Mule Bakersdozen LS

I think I see things coming full-circle with the Buick-Opel connection-remember Buick used to sell German-built imported Opels from about the late 1950's until 1975? Then, the Buick Opel by Isuzu, built in Japan from 1976-80 (which then was transferred to Isuzu as the first I-Mark of 1981-84, similar to the Chevrolet Chevette but far less known). But anyway, of course, as of late Saturn's latest purpose has been to be the American arm of Opel/Vauxhall products, or at least on its way to it for the most part. It would stink to see Saturn's mission be folded, but if it does, most of them could become Buick's easily, maybe more distinguished a bit in styling, cause Opel's for the most part aren't bad looking, but they don't hold a bold candle to the likes of Citroen, Peugeot, Renault, or even the latest Kinetic Design Fords in Europe (or other global stalwarts)-the Insignia's a fine looking car (if not a little odd in the rear windows/doors), but they need to step it up more in styling. And of course, the Insignia-based Regal is all there too-its not much different from Insignia other than grille and such, but how's chances of that being rushed into the North American line if Saturn is shut down? And I suspect lots of Pontiacs are about to get axed in order to meet the 40-vehicle North American goal by 2012-some more niche vehicles/small cars (more for Chevy) would be nice though...

Yup, it was on my local news this week-there's a testing plant somewhere around Honeoye Falls, NY, not too far from me-another suburb (more a ruralburb at that point) of Rochester-but it was on News 8 WROC this week-saw it in a parade out in Palmyra too in September during their Canaltown Days (another town near Rochester). Too bad the grille never 'traversed' so to speak onto the current Equinox...

So what would the point of stretched Gamma be when there's Delta and Theta 106? They should consolidate it to one cause it makes no sense otherwise when all in all its a front-drive passenger car underneath anyway...GPix looks good though, if unoriginal aft of the doors, but at least its not ugly on Honda Fit or such levels....

Both look good and I'm liking Terrain.....cargo room and the likely lack of a 3rd row seat on the other hand illustrate how far GM's come on the big Lambda croosovers versus how far they still need to go on their mid-sizers....but they sure are stylish and we'll have to wait and see!

Yup, sat in a grey base model about $14,000 on Tuesday afternoon after work when I went brochure banditing. It was so ugly I wanted to barf. It was like that in pictures beforehand too (even worse than the previous model), and the dashboard was absolutely huge, when it didn't work in the 1990-96 GM minivans (the Dustbusters, of course), and it sure doesn't work now. Couldn't see very well out front and of course the seats were not height adjustable. My 1989 Buick Century was a model for front visibility, this was terrible, and the hood must be a mechanic's nightmare-I hate these small car designs these days! I call this Cab TOO FAR Forward! And 35 MPG highway? That's it??? Didn't the Civic get into the 40's highway a decade or more ago?

Saw a 2009 Aveo5 this weekend-looked even worse in person than in pictures-this car's over 5 years old-a full redesign is needed cause these cars suck, and I agree the G3 Wave is unnecessary, almost abominable. Some of those old Pontiacs were cool (the Bonnevilles and Safari), others are crap I want to forever forget about (1000, Korean LeMans, etc.)-seriously, I think its time to sign the papers at this rate...

Think looks like a compact...and not a striking one either-oh wait, just deciphered the mm to inches (multiply the mm times 0.0394)-and its the size of a Chevy Corsica, which means its overall length is 183"-upper compact, but hopefully its passenger and cargo room surpass 110 cubic feet, which is the entry for the mid-size car segment.

How did Cobalt get tweaked for 2009 exactly? All I see are 4-bolt (1980's import/Ford reminiscent, at that) wheels and 2000-05 Impala-resembling wheel covers, increased XFE promotion, and a few new colors. Its still the same, sub-average, too-small interior compact car since its 2005 intro. Its not that I don't like Cobalt and its not ugly or overly boring like most other compacts, but other than gas mileage, some variety, and a decent-looking but more cramped coupe, it was and still is an underwhelming car. Cruze and Volt are no less than mightily impressive though at first look.

If this is Pontiac's future, just dump it already...nobody in America wants regrilled/rebadged/rewheeled Chevy's-I just don't see many G5's these days, especially when compared to Sunbirds and Sunfires past. And the Vibe is nearly pointless alongside the Chevy HHR (its so bland, and that's even compared to the character-erasing 2005 facelift), I never much liked the G6 and dislike it even more now, and Torrent was pointless from the drawing boards. G8's nice though I always thought Commodore needed more character in styling instead of a pseudo-BMW/too-evolutionary looks of Holdens past. And I prefer Sky over Solstice, though the Targa Coupe is hot. So what does that leave? Not very much, that's for sure! I'm sure there's still a glimmer of potential here, but rebadged Chevy's aren't it.

I agree and I've been saying that since like 2004 lol...but it should have no exterior styling/design shared with Cruze. And its going to be the same old thing but better...that is, no matter how premium Chevy wanted people to think it was a 'premium compact', it was nothing more than a Cavalier replacement all along-an affordable, mainstream, if not all that great compact car, with some performance hints, and a vast shortage of passenger room. Nothing more.

Its not puke-ugly like Fit-in fact, that makes this look like a Corvette!!! Well, you know what I mean...but this is probably the best-looking subcompact sedan on the market, not that it says much, but here it does!

Yeah my Cutlass Ciera had the standard 2.5-liter OHV 98hp I-4 engine/3-speed automatic transmission-Mom's car from 1996-2001, replaced the 1983 Olds Cutlass Supreme base sedan (3.8 110hp V-6/3-speed auto), but luckily the Century had the 3300 V-6 (160hp) and 4-speed OD auto, we had that from 2003-06, miss them both but not as much as the Cutlass Supreme, but they were really good cars. Hopefully the current Malibu will last this long, as some of the 1997-2004 Malibu/Classics aren't starting to sound or look too good these days. Loki-is your Regal Wagon a 1982 or 83? 3.8 or 4.1 V-6's or one of the diesels? Still wish there were more variety and creativity with Malibu though, in their lineups at least.

Just saw this article and I'm hardly on here anymore, but I have to disagree with one point about Chevy's past mid-size cars: I still see lots of Celebrity's around, generally 1986-onward-the A-Body was and still is a car to beat for durability, longetivity, and passenger/cargo room for its size (I didn't have a Celebrity, but had the similar 1987 Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera base sedan and 1989 Buick Century Limited sedan), and there's even more of those two from that era around still (not so much for the also-similar Pontiac 6000). Still a fair number of 1978-83 Malibus-had the similar 1983 Olds Cutlass Supreme base sedan-didn't like that you can't roll down the rear windows on the 1978-87 A/G-Body sedans/wagons. What engine did your 1978 Malibu have?

This is sucky news that still hasn't sunk through my head. So what will Impala and Lucerne ride on now? Stretched Epsilon? I hope they have awesome styling....Invicta concept and Malibu are good starts, but can they keep the styling train moving?

I just remarked in another post, but didn't the 2000-05 Impala with the 3400 V-6 (if not 3800) get like 31-32 highway MPG? That's pretty awesome for a large car, and most were base models, likely sold with the 3400 V-6. But 16/22, that's about par or less than a Buick Roadmaster or other B-Body with the 350 V-8-for a lousy mid-size, front-drive car that's kind of ugly and all around awful, that's just another black eye for a car that has no or very few advantages (the Pontiac G6 I'm referring to).

The 1998-2001 facelifted, Chevy half of the second (third if counting the 1985-88 Sprint) generation made Metro look decent. But it was still a horrible, too-small, too-underequipped, too whatever car. So no, please, for nearly every one of our sakes, leave it dead and nearly forgotten. But boost the Aveo's abysmal fuel mileage to near or at Metro-levels (I swear, nothing gets mileage as good as it did a few years ago-didn't a 2005 Impala get 31-32 highway MPG?) But seriously, make Beat a little bigger or stretch it a little, take off a few inches from Aveo, and that's your sub-Cobalt lineup.

Bad, BAD idea if LaCrosse gets a 4-cylinder standard-surprise us in a good way, and not only give us the 3.6 V-6 as standard, but make the 275hp (or 270) STANDARD too! Then have enthusiasts be like, wow, this has this much standard?!

Since when was it a subcompact? Its always been a compact, and most of the cars in the class have been since at least 2001...looks more upscale, but still not my ideal Skyhawk, and an aging and unexciting car nonetheless (ditto Lucerne).

Actually, the other H/C-Bodies got 205hp on the 3800 V-6, except until 1996 on the LeSabre, as my 1995 Custom (base) was still stuck with 170hp. But I agree wth you, not much. Anyway, the Lucerne and LaCrosse CXS trims were replaced by the Super and thus discontinued. I'm guessing Lucerne's Ming Blue Metallic (25U, the navy blue, on LeSabre/Lucerne since 2002) will finally get the axe as its "built out" according to the latest production sheets, Light Quartz Metallic (14U) on Lucerne (a nice lavender color, 2007-08 only) is also dead, hopefully some continued equipment upgrades, hopefully next week we'll finally find out, cause the site's still the same. And that link is: http://eogld.ecomm.gm.com Click 2009 and Passenger Cars/Light Trucks.

Also, Park Avenue debuted as an option package on the top-line Electra 225 Limited 4-door hardtop sedan for 1975 I believe-may as well have been the series name for the 1985-90 generation as the only "true" Electras were the base and T-Type 4-door notchback sedans. And as for Gran Sport, it was an option package (not a separate trim) on Century 350 2-door hardtop coupes from 1973-74 I believe. Super is a 2008 separate model, not an option package (option package would denote a certain 3-letter code, but a separate model would be, for example, 4HP69-aka Buick LeSabre Custom/Buick Lucerne CX, with the 69 denoting 4-door, 4-window notchback sedan). Somerset Regal was 1985-only for the N-Body 2-door notchback coupe; simply Somerset 1986-87; rejoins Skylark line with the 4-door notchback sedan from 1988 onward.

When the Skylark was redesigned for 1973 along with the other mid-size A-Bodies (Chevrolet Chevelle-Chevelle Malibu/Laguna after 1973, Pontiac LeMans, Oldsmobile Cutlass) and renamed the Century, there were three trims: 350 (code D, equal to Malibu/LeMans/somewhat to Cutlass base, but the latter had a different code), Century Luxus (formerly Skylark Custom), and the new Regal, which for 1973, came only as the 2-door colonnade hardtop coupe (the 4-door came for 1974). The formal-roofed Regal and Olds Cutlass Supreme were roughly similar to the period Chevy Monte Carlo and Pontiac Grand Prix, but were on the shorter 112.0" wheelbase with the rest of their coupe lines, unlike the 4-door colonnade hardtop sedan/5-door colonnade hardtop wagon/MC/GP's 116.0" wheelbase. Regal was listed a separate series from 1975-on (according to Consumer Guide's Encyclopedia of American Cars), though some may debate from the downsized 1978-onward models. But everything else looks to be correct from what I remember.

Yeah but in this time, say, 1975-79, Chevy's compact at the time, the Nova, got grille changes at least every year. The Cobalt has been the same underspaced, unchanged piece of mediocrity since its 2005 introduction-same grille, same wheel covers, disc/drum brakes with ABS INEXCUSABLY optional (a 1992 Cavalier had them standard, even base VL trims). Its a pathetic car and desperately needs a major redesign, not just a Malibu-style grille, its a little late for that. But why does Malibu not have one of the regular reds (i.e. Impala's Precision Red and/or Deep Ruby Metallic off Equinox, or even the Pontiac G6's Performance Red Metallic.) that don't cost extra, or even the regular black? Nice otherwise though, but if in the market, I would prefer a front split bench seat.

Wow, now there's no reason whatsoever to buy this over Malibu, nice job GM, way to make Saturn near-useless for the time being. So much for it having premium aspirations.....

Happy Birthday ehaase! I'm not here as much as I used to be, but I hope you're doing well! God Bless and I hope it was great!

http://eogld.ecomm.gm.com Honestly, back in the day, cars used to have at least some exterior differences, like a minor grille insert change-take the Cobalt-its the same mediocre, cramped-interior, underequipped piece of crap right down to most of the wheel covers since inaugural 2005 model year-that's 4 years with little significant change! Even most colors are the same! Enough with this laxadaisicalness!!!! (Especially when its just a mundane, boring, inoffensive, yet not horrible car as it is.)