Two questions: When was the last time you heard "Vauxhall" and "sports car" in the same sentence? And what does Pontiac need in order to justify financing the production of its own Solstice sports car?
This aggressive roadster design study may hold the answer to both. True, Vauxhall has its rebadged version of the Opel Speedster (which is, in turn, a kind of reworked Lotus Elise), but that's an Opel, first and foremost. General Motors introduced the VX Lightning concept at an English hotel as part of Vauxhall's 100th-birthday celebration. GM says the VX is just a concept, but it'll study public reaction. The Lightning borrows its underpinnings from the '02 Solstice concept, in what GM internally calls "the tubular platform" (although it's not a tube frame). If GM sells a sports car with enough commonality in Europe, as well as in the U.S., the Lightning could provide economic justification for the Solstice. But these words, in GM's press release on the Lightning, are significant: "Under the long bonnet of the VX Lightning is a new version of Vauxhall's 2.2 Ecotec engine."
Yes, it's the same 240-horsepower supercharged Ecotec four used in the Solstice concept, but GM European brass reportedly wants a small V-8 under the Lightning's longish bonnet, making it the Vauxhall/Opel flagship. That's definitely not what Pontiac has in mind for a Miata-priced sports car playing in a market in which GM already has the Corvette. Bottom line: Many within GM, especially Bob Lutz, want the Solstice to happen. But whatever you've read elsewhere, it's not approved for production--yet.