If you missed Anarky's opinion on the Solstice, here it is

https://www.s2ki.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=292611

 

In 1999, I knew it was "gotta have." Took me a few years, but I still feel no differently.

 

Yeah, me too. I wanted one since it was a concept car. SSX, wasn't that it?

 

Something like that, Mike. For me, once the car rags got their hands on it (and raved like maniacs), I knew the function matched the form. I found the looks captivating from the prototype, but when I started hearing the specs (and got to see / ride in it in person), I was hooked.

 

The S2000 like a Miss Universe, PhD, Lottery winner mistress....nearly perfect

 

Matt, I agree with Rob, I'll wait till I see the Pontiac in the flesh. I thought the prototype at the Detroit Auto Show when they introduced it oh so many years ago was a knockout!! All those artist rendering don't do anything for me.

If the S2000 looked like some of the renderings I saw of it I doubt I would own one. It wasn't until I actually saw an S2000 that I was impressed with its looks. It's a car that simply does not photograph well or do much for me in any other media.

 

I'd forgotten about that. Actually, based on the photos I thought he was being kind, but I have to see it in person before I make my final judgement.

 

The S2000 started life at the '95 Tokyo show as the SSM. It transformed into the SSX as that became the pre-production code name. It was also believed that the early plan was to sell it as an Acura (SSX and NSX) and in fact the early paperwork filed with the American Manufacturers Association (AAMA) lists it as an Acura. But we all know now it became the Honda S2000.

 

The funny thing is that while I mostly like the styling of our S, some parts of it don't work perfectly. It isn't and wasn't for me the "most beautiful" design I'd ever seen.

For me, the real beauty is in the gearbox, the revs, the handling, the driving. I pat it on the nose every time I walk away from it, not because it looks like Ms. Universe, but because it drives like Ms. Universe.

That's what I wonder about the Solstice. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and some will find it beautiful and others won't. Not the issue. I wonder how it will drive. Will it drive like a sportscar, or is it really a sportscar body on an econocar frame?

I've learned a long time ago not to believe the hype. Just because they say its a sportscar doesn't mean it's so.

 

And has brought joy to thousands of "purist motorheads"