(written in 2006) Thinking about it carefully, America has made exactly one mass-market sportscar since WW2 prior to this model year. The Thunderbird was never a ‘sports car’ as such. The Vette has been a junior supercar since the first Stingray except for a lamentable period during the seventies and early eighties when it was pure POSER. These days it’s a worthy not-so-junior-anymore supercar. The Cobra is British despite the American engines. The Crosssfire is sadly not a sports car as such; more of a GT and a deeply flawed one at that. Massive understeer, numb steering and a cramped interior- plus you can buy the ten-year-old Mercedes equivelant for half the price without the deficits and highly questionable styling and interior. No, until this model year the most sport-carish sports car made in America was the confused, half-hearted and unfairly maligned Fiero. GM actually refused to admit that it was even a sports car, insisting for most of the model’s sad, short life that it was a two-seater economy commuter car! Ummm… Right. Whatever you say, guys! Yeah, build quality was terrible- but all American cars in the eighties had terrible build quality so that’s not a complaint that stands out for the Fiero. Driven hard they were actually kind of fun- sure, the MR2 kicked their ass year after year but it was still a worthy effort by the end. Naturally GM, with their typical fore-sight and broad-mindedness cancelled the model just when things were getting really good. GM management were total idiots. The Fiero wasn’t a great car, no. But it was a light-weight two-seater, mid engined with sporty handling and suspension and they could be fun to drive for the twenty-or-so minutes that it took them to wear out. To put things in perspective I’ve lived with a lot of sports cars and have driven a lot more. Daily drivers have included a 280Z, an RX7 (2nd gen) and an Alfa Romeo Spider 2000. I’ve driven MR2s, Fiat 124s, BMW Z3s and a host of others so I’ve got a fair basis for comparison. So what is this automotive wunderkind? The Pontiac Solstice, new this year(2006.) I took my apprentice Jasson out to test drive a Toyota Yaris one monday night- he needs a higher milage vehicle for work. We stopped at the dealer because I wanted to look at the Solstice, having never gotten to look closely at one. The dealer had a white one and a freindly, possibly bored, salesman was happy to show it to us. The car looks fantastic. I’ve only seen them in magazines and there’s a black one driving around. White is the best color that I’ve seen one in so far. The interior of this one was done in black and tan leather and looked great. The seat appears narrow but despite back troubles it was easy to get into and once there I was more comfortable than I had been all day. The drivers seat cuddles you- there’s just no other word for it. You feel firmly planted and perfectly supported. The foot well is tight but big enough even for my size 12’s to be comfortable. This is not a perfect car. In the finest GM tradition the cup-holders are stupidly located and virtually unusable. There are for some reason three of them in a two-seat car. The front one is located on the passenger side of the transmission tunnel and protrudes into the passenger side foot well to the extent that you can’t use it while carrying a passenger. The other is located between the seats at the back of the transmission tunnel where it is not only difficult to use, but easily bumped by the driver’s elbow. If closed this pops it open. If open I would certaily break the flimsy POS eventually. The steering wheel is adjustable, but even at max. elevation the top of the wheel cuts off the sightline to the top of the instruments for some one of my height. The windshield frame is fat and thick- not surprisingly as it’s also the primary roll-over protection. It’s also low enough that for tall drivers such as myself the top bar intrudes into the sight-line. Trunk space is severely limited even with the top up- sufficient for a few bags of groceries or a couple of soft overnight bags, but you are not doing a ‘Costco’ run or going golfing with a passenger. Interior build quality is about what you’d expect from a GM product- it looks nice enough but let’s just say Hyundai has nothing to worry about. However once you start the 2.4 liter Ecotech motor you start to forget these quibbles. It has a nice, lusty and enthusiastic sound. First gear is a bit tall so you want to really rev it up in first if you are in a hurry. The short-throw stick is a delight to use, and use it you will. Trust me. This car begs to be thrashed. I started out pretty mellow, letting the car warm up properly. The car handled and drove quite well at toodling speeds with just enough feed-back through the controls to be reassuring. It doesn’t beat you up but you are never in any doubt about the car’s attitude. Brakes are firm and powerfull but easily modulated. As we approached the first corner to be taken at spped I discovered that turn-in is lightning fast- in fact it caught me out and I almost curbed it but recovered easily. The salesman was actually encouraging me to drive the car hard, so we hung a sharp left onto my favorite section of Monster Road- only half a mile long but very hilly and twisty. I was unable to provoke understeer on the dry pavement but oversteer was available on demand, and it was almost intuitive to adjust the cars line with the throttle. Fantastic. Cornering is also flat, virtually no body-roll. The Solstice is no dragster but acceleration is more than adequate and the car feels faster than it is because of the low seating position. The motor revs willingly, the steering is light but communicates well, the suspension handles minor ripples and bumps in the pavement without complaint. It alerts you to them without beating you up. For all of it’s little quibbles about the cup-holders, intrusive windshield frame and obscured gauges this is a hell of a car and it’s meant to be driven hard- demands it in fact. Once I got going I forgot all about those minor issues and was fully engaged by simply driving. If I were rating this car I’d give it four stars out of five. The missing star has nothing to do with the way that it drives! As Jasson said when I pulled back into the dealership, “The shit-eatin’ grin on your face kind of says it all!” In theory pricing is competitive with the MX5 at about $24K for the car that I drove, which was equipped with airconditioning. In practice you’ll pay a hefty premium for the privilege of being the first kid on the block to have one- at least around here. The car that I drove was purchased by the local dealer from a dealership in Florida and was marked at $30K. For comparison I also drove a new MX5- which they have finally made large enough that I can actually fit in it and drive it. For sheer competance and cability to carry speed I’d have to run both cars on a road-racing course. It was just too close to tell on the street. The MX5s ergonomics are better and there is a fair bit more storage space. But- I would have the Solstice. It wins on character hands down. The MX5 is so uber-competant that it’s almost too refined, but the Solstice has an eager and urgent character that begs to be driven hard. It sounds better too. Make mine white please. 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