In 1997 Paula Cole asked “Where have all the cowboys gone?” She was talking about a husband who turned out to not be as spectacular as she had hoped. Twelve years later, we’re left asking the same question, this time about the auto industry.  The first thing to leave a carmaker’s lineup in the face of a recession is the excitement and adventure.

You already know that the Dodge Viper, Pontiac G8, Pontiac Solstice, Cadillac XLR and Honda S2000 are not long for this world.  Here’s a rundown of some more cowboy cars that will saddle up for the last time soon.

The Audi R8 TDi has been cancelled even before it got a chance to change our perceptions about diesel.  The R8 TDI was originally planned to borrow technology from the Lemans winning Audi diesel racecars, and in the process show America that diesel is not just for work trucks.   According to Autoexpress, Audi has decided that it would cost too much to make the giant V12 diesel engine fit into the R8, and they couldn’t sell enough to recoup their losses.

Chevrolet’s Impala SS won’t be sold after 2009.  The Impala SS featured a 303 hp version of Chevy’s 5.3 liter LS series V8.  Rbarrios on the GM Insider forums was the first to discover the SS’ demise.

The four door Cobalt SS will be unavailable after 2009.  So if you like the 260 hp turbocharged engine but don’t want the aggressive, cop-magnet body styling of the coupe, grab one soon.

The HHR SS Panel will also not be sold after the 2009 model year.  The good news is that the non-panel HHR SS will and normal HHRs have much smaller blind spots than Panels do.

According to Leftlanenews, the Cadillac STS-V will be dropped after 2009 too.  The STS-V has a supercharged Northstar V8 with 469 hp, but hasn’t sold as well as Cadillac hoped.

the 252 hp G6 GXP will be cut a year earlier than its Pontiac brothers, and won’t be sold in 2010.  The GXP isn’t much of a performer, it’s bigger than the cobalt SS and makes less power with its V6 than the Cobalt does with a turbo four.  Also it isn’t available with a stick shift, so all in all, not really much of a loss.

Here’s the  video for Paula Cole’s song, so now you can have ‘do doodoo do doodoo do doodoo do doodoo’ stuck in your head all day too.
Picture via chevyhhr.net.