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Celebrate the summer solstice by building the Pontiac Solstice shooting brake GM never did

Happy summer solstice, everyone! To celebrate, we have a particularly unusual eBay find connected to the Pontiac Solstice sports car. A seller has leftover inventory of fiberglass hardtops designed to turn the Pontiac Solstice roadster into a shooting brake. The seller says they came from a since-closed Indiana company, and they're clearly inspired by another aftermarket part and even a GM concept that never saw the light of day. We'll start from the beginning: the stillborn Chevy Nomad concept. It was a concept that came out about the same time as the original Solstice concept, and it was clearly based on the same platform, featuring a small two-door body and a long nose. It also had unashamedly retro Nomad wagon design cues and cues from the original Corvette. The car never saw production, but clearly people were interested in having a wagon-like sports car. That brings us to the next bit of history with an aftermarket hardtop developed by German company EDAG. We saw a prototype in person, and the overall shape seemed to fit the car — and the wraparound window design certainly seemed Nomadic. Besides the unique look, the hardtop and its functional hatch made the Solstice roadster's miniscule cargo space far more usable. It doesn't appear many of the tops were sold, though. These tops on eBay look very similar to the EDAG tops, though it's not clear if they're a direct replica or something similar. Being that the parts are leftover inventory, the seller notes that some of the tops may be missing pieces for installation, so only those who are handy with bodywork and fasteners, or who are able to lean on someone who is, need apply. Even with some extra work, if you really want a Solstice shooting brake, this is likely easier and cheaper than commissioning a shop to custom-build a roof for your. If you're interested, check out the link. They're $499.99 apiece, and the seller will also provide a set of seals and gaskets for the top for an extra $125.

6 car mashups that God never intended

In the 2000s, the musical mashup genre saw a peak of popularity with releases like The Grey Album from Danger Mouse that mixed The Beatles and Jay-Z. UK artist James Pursey from Carwow decided to take the same concept of shoehorning two disparate things together but applied the concept to cars. Your opinion on the results will vary with your sense of humor. These creations are either some funny pieces of abstract art or absolute monstrosities that prove good design should be left alone. Likely the best of the bunch is the Lambotomic (pictured above), which combines a Lamborghini Miura and an Ariel Atom. Granted, the Ariel is little more than a skeleton to begin with, and the outcome looks like a slightly stretched Atom with the new nose and tail from one of the most beautiful vehicles ever. This could actually work. Though, not all of the mashups are quite so pleasant. The Porschiac WW RS (pictured right) is absolutely disgusting. It combines a Pontiac Aztek, which isn't a beauty queen to start with, and a Porsche 911 GT3 RS. Obviously, the 911 is an iconic shape in autonobolia, but that can't save it from the horror of the Aztek. Pursey fits the its nose, wheel, wing, roll cage and stripes onto the Pontiac. The outcome: A design that will show up in your nightmares. Check out the gallery for the rest of the mashups, including the Humi (a Humvee and a Mini), Aston Smartin (Aston Martin and Smart), Rangerini (Range Rover and Lamborghini Aventador) and the Mazdafenda (Mazda MX-5 Miata and Land Rover Defender). They might not all be beautiful (or even pretty), but it's fun to imagine these oddball creations actually driving down the road. Featured Gallery Car Mashups News Source: CarwowImage Credit: James Pursey Design/Style Humor Lamborghini Pontiac Porsche ariel atom lamborghini miura pontiac aztek mashup

Porsche Boxster Spyder to get GT3's 4.0-liter flat six?

It's been a merry-go-round the past few months, the rumormill focused on what will power the next Porsche Boxster Spyder. First came hearsay of a flat-six going into the special edition of a model line known for its turbocharged four-cylinder engines. Then came tattling that the flat-six in question was the naturally aspirated, 4.0-liter from the 911 GT3. A couple of weeks ago we wrote " we'd be surprised if Porsche packed anything other than a turbocharged flat-four under the skin." But Autocar has a new report that, indeed, a downtuned version of the 500-horsepower 4.0-liter from the GT3's rump will move to the Boxster Spyder's midsection. The Autocar piece follows a Wheels magazine article from last November, and the prediction isn't outrageous. When Car and Driver reviewed the last Boxster Spyder, it wrote, "the hand-me-down six comes from the older 911 Carrera S, not to be confused with the new turbocharged 3.0-liter flat-six that powers the refreshed 911." If we can believe a recent report from Automobile about the 992-series 911 due later this year, the same thing is happening: The 991.2-series GT3 bequeaths its powerplant to the smaller sibling, and the 992-series GT3 moves to a 3.8-liter, twin-turbo flat-six with around 550 hp. Autocar quotes Andreas Preuninger, the Porsche engineer leading the development of all of these wunderkinds, saying of the Boxster earlier this year, "Natural aspiration is one of our main USPs. ... [We] think we can achieve throttle response and immediacy a little bit better with an atmospheric high-revving engine than any kind of turbo." We'll guess that means, by inference, that the GT3 is about to age out of naturally-aspirated university. The limited-edition Boxster Spyder might carry the torch with the 4.0-liter, with output somewhere around 430 hp. The Cayman GT4 could do the same. Or, who knows, an evolution of the 375-hp, 3.8-liter flat-six in the previous Boxster Spyder might burble out of left field. We expect to see the Boxster Spyder late this year. Until then, we'll wait to see what the merry-go-round says next time the Zuffenhausen horse comes around. Related Video: Featured Gallery Porsche 718 Boxster Spyder spy shots View 13 Photos News Source: Autocar via JalopnikImage Credit: CarPix Rumormill Pontiac Convertible Luxury Special and Limited Editions Performance porsche 911 gt3