Six more weeks of summer, or something like that

Recently I saw my first one of the year. My first Robin? No, it's a little late for that. My first shooting star? Not quite.

It was my first in person sighting of Pontiac's new Solstice. It's finally out of its hole, and since there was no shadow evident I think we'll be seeing six more weeks of summer.

The Solstice is a direct competitor to the Mazda MX-5 (i.e. the Miata to everyone who doesn't work for Mazda's advertising agency), and the initial comparison tests (e.g. Car and Driver's recent informal back to back drives) have given a slight driving dynamics edge to the MX-5 but an overall advantage to the Solstice. Having not driven one, I can't comment on the Solstice's dynamics. What I want to rant about is its looks and style.

The Miata is a bit "soft" for some people, though realizing that it's based on the Lotus Elan does a lot for my appreciation. However, I love the Solstice's styling. It's very dramatic, and I think I see a bit of the British bug-eyed look in it as well. Many of the parts are borrowed from other vehicles, but the overall look never lets on about it's patchwork underpinnings. To me, this is the best sort of design, and if Bob Lutz were here I'd give him a big hug in appreciation for pushing this car through. He'd probably punch me, but it'd still be worth it.