LosAngeles

Alright... Bel Air-a waste. Maybe two or three styling cues could find their way onto the next Impala for a more butch feel...and it would be nice to work on an Impala convertible (hey, convertible standards are great cars when you get to know them--the streets would eat it up). Much rather see that than another SSR-type exercise in futility. Velite-I'd rather see a Riviera. Sixteen-I only ever expected the styling for the DTS (and STS?) replacement. The world has zero need for a V-16. V-8 and V-12 are good enough for this current climate. Just put all into the interior, exterior, and a tight chassis.

Yeah, I was looking for that six-letter S-bomb to be dropped everytime people talk about how much cars weigh.That's why there's the need for higher factory performance these days. Because all the safety and other technologies people and governments are demanding don't come light. Bro, you are so damn Massachusetts....that when you said that, you just magically teleported yourself into Legal Seafood.

I'm more interested in this Satria they speak about in the story.

Yeah:red for the Italians silver for the Germans (it's supposed to be white, but for Mercedes not painting the bare metal on their cars at one point) GREEN for the Brits White with a red sun for Japan this fairly light blue for France (this explans the color of the Transformer Mirage) And it's supposed to be BLUE with white stripes (or vice versa) for the Americans--tends to only be a Ford thing however. I've never seen a GM or Chrysler like that.

Yeah, bread and butter brands (which is what Volkswagen MOSTLY wants to be) should stay below $40K (and below $30K if you stop at intermediates like the Passat) But one can't help but understand the attempt to bland up or move upmarket. The Americans seem to only appreciate Camcords or luxury cars. So Volkswagen got ideas in their heads that didn't work....just didn't have the needed flexibility to switch back fast enough. One thing they better stay in the GTI era is drivers' cars.

Exiting a market and FOLDING a brand completely are two different things.

That's a cute thread title....but we all know that's not gonna happen. Neither Volkswagen nor any brand in its portfolio in this market is going anywhere. They're not Renault or PSA, they're too firmly entrenched in America to seriously consider leaving. It is definitely true that they can't make the conservative stuff, that's just not the VW business in the US. They've gotta be the car you look at and think "hmmmm....interesting" (like people are currently doing with Scions--tell me folks wouldn't have gone wild if the xB was a Volkswagen at the right price).

Yeah, is in a way kinda foul."Pureed Mexicans and Croatians won't matter much." That being said, this is a reason to wish for a lesser (or simply different) brand than Dodge to be back in the Mopar fold, like Plymouth or Hillman. ETA: Unless this car will be the Hornet or something with similar Dodge butchness.

Definitely much G6 coupe DNA. I think on one side of the Atlantic, it should be a Calibra, and the other, it should be a Manta. Then again, not Calibra in either place. Caliber's existence would cause market confusion. Manta or a new name entirely.

You askin' the wrong guy, I didn't work for GM back in the late 80s.Though what is clear is that each division sometimes decides to break away from the pack, even if just for a couple of model seasons (Chevy, for whatever reason, never used the front-drive H-body standards chassis either. Pontiac didn't have an H-body 2-door. Olds weirdly starts making an SUV called a Bravada.) My whole point is Monte Carlo wasn't this man among boys in the GM personal intermediate lineup that you're paionting it out to be. There was arguably more "there" there with the Grand Prix that preceded it in 1969, for instance (but still, same formula: personal luxury coupe with some body panels hammered differently than the intermediate--and before that, standard in the GP's case--it was based on). And again, neither one, or any A/G or W-body, ever had the all put into it of stand-alone coupes like the Riviera, the 6-series or Lincoln's Marks. As far as nameplates, maybe Chevy simply felt like doing something different for a second, then found it didn't get the same response, so they went with something that would. Hell, Ford just went thru that with the Five Hundred/Taurus fiasco.

I was looking at one when I was on the 10 yesterday, that had some wheels with a deeper dish design, and they made the fender flares look rather decent. All it needed was to be lowered, and I might have been one to reconsider my stance on the car overall.Charger would still get my car buying dollar first if I could afford it.

If you haven't noticed the Accord coupe has gotten kinda big the past 9 years.That being said, it's still not special. And while the MC nay have been no Riviera or Thunderbird, the Accord coupe isn't even that much, that's little more than a Chevelle (analogously, folks, slow down) We're stuck on stupid with sedans and SUVs these days.Coupes (wehter real coupes or two-door sedans), hatches, wagons, and vans are not getting the attention they deserve.

OK, OK....Let's really look at this from a rational perspective. Can we all not act like the Monte Carlo was akin to a Riviera or Thunderbird? All Montes followed the same formula: They were based on whatever GM's intermediate at the time was. From 1970 up until they killed the nameplate in '88, they were based on a stretched A-body frame (called a G-body). And the car honestly didn't look that different from the A-body it came from. When the intermediate became the W-body, they brought back the nameplate for the 2-door from 1995-2007. Again, ain't like these cars had a chassis all to themselves. All Montes were real Montes. And the next one that follows the same formula will be a real one, regardless of drive wheels.

Losing credibility fast. The Jetta is NOT an intermediate. As far as the 6, yeah, the notchback doesn't do it for me, but the fastback is stunning.

The Camaro look is more 68 than 69 to me.

Looks controversial. Doesn't need to be conservative so much as cohesive. A true executive car in this market needs a six (which can still be turboed) I'd hope Saab pulls one out of the GM parts bin (or if a spinoff is in the works, designs their own). It also better not be a strict frontie. Maybe if it had flying buttresses.

Shoot, I WISH it was that. Anything you can lower beats another SUV.

Maybe Skoda could bring America a cheapie Phaeton with new sheetmetal.

That being said, if only Pontiac would look at the G6 coupe (or the G5) and do something crazy like a smallblock or Northie with AWD underpinings.

Yeah, I want GM to get Lotus back (eternal soft spot for the Lotus Carlton). Should have never sold them in the first place. Proton was little more than a knockoff provider, and GM's core products are well-saturated in the places they sell, could care less about them.

Porsche special? Let's not act like they're Ferrari. This is, after all, the company that gave us the 914 and 924. They just now charge six figures for everything they make. But you see one on the street every single day regardless.

The hood would want in simply because of the doors. I wonder if this car is rear-drive or a frontie? All the time. Soon as AMC died and renault retreated, that's when they started really making the cool mainstream stuff.the Alpine always was to me. AMC itself might have even been able to do a little something. Romney should never have blocked the Studebaker merger.

The G6 sedan could use flying buttresses....just not as long as those. Is this a joint venture with Porsche or something? Barring the Pug front end, I get a Porsche vibe from it.

I already found the Outlander fairly cool (for a non-car), and this Citroen face takes it up another notch. but I thought the French hated the Japanese (though with Nissan-Renault going on, hey....)

I've been a fan of Citroens since the ZX. Being in the North American market improves the breed. If they can all figure out what it takes to compete here (sans pickups and boring Toyota-style cars), we can get down. Compared to the Germans, aren't all the French brands budget mainstreamers? I'd like to see the French (and budget Brits) back here before I see the debut of the Chinese.