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Writer's pictureMarque2pro Valeting

Success with Pontiac Solstice

Marque2Valeting Addressed bodywork problems with a latest purchase, requiring an engine bay, fabric hood and interior clean plus a hard compound colour correction......

The stylish two-seat roadster Pontiac Solstice introduced at the 2004 North American International Auto Show, and was rushed into production in Wilmington, Delaware, starting in

mid-2005 for the 2006 model year. It was powered by a 2.4-liter, 177-hp four-cylinder with overhead cams and four-valves per cylinder. Cranking out 132kW, its power output betters the new MX-5’s 118kW. But where the Pontiac scores is its torque output, packing 222Nm compared to the Mazda’s relatively meagre 188Nm.

It's all roundness-and-curves appearance with muscular haunches over the wheels and big 18-inch rims pushed way out to each of the corners and at 3.988mtrs nose to tail, it is almost identical to the Mazda but it boasts an extra 76mm in its wheelbase, and 86mm in the waistline for more accommodating interior space. And the ergonomics are outstanding. You don’t so much as sit in the car as wear it. The stubby gearshift is right where you want it. The salami-thick wheel is at just the perfect angle however you have to climb out to raise or lower the roof which will cost you about 20 seconds.

When started, the Pontiac barks nicely into life like a Honda S2000, but it spins eagerly and easily to its 6900rpm redline, without sounding like a chainsaw in a biscuit tin. Off the line, it races to 100km/h in just 7.4 secs (beating the MX-5 by four tenths) and runs to a top speed of 198km/h.

The owner stated that the Pontiac came into the country with an American service man into Upper Heyford, Oxford, Sat in the UK while he did his tour. It is believed to have been in an episode of Coronation street, episode 8719 on the 8th August 2015, Pontiac in the episode was the same colour with the same interior. This Pontiac has a manual gearbox, of which very few were made, we believe only 10159 Victory red cars were made in 2008 and the type with this interior is apparently vary rare. The mileage is 12 years old and only clocked 4500 miles.


The owners have used Marqu2valeting four times now and been more than pleased with the results so were extremely confident in asking Mark to address the bodywork problems with our latest purchase. Their plan is to drive and show it at a number of enthusiast’s events.

Marque2valeting were booked to carry out work on this Pontiac Solstice by an existing client and had not seen the vehicle previously as it had only just been purchased. We had planned to do a wash down and apply a soft fine pad polish however under inspection, and after inspecting the paintwork, we decided to use a harder compound to get rid of the marring that has been induced on the vehicle over its lifetime. As the vehicle was stored outside on a military camp in the United States for about 2 years we will have to machine the car as its quite heavily marred, giving it an initial rinse without any products and then applying snow foam and mitting with the snow foam on because the car will be c lean of dirt and we will not be putting any more marks into the bodywork followed by paint correction in any case.

The client accepts that there are blemish issues with the vinyl stripes, added retrospectively by the previous owner, that cannot be resolved with machine polish or colour correction and it is their intention to replace them.




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