A Four-Door Sedan With Corvette Guts for Under $16,000? It’s Real
Want a fast V8-powered super sedan from the 2000s? There are a lot to love — but the problem is that there are a lot of people loving them too. This era was peak sleeper, with most high-end manufacturers bringing an unhinged madman in a business suit to the showroom. While these sleepers were designed to not attract too much attention, they do the opposite on the secondhand market, acting like catnip for collectors.
There are the usual sleeper suspects, generally from Germany, but occasionally from America, and you will probably end up in a bidding war for a good one. But there is a bona fide sleeper sedan that most people forget. It is overshadowed by its range-topping sibling, and comes from a time when the carmaker in question was on its last legs. Could this be the last slept-on 2000s sleeper there is?
Fast V8 Sedans Were So 2000s
The sleeper sedan came about toward the tail end of the era of excess, the ’80s, as the antithesis of the supercars of the time. The BMW E28 M5 of the mid ’80s was a fairly humble-looking sedan, but under the hood lurked a 3.5-liter M88/3 six. The unit was little changed from its donor car, the BMW M1, and pushed out 286 hp — enough to hit 60 mph in less than 6.5 seconds.
Those who didn’t want the showiness of a supercar were instantly taken by the BMW. Those in the know recognized what it was, but to everyone else, it was a standard sedan. By the late ’90s and early 2000s, sleeper sedans were becoming more commonplace, with the M5 range reaching its third generation, and Mercedes, Audi, Volvo, and even Jaguar getting in on the action. These cars were no longer compromises for those with a family and school runs to take care of; they were the very top of the tree in the showrooms.
Pontiac Tried To Position Itself As A Cheap BMW and AMG Rival
Pontiac, meanwhile, was going through its multipotentialite phase. It wasn’t so much a corporate ideas shower as a torrential downpour, with Pontiac bringing the awkward Aztek to the market just before the swoopy Solstice sports car. Few manufacturers could claim to have such a diverse range and styling language in the 2000s.
But one idea that stuck for Pontiac’s last-ditch reinvention (or rather, survival plan) was the idea that it could be a cut-price alternative to the likes of BMW, with a muscle car twist. This, after all, is what had made Pontiac popular in the first place, so why not go back to basics? The result was the clever G8. It was clever because it was essentially a rebadged version of the Australian VE Commodore, built by GM’s Holden subsidiary in Elizabeth, South Australia, but at the same time American in its ethos and drivetrain. This was a good idea.
The GT Could Be The Real Star Of The G8 Range
Built on GM’s rear-wheel-drive Zeta platform, the G8 came in a variety of flavors. Costing less than $30,000, the base G8 had an all-aluminum (LY7) 3.6-liter DOHC V6, good for 256 horsepower and 248 lb-ft of torque. At the top of the range was the G8 GXP. The spec sheet was mouth-watering, with an all-aluminum 6.2-liter LS3 V8, a Tremec TR-6060 six-speed manual transmission if you wanted one, Nürburgring-tuned (FE3) performance suspension setup, and uprated Brembo ventilated four-wheel disc brakes with four-piston front calipers.
Unsurprisingly, it is the GXP that has become a symbol of the last great hurrah from Pontiac before the company shut down for good in 2010. But there was another G8 that a lot of people forgot about, living in the shadow of the outrageously fast GXP, which packed 415 horsepower and 415 lb-ft of torque. The GT didn’t look quite as mean as the GXP — which wasn’t exactly aesthetically wild itself — and kind of melted into the sad last days of Pontiac. But in many ways, this could be the one to seek out.
The GT’s L76 Shares Its DNA With The LS3 Under The GXP’s Hood
The GT still cost around $30,000 but had plenty to shout about. Under the hood was a 6.0-liter L76 mill that pumped out 361 hp and 385 lb-ft of torque. This engine was essentially a reworked LS2, the same as you would find in a Corvette. The Gen IV 6.0-liter aluminum V8 engine also has a lot in common with the LS3 in the GXP, although that has a larger bore. The L76 has the same basic block and bore size as the LS2, but was down around 40 hp on the Corvette. The G8 GT is no slouch, hitting 60 mph in just 5.2 seconds and covering the quarter in the high 13s. The G8 GT didn’t have a manual option, instead coming with a six-speed 6L80-E automatic transmission with Sport mode and Driver Shift Control, along with a limited-slip rear differential.
The GT Is A Cheaper Alternative To The GXP
The $30,000 GT was always a cheaper alternative to the GXP, naturally. It is worth mentioning that you could have also bought three GTs for the same price as a 500-hp V10-powered BMW E60 M5, which retailed for around $90,000. The G8 GXP cost around $40,000 when new and could hit 60 mph in half a second quicker than the GT, covering the quarter mile in 13.3 seconds, and outrunning a lot of similarly priced rivals. That wasn’t a huge premium to pay over the GT, and no doubt a lot of people thought it was worth it.
That wasn’t a huge premium to pay over the GT, and no doubt a lot of people thought it was worth it. But on the secondhand market, the savings are much more interesting. Hagerty’s Valuation tools put the price of a good condition used GXP at $24,200, and a GT at $19,400. But looking at the classifieds, the difference can be a lot greater. Recently, a 98,000-mile G8 GT from 2008 with service records, a clean Carfax report, and a clean California title in the owner’s name, sold for $12,100. That’s cheaper than some 2014 Toyota Camrys.
The GT Is an Easy Way to Hang With M5s
If the GXP hadn’t ever been offered, the GT would have made a worthy range topper. The reality is that the GT was just half a second slower to 60 mph than a V10-powered BMW E60 M5. The G8 GXP, which was on a par with the M5 in a straight line, cost around $40,000 when new. To put it another way, the GT could keep pace with a Porsche 911 Carrera of the era, and still carry your family and a few bags of groceries.
Maintenance costs very much depend on what example you buy, but anecdotally the differences between an E60 M5 and G8 GT are mindblowing. Repairpal says that the annual maintenance cost of a Pontiac G8 is $577. Some owners say it costs on average about $4,600 in maintenance and repairs per year for an M5. Replacing the rod bearings can cost anywhere from $3,000 to $6,000, for example. The V8 in the GT should be a lot simpler, if not exactly as exotic as an F1-inspired V10. In the end, the GXP may get all the spotlight, but it is the GT that is the true unsung hero.
Sources: Hagerty, RepairPal, Pontiac
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