Franz von Holzhausen designed the Pontiac Solstice. Then he put a Corvette LS2 in one and took it to Jay Leno’s Garage. 400 horsepower. Five-speed. Badges off. Tesla’s chief designer still owns a gas roadster.
Lutz wanted a $20,000 Pontiac. Franz drew it.
Bob Lutz got to GM around 2000 and wanted a cheap two-seat roadster to clean Pontiac up after the Aztek years. $19,995. Affordable. Fun. American. Franz was in the new North Hollywood studio with Frank Saucedo. He had just come from Volkswagen and Audi. His sketches won.
The inspiration was Pebble and Laguna: Cheetahs, E-Types, the clean 1960s shapes. September sketches. December, a running metal prototype. Lutz drove it on stage in January 2002. They designed it in a locked room in Warren. Lutz, Wayne Cherry, Franz, Vicki on the interior. Marketing stayed outside. Corvette heard about a two-seater and got loud.
Franz and his wife designed the car together before they were married. She later owned a low-mile original. They lost it in the Altadena fire. This Mallett car is the replacement. 5,000 miles on it.
177 horses from the parts bin. Then 400.
Stock Solstice: 2.4-liter EcoTec, 177 horsepower, rear drive, Kappa architecture GM invented for this car. Hydroformed rails and a tunnel, Corvette-style. Sheet hydroforming for the hood and quarters because a normal stamp could not pull the draw. Fog lights off a GTO. Rear reflectors off a Buick Envoy. Door handles were the cheapest ones GM was making. Franz wanted a flush Fiat Barchetta lever. Too expensive. He got that handle later, on the Model 3.
GXP added a 2.0 turbo, about 260 horsepower. Coupe with a removable hardtop: about 1,000 cars. Saturn Sky was the badge-engineered twin. Franz said they sold around 64,000 Solstices in the short run. Both brands died after the crash.
This one is a Mallett conversion. LS2. 400 horsepower. Same engine as the C6 Corvette of that era. Franz said Mallett planned 100 cars, Solstice and Sky, like Yenko. About $20,000 for the car, another $20,000 for the swap. GM kept the factory warranty. Mallett added two years and 24,000 miles. He thinks they moved from Ohio to the Carolinas and will still do the job.
- 2006 Pontiac Solstice, Franz’s personal car
- LS2 V8, 400 hp, stock LS2 headers
- About 150 extra pounds, 53/47 balance
- Original five-speed out of a Chevy Colorado, LuK clutch
- Mallett brakes, shocks, radiator; 19- and 20-inch wheels from the studio sketch
- No V8 badges. Franz pulled them.
Leno said the install looks factory. Franz said it does not look like a Franken-car. The speedo still reads 140. The motor is docile around town until you put your foot in it. LS3 and LS7 kits exist. Franz called 570 horsepower a little extreme for the size of the car.
He has been at Tesla 18 years. He still kept this.
Franz has been at Tesla coming up on 18 years. Model S, X, Y, Cybertruck. Leno asked about the Roadster. “Very soon. Very soon.” Almost ten years of very soon. Then they went for a drive in a 20-year-old Pontiac with a truck gearbox and a Corvette motor.
Gas is $7 a gallon in the clip. He runs errands in the Tesla. He takes this out when he wants to. “We never sell this car,” Leno said. Franz agreed.
Watch the episode: Tesla Designer Franz von Holzhausen’s 400HP V8 Pontiac Solstice on Jay Leno’s Garage. Stills from that video.
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