Posted on 11 July 2008
Tags: 2008 pontiac g8, 2009 pontiac g8, car and driver, Christine Kozlowski, Jim Hopson, Mark Gillies, Miss Mississippi, ny daily news, warrack leach
G8Nation introduced two people to the Pontiac G8 community this week. First was Warrack Leach, designer of the 2010 Pontiac G8 ST. Second was Christine Kozlowski who won a 2008 White Hot 11U Pontiac G8 after being crowned Ms. Mississippi.
There were two notable Pontiac G8 reviews in the news. First was the NY Daily News review of the Pontiac G8 GT and then Car and Drivers review of the G8 V6 where Mark Gillies noted the G8 V6 sedan as a compelling alternative to the Toyota Avalon, Ford Taurus and Chrysler 300 Touring.
Cars.com reported that the Pontiac G8 spent an average of 30 days sitting on dealer lots in June before being purchased by some lucky owner. The time on lots increased significantly from the May report of only 16 days.
Finally, G8Nation was responsible for breaking two related news stories this week. Both stories were focused on the colors of the upcoming Pontiac G8 GXP. We first reported that the G8 GXP would not be made available in the orange show car color. Finally, Jim Hopson let us break the news that the G8 GXP would be available in every color of the G8 color palette.
Keep sending us your Pontiac G8 news and questions.
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Posted on 06 July 2008
Tags: Bill Mitchell, El Camino, G8 ST, GMC, Holden, Holden SSX, Holden Ute, Hybrid, Pontiac, pontiac g8, royal melbourne institute of technology, warrack leach
The Pontiac G8 ST made its way back into the news in a big way last week. First with the story of the El Camino nameplate still being considered for the Pontiac G8 ST and then with the announcement that Pontiac is considering a V6 engine choice on the G8 ST.
As one of the most highly anticipated vehicles to come down the Pontiac pipeline, the 2010 Pontiac G8 ST will be the catalyst that shines the international spotlight on Warrack Leach, a lead designer at GM’s Holden unit.
Based on his work with the Australian Holden Ute and his American GMC Denali XT Hybrid concept, he was tapped to develop the American interpretation of the Holden Ute…..enter, the 2010 Pontiac G8 ST. We wonder if his experience with the Denali XT concept will lead the way to a hybrid Pontiac G8 ST, especially since Holden has already decided make the Commodore go green in 2010.
Warrack Leach, now in his early thirties, joined Holden’s design team in 1999 whi;e attending Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in Design. During his tenure at Holden he has designed the interiors of the 2002 Holden SSX concept, VE Commodore sedan, and the Holden-powered 2003 Elfin Clubman/Streamliner before moving over to the exterior side in 2005.
Leach has a straight forward approach design, focusing on maximizing the dimensional limitations of the vehicle architecture and exaggerating key design elements. Leach’s designs are influenced by classic automobiles, particularly those penned by Bill Mitchell, GM’s design chief from 1958-1977. “One of my favorite Mitchell designs has to be the ‘66 Oldsmobile Toronado. That was an inspirational vehicle to me because it has a lot of modern cues that still stand out today, even though Mitchell designed it more than 40 years ago,” he says. Leach adheres to Mitchell’s penchant for designs with sharp, razor-like edges, and enjoys developing vehicles with “dramatic, yet realistic, proportions. I tend not to over-wheel a car or cut the roof to limit headroom; my goal is to develop great proportions within production dimensions based around real-world engineering and I think that adds credibility to a design.”
His inspiration from 1858-1977 Chevy’s is evident in the design of the 2010 Pontiac G8 ST. Now if GM could just decide on a name for the Pontiac G8 ST, we’d all be much happier.
[Source: Automotive Design and Production]
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