All New, All MuscleIn the automotive world of the 21st Century, change for the sake of change is as common as dealer incentives, that new car
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| While the 2004 Pontiac Bonneville GXP is an all-new model, the name Bonneville harkens back to simpler times. (Photo: General Motors of Canada) |
smell and the timeless salesman line, "I'll have to check with my manager." New models beget new models, new colors wash away old colors, and new names replace old names. All of which makes coming across a vehicle model name that has survived the ravages of modern day marketers an oddly comforting, albeit rare, occurrence. And while the 2004 Pontiac Bonneville GXP is an all-new model, the name
Bonneville harkens back to simpler times when a guy by the name of St. Laurent was prime minister, a coke cost a nickel and Jack Kerouac was laying down a literary beat that would come to define the times.
Born in the optimistic, sky's-the-limit 1950s, the Bonneville moniker, originating from the famous Utah salt flats that
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| Powered by a Cadillac-inspired 4.6-liter Northstar V8, the GXP is Pontiac's choice to go head to head with European and Japanese automakers in the competitive sport/luxury four-door market. (Photo: General Motors of Canada) |
have been home to pretty well every land speed record since time immemorial, has lent itself to Pontiac's large sedans for more than a half-century, though none have been as technologically advanced, nor as audibly threatening as the '04 GXP. A stable mate to the base SE and SLE models, the GXP combines muscular performance with well-appointed creature comforts. Powered by a Cadillac-inspired 4.6-liter Northstar V8, which actually comes directly from the now defunct Oldsmobile Aurora, the full-size sedan is Pontiac's best effort to date in taking on the boatloads of European and Japanese sport/luxury four-doors that now dominate a class once ruled by the Big Three.
