14. Pontiac G8
In a desperate attempt to revive its performance image, Pontiac decided to import Australian-built Holden cars and rebadge them as Pontiacs. The first was the Holden Monaro, which was granted U.S. citizenship and a new old name: the Pontiac GTO. Despite the 400 HP engine and convincing performance, the new GTO wasn’t the success Pontiac wanted. The next was the G8 which they conceived as the Holden Commodore.
Pontiac thought that a rear-wheel drive sedan would help them fight their European competitors. The G8 with Pontiac’s redesign and small-block V8 engines was quite an effective performance sedan, too. The base engine was a solid 3.5-liter V6 with 256 HP, but the real deal was the G8 GXP with a 6.2-liter V8 and 415 HP. Also, the G8 came with high levels of standard equipment, as well as a long list of optional extras.
Unfortunately, the G8 came too late, so customers weren’t ready to accept a G8 performance sedan that could beat those overpriced European models. After years of anemic models, front-wheel drive economy cars and minivans, Pontiac lost its performance image. Only a handful of buyers remember what Pontiac was famous for and capable of building. So, when they finally presented the car that could reclaim their title of a performance brand, Pontiac ran out of time. In two years, Pontiac sold just over 30,000 G8s.