Pontiac

  • Thread starter Thread starter skicrush
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All I can say about Pontiac - the new Trans-Am had better be AWESOME, otherwise it'll just be another avenue they throw money they won't get back!
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They will be making a concept verison of the Trans Am, or so I hear, but they aren't going to put it into production. If they do they will call it something different. Only in 30 years will they go back to calling something the firebird.
 
BlazinXtreme
They will be making a concept verison of the Trans Am, or so I hear, but they aren't going to put it into production. If they do they will call it something different. Only in 30 years will they go back to calling something the firebird.
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I hope you're wrong--that makes absolutely NO sense. Why spend millions on a concept car they KNOW they won't produce. You have to admit, GM is in a much different boat than ford when it comes to pony car production. The mustang has always been all they've had, and even now with the GT, they're making so few of those that they don't really make a dent in mustang sales. Like people willing to shell out $150k+ are in the market for a mustang anyway. As far as ford is concerned, the mustang is their ONLY go-fast model. There IS no upgrading until you can afford to buy a Ferrari. GM, on the other hand, had the camaro (and firebird) and the corvette. Even combining camaro/firebird (since the cost of making both was close to what it would have cost to make just the one), GM enthusiasts have only had to save up an extra $10K-$20K to upgrade to a vette. Bringing the GM F-body back makes even less sense now. With the GTO on the table (which really is an excellent car, even if uglier than the monaro--thanks Aussies!), the stable is even more crowded. Not to mention the fact that GM fans now have more upgrade options than the Corvette--the new caddys are great performers, and so they probably don't steal all their sales from Lexus, Merc, and BMW. I'm sure there are people that will upgrade to Caddy instead of Corvette. (I for example, will have to be VERY well off before I can ever afford to buy a toy car like a vette that can only haul me and my wife) No problem, since GM still makes that cash, but the market for the F-body is just that much smaller in GM land than in Ford land. In a time when they are learning to NOT compete themselves of the market, I don't think that's terribly likely.
 
pity none of the cars you mentino are in the 30s price wise. yeah the CTS is, but only in V6 form.

also, if GM does resurrect the camaro/ firebird, then they have to make it at a certain plant in canada. that was part of some agreement with some union.

they can get around it by using a different name though.
 
The GTO is--you can probably even get one in the high 20's with rebates and stuff. And yes, that is correct--they have to build the firebird at that plant in Canadia. That's why I threw out the name Phoenix--before I googled it and found out there already was a Phoenix that blew chunks in the late 70s, early 80s. But it sucked enough I still think they could ignore its existence and use the name again for the reborn Firedbrid, and you have to admit, it WOULD be appropriate.
 
skicrush
I hope you're wrong--that makes absolutely NO sense. Why spend millions on a concept car they KNOW they won't produce.
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Surely you're kidding. It happens all the time.

neanderthal
they can get around it by using a different name though.
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I suggest Safari.
 
I hope you're wrong--that makes absolutely NO sense. Why spend millions on a concept car they KNOW they won't produce.
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Every car company makes useless concepts that are later sold for millions at auction. They are just to show off new stuff companies design and get people to look at it. Hell most of them don't even run.

Now on to the rest of your post, first off the GT is an exotic car so I wouldn't compare it to a Mustang.

The reason that the F-Bodies are no more is because most of there sales came from punk high school guys looking to show off. The Mustang has more appeal to a wider range of people.

As far as ford is concerned, the mustang is their ONLY go-fast model.
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Actually the SVT line is going to offer more, once they get off their ass with the truck. They have the focus and I'm willing to bet a Fusion or the 500 will get SVTed to compete with the go fast cars from Pontiac like the GXP's and the SRT's from Dodge.

I kinda lost you in the post though, I'm not entirely sure what you are saying.

But here is an intresting fact, if you reprogram the XLR it will own a Corvette. GM dumbed down the motor to not my the new C6 look bad. I was slightly amused by that when I was having lunch with my boss today and we seen the XLR going around the test track....well heard it.
 
BlazinXtreme
Every car company makes useless concepts that are later sold for millions at auction. They are just to show off new stuff companies design and get people to look at it. Hell most of them don't even run.
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Sold? I thought they were either scrapped or archived. (I will continue to dream of the Cien now)

BlazinXtreme
But here is an intresting fact, if you reprogram the XLR it will own a Corvette. GM dumbed down the motor to not my the new C6 look bad. I was slightly amused by that when I was having lunch with my boss today and we seen the XLR going around the test track....well heard it.
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Even though it's 200kg heavier? Cool. So a reduced weight high power version would really tromp the C6 then, and it looks better (IMO).
Would that mean they probably aren't making an XLR-V?
 
They are making an XLR-V it's coming out next year for a whopping 110k I believe. It was in Autoweek a few weeks ago.

And many concepts are sold to collectors, they aren't streetable.
 
Emohawk
Sold? I thought they were either scrapped or archived. (I will continue to dream of the Cien now)
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Nope - sold indeed (usually). It'd be fun to go to a concept auction; they just had a huge one at Ford about two years ago where they sold off cars from the past several decades. Fun stuff. Sometimes the stuff goes for well over half a million, but some stuff stays within relatively sane boundaries - I remember some Ghia-designed '70s Ford economy concept car went for like $12k or something.

If Chrysler ever auctions their concepts, that's the one to go to. I don't like concept cars in the slightest but they've done some pretty interesting stuff in the last fifteen years.
 
I know it happens all the time--I just think it's a terrible idea for a company that ran 1.1 BILLION in the red last QUARTER!

Blazin, my point was that the mustang is all alone over at ford, until you get up to exotic prices. The GM f-bodies aren't, and they got crowded out of the market by the vette, and now they would get crowded by the GTO, Vette, and Caddys. Ford can throw it's whole weight behind making a go-fast mustang, but that isn't productive at GM--the vette goes faster than any factory camaro ever would.
 
Actually many F-bodies would keep up with the Vettes, I mean hell you could get a F-body with the Vette engine in it if I'm not mistaken.
 
Always detuned, which you could fix, but heavier, too, which takes more work to fix. 1/4 mile, maybe, but around a track, probably not. The point is, the f-bodies had competition from within GM--the mustang didn't. How does that not make sense? Look at the Trans-am series. Mustangs, Corvettes, Firebirds, and Camaros. 3 of the 4 cars are GM built. They're all in roughly (very roughly, these days) the same class.
 
Hate to break it to you guys, but Lutz has already been quoted to saying, "Firebird's day is past, but, the Camaro will be back, in '07." (That, too, was said until GM recently x'd out the Zeta RWD platform.) And, so much for that... Even the GTO may not make it past the current generation. :(
 
Jetboys427
Hate to break it to you guys, but Lutz has already been quoted to saying, "Firebird's day is past, but, the Camaro will be back, in '07." (That, too, was said until GM recently x'd out the Zeta RWD platform.) And, so much for that... Even the GTO may not make it past the current generation. :(
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The Camaro will not be back in 07. I work at the place where they come up with this stuff, the mock-up in Warren Michigan. There is no Camaro I've seen in the works, and I've seen quite a few cars in the works. Granted I work mostly with the trucks, but the unibody mock up is right next door. Maybe a concept model, which I said is possible since they make those in the design dome.
 
BlazinXtreme
The Camaro will not be back in 07. I work at the place where they come up with this stuff, the mock-up in Warren Michigan. There is no Camaro I've seen in the works, and I've seen quite a few cars in the works. Granted I work mostly with the trucks, but the unibody mock up is right next door. Maybe a concept model, which I said is possible since they make those in the design dome.
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Maybe they are letting the work-experience kid do a proof-of-concept with a lump of plasticine and a fork? 💡
 
I'm not working on it but I'm in the same building that those kinds of cars are worked on. Production cars at least. Concepts are done else where. I was able to see the new Z06 "blue devil" before the public saw it. I'm not allowed it parts of the design dome since I don't have access, but other parts I can go into.

But you are all stupid if you think the Camaro will be a production car in 2007, the 2006 models are out and there has been no developement on the F-body. Like I said a million times a concept is quite possible at next years NAIAS. But many GM concepts are even built else where in the United States.
 

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