DeLorean Wants To Revive the Pontiac Solstice

HUMBLE, Texas — The Pontiac Solstice may be reborn in 2011 — as a DeLorean.

That unlikely scenario is not as farfetched as it may sound.

Before he went on to become one of General Motors' top executives and then to run his own ill-starred car company, the late John Z. DeLorean cut his professional teeth as chief engineer and eventually general manager of GM's Pontiac division, where he is credited with helping to rebuild the brand's then-stodgy image with such products as the original 1964 GTO.

Fast-forward to 2009: DeLorean (JZD to insiders) has been dead for four years. The rights to his short-lived DeLorean Motor Company have been acquired by a tiny firm based outside Houston, which still supplies parts to the stainless steel DMC-12 gullwing sports car that was designed by Giugiaro and built in limited quantities in Northern Ireland in 1981-82. And General Motors, sucked into Chapter 11 bankruptcy, kills the 83-year-old Pontiac brand — the same brand that John DeLorean worked so hard to restore — and the Solstice along with it.

The latest incarnation of the DeLorean Motor Company, headed by U.K. expat Stephen Wynne, now has acquired a Solstice GXP coupe for "evaluation," according to Jalopnik, and has released on Facebook a drawing of its proposed 2011 DeLorean Solstice. The Facebook page says simply: "If John DeLorean were still alive, would he try to save Pontiac?"

Jalopnik quotes DeLorean Vice President James Espey: "JZD always said that the best memories of his automotive career were at Pontiac, and that connection between JZD and Pontiac is probably one of the better-known associations among car enthusiasts."

Keep abreast of developments at the company's Web site, its Facebook page and its Twitter site.

Inside Line says: If the nouveau-DeLorean folks are successful at resuscitating the Solstice, it may be time for another movie sequel in the Back to the Future series. — Paul Lienert, Correspondent