Jay Leno's Garage / YouTube Add Jalopnik on Google: Google Discover Franz von Holzhausen is a name synonymous with Tesla. He designed the Model S, which was far more appealing than every other EV at the time with a mainstream yet attractive appearance, likely responsible for a great deal of the car's early success. But von Holzhausen didn't always work for Tesla. Before that, he spent time at Volkswagen, Mazda, and General Motors. During his time at GM, he worked closely with then-CEO Bob Lutz to pen a small, affordable roadster to do battle with the Mazda Miata. That's right, the guy who famously broke the Cybertruck's unbreakable windows is the same guy who designed the Pontiac Solstice. As dedicated as he is to his work at Tesla, he also doesn't forget his roots. After he and his wife lost their low-mile Solstice in the Eaton fire, they picked up this 2006 model with a little something extra under the hood: a 400-horsepower Mallett V8, an LS2 straight out of the Corvette. He tells the whole story during a visit to Jay Leno's Garage. Too good for Pontiac to build This is one tastefully converted car. From the outside, the only clue that there are twice as many cylinders under the hood as there should be is the exhaust note. Mallett did not modify the LS2 when it placed it under the clamshell hood. That keeps it quite drivable and reliable. The suspension is reinforced to handle the extra weight without compromising the car's handling, but the original five-speed manual transmission remains. Parts bin sourced from the Chevy Colorado, it can handle the extra grunt. We've written about the Solstice Mallett before so I'll leave the more technical details there, but there's something special about hearing them from the man who designed it. The staggered 19- and 20-inch five-spoke wheels are unique, matching how von Holzhausen originally drew the Solstice himself. It's also interesting to hear about how he, Bob Lutz, and a few others had to meet secretly in a locked room to design it, or risk the wrath of the Corvette team. Leno seems genuinely impressed with the car. It has more than enough power to break the back tires loose, yet is calm and collected when he eases off the throttle. More often then not, though, he gets on it and makes that LS2 sing. Who can blame him? It sounds great, and at about 500 pounds less than a Corvette of its time, it's likely even faster, which was a cardinal sin at GM. I'm glad someone else built it and unleashed the car's full potential. When the new Tesla Roadster absolutely, positively arrives this year, keep in mind that this is not von Holzhausen's first roadster rodeo.