Bob Lutz is an interesting guy. He takes the reigns of Pontiac and the first thing he does is kill off all the plastic cladding on cars like the Grand Am. I hated that stuff too. Then he puts down the gauntlet and says Pontiac is going to make cool cars again, the kind of vehicles that are no-nonsense affordable and fun; the sort of thing people get excited about actually driving and it is supposed to cost less than $20K. Can you believe it?

Ah, the Solstice. Along with a whole line of interesting models being released under Lutz’s guidance, this car really stands out and says “let’s hit the road!” My only complaint is that it gets a middling 28mpg.

Pacific Coast Highway here we come…

And just in case you are the sort of person that likes to put serious cash into your tank, check out the high-performance GXP drifter model. There’s already a tuner forum. Personally, I hope Lutz will put some more emphasis on power-consumption ratio versus power-performance (not likely, given his Viper and Merkur roots), but this is at least a clear indication of how strong leadership can make a brand.

Another good example of this was when Carlos Ghosn of Renault stepped in and revitalized Nissan in 1999. The Z, four-door pickup, and Titan all came out of his amazing rebirth of the company image and product line.