Solstice voted Future Classic Vehicle of the Year

Friends of the National Automotive History Collection at the Detroit Public Library have voted, and they choose the new Pontiac Solstice as the most desirable future collector car. The Future Classic Vehicle of the Year award stating as much was presented Jan. 13 to Christopher Ayotte, Pontiac Small Car Marketing Manager.

"Solstice prides itself on style and affordability" and is the "modern translation of the classic roadster," Ayotte said.

The Solstice began as a drawing by GM executive Bob Lutz on a cocktail napkin. Lutz passed the drawing to then-styling chief Wayne Cherry with the understanding that the two-seat roadster needed to be dramatic and have the flavor of a '50s sports car, all the while being affordable by utilizing as many off-the-shelf parts as possible. Once the drawings were approved by Lutz, the concept car was assembled in a record four months; a pre-production model arrived at the 2004 North American International Auto Show in just 27 months. Leveraging the parts bin definitely paid off.

The award was presented to Pontiac executives at the downtown Skillman Branch of the Detroit Public Library National Automotive History Collection (NAHC), considered the most extensive public archive of automotive information in the world. The collection contains more than 1 million documents and includes books, photographs, service manuals, engineering specs, owners manuals, sales brochures and more covering all forms of land transportation found in the United States.

Each year, the Friends of the National Automotive History Collection vote on the North American-built vehicle destined to be a classic. This year, the Solstice was selected from 29 all new entries. To cast a vote for the next future collectable vehicle award, join the Friends of the NAHC at www.detroitpubliclibrary.org/nahc, or call 313-628-2851 for more information.

- Jerry Drenzek