Mule Bakersdozen LS

Here's the thing: I want to agree with you in wanting to ditch the GMC Acadia-not just for the reason of the Buick Enclave generally being in the same dealer, but also to keep GMC a TRUCK-only division. Personally, the Acadia is my favorite of the three so far, and it is also the best-seller by far. Thanks in part to the Ford Flex, the Chevy Traverse is a good idea (I agree the above photo looks like a fake, and a bad chop), note the Sequel (II) concept from earlier this year, and its rear quarter window styling, and compare with the spy shots if you can see it closely. Not the same as the Enclave's. If the Saturn Outlook is to be moved, make it a version of Opel/Vauxhall's Galaxy rival. Its large, and Saturn's biggest vehicle should probably be Aura/"Galaxy" sized.

All Cutlass Supreme convertibles had the 4-speed OD automatic transmission, I believe. Some models also had a 5-speed OD manual and 3-speed automatics (standard through 1993 with the 3100 V-6 and optional with one of the quad 4's), and others had the 4-speed OD automatic, standard 1994-97.

Looks awesome!!!! I drew a Regal, or a LaCrosse, or whatever they're calling this 2010 model, and I made it look like a mid-size sedan essentially resembling the 2007 Riviera concept car. I haven't done the front end yet, but I thought that was the least successful design element on the Riviera concept. Should GMX353 have 260hp (like the G8) or 275hp standard, like in most Lambdas?

Nice history there thanks for the post! Helpeful because I've been reading john Gunnell's 75 Years of Pontiac and Oakland, a Crestline Publishing book that covers up to 1982 models, along with a few prototypes, the 1958-60 Vauxhalls, a few show cars and special editions, and a few rebadged Canadian Chevy's (Acadian, Beaumont, Stato Chief, Laurentian, Parisienne, etc.) And I always love seeing behind-the-scenes styling bucks/rejects-they give great ideas no matter how weird-looking they may have been. Here's why I think Pontiac relented and finally offered a Grand Prix sedan for 1990: 1) To replace the previous mid-size 1982-86 Bonneville (as well as the soon-to-be-dropped 6000). 2) Unification of the GM mid-size cars. For example, the similar Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme and Buick Regal were know primarily as coupe lines, their sedans were always far less popular and remembered in comparison. And this I think is why the Monte Carlo name at Chevrolet was dropped and the Lumina moniker was used as Chevy's W-Body version.

Nice-looks exactly like the Victory Red (Aggressive I think its called) color.

http://rochesterhomepage.net/content/fulltext/?cid=12373 Woo-hoo!!!!! Its about freaking time!!!!! I don't care at all about politics, but I was just so, SO sick of seeing this on the news, and how this guy stonewalled EVERYBODY!!!!

I'm glad this wasn't named the Crew-it was a stupid name and people would've thought 'crew cab' instantly. Journey isn't much better, but it has been seen on a Jeep concept and the fabulous GM do Brasil Chevy concept in late 2002. And the car, while the dimensions look like they are there, its blandness reminds me of the 1976-80 Aspen wagon. Its a Dodge, Dodges are supposed to be bold! This is so uninspiring and boring looking, no imagination to the grille or styling at all! I mean, I realize there's a difference between conservative styling and not even bothering to try and style it, and again, like the 2008 Grand Caravan/Chrysler Town and Country, this Journey falls into the latter category. And if even the Chevrolet Equinox doesn't offer a 4-cylinder engine (instead it has a weak and ancient V-6, still better than a 4-cylinder in most cases), why is there one here? (We know how well that worked for the first Toyota Highlander, a key rival). The 2.7-liter V-6 or detuned 3.5 are no better. Have not seen the interior though, but considering everything else so far with more cons than pros, I'm not holding out any hope there either.

If this is true, my take is that the Pontiac Solstice, as hailed as it is/was, offers absolutely nothing over its Saturn Sky cousin. Now, I do prefer Sky over Solstice for styling and equipment, but they are a bit too similar in many ways. Yeah, they have different front and rear ends. Yeah, Solstice has less equipment than Sky, or even most modern cars for that matter. I just think they need more separation where possible and applicable.

Are you referring to the Polar Blue Metallic? That one's a powdery blue that looks great, IMO, should be expanded to more lines. Or are you thinking of the Light Amethyst Metallic (aka Light Quartz on Buick Lucerne, Mystic Gray on Cadillac DTS-love that one too). That Neon matches a Parma Violet colored pencil I have-I always liked that, but hey, that's alright. Already seen a few Imperial Blue Cobalts, they look alright.

GM screwed up with the Malibu....AGAIN! What is with the 1LT and 2LT crap? Simplify it to a single LT, namely the 2LT with the Engine Package, with the 3.6-liter V-6 engine. And why can't you get a V-6 on retail LS models? Back in the day-just about any day-you could get the optional engine on the base model. No PEG's, no sport suspension to order, no nothing-not to mention the base models were far less equipped than they are today. Chevy Chevelle 300/Malibu anyone? Chevy Lumina Base? Its freaking nonsense, and its nonsense that the current crap model is continuing as a Classic when there is absolutely nothing memorable or landmark about the 2004-07 generation at all! And also that the Malibu is coming out so late is inexcusable. And this car needs bodyside moldings, standard, color-keyed, on all models. It looks nice, but it does not look nice enough to not look stripped without bodyside moldings. Its just not 1970 anymore.

Also saw a Dark Crimson, many Dark Mocha, a Gold Mist, and Light Quartz Lucerne-the Dark Crimson is a very, very dark Black Cherry (it was unny out yesterday, so it was harder for me to tell), and the Dark Mocha is an Espresso-type color, which I'd first seen about a month ago on a Chevrolet Impala (known as Mocha Bronze Metallic there). Also saw a GMC Acadia SLT with the Carbon Black Metallic color, kind of luxury Black meets Steel, but again, a little hard to tell from the sun. Not quite a true black or black pearl (the Brilliant Black at Chrysler), but still quite nice.

Yup, saw about 4 new LaCrosse's-2 CX's and a couple CXL's I think as well, 2 in Scarlett Red (Buick's equivalent to Pontiac's Crimson Red and Chevy's Precision Red; which are awesome colors that should be expanded to the rest of GM's range), and the big new chrome grilles were nice and menacing. However, its still pretty much the same old LaCrosse with the ancient 3800 V-6 engine, 4-speed automatic transmission, and wheel covers that have no business whatsoever being on a Buick (again back to being equipped like a Chevrolet-STILL IN 2008)....and it will continue to lose sales and suffer greatly against Saturn's Aura, the similar Chevy Impala, and even the mediocre Pontiac G6, which are all better cars in virtually every way (even the G6 in most forms).

I'm reading that Aura's sales are relatively poor. Why is that? The only thing I think that car is missing is a little rear seat and cargo space (especially given the longest-in-class wheelbase, which usually has absolutely nothing to do with passenger room whatsoever contrary to popular opinion, but this is front-drive car), but still...And the only other reason I can think of for poor sales is the lack of Saturn dealers, that is only in certain locations. Aura is not meant to do Chevy Malibu's job in chasing Camry, Fusion, Altima, and Accord. That is Chevy Malibu's job, and the Aura is meant to be a more upscale car than Malibu and it should stay that way. Point is, I see a lot of Aura's unlike what the sales records say.

So basically this isn't really an X3 competitor as we thought? The world of luxury car-based crossovers is so confusing....but this EX35 looks really good though.

Welcome Viber, but you won't like my post at all. But I'm still going to be honest, this car used to be awesome-when it debuted in 2002 as a 2003 model (more of GM's taking forever to get the actual vehicle into production-Buick Rainier is another classic example of this), but it lost all its luster once all the gray colors came into play, when Pontiac didn't bother to update it, and moreover when it got the bland grille for 2005. It became obsolete once the 2006 Chevy HHR and even more so, the 2007 Dodge Caliber came into play. The only thing I like about this Vibe is the G6-style kink up in the front windows, otherwise this vehicle should be replaced by a Chevy (see 2002 Journey and 2006 WTCC Ultra concept cars) and the long-irrelevant NUMMI joint-venture should be withdrawn.

Agreed, but Chevy already has a Ford Edge rival-its the Equinox. There is no need for a SWB Lambda of any kind, when Theta offers compact (106") and 112" mid-size wheelbases. This plugs one more hole in the lineup, as a mainstream large crossover SUV to rival the Ford Flex. Now Dodge needs a rival, and that's a make that has many, many gaping holes in its line. But I see the Sequel concept car-Traverse design similarities now-check the rear quarter window shapes. I love the similar GMC Acadia and is a justifiably hot seller, but I feel GMC should stay truck-only (Lambdas, Thetas, etc. are all cars to me), and they are competing almost directly with Outlook, Enclave, and eventually, Traverse.

Welcome Jeremy! The photos I saw on AutoBlog looked good, if not too similar to Acadia/Outlook, a la Nova-style badge/grille engineering.

Its okay I guess...the whole thing needs to die in favor of a better subcompact, one based on Gamma II/III/whatever is based on Corsa, just less hideous looking. The front end is overdone, but we don't have enough overdone or anything even remotely daring in styling anymore, so it works for me.

I actually hadn;t seen it yet (not that I care about sales too much, but it does give a better idea to things). Wow, Buick LaCrosse, Chevy Equinox and Colorado sales fell by half, and all of Buick's crossovers/truck sold in the hundreds (except Enclave)! Interesting to note that Cadillac DTS sales were up a little bit though-not surprising considering there is nothing like it out there (and I say that partially as a good reason, as there's also a good chunk of negatives on that note). Now, I know they have to be recorded, but how come we're seeing dumped-after-2005 models (Chevy Astro, Pontiac Aztek, Chevy Classic, etc.) and even Oldsmobiles and Cadillac Seville still on here? I kinda wish they'd list them under the "dead and forgotten" departments but I can see why they're there-that 1 Chevy Astro must count, right!?

Yes, all the A-Bodies were available with a diesel engine, a 4.3-liter V-6 with about 85hp I think. The 3-speed automatic transmission was the only transmission with the 1982-83 A-Bodies, which also included the Chevrolet Celebrity, Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera, and the Buick Century, all of which are common sights unlike (any) 6000 these days, kind of reminiscent of the LeMans it sort of replaced-the similar Malibu, Century/Regal and Cutlass/Cutlass Supreme A/G-Body rear-drive sedans are all more common than Pontiacs. Wonder why.... Anyway, all diesels were discontinued after the 1985 model year (also a 350/5.7-liter V-8 from Oldsmobile, at about 105hp was offered on the G-Body models and full-sized B-Bodies from about 1979 and 1978 respectively). The Chevrolet Chevette's diesel, a weak, oil-burner from Isuzu displacing about 1.8 liters, was dropped after 1986 I believe (it had code Z90 attached to the CS trim level). This was never offered on the 1981-87 Pontiac T1000 clone (1000 after 1982).

I'm confused...if G6 is going to be based on the Alpha architecture...and the G8 is a mid-size car as it is now, then how is the next G6, if placed on Alpha going to be id-size. I see it as a compact car, which I'm sure there may be a small market for RWD compacts that are less expensive than the BMW 3-Series, Lexus IS, etc. near-luxury cars, but will there be size overlap here or is it really going to be a compact? Sounds like a modern Ventura, minus the badge engineering (in most cases) and hopefully higher sales.

I haven't seen any HHR Panels on the road yet-even in the 2008 brochure I picked up Saturday when on my bike ride (aolong with Avalanche at the Macedon dealer; Impala and Colorado at the East Rochester one near me). I wish two-tone HHR's were available, like the sharp Black/Silverstone Metallic one in the brochure, along with some other ones. Welcome to Cheers and Gears, Longhair!

Malibu's getting the 3500 V-6 back? I thought it was only having the 3.6? So what would the point of the 3500 be? I just think its dumb because it recreates overlap GM was supposedly trying to avoid (which to date, has not worked). And how about we not mention the L-Series again, huh? Most of us have already forgotten that car, whose only advantages over the equally mediocre (period) Malibu were a slightly bigger trunk and a station wagon body style.

DUMB, DUMB, DUMB! Good job on undermining whatever premium status the Aura had! (Which, it had plenty, IMO). Let the Malibu handle the regular Camry, accord, and Fusions, etc. with the 4-cylinders-Saturn should be left V-6 only, IMO. So is the 2010 Regal going to have a standard V-6 the first year and then slip to the 2.4-liter I-4 like G6 and Aura have?

Oh okay thanks for the clarification.