The 2010 Pontiac G8 Sport Truck. The Forgotten Dream.
So here’s the deal. We all have felt something a little negative when it comes down to this economic down turn that kicked in at the end of 2007. Work became more, & more nonexistent, hours were cut, lay-offs became a normality like the sunrise, and the overall morale of the Blue collar worker was lower than shit under your shoe. But I’m not here to dwell on that too, too much, No. I wanted to shine a little light on the situation, by talking about cars. Well one car in particular. It was a vehicle that was to be released somewhere between 2009, and 2010
. That vehicle was the 2010 Pontiac G8 Sport Truck, aka the Holden Thunder Ute, aka the New El Camino. Now you may have noticed that I’m speaking of this precious car in the past terms, and there’s a good reason for that. Some of you car guys, & gals who kept up with motoring trends during the economic hardship knew that the Big 3 (Ford, GM, Dodge) were going through some major drama when it came to their finances. The main one to have problems was GM. GM like the other companies had to figure out ways to make ends meet, while still staying afloat in the automotive market. Well after heavy debating a decision was made, to discontinue a few of their automotive lines. The main one to go was Pontiac. After having cars on the road for 84 years the brand was officially finished. Shut down as restructuring was still being had, and new designs were waiting for their chance to make a splash in the US. One of those designs was an Australian inspired vehicle from the Holden factory. (GM Australia) It was a very fierce and sexy remake of the classic El Camino. They called it the Thunder Ute. It was basically the front end of a Pontiac GX8, combined with a low profile pick up truck rear end. Holden made them for years, steadily improving upon it’s looks, driving abilities. 2010 was going to be the release date for it to come state side, and once again bring Pontiac into the light of design, and technology. This truck was to bring a stout 365hp V8 to the streets of the US, quickly making it a potential tuner’s car. It’s light weight body, coupled with either a 4spd Automatic, or 5spd Tiptronic gearboxes, the sport Truck would not have remained stock for very long. 
Now with General Motors pulling the plug on Saturn, and Pontiac, there are a few models that will never see the light of day. The Pontiac G8 Sport Truck was simply shot down before it had a chance to fly. Dismantled while still on the assembly line. It’s sad really, if you think about it. How many cars, trucks, & SUV’s are now on the “Discontinued” parts list? I mean as far as Pontiac is concerned, some hot cars got the ax, and not because they sucked either. The GTO for example, made a name for itself being driven by Rhys Millen in the Formula Drift Series. That’s gone. The Pontiac Solstice, & Saturn Sky, also driven in Formula D. Gone. The GX8, which replaced the Bonnevile, that one had it’s quick 15 minutes of fame when 50 Cent slapped his name on a few of them. Those were just a example of the casualties of the economic war, that were lost. We as car people need to recognize when something that has potential is dashed away due to uncontrollable circumstances. It wouldn’t hurt to look up canceled car models on Wikipedia, and just soak in some history. Because you never know when the day comes, and yet another one of your favorite cars is now on the “Discontinued” list, and you’ll never see it again.
