Pontiac Solstice GXP Nomad Is A Cool Shooting Brake That You Didn’t Know Of

Now defunct car brand Pontiac built an ultra-rare sporting brake with the Solstice before the brand shut its doors. After the muscle car heyday of the muscle car, Pontiac went through a milieu. When the brand shut its doors the GTO and Grand Prix was long gone. Instead, in the brand’s final five years, General Motors made some major overhauls to the line-up.

Cutting the Astek and selling mainly the Solstice and the G6. For those who forgot, or at very least tried to forget the Solstice aimed at European sports cars sold in the American market, like the MX-5 and BMW Z4. Proving the brand could compete with these premium manufacturers Pontiac keenly built concepts on their Solstice Platform. One of these incredibly rare cars now comes up for sale.

A premium car dealership, the Throttle Stop usually offers mesmerizing cars like the Porsche 911 992 GT3 Touring, Lola racecars, and classic muscle cars. According to the Throttle Shop, the dealership also features a museum with 275 separate pieces. The Throttle Shop offers up for sale a Pontiac Solstice GXP Nomad Concept car.

One of only 40 that Pontiac built around 2007. Before the Solstice Coupe arrived Pontiac designed this car. An unconventional design the Pontiac looks nowhere near as sleek as its European counterparts like the BMW Z4 Coupe. But in a sharp yellow, with 18-inch wheels and a rare look, this is a Solstice you need to know about.

Only 40 of these ultra-rare classic Pontiac cars exist on the roads.

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Pontiac’s Solstice Shooting Brake Targeted European Sports Cars

With Pontiac preparing to shut its gates before 2010, the General Motors-owned brand took a few last-ditched attempts to turn the brand’s fate around. The Pontiac Solstice GXP forms the brand’s early attempts to do so. First coming to market in 2006 the Solstice GXP with a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine, unlike Pontiacs of old, aimed at European sports cars. These include the MX-5, Audi TT, and BMW Z4.

Not Ford Mustangs and Dodge Challengers. Keen to capitalize on the platform’s relative success Pontiac also sold a Solstice Coupe, with a hard top for one model year alongside a few more racing-oriented concepts. However, one concept that couldn’t find the light of day looks like the Solstice’s finest hour. One of the car enthusiasts’ favorite body styles the shooting brake came into play. A rarity in the modern automotive industry, the shooting brake stems from when cars were coach built and the exclusive domain of the rich.

Effectively a shooting brake to an untrained eye looks like an estate car. However, a true shooting brake takes its body from a coupe. This thus balances the line between coupe and estate, offering a blend of practicality and style. Most notably the now out-of-production Ferrari GTC4 Lusso took this body style. However, for more normal production cars, Mercedes-Benz sells the CLS Shooting Brake, and Volvo used to sell the excellent C30.

More Than Your Average Pontiac Solstice GXP

This car quickly sold at the Throttle Stop. With now only remnants of the listing are available online. With just over 22,000 miles on the clock, the Solstice Nomad clearly saw little use over the years but not a major amount. After all, a 15-year-old car with 22,000 miles on the odometer has beneath-average mileage. The Throttle Stop asked for a modest $22,900 for this 1-of-40 car.

While Pontiac is one of the industry’s most influential brands. Without an active presence in the contemporary industry, the oddities and well-kept examples from their past sell for less than you’d expect. According to Classic, an aggregator of used car prices, a regular Pontiac Solstice sells for $16,644. For comparison’s sake, the rare but still went to-production BMW Z3 M Coupe, on average sells for $41,953.

This particular example uses the 2.0-liter eco-tec four-cylinder turbo engine that produces 260 horsepower. Actually, a pretty impressive engine for its time, propelling the car to 60 mph in 5.5 seconds. Firmly competing with today’s four-cylinder turbocharged hatchbacks. Holding back the Solstice, the interior has the usual early 2000s General Motors feel.

With a five-speed transmission, the car certainly seems dated. With a sweeping center dash, the emulates the feel of a cockpit, like the Mark IV Toyota Supra, there are some nice design features. But with cheap plastic buttons and clearly, very abrasive materials used throughout the cabin, it’s clear to see why Pontiac couldn’t compete and survive against the luxury sporting European marques.

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Pontiac Took Inspiration From Their Past

The Nomad nameplate saw use in the past for General Motors’ brands. The Chevrolet Nomad from the 1950s took the form of a two-door estate car. Pontiac’s own version of this using the A body between 1955 and 1957 took the name of Safari. The cars then moved to the B-body up until 1989, where they were four-door models.

At times the line between shooting brake and hatchback or estate looks blurry, if not non-existent. However, a clear break from both the hardtop and convertible Solstice models. This Pontiac can only have the title of shooting brake. Just like these cars from the 1950s. With the Nomad concept, it’s clear Pontiac was trying nearly everything to turn their luck around.

Sources: Pontiac, Throttlestop, General Motors