BANDITCAR

ooooohh, love them! Black wheels with a red lip on your car = full on awesome! So can't wait to see the pics with em on and burnin up the ground.

Ordered it today...$250 and free shipping. Waiting is such a pain.

Cool pics! You shoulda autox'd the Torrent!

Here's all the ones I've accumulated since 2002

okay, here are the other pics I took of the other club members rides

Thanks guys, The show was completely free in the sense that we got breakfast, unlimited sodas/water, bbq lunch and everyone who participated got a door prize along with a goodie bag filled with stuff for FREE. There are no awards or judging for the show...just a good time. The first time I went to this show back in 2008 is when I test drove a Solstice for the first time and also the dealership that I ordered my Solstice from. The General manager there has a beast of a GTO that was in the show but I neglected to take pics of this go around.

Went to a show this weekend with the club, here are some pics of the CETA:

I'm not sure of the actual size, but I guesstimate it to be around 2 x 3 inches. just google third shift studios and his site will come up. Jaison doesn't have them listed on his site yet, but you can request it via email in the contact us section. He should be able to put the G6 sillouette in there if he has the image. They run $65 a badge.

I originally thought that I could face it forward like it was in the Thunderbird, but the way that the shifter lever is notched only allows it to go to the side like that. A minor adjustment for me to get used to but I actually like the way it feels when I have to shift it. another look: looks good from the passenger side...hahahh.

After GM announced Pontiac was being discontinued, I had a local shop make up some decals for my fenders, kinda like the black bands some wear for funerals. Well, I recently removed them and came upon a G8 design on this site that someone has as an avatar. I contacted the person who desigened the badge and asked if he could make one for the Solstice and he obliged and came up with this: I'm getting two of them and will have to think about exactly where I would place them on the car.

Thats curious. The front fascia looks to be exactly the same on both except for the lower valance being a bit different of a design. I would think that they should be interchangeable. GM would not make 2 different front ends for the same car just to fit different grills. or would they? I bet they do fit, you might have to make some adjustments.

Welcome to the forums! Good to see more Pontiacs joining the flock

I totally agree and that was my idea from the beginning. Funny story there... A year before the 01 10th Hawk came out I was in the market for Gold Wheels. I came upon the SLP site and kinda liked the Firehawk wheels that they were using for the 10th. ( I really wanted the 98 Hurst Trans Am wheels more, though) and I kindly asked the guys with SLP if I could buy a set of the Gold Wheels. Well...with SLP's all "high and mighty" attitude about their Firehawk parts, they told me that I could sell my piece of junk and buy the wheels for $35K+ and they'd throw in the Hawk for free. After which they continued to berate me for asking about it saying that they would never sell firehawk parts to anyone other than a Hawk owner for the main reason that they didn't want people making "fake" hawks. From that point on I was an SLP hater and continue to not promote anything that they ever did. The 10th, come to find out, had many problems with its "exclusive" parts. The stripes were done in a printed fashion that after a time the edge would show and peel. The "gold" exhaust tips flaked and tarnished and couldn't be replaced. Their hoods had bubbles under the paint (common firehawk hood prob). Then, once Firebirds stopped production the heads of SLP decided that all their parts weren't as special as they supported and they listed them for sale to anyone that wanted to buy them. Lame. Afterwards, I looked for Gold wheels in general and nothing ever came up except some import 4 lug wheels. So I never went the Gold Wheel route.

I'm a big advocate of, "If you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything at all". Negativity never gets anyone anywhere. Gotta try and find the positives or else your life will be miserable. I love the way the Torrent looks. If I were to ever buy an SUV type vehicle...that would be the one.

Couple years back when I was still looking to replace my Trans Am with a new Daily driver, I spent some time driving my Father's car until I could make a choice. He has a 2005 Thunderbird (which kinda helped me really think about getting a Solstice since it was a 2 seat roadster) and I ended up really liking the shift knob in the car. The Trans Am in Auto form comes with a rather plain T-handle shift knob with a large protruding button. Never really liked the way it looked and missed the way that the 6-speed type knob looked in the interior. So one day I took the shift knob out of my Dad's T-bird and put it in my T/A. It worked perfectly and matched some of the curved design elements on the rest of the car like the door panel inserts. So I went to the Ford dealership and ordered me up a new shift knob. Here is the stock and "replacement" and what it looks like on It sits a little high, but I really didn't want to go cutting on the shifter lever, even though it is okay to do so. I really like the way it turned out and don't mind having a tiny piece of a Ford on my GM. haha

Here are a couple more that I didn't post before...heh, ho'ing it up!

Thank you sir! It was actually one of your photo shoot threads that got me motivated to go out and get some new shots. So thank you for that! (just posted in your Gettysburg thread, as well) Thank you! One of my favs too...I did take more than what I posted but some were so similar with minor differences that I didn't want to post them all...but I might. hahah

Absolutely LOVE the cemetary pic. That could go on a Calendar right there!

Thanks for all the great comments guys! Oh and Ghost, as long as you trade for a Pontiac, any of them are worth it! Mysterious (Black) is a great color for a GXP. The car is my Daily Driver and had some minor water spots and such that were bothering me so I hit those up with Meguiar's Ultimate Compound using that by Orbital buffer and by hand for the small areas. Totally destroyed those water spots, haha. Then went over the top of that with Meguiar's NXT 2.0 for that final shine.

My story in letter form to GM about the discontinuation of Pontiac, reposted from my introduction thread: Dear General Motors, This letter is in reference to the recent decision to cut the Pontiac Brand from the General Motors line up of American vehicles. I will start by stating how upset I am with the executive decision to remove Pontiac. I will do my best to explain why the decision upset me to such a degree as to write this letter. I know this letter will most likely do no good to undo that which has already been done, but your company needs to know how this decision has affected their American consumers and supporters. I can only write from my own experience, yet I can say my feelings do resonate throughout the community of Pontiac, as well as GM supporters. My fascination with cars started like so many others at a young age. By playing with small die-cast vehicles as a child and dreaming that one day I would be able to drive and own one of these fantastic vehicles. As a child I didn’t have any conciousness as to the companies that made cars. I only knew that there were certain design elements or names of vehicles that I affiliated with what made a “cool car”. The top two favorite cars that fully engrossed my imagination were the Corvette and the Firebird Trans Am. The Corvette of the 1970's had such bold curves that made it out to be so exotic. Whereas, the straightlines and no nonsense performance of the Trans Am could not go unnoticed, especially with a large mythical bird of fire emblazoned on the hood. What kid wouldn’t be fascinated with either of these cars? Years later, I started to look more at the real cars that would pass by or that I would see as my Mom drove us around in her 1983 Cadillac Sedan DeVille. We would pass a car dealership whenever she had to pay the electricity bill. In passing this dealership I would notice the cool and futuristic looking vehicles. First there was a little sportscar that for the longest time I thought to be a Ferrari only to find out from friends that it was actually called a Fiero. There was also another type of passenger vehicle at the time the likes of which I had never seen before, The Trans Sport. It looked like it was made by NASA since the long slanting windshield made it resemble the shape of the Space Shuttle. Finally there was the Trans Am. The vehicle that I knew so well from movies and television. The Trans Am represented the ultimate car for me. It was then, after noticing all these wonderful cars on the same lot that I looked up and saw the sign with bright red letters that spelled out PONTIAC. At that moment was when I made the distinction that any car with a Pontiac nameplate was the car to have. Something in the name spoke to me and made me want to know more. Every time afterward, as we would pass the dealership, I would look for more new and exciting vehicles from Pontiac. Then came a time in my life where I thought Pontiac had taken their designs a bit too far in the early 1990's. The Trans Am that I had grown to love had a long pointy beak and I lost interest in that car as well as seing these others like the Grand Am and Grand Prix that I just didn’t attach myself to like other models from decades before. I had to ask myself, “Did Pontiac lose their way?” Then something happened. An event that would forever change the way that I lived my life. That event, as small as it might seem to most, was a television commercial for the new 1998 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am. On the screen, I see this beast of a shiny black car come out of the mist to threaten the existence of a little foreign exotic. Then what happens was not expected, as the Trans Am completely consumes the exotic and expels a belch followed by the tagline, “The Muscle Car Lives”. I was floored. Never had I seen such an amazing looking car. Pontiac had once again captured my attention and luckily enough at that time I was saving to buy my first new vehicle. So in 1999, I walked into a dealership with $9,000 in cash and laid it down telling them I wanted a new Black Trans Am with Six Speed and Chrome Wheels. With that down payment and a little waiting I soon took delivery of my 1999 Trans Am. It was not a Ram Air car, but I would take care of that soon enough by adding a WS6-style hood and 30th Anniversary Trans Am dual stripes. I now had a car that was well known in my city and definitely stood out from all the other American cars and imports. It was at that point that I became a Firebird enthusiast. Attending and winning many car shows. Finding a car club that shared my enthusiasm for the same car and making new friends and memories that will last a lifetime. Then the first fateful blow comes in 2001 as General Motors announces that there will be no more Firebirds after the 2002 model year. I become deeply saddened by that news, yet I had hope that something good would come of it. Something good did happen. That announcement led me to making my next and most profound new vehicle purchase ever. I was finally able to realize a lifelong dream on January 5th, 2002 as I drove off the Pontiac showroom floor the last Special Edition Trans Am to ever be built. I was thrilled knowing that I was now the proud owner of a screaming yellow Collector Edition Trans Am WS6. After getting my Collector Edition, I then discovered I had a need for more to compliment my car and that led me to the online store of PontiacMall.com of which I purchased every item with a Collector Edition logo on it. Adding to that, myself and another CETA owner founded a website to document the heritage of the car as well as give a gathering place for other CETA owners around the world. Through the message board of that site I met many of my now best friends and continue to this day to have a relationship with them. Yet that is not the end of my story. I have to take a step back to 2002. After the production on Firebirds had stopped and I thought Pontiac had nothing else to offer me, GM and Pontiac surprise me with a car that made me once again fall in love with the Brand. The Pontiac Solstice concept vehicles were unveiled to the public and received critical acclaim and won best of show. I told myself that hopefully one day I would own that sporty little roadster that so reminded me of what an American car was. Now fast forward to 2008 and I am participating in a Pontiac dealership car show with my CETA. Walking around the lot looking at the show cars I spy tucked behind the dealership a line of Solstices in varying colors. A salesman approaches and asks if I would like to take one for a test drive? How could I say no? I took the Brazen Orange GXP Solstice out for a drive and fell in love. I had to have one. With fuel prices tipping the scales at almost $5 a gallon, it only made sense to get a 4-cylinder American roadster to help settle some spending. I placed an order for a new 2009 Solstice in Aggressive Red with the only option I thought necessary for a roadster in Louisiana, Air Conditioning. After months of waiting, my Solstice was built and delivered to me on September 13th, 2008. I was very proud of my new purchase and fully documented the addition of a second Pontiac vehicle to my collection. The Solstice is my daily driver and I get looks and questions about it every where I go. What can I say, I love the attention that driving a Pontiac gives me. Then Monday April 27th, 2009 becomes one of the darkest days of my life. General Motors makes the official announcement that Pontiac will be no more after 2010. Now, the only American car brand I have ever identified with is going away. Sorry to say but there is no other GM brand that has soul to it like Pontiac did for me. Even though GM’s other brands still make some outstanding vehicles, I will not be buying any new vehicles from GM. With the discontinuation of Pontiac you , as a company, have lost a consumer, a supporter, a fan and a friend of the Greatest American Car company in the world. Sincerely with Regret, Paul M. Myers

The owner of the Solstice said that water doesn't get through the grill when it rains and he has not had a problem with the filters getting wet in that location. Seems hard to believe, but I'll go with what he says. Mine is going to stay in the stock location as some cutting is needed to get it down as far as he has them as well as an RK sport front end, ahha.

I think they look better on your RS than they do on a Corvette. I'm actually not a big fan on Vette wheels on an Fbody, but those just look like they were made for your car. Excellent choice. You might have singlehandedly changed my view on vette wheels on an Fbody. haha

I was thinking about the Black 09 GXP headlights for quite some time now. I figured I would keep the chrome for the spring/summer months and put the Black ones on for Fall/Winter. hahah...like a seasonal mod change. I know they did a GP on Solsticeforum for them at a real good price but, I had to pass. They are on my "want" list.

Big "Hello!" and Welcome to the Forum!