In 2008, General Motors was in dire straights due to bloated manufacturing, healthcare, and a brand portfolio that cannibalized sales from each other. Once GM entered bankruptcy, its first move was to kill off four redundant or obsolete brands; Saturn, Hummer, Saab, and most tragically, Pontiac, which arguably had a stronger portfolio than Buick, which survived the axe.

Those final Pontiacs have become something of instant collectibles, especially the oft-praised Pontiac G8 sport sedan, predecessor to the recently-revealed Chevy SS. While the Pontiac G8 originally came with, at best, a 415 horsepower LS3 engine, up on eBay is a peek at what might have been had the G8 stuck around a few more years; a LS7-powered 2009 Pontiac G8 with almost 500 wheel horsepower.

The seller bought his Pontiac G8 brand new and is the original owner, so this had to have something he had in mind from the get-go. The LS7 engine was improved with ported and polished heads, a forged crankshaft, a custom camshaft, and a Harrop cold air kit. Backing this beastly motor up is a six-speed manual transmission.

The dyno sheet posted with the auction shows a car that put down 487 horsepower and 463 pound-feet of torque at the wheels. While there is nothing subtle about the Pontiac G8 in the first place, the LS7 setup takes it to another level in terms of performance and cool factor. The asking price of $50,000 is just a bit more than what GM is asking for a brand-new Chevy SS sedan, but worth every penny if you ask us.