chicagotribune.com's view

Pontiac is on a streak.

With a couple months to go, it has two cars sold out for the 2006 model year: The Solstice roadster and G6 hardtop convertible.

In fairness, there should be an asterisk after the G6, since the 2006 went on sale in April, and Pontiac switched to 2007 models in June.

But consumers have handed over checks for all 5,380 cars assembled before the conversion, so Pontiac has reason to gloat.

The test for the G6 convertible is yet to come, of course. Will the numbers rise when built and sold for 12 months?

“The convertible market is fickle. We’ll be able to build as many as we need for 2007, maybe 10,000 to 15,000 or we could throttle it up to 20,000. We’ll see how sales go in the fall and winter,” said Jace Stokes, G6 product manager.

The concern over fall/winter sales is because folks in warm-weather states aren’t expected to be the ones buying the most open-top machines.

“Where we expect to make sales gains is in the Midwest, where people always want a convertible, but concerns over winter weather and safety in a rollover with a softtop are always drawbacks. With a retractable hardtop, we have that problem solved with an everyday, every-season driver.”

The convertible is the final member of the G6 lineup that bowed when the sedan replaced the Grand Am for the 2005 model year.

The coupe was added last June and now the convertible. The full line is now available.

The convertible comes in GT version with a 3.5-liter, 201-horsepower V-6 and 4-speed automatic or GTP version with a 3.9-liter, 227-h.p. V-6 and 4-speed automatic. You can get a 6-speed manual with the GTP coupe and sedan but not the convertible.

We tested the GT, which is expected to account for two-thirds of sales.

The attraction of the G6 is twofold, one that it’s a retractable hardtop priced less than $30,000 in a world that usually saves that feature for more expensive cars. The Volvo C70, for example, starts just under $40,000, and the Volkswagen EOS that comes out this fall is expected to be priced right around there too.

The other is that it seats four and so you don’t have to leave the kids strapped to the chairs on the porch when you want to enjoy top-down motoring.

Push the button and the deck lid pops open, and the top folds and lowers into the trunk.

The sharp rake in the angle of the windshield acts like a spoiler to keep the wind flowing over the car rather than down into the cabin to let those up front enjoy open-top motoring without the wind slapping at their skulls. Those in back, however, can expect a bad hair day that could last a week.

You can listen to the radio without having to turn it up full blast and can hold a conversation with the front seat passenger without using handle signals or passing notes.

And being a hardtop, you don’t have canvas flapping in the breeze when cruising with the top up and windows open.

Of course the big benefit of a hardtop convertible is that it is a year-round performer. No worry about ice and snow on canvas or keeping it in the garage during the winter.

But being a fold up metal top begs the question how long before each roof joint makes the first squeak from age.

“The industry standard is that the top open and close two times a day for 10 years or roughly 6,000 cycles,” Stokes said. “We designed ours to go 12,000 to 15,000 cycles.”

The GT starts at $27,865, the GTP at $29,365. Other than different engines, the GTP comes with StabiliTrak stability control as standard, a feature not offered on the GT.

Ride is well cushioned, handling more than respectable thanks to wide-profile, 18-inch, radial tires that clutch the pavement in corners and turns to minimize lean and sway. The GTP suspension is performance tuned for even better grip and more sure-footed, and pinpoint handling.

The 3.5-liter V-6 can dash quickly in the direction pointed and still deliver a respectable 19 m.p.g. city/27 m.p.g. highway. The 3.9, of course, is the choice for those who want to leave the light even quicker, at the expense of only 1 m.p.g each in city and highway driving.

There are gripes, however. Though four adults can lounge in comfort with the top down, melon room is tight in back with it up. Long-distance travel would require a helmet for those in economy class.

The front passenger seat slides forward when you flip the seat back forward to open an aisle to the back. But occupants have to fight the front seat shoulder belt secured to the rear wall to get in or out.

To avoid being clotheslined by the belt, passengers have to lift it and duck under or step on it to hop in. Not very good alternatives in a vehicle so sophisticated it can raise or lower its metal top at the push of a button.

Another gripe is small, arrow-shaped outside mirrors that limit side vision, though Stokes insists other shapes and sizes tested were prone to wind noise.

And like the Solstice or Saturn Sky roadsters, once the top is stored, there’s basically no trunk left. You can slip a couple small suitcases in there with the top up, but only a briefcase when it’s down.

Stokes says you can pull the spare tire out of the well in the trunk to get a few more goodies in with the top down, but traveling without a spare is more of a risk than traveling without a change of shirt and pants.

Since Solstice and G6 are doing well, wouldn’t that make a case for Firebird?

“It will be an interesting auto-show season [next year] for Pontiac,” says Stokes, hinting that we may get a peek at yet another addition to the lineup.

Though Stokes is mum, Pontiac spokesman Jim Hopson said: “We have no plans to revive the Firebird name, but have made no secret that if GM decides to build the Chevy Camaro, that rear-wheel-drive architecture would make a great basis for other rear-drive cars and Pontiac is interested.”

Stay tuned.

The ’06 Pontiac G6 GT convertible starts at $27,865. Other than remote start at $190 and side-impact air bags at $295, you can get out of the store for less than $30,000 if you skip the $2,215 premium package to get leather heated power seats, alloy wheels and upgraded sound system.

But since the ’06s are sold out, you’ll have to order a 2007, and it’s too early for pricing.

2006 Pontiac G6 GT convertible

Price as tested: $30,065*

Wheelbase: 112.3 inches

Length: 189 inches

Engine: 3.5-liter, 201-h.p. V-6

Transmission: 4-speed automatic

CITY 19 m.p.g.

HWY 27 m.p.g.

THE STICKER

$27,865 Base

$2,215 Premium package with leather seating, six-way power driver’s seat, heated front seats, steering-wheel radio controls, AM/FM stereo with six-disc CD player, 18-inch five-spoke alloy wheels–minus $500 for premium package discount

$295 Side-impact air bags

$190 remote vehicle starter

*Add $625 for freight

PLUSES

A midsize hardtop convertible, which means a machine that doesn’t have to be garaged when it snows.

Seats four in comfort when most convertibles hold only two.

Decent mileage.

Good response from V-6.

Nice handling thanks to those wide-profile, 18-inch radials.

MINUSES

When top retracts into trunk, the trunk has the cargo capacity of the glove box.

Read Jim Mateja Sunday in Transportation and Wednesday and Friday in Business. Hear him on WBBM Newsradio 780 at 6:22 p.m. Wednesdays and 11:22 a.m. Sundays.

jmateja@tribune.com.