Death of a Legend: The Monte Carlo Dies at 11 AM

[YSSMAN]

"There are special plans for the last two Monte Carlo models. The last model will be placed in the General Motors Heritage Centre, a contemporary meeting facility filled with 100 years of automotive history, located in Sterling Heights, Michigan.

The second to last Monte Carlo production unit will be sent to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to appear at the Brickyard 400 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series race on July 29. All Chevrolet race drivers will sign the car and it will be sent to Charlotte, North Carolina for auction."

Anonymously sent as a news tip. - Ming
Source: Car Plant Auto News​

Its a sad day in the hearts of some folks. Quite a few people knew the day was coming, but most of them did not know when. The Monte Carlo had been on a pretty steady sales slide for the past few years, as the need for a large "luxury" (remember, the Monte Carlo used to be considered so) coupe had all but disappeared.

Built in Oshwa, Ontario where the overwhelming majority of GM W-Body cars are assembled, the factory must make room for future Zeta RWD capacity, as the plant will be building the Camaro, Impala, and eventually the G8 as well. The last remaining W-Body cars built in North America are indeed the Chevrolet Impala and Buick LaCrosse, but the Impala dies after next year, and the LaCrosse shortly thereafter.

The NASCAR fans lost a legend, and thats too bad. It would be absolutely awesome to pick up the car signed by all of the drivers, as that would presumably be a rather collectible, collectible. I keep wondering if a Chevrolet driver will pick one up, but some crazy fan probably will...

----

Either way, this brings up a question:

1) Does this mark the end of FWD coupes all together?

2) Who stands to gain from this death?

3) What will NASCAR-loving rednecks like me drive now?

 

[Tornado]

1) Does this mark the end of FWD coupes all together?

You know, that hasn't been a profitable segment since the 80s, so a mediocre example of a car from the segment probably won't mean much in the long run. Every car introduced in it has lasted usually around 3-4 years, so the Monte Carlo was just a somewhat long standing example in a market full of failure. Only the Accord and Camry Solara have lasted simlar times.

2) Who stands to gain from this death?

Well, maybe it will finally teach automakers that no one wants FWD boatish coupes, for the 2 or 3 automakers who continue to try.

3) What will NASCAR-loving rednecks like me drive now?

G body Monte Carlos would be a start.

 

[JCE]

Good riddance, GM killed the Monte Carlo a long time ago by making it FWD and slow.

This is the last great Monte Carlo:

1) Does this mark the end of FWD coupes all together?

2) Who stands to gain from this death?

3) What will NASCAR-loving rednecks like me drive now?

1) Good god I hope so. FWD needs to be on small slow cheap econoboxes only.

2) I hope everyone.

3) Who cares? They're rednecks who like (slightly) turning in one direction after driving straight.

 

[McLaren]

So what the hell are the Monte Carlo teams going to drive now in NASCAR?
More Toyotas?


Anyways, I'm a bit sad about it. I was able to test drive a black Monte Carlo SS earlier this year, and I walked away impressed. Too bad they didn't offer an Earnhardt Edition of some kind. That, alone, would have increased sells due to there being so many Jr. fans around.

 

[Tornado]

So what the hell are the Monte Carlo teams going to drive now in NASCAR?

They currently drive Impalas.

 

[V1P3R]

The old Monte Carlos were ok, but good riddance... geez. It rivals how the hell Charmed ever stayed on the air like they did.

Speaking of dying, if the SSR hasn't already they should've a long time ago too.

 

[Tornado]

The SSR has been dead for 2 years now.

 

[Sage]

Sorry YSSMAN, but to demonstrate just how irrelevant that thingamajig is , when I saw your thread title in the New Posts listing, I stared at it for a good 20 seconds thinking before I realized that you were talking about the car (Me: “OH YEAH, doesn’t Chevy make something called that?&#8221. I knew you weren’t talking about the town, but for the life of me I couldn’t figure out what else you could have been referencing.

Anyway, this’ll probably have as much effect on me as the last Oldsmobile, which is to say exactly none.

Really, it’s a great sign – it shows that GM is continuing to be smart about refining its lineup. No reason to keep stragglers when their prow is pointed high.

Also, I don’t see how this is the death of the FWD coupe. Brand new Nissan Altima, anybody? Honda Accord? Toyota Solara? (Gawd, I hate that car, but it still sells stupidly well.) Audi TT?

 

[Tornado]

Also, I don’t see how this is the death of the FWD coupe. Brand new Nissan Altima, anybody? Honda Accord? Toyota Solara? (Gawd, I hate that car, but it still sells stupidly well.) Audi TT?

The Accord and Solara are the exception that prove the rule (well, the Accord is, at least. The Solara is just the exception). The Altima coupe is new enough that we don't know if it is going to tank, and the Audi TT fits in this category about as well as Ford Mustang does.
If I can find it, I used to have a list of cars that I stole from Doug showing the long list of failures pretty much everyone that is not Honda or Toyota has had in the segment. Hopefully, the death of the Monte will mean the end of the attempt to foister such tripe on people, thus ending the mid-size FWD coupe segment.

 

[YSSMAN]

Really, it’s a great sign – it shows that GM is continuing to be smart about refining its lineup. No reason to keep stragglers when their prow is pointed high.

That has pretty much been the concencus at GMI, which I found to be rather surprising. Getting the Monte Carlo out of the way leaves the door open for not only the Camaro, but the possibility of another Chevelle, depending on who you talk to. Obviously, it largely depends on what Pontiac decides to do with the Monaro, that is, once Holden gets their crap together on the car.

Overall, I'd have to say that the Monte Carlo pretty much was killing itself after the death of the G-Body models, and while GM certainly "fixed" many of the problems in the late life of the W-Body model (say, 2006+), it wasn't enough to return from sub 20K sales in the US. Its part of the reason why the final engine options were either the 3.5L V6, or the 5.3L V8... Appealing to the last of the Blue-Hairs, and those rabid NASCAR fans.

Personally speaking, I thought the last of the Monte Carlos (particularly the SS models) were rather good cars. They had finally made an interior what was fairly decent, they had squashed so many of the ride/drive issues the car had had, and the V8 power was a welcome addition, despite the fact it went through the front wheels.

I see the newer SS models all the time, and I almost always say "Wow, thats a nice-looking car." Certainly, there are better-looking cars out there for most people, but the Monte SS was just one of those understated cars that showed up, and left without anyone really noticing. The Impala SS simply had much more fanfare, despite it not having the full-backing of NASCAR (until now).

===

I keep holding out for Chevy to make a return to the mid-size coupe segment with a future Monte Carlo, or better yet a Chevelle, but its questionable if it would happen. The Camaro largely takes up too large of a piece of land on the Chevrolet lot, and with the Impala all but commanding the NASCAR ship at GM these days, there really isn't a need for the Monte Carlo to return.

...Maybe they'll just do an Impala Coupe after all...

===

As for the other mid-size coupes, its an interesting question. Honda keeps on pushing them out, and Nissan stepped-up. Pontiac has had reasonable success with the G6 Coupe, and there is talk that the next Aura will be had in a coupe form as well (depending on what Opel does with the Vectra).

The segment seems to be dying, particularly with the death of the Stratus Coupe, and now the Monte Carlo, but there are plenty of new-age models to pick up the rest of the line.

 

[Tornado]

Pontiac has had reasonable success with the G6 Coupe, and there is talk that the next Aura will be had in a coupe form as well (depending on what Opel does with the Vectra).

One thing I have never understood, despite lots of thinking, is why do the laws of mid-sized coupes not apply to Pontiac? Grand Am and Gran Prix coupes were certainly better than the horrendous Sebring, Avenger and Stratus coupes, not to mention the early W body Monte Carlo. But they were far from the yardstick that the Accord Coupe set. But they still sold in ridiculous numbers. And the G6 is probably the worst of the new GM cars out (though it is also once again better than the Sebring and Monte Carlo), and it still sells. Why is Pontiac immune to the disease that has killed off so many Chryslers, Cadillacs, Fords, Oldsmobiles and Chevys? Are Pontiac buyers that weird?

 

[Eric.]

One thing I have never understood, despite lots of thinking, is why do the laws of mid-sized coupes not apply to Pontiac? Grand Am and Gran Prix coupes were certainly better than the horrendous Sebring, Avenger and Stratus coupes, not to mention the early W body Monte Carlo. But they were far from the yardstick that the Accord Coupe set. But they still sold in ridiculous numbers. And the G6 is probably the worst of the new GM cars out (though it is also once again better than the Sebring and Monte Carlo), and it still sells. Why is Pontiac immune to the disease that has killed off so many Chryslers, Cadillacs, Fords, Oldsmobiles and Chevys? Are Pontiac buyers that weird?

Grand Am GT coupe owner here.

Perhaps the Pontiac coupes sell because they look good? I'm sure that is also coupled with the fact that many people still don't want to buy a Japanese car. My car is rock-solid (knock on wood...) at around 105k miles. The only problem it has had was the lower intake manifold leak, which is a really common problem with the 3.4L V6. Fixed by replacing the gaskets. The repair was somewhere around $450 at a local shop, mostly because of the time it takes to essentially disassemble the motor.

Now I'm sure somebody will come in and say how Grand Ams are ugly, slow, unreliable, etc. Whatever.

 

[McLaren]

They currently drive Impalas.

Oh? Well, can you blame me for not knowing who runs in Nascar?

BTW, YSSMAN, do you think GM might do with this like they did the Camaro? I mean, stop production for about 6-7 years, and then start it back up?

 

[Wolfe]

If I can find it, I used to have a list of cars that I stole from Doug showing the long list of failures pretty much everyone that is not Honda or Toyota has had in the segment.

Here you go.

In fact, I can only think of three (3!) cars that were big enough to be midsize coupes that were successful: Mitsubishi Eclipse Gen. III, the Accord Coupe and the Hyundai Tiburon.

 

[YSSMAN]

BTW, YSSMAN, do you think GM might do with this like they did the Camaro? I mean, stop production for about 6-7 years, and then start it back up?

It largely depends on how great the demand is for the return of the Monte Carlo. Quite frankly, the car is only a shell of the former importance the car had once had, as production numbers were stupidly low for the past two years. Even before the Camaro had died, they were still selling marginally well, but if the numbers are indeed fewer than 12,000 for the Monte (like I remember hearing), that would truly indicate that the future for the name is still up in the air.

Given the current nature of kill a car, revive it, but strap a different name on it, it is highly questionable if the Monte Carlo would ever come back. Generally speaking, the class of car could only return in three ways:

1) A Chevrolet Malibu coupe, which is highly unlikely.

2) A Chevrolet-badged Alpha car (think 3-series sized, RWD), but the return of a name like Nova or Corvair would almost seem more likely.

3) A Chevrolet-badged Zeta coupe, larger than the Camaro, similar in size to the previous GTO, probably called Chevelle long before Monte Carlo.

It depends I guess. We'd have to wait and see what the NASCAR folks would decide to do, but basing my own assumptions off of what I have seen on GMI (Link to thread), I would assume that people would rather see a move to a completely different car than to bring back Monte Carlo for old time's sake.

...Overall, the death of the car has to come as some kind of realization that GM can't keep building cars that only a few people want to buy, and furthermore, leaving cars out in the open that really serve no purpose other than to "be there, because they've always been there."

One likely assumption may be that Chevrolet leaves the Cobalt, Camaro, and Corvette as the only coupes left in the field (I don't count the HHR Panel as a coupe), and instead leave the coupe ideas to Pontiac. Chevrolet is supposed to be the "everyman" brand, and therefore will continue to produce cars for everyone, but I think GM would be more likely to use the new model of the Pontiac/Buick/GMC dealers, and basically have them serve as a "premium mirror" of sorts to the Chevrolet brand.

Come to think of it, Chevrolet didn't even have the Monte Carlo in their yearly calendar for 2007...

(Yes, I have an official Chevrolet Calendar)



...And if it isn't showing up in the CMA-themed Calendar, it was doomed from the start...

 

[1X83Z]

I remember looking up those photos.

And for the record - the Grand Prix and Grand Am sold well because General Motors made a ton of them and then offloaded them on dealers and said 'sell these things.' Honestly demand will eventually catch up with supply if they can get you to like the product. Or if they lower prices enough. Given the residuals of the things I can imagine the latter is the cause here...

 

[YSSMAN]

There are quite a few Grand Prix and Grand Am coupes around here, but thats because in Michigan we'll buy anything as long as its American...

My cousin has a Grand Prix GT Coupe, one in which her mother bought, on purpose.

 

[1X83Z]

I actually don't hate the things. The Grand Prixs are definitely good looking, and only slightly less usable than the sedan.

 

[Famine]

My list of good and/or successful FWD coupes:

Alfa Romeo Brera
Alfa Romeo GT
Alfa Romeo GTV
Audi TT
FIAT Coupe Turbo
Ford Cougar
Ford Probe
Honda Accord Coupe
Honda Civic
Honda Integra
Honda Prelude
Hyundai Coupe/Tiburon
Mazda MX-3
Nissan 100NX
Peugeot 406 Coupe
Peugeot 407 Coupe
Rover 220 Coupe
Toyota Celica
Vauxhall Astra Coupe Turbo
Vauxhall Calibra
Volkswagen Corrado
Volkswagen Sirocco


And you can add Toyota Paseo to the list of unsuccessful, pap ones.

 

[///M-Spec]

I don't dislike the idea of a mid-size American FWD coupe.

But I always thought the name of the car itself was a problem and caused me to have a lot of trouble taking the car seriously as a result. Yes, I am aware the name has a 35+ year history, but to put it bluntly, Monte Carlo is about the last place on Earth I'd associate with a mid-priced non-premium American coupe sold largely to people who you aren't likely to find on a Concorde to Paris.

To me, it's a sort of like if the Chinese made a 3-wheeled 45 hp Kei truck with a 4 foot long bed and called it the 'Bighorn Canyon' or the 'Rock Springs'.

--Keep the concept. Let the name die.


M

 

[YSSMAN]

The name has always been a bit strange, but then again, Chrysler gets away with calling arguably the worst product in their lineup the Sebring, which can only bring shame to one of the most prestigious tracks in North America.

 

[Jim Prower]

My list of good and/or successful FWD coupes:

Alfa Romeo Brera
Alfa Romeo GT
Alfa Romeo GTV
Audi TT
FIAT Coupe Turbo
Ford Cougar
Ford Probe
Honda Accord Coupe
Honda Civic
Honda Integra
Honda Prelude
Hyundai Coupe/Tiburon
Mazda MX-3
Nissan 100NX
Peugeot 406 Coupe
Peugeot 407 Coupe
Rover 220 Coupe
Toyota Celica
Vauxhall Astra Coupe Turbo
Vauxhall Calibra
Volkswagen Corrado
Volkswagen Sirocco


And you can add Toyota Paseo to the list of unsuccessful, pap ones.

Mostly European models, and Almost ALL under the size of the Monte Carlo.

Personally, I stopped liking Montes a couple years ago, when Dodge entered stock car racing, and really stopped liking them when I figured out that they were originally softer versions of the Chevelle. The '80s SSs were the only ones in my mind worth driving, as they were similar in concept to the Chevelles.

I dance on the grave. The Monte Carlo needs to rest in peace. Chevelle would be much cooler, in fact, I think it's what the Monaro-GTO originally should have been. In Chevy's ORIGINAL terms, the "Monte" reference was probably less towards the race and more towards the high-dollar Luxury side of the city.

And the Lumina-based coupes were okay, 'till the Second generation came out. Z34 FTW.

You NASCAR guys can drive high-spoilered Impalas, now.

 

[///M-Spec]

The name has always been a bit strange, but then again, Chrysler gets away with calling arguably the worst product in their lineup the Sebring, which can only bring shame to one of the most prestigious tracks in North America.

I dunno 'bout that. The Sebring makes me snicker. Maybe Chrysler named it after Sebring, Ohio. That'd be okay; a tiny little town with a population of ~4,000 would suit the car better.


M

 

[CAMAROBOY69]

Good riddance, GM killed the Monte Carlo a long time ago by making it FWD and slow.

This is the last great Monte Carlo:

I agree 100% with all of this quote.

 

[Famine]

Mostly European models, and Almost ALL under the size of the Monte Carlo.

Quite so - but proof that the idea of FWD coupes isn't necessarily an intrinsically bad one.

It's worth a note that some of my list were good and some were successfuly, but very few were both...

 

[TwinTurbos94]

3) What will NASCAR-loving rednecks like me drive now?

Ford Fusions??

 

[YSSMAN]

Not until they build that Fusion coupe I was promised last year...

 

[Keef]

Three words:

1) Does this mark the end of FWD coupes all together?

No.

2) Who stands to gain from this death?

Everyone.

3) What will NASCAR-loving rednecks like me drive now?

Camry.

 

[Tulok]

I don't dislike the idea of a mid-size American FWD coupe.

But I always thought the name of the car itself was a problem and caused me to have a lot of trouble taking the car seriously as a result. Yes, I am aware the name has a 35+ year history, but to put it bluntly, Monte Carlo is about the last place on Earth I'd associate with a mid-priced non-premium American coupe sold largely to people who you aren't likely to find on a Concorde to Paris.

To me, it's a sort of like if the Chinese made a 3-wheeled 45 hp Kei truck with a 4 foot long bed and called it the 'Bighorn Canyon' or the 'Rock Springs'.

--Keep the concept. Let the name die.


M

this sounds about right, and if you dont mind, im gonna put the chinese part in my sig, if you agree...

 

[1X83Z]

My list of good and/or successful FWD coupes:

Alfa Romeo Brera
Alfa Romeo GT
Alfa Romeo GTV
Audi TT
FIAT Coupe Turbo
Ford Cougar
Ford Probe
Honda Accord Coupe
Honda Civic
Honda Integra
Honda Prelude
Hyundai Coupe/Tiburon
Mazda MX-3
Nissan 100NX
Peugeot 406 Coupe
Peugeot 407 Coupe
Rover 220 Coupe
Toyota Celica
Vauxhall Astra Coupe Turbo
Vauxhall Calibra
Volkswagen Corrado
Volkswagen Sirocco


And you can add Toyota Paseo to the list of unsuccessful, pap ones.

Since there actually appears to be a market for this stuff in Europe, I'll edit those out, and leave the ones that were actually sales successes in the market in which the Monte Carlo competes. Now the list is...

Audi TT
Honda Accord Coupe
Honda Civic

And that's a stretch because the TT really isn't front-drive, since the vast majority of its sales are the all-wheel drive models. Stuff like the Ford Probe, Mazda MX-3, Volkswagen Corrado, and Toyota Celica all had mild sales success but were eventually each cancelled due to poor sales. And obviously only one of the above vehicles is in the Monte Carlo's class.