Minneapolis Street Sighting: Pontiac G8 GT

In the early to late 2000s, GM was in the process of yet again trying to "redefine" Pontiac; gone were the atrocious bodycladded cars that the marked the turn of the 21st century. Cars like the Grand Am, and Grand Prix GTP, the Montana minivan, and then finally, the unloved (but quite practical) Aztek crossover utility were decent vehicles in their own right, but like most vehicles initially conceived in the late 1990s, styling didn't quite stand the test of time. In 2007, GMs design team took a drastic turn; instead of vehicles whose exteriors were filled to the brim with all sorts of cladding and scoops and multi-tone paintjobs, GM adopted a cleaner, more flush way of doing things; the first example of this was the 2007 Silverado/Sierra, and then its SUV counterparts; later the '08 Malibu would debut, alongside the range of Solstice and Sky roadsters. So where does that leave the Pontiac G8?
Unfortunately, its dead, along with the rest of the Pontiac brand, and accompanying Saturn. Just as the two brands were starting to turn around, too. Due to "poor sales" both branded shuttered at the end of 2009, after a brief, but successful turnaround.
While analysts and marketing execs would say that the two brands needed to be shut down save money, I disagree. What did them in (most notably Pontiac) was the lack of serious advertising; I mean, when the G8 was in production, how often was it advertised? I can distinctly remember hurriedly bolting into a Pontiac dealer in summer 2008, and asking about the new G8. Instead of enthusiasm, rather, I was met with blank stares across the board; these Pontiac dealership employees didn't even know their own product very well-- and that's expected to sell cars? With all this misadvertisement, one would expect the turnout of new Pontiacs to owners would be pretty slim, and that seems to be the case. I know G8s are supposed to be a niche automobile, but I see far more Solstices than G8s, and Solstices were generally more expensive if you add in the "adjusted" dealer markup
I would feel a little bit.. odd..lambasting the condition, because honestly this a "used car" that attracts a special following-- for a multitude of reasons: it's big and fast, it's RWD and American, and it just plain looks scores cooler than the only other RWD American sedan duo on sale currently-- the Dodge Charger and Chrysler 300. Granted, the new 300 Series impresses me still, but those weren't on sale when this was shot; we still had the quite bland first generation roaming the streets.
I loved these cars when they first came out, and I still do. Unlike many recent or current GM products, the Pontiac G8 is sure to be a serious investment later on down the road; I can see even the base V6 models fetching serious coin, especially given that the G8 had an unreasonably short lifespan. I won't even fathom how much cash a low mile GXP could bring; to be frank, I can only remember one on public roads, and that one has been hacksawed into a half-Holden, half-Vauxhall mashup. Shame really, because these rare birds certainly deserve to be treated better.