100 Cars I Love: #18 – 2009 Pontiac G8 GXP

Greetings, dear readers. The eighteenth car I love is a regular Crocodile Dundee – that is, an Australian expatireate to the fifty United States of America. While wearing the red arrowhead and Pontiac’s iconic split grille, this car is technically a rebadged Holden Commodore with the steering wheel flipped to left side of the car, not unlike how the revived 2004-2006 Pontiac GTO was truly a Holden Monaro under bodywork and badging.
So, why do I love the G8? It’s a huge, crass, big-engined sedan from a country that runs on huge, crass, big-engined sedans. Watch a V8 Supercars race sometime. The G8 features a winning combination of ample V8 power sent to the rear wheels (where it freakin’ belongs!) in a massive full-size sedan that’s a front bench away from being a six-seater. The G8 debuted in North America in 2008 with an adequate V6 (called G8 Sedan) and a “G8 GT” featuring a 6.0L V8 pushing 361 horses to a six-speed automatic transmission. Good, but 2009’s G8 GXP is the real hotness, packing a GM LS3 eight-banger shoves out both 415 horse and 415 torque through either a stick or automatic tranmission, both with six forward ratios. The GXP also sports unique bodywork, revised suspension and bigger brakes. Performance is awesome, 4.5 seconds to 60 MPH and a 13 second quarter mile at about 110 MPH. It’s sad that GM had to wind Pontiac down, but the G8 was a fitting swansong. Hope springs eternal for the idea of a USDM Holden Commodore, however: the Chevrolet Caprice PPV and the teased Chevrolet SS Performance might see this Austrailian muscle sedan return.

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