#pontiac

The Holden Commodore Ute has had more false starts in the United States than Elizabeth Taylor has had marriages, but rising gas prices might give General Motors an impetus to import the Ute as a pickup alternative at a time when high gas prices are making large trucks economically unfeasible.

Easily the best thing to come out of the now-defunct Pontiac brand in recent memory was the G8 sports sedan – based on the Australian Commodore. Not only was it an impressive performance machine, but it gave North America a taste of just how good a job Holden is doing down under.

Ever wonder where Pontiac owner’s are going shopping for new cars since the brand folded? Honestly, we hadn’t, until this new study came to our attention.

During our drive of the Chevrolet Camaro Convertible, we chatted with one engineer about GM’s Zeta platform, which underpins rear-drive full size cars. Among remarking how much we adored the Pontiac G8 sedan and how we longed for a revival of the car, the engineer broke into a broad grin and said “well, these things have a way of happening.”

Oklahoma car collector Tim Dye is well known in the enthusiast community for his stable of Pontiacs. Now, he’s decided to open a museum dedicated to the now defunct marque, in the town of Pontiac, Illinois, through which passes a stretch of the historic ‘Mother Road,’ Route 66.

It’s a good idea to buckle up in the car to keep you safe, but did you know that buckling up can keep you pants up?

There are a few belts out there from your favorite automotive brands and are worthy of keeping your pants in place. The auto-inspired belts from Pure Detroit make it simple by letting you just click it. The authentic seatbelt belt  shown above is fabricated from real automotive seatbelt webbing, and available in black, brown, charcoal and olive. You’ll find belts from Cadillac, Chevy, Ford, Chrysler, Dodge, Corvette, Mustang and Pontiac for sale at www.puredetroit.com.

Backing up the last reports from a few months back, General Motors appears ready to bring back the only truly exciting product Pontiac had to offer, the G8. Now with Pontiac dead the car will be badged as a Chevy (likely wearing the Caprice name), but the important part is that it will be based on the rear-drive Holden Commodore platform, just like the G8 was.

Heide Performance Products, a Michigan company that helps convert Chevrolet Camaros to modern day Pontiac Firebirds, has unveiled their latest creation, a replica of the 1969 Trans-Am based on the current Chevrolet Camaro.

Back in GM’s glory days, when John Zachary Delorean assumed the mantle of General Manager at Pontiac Motor Division, the flamboyant engineer had begun work on his own pet sports car project – the XP-833 – designed as an affordable two-seater alternative to the Chevy Corvette.

Clear of any bad PR for at least a few weeks, Toyota has been hit by yet another safety issue with its cars, announcing a recall of 1.1 million Corolla and Matrix models. The recall involves the 1.8-liter 4-cylinder engine in the cars and as such also affects 200,000 Pontiac Vibes. Models affected include the 2005 to 2008 model year cars.

At issue is the Engine Control Module (ECM), which may have been “improperly manufactured.” The unit could crack at certain solder points resulting in the check engine light to come on, harsh shifts to occur or the engine to simply not start.

Three accidents are been reported related to this issue (including one injury) but none have been confirmed.

Toyota will replace the units starting in mid September.

See after the jump for the official Toyota and GM press releases:

When the new Chevy Camaro surfaced, ideas immediately began brewing in many enthusiasts’ head about a return of the Pontiac Firebird. With Pontiac out of the picture, thankfully there are passionate enthusiasts like those at Classic Design Concepts.

General Motors’ Australian Holden brand remains the choice of hooligans down under, as police in the Australian state of Victoria announced that 46% of cars impounded under their “ hoon” laws. Ford is the second most popular with 16.7% of the impound share, while Nissan is third with 7.8%.

We recently reported on rumors that Chevrolet is planning to bring back the Caprice full-sized sedan, based on the RWD Holden Statesman. This, however, is being denied by the folks at Holden, with Emily Perry, the Australian automaker’s communications director, commenting that “We have no plans to export that vehicle as a civilian car at this stage.”

Here’s a great David vs Goliath story that’s sure to get you all fired up at “the man” on a Monday morning. G8Board.com member “jackalope” was recently ticketed for having what a police officer deemed to be illegal tail lights. Knowing that the lights are factory equipment on his Pontiac G8 GT, and are certified by the DOT, he took the ticket to court, considering the whole thing to be some kind of mistake. Knowing he was in the right and had the law on his side, Jackalope was shocked when the judge found him guilty and upheld the ticket, meaning he had to pay the $85. Worse still, he was told by the judge (this time “the man” was actually a woman) that she would continue to fine him if he refused to pay. And to add insult to injury, the judge even went so far as to advise the defendant that he should consider selling his car as its not legal in Maryland.

Pontiac owners are abandoning the brand when it comes time to purchase their next vehicle, according to a report in Automotive News.