2006 Pontiac Solstice

2006 Pontiac Solstice Convertible  From the moment the Solstice concept came to be, every line captured an outpouring of roadster essence and raw desire.  The directive that followed was equally powerful and pure:  Build the concept car.  Four words that hurtled Solstice from auto show darling to production model in a scant 27 months, within millimeters of its original dimensions, and faithful to its celebrated core.  From the 2006 Solstice brochure. For consignment, a 2006 Pontiac Solstice, a 2 owner with a title verified 28,851 actual miles, owned by our consignor for the last eleven years and driven just 3,700 miles.  Yes, it's that kind of car, one you can reserve for fair weather country drive or opt to use it every day and you whistle while you work, and enjoy the sun no matter where it is in the sky.    Exterior With its seamless exterior lines and aerodynamic panels, you can fly down the road and not even hear the wind, it cuts through like a knife.  Bathed in a two stage Black paint job, the panels have no dents or dings, and the chrome trim and badging is excellent.  Elongated teardrop headlights grace either front quarter and a bulbous front end has a contrasting honeycomb split grille.  On either side of this grille are fog lights embedded in the bumper cover, while a dual humped rear cowl conforms to the bucket seats like race fairings, and are topped with a brushed aluminum trim band.  Looking all around we are reminded there is not one straight line on the design of this car.  A black canvas convertible top can be easily put up and down manually and sports a glass rear window.  18-inch chrome 5 spoke wheels with 45 series tires are at each corner.   Imperfections include some bubbling in the paint, some uneven paint over filler, and a row of swirl sanding marks under the paint.  Interior Black door panels are clean and efficient, composed of contoured plastic and vinyl.  Charcoal and gray bucket seats are complemented by white stitching over the two tone high back thrones.  Plenty of convenience options have been added, including a beefy, soft grip steering wheel that fronts a three gauge dash, each in their own cylindrical cove, and relaying essential information including RPMs and speed.  The back panel waterfalls onto a center stack where we find simple A/C control knobs over an embedded AM/FM/CD radio that tracks down directly to the fun stick, a stout shifter for the 5-speed manual in a circular base.  A convenient storage bin resides in the center rear tower between the seats and the charcoal low pile carpet covers the floor in nice condition.    Drivetrain A 2.4 liter DOHC 4 cylinder engine with electronic fuel injection is backed by an Aisin 5-speed manual transmission sending power to the rear wheels, in true sportscar fashion, and 3.90 gears.  The hood comes up clamshell style and reveals a relatively clean engine bay with more plastic covers than a Tupperware party and looking not unlike the bay of a baby Vette.  And like a Vette, power disc brakes are found on all four corners.   Undercarriage GM stepped up with a good amount of flat belly pan square footage under the car for improved aerodynamics.  The single exhaust runs down the middle, under the driveshaft cover, and works through the original equipment muffler that leads to a single chrome exhaust tip.  Independent SLA, (double wishbone), suspension is at both front and back.  Other than some surface rust on the short shafts, the underside is clean and dry as can be.   Drive-Ability The comfortable cabin is sparse by modern measures but that leaves you to focus on the thing at hand, driving.  And so we did, and the lack of distractions helped us appreciate this car even more.  It has decent power, great handling, and like Goldilocks sought, possesses a scale that is just right!  As a modern, low mileage car, every function operated as expected and this American roadster is ready for it