Pontiac Vibe
The
Pontiac Vibe is a car produced in the USA by NUMMI (New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc), a shared endeavor between
General Motors and
Toyota. Prototypes were shown at the Detroit Motor Show in January, 2000 and production vehicles came on the market in 2002 for the
2003 model year. It's a short and rather tall
station wagon that's being marketed as a trendy, quasi-SUV vehicle for young adults. Pontiac calls theirs the Vibe, Toyota calls their (rather more successful) version the
Matrix, although lack of capacity at the NUMMI plant means that the Matrix is produced in Canada. The Vibe is exported to Japan (with minor badging changes) as the Toyota Voltz.
The car features a standard household-style 110 volt AC electrical outlet so that common electrical devices can be used inside the car without a separate inverter.
This car is produced in an economical base model and in "sporty" GT trim.
Powertrains available for this car are a 1.8L I-4 16 valve engine producing 123HP on the base model, or a version with variable valve timing producing 180 HP for the GT.