The collector car market, in your inbox
Classic car news, hand-picked vehicles, and auction coverage. Choose what lands in your inbox.
A 2009 Pontiac Solstice GXP coupe that was bought new for its first owner's 70th birthday is live on Hemmings with 1,986 claimed miles, no bids and a little over a week to go. The Albuquerque, New Mexico, listing is being run by the owner's son, who says he is executor of his parents' estate. If the odometer is right, the car has averaged roughly 117 miles a year since 2009.
How it survived
The seller's account is the core of the story, and it is worth keeping separate from what can be checked. According to the listing, his father bought the Solstice new for his 70th birthday and died not long afterward. His mother, the seller says, would not part with the car, and she has since died too. The son now owns it and is selling it on behalf of the estate. He describes it as always garage-kept and covered.
That is a different path from most low-mileage survivors, which tend to be bought as investments or tucked away by collectors. This one, as described, was a keepsake that simply never got driven. The only blemish the seller discloses is a pair of small hail dings on the hood from 2010, which are shown in the photos.
Why the GXP coupe matters
The Solstice debuted in 2005 as a two-seat roadster, and the coupe with a removable roof panel was added for 2009, just as GM was winding down Pontiac. The GXP is the quick one, with a turbocharged 2.0-liter four rated at 260 horsepower. Published production figures put GXP coupes at 781 units, which is why Motorious flagged the coupe as a future collectible back in 2020, when a Deep Blue example with just under 2,700 miles was being offered by a dealer.
This one is finished in Wicked Red over black leather with GXP embroidery on the seats and floor mats. Per the listing, it has the optional five-speed automatic, a limited-slip rear end with 3.73:1 gears, StabiliTrak, Bilstein monotube shocks and larger anti-roll bars. It rides on 18-inch chromed aluminum wheels with Eagle F1 tires. The seller says the engine is original to the car, and the VIN's eighth digit, an X, matches the 260-hp turbo four.
What's documented, and what's the seller's word
Hemmings attaches a CARFAX report to the listing. The summary shows a one-owner personal vehicle last registered in New Mexico, with no accidents or damage reported and at least one open recall. That supports the single-family story, though the report itself is not proof of the mileage or of how the car was stored.
Everything else comes from the seller and has not been verified by Hemmings, which says so in the listing. That includes the odometer reading of 1,986 miles, the claim that the paint and interior are like new, the original engine and the garage-kept history. An ECU performance chip kit, still in its original box, is said to come with the car. Fender splash guards and a dash mat were added after the car was built, so they are not factory equipment.
One detail bidders will want to ask about is the title. The seller says the car will be sold on a clean New Mexico title that is still in the name of the deceased owner, so how the estate handles the transfer is a fair question before bidding.
The auction details
As of Thursday morning, November 12, the Hemmings listing showed a $14,000 starting bid, no bids and 7 days, 7 hours remaining, which puts the close around the middle of the afternoon on November 19. Hemmings charges buyers a 5 percent fee. The listing includes 58 photos covering the exterior, interior and engine bay.
Low-mileage survivors have been turning up across the auction sites lately, and each has its own flavor. Motorious recently looked at a 5,250-mile 1987 Porsche 924S on Hagerty Marketplace and a 1962 Ford Galaxie 500 that was said to be garage-kept since new. The Solstice stands apart because its story is documented in the seller's own words and it belongs to a short-lived model whose best version was barely built.
Listing details and photos are from the Hemmings auction listing. Specifications and ownership history are as stated by the seller unless noted.
