Pontiac G6 GXP - Too Little Way Too Late

While I've always felt the Pontiac G6 to be an oddly styled automobile if not a homely one, with their their being based on GM's excellent Epsilon platform, I've always enjoyed driving them. Stuff one with the 3.6 liter version of what GM used to call their "High Feature" V-6 and add 18 inch wheels and tires and it could, on paper at least, be fun to drive. And the one I test drove in Dallas years ago certainly was. Thanks in large part to the big motor that little car could really scoot and with a verve a Honda Civic owner could only dream about. What's more, while it certainly was no Civic in terms of overall driving dynamics and build quality, I thought it changed lanes like a slot car and had me doing things in traffic I typically wouldn't do. So, what wasn't to like? Well, I generally don't care for cars that small and I already mentioned I thought the G6 was ugly. Then why spend time test driving one? Well, the mind of a car enthusiast works in different ways that normal people.  

Now, some times a spoiler can dress up an automobile of questionable styling merit and a G6 GT or GTP, the GXP replaced the GTP in the Pontiac G6 pantheon for 2008, looks somewhat less amorphous with the relatively tiny optional spoiler. However, a G6 with this Tim Burton-esque thing? Sorry. It looked silly back then and still does. Pictures don't do it justice as to how massive the damn thing was. While it may have improved extreme, high speed handling somewhat given the amount of down force it may have produced, the down side is something as ungainly as the airplane the Wright Brothers flew at Kitty Hawk. Granted, there's a fine line between cool and goofy - take it from me, I drive a Dale Earnhardt Monte Carlo for crying out loud - but this is off the charts. Good thing this wing was part of a "Street Edition" package and you could get a G6 GXP without one. Although, strangely enough, I've seen few GXP's that didn't have this gaping yaw of trunk lid doodad.

So, what happened to the G6 GXP not to mention the G6 in general? Well, timing being everything, had any of the iterations of the Pontiac Grand Am it replaced, "G6" allegedly was for the sixth generation of the Grand Am, been anywhere near as good a car as the G6 was, Pontiac may have had a fighting chance. As it were, with the G6 coming twenty years after the debut of the dreadful front wheel drive N body Grand Am in 1985, while a good effort, it was too little way too late. And, again, as good as the G6 was, it wasn't as good as its competition. To insult to injury, load up a G6 with all the bells and whistles like our subject car here, and the value proposition flew out the sunroof. Why would any discerning buyer buy one of these when they could have a stronger performing and better built Subaru WRX of VW GTI for less money? Even a base Pontiac G8 made more sense than these cars. And for less money. Ouch.

Sure, the G6 had its buyers. Those folks who were Pontiac or GM diehards, yes, there were those people, still others may have actually liked the styling while others may not have been aware there were viable alternatives that were vastly superior. GM popped these out like popcorn too and discounted lesser G6's out the ying yang; that would explain why there are so many of them out there. I'm not a fan but then again there are scores of people out there looking for dutiful, inexpensive  appliances to get them from point A to point B. They do make good used car values since their resale value is bupkiss.

And since they shared so much with the Chevrolet Malibu and Saturn Aura of the same vintage, mechanical parts are a plenty. Although, can't say you're going to find many G6 GXP rear wings out there. That's probably not a bad thing.