We’ve seen the future, and a lot of it is rear-drive. But who would’ve expected rear drive to find its way back into small cars? That trend is being encouraged by GM’s chief product dude Bob Lutz and his desire to get a four-cylinder, classic two-seat sports car into the Pontiac lineup. Enter the Solstice, the 2002 concept that becomes a real 2006 model in autumn 2005. For $20,000, you’ll get the base Solstice engine, a 170-horsepower, 170-pound-feet, 2.4-liter Ecotec I-4 (a 2.2-liter turbo or supercharged four will be available later for around $25K). The production Solstice’s weight is significant, at “under 2900 pounds.” Bob’s baby uses Opel Corsa seat frames, Fiat HVAC controls, GMC Envoy backup lamps, and Grand Prix foglamps, but draws considerable inspiration from several Alfa Romeo roadsters of decades gone by. We think it looks terrific. The Solstice employs GM’s new Kappa architecture and innovative manufacturing techniques. The platform has hydroformed full-length frame rails with a boxed center tunnel enclosing the driveshaft. So it’s a backbone frame like the Corvette’s, which means none of the chassis flex associated with unibodies decapitated to make convertibles. This layout also allows for great design and production flexibility.