GM product guru Bob Lutz, the respected veteran of past leadership positions at BMW, Ford and Chrysler, had been on board just four months when Pontiac's Solstice roadster concept was unveiled at Detroit's January, 2002, North American International Auto Show. It was the hit of the event, and a promised $20K sticker whetted appetites even further. Lutz has always wanted to bring an inexpensive two-seater to market, and the sensuously curvy concept had his signature all over it. Even then it took a year to get the production roadster engineered and the business case to manufacture it together, but the project then advanced full-speed toward its late-summer, 2005 introduction. Turns out, it was well worth the wait.