance option package because the online build-a-G8 workshop isn't up and running. But, we're assuming if it is, it'll be very popular with the peanut gallery.

While this particular car was not equipped with the requisite manufacturers plates, it was sporting a GM parking lot tag. Our sources tell us it belongs to an employee out at the Milford proving grounds but we can neither confirm or deny that. All we know is those vinyl stripes definitely make the already hot-to-trot G8 even more of a looker.