NINETY EIGHT REGENCY

Yes, he was. The platform was not dead in this country. They said Pontiac and the G8 were dead. It is. It lives on in Australia as a Holden Commodore special edition and part of the HSV range. The "platform" is not. I saw this in another article: The Caprice is actually sold by Holden in Australia as its flagship luxury sedan as well as in some Asian markets where it wears Buick, Chevrolet and Daewoo badges. If it proves successful as a police squad car and there is enough civilian interest in it, GM may just be persuaded to bring it to local showrooms. However, with GM’s poor financial state and tough CAFE regulations, we wouldn’t recommend holding your breath. It would be so easy to put a hood ornament on that car and bring this version here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBrUpCILnbU

Bob Lutz did not lie. He said the G8 was coming back as a Chevrolet Caprice. It has. That is the Holden Statesman/Caprice body shell. I know they are not going to just have a police version.

I am out of the loop because I have been away at a conference. I have not had access for days and I read about Saturn through the Wall Street Journal they left at my hotel room door. My heart goes out to the Saturn retailers, sales people and staff. The owners are hurting too. There will not be the out cry like it was with Oldsmobile and Pontiac. I said in a thread recently that GM was going to kill another brand. They have. We lost Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Saturn and maybe Opel too depending on how that plays out. That has not been finalized. I read all the posts here and it is sad how like I said GM is not seen favorably right now. This situation is bigger than we think. I would not want to be a GM executive right now. You all had some very good posts here. The old GM is still haunting new GM. This means more lost sales and customers too.

Most impressive! I read this with great interest. I have questions. Where and how did you locate and purchase the Holden parts? How did you change that center stack? I must say I am indeed impressed! It was impressive to watch and read this thread. I know you are enjoying your car.

You cannot knock him if he is happy and he has found fulfillment in his line of work. More power to him.

The Smokey and The Bandit series. That was a GM fest all the way.

That is too funny!!

I do not require much sleep. If I got to bed too early 8,9, or 10 I will wake up at 2 or 3 am. I have to go to bed late in order to wake up at my normal time of 4 to 5 am. I then get up and do my exercises. I cannot sleep late on the weekends either. I do not use an alarm clock to get up either. If I sleep late, I get physically ill. It is not a joke. I will be in great physical pain with a heavy head. That is why I never sleep in or sleep late.

You may get your apology yet PCS. I am waiting....

I did not write well in cursive at all. I got in trouble for that. I remember my second grade teacher kicking the back of my chair and saying "sit in posture" She would make me rewrite and rewrite. I used to sit there and cry. It was not just that grade. When I was in art class in the 7th grade, my art teacher understood. She said there are people who print all the time. She said you should print and use art to help you. I then from that day forward print everything. People tell me I have the best handwriting in print. They like it. I use art to help me. I cannot write in cursive. When I sign my name it is in print, but I sway it to the right so it looks like the letters are in cursive or the letters are running.

Plus also Fritz said papers would be signed in early October. I hope like hell something happens to stop this deal. I do not want Opel and Vauxhall to leave GM, but Fritz said the papers would be signed in early October, and This guy who this thread is about was talking about Magna and how companies like them hold the power. He will be CEO of Magna Opel.

He may have taken your chair PCS, but Magna got Opel.

Sounds promising indeed...

He does except for the Opel thing. That one is playing out right now. He said GM was going to keep Opel, but it seems now Magna has it. I still will owe him apology if GM keeps Opel/Vauxhall. I was going to post this, but he beat me to it: EXCLUSIVE: Commodore cop cars for the US RICHARD BLACKBURN September 17, 2009 - 7:55AM General Motors says it is hopeful of winning a lucrative contract to supply re-badged Holden Commodores to US law enforcement agencies. By RICHARD BLACKBURN in Frankfurt. Holden could soon be exporting Commodores to the United States again. The company’s billion dollar export program ground to a halt at the end of last year after Holden’s parent company, General Motors, axed the Pontiac brand in the United States. Holden was selling re-badged Commodores as Pontiac G8s in the States. But in an exclusive interview with Drive.com.au at the Frankfurt motor show yesterday, General Motors boss Fritz Henderson said the company was making good progress with a plan to sell the Commodore to US law enforcement agencies. “We’ve been working on a package for police applications. I just think that’s going to work. We’re pretty optimistic about it and that product will be sourced in Australia,” he said. And he didn’t rule out a wider role for the car in General Motors’ plans going forward. “It’s a global architecture, it gives us options in the future but right now you’d say, near term, no,” he said. The law enforcement contract could prove lucrative for Holden, with some estimates suggesting the deal could involve tens of thousands of vehicles a year. Holden executives are believed to have been working on a proposal to sell the car to the Los Angeles Police Department. The LAPD is looking for a replacement for its fleet of ageing Ford Crown Victoria sedans, which will be discontinued next year. Other agencies, including the Canadian Mounties, are also believed to be showing interest. Holden remains tight-lipped on the subject, though says it has continued to look at alternative export plans. "Fritz [Henderson] is obviously intimately aware of Holden and our capabilities," says Holden spokesman Scott Whiffin. "It's fantastic to have this kind of endorsement from the guy in the big chair. "When the Pontiac deal fell through we said then it was a shame, it was a great car, but understood the reasons for it. And we said then we would get up, dust ourselves off, and find other opportunities. And that work has pretty much been going on since that [Pontiac G8 axing] was announced." Holden shipped 36,500 re-badged Commodores to the US last year - about two-thirds of the company's total exports and almost a third of its vehicle production. The deal was believed to be worth $1 billion. Holden has been searching for alternative export programs ever since, but in June GM shut the door on plans to revive the car as a Chevrolet Caprice. It was thought the GM plan to import cars from Australia to US enforcement agencies would meet with strong opposition from GM’s new owners, the unions and the Government, in light of the mass plant closures and job losses in the United States that followed the company’s filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. But senior GM exectuive Bob Lutz played down those fears in a blog on a company website in June this year. “While the large (rear-wheel-drive) cars may be made in Australia, they are an integral part of GM, contain US-built engines and transmissions and numerous other components, and are so ‘American’ in character that I don't believe the law enforcement agencies would have any problems with the assembly origin of the vehicle. Plus, they'll love it,” he said. If it comes off, the deal will be good news for workers at Holden’s Elizabeth plant in South Australia, which has been running at roughly half its capacity since the Pontiac deal ended. The company cut one of its plant shifts in May, with some workers put on week-on, week-off work arrangements to avoid redundancies. There will be a further boost to the plant from the end of next year, when Holden begins to build a small car at the plant. But despite the good news, Henderson said the engineering role Holden had in the General Motors organisation was likely to shrink. “It will be reduced from what it was, say five years ago, but it will still be a key role,” he said. Prior to the economic downturn and the focus on more fuel efficient vehicles, the Australian operation was the engineering hub for GM’s global rear-wheel-drive program.

That is the sad part.. There are not really anymore cars like that left except a few. All of which will be retired soon. It is funny how we all were talking about GM cars in the other thread and we are talking about someone buying a GM car from that era.

You made a case for yourself just by what you said. Get that paint fixed. We were talking about cars like this in the other thread the other day.

Oldsmoboi: I would if it were not diesel. You would have to fix the diesel to get it right. I know people who fixed diesels and they were fine after they changed the parts. I know you want a Toronado, but do not be anxious. I made that mistake with the red and yellow ones I had. I waited for the black one ands I am very content. I sent the links for some on sale a few weeks ago. Here are some You Tube Videos for you to think about: 1981 Oldsmobile Eighty Eight diesel: 1982 Oldsmobile Toronado diesel: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OS0D9aTYzv0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3loxfU0kQ0...feature=related 1985 Oldsmobile Toronado without the diesel:

Nice to see you again PCS. I know that people at GM need permission to do this type of thing. Thank you for sharing.

To the gentlemen with regrets about their Toronado Trofeo: Here are several with low miles: http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/searchresult...m=1253024069686

Gentlemen... your car: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzt3DW_ff-E...feature=related

The Riviera was digital. Bucket seats were standard. There was no bench. The Toronado ( I own one) came with analog gauges and bucket seats standard. You had to get option group ISB to get the digital cluster with bench seat and a host of other options. The bench seat gave you digital gauges. I went with the Toronado because it is an Olds and I needed to compliment my Ninety Eight. I liked the Riviera too, but it was shorter. They both are on the same wheelbase and shared a lot of mechanical parts. You have no idea how many. The Toronado offered more features and a longer length and slightly larger trunk and it looks sporty.

It appears we agree on a few there. I own one of the ones you listed. I did not list what I own because they are the ultimate and what I really wanted. I did not list the 1993-1996 Fleetwood, but I like those too.

Tell me about it! Added to my list: 1966 Oldsmobile Toronado 1984-1988 Cutlass Supreme Brougham 1980-1981 Pontiac Trans Am

Look again. I just added one. I see you bolded the Pontiacs. I liked the way those looked and how nice they were. If GM saw this list, they would get a clue.

1963 Oldsmobile Ninety Eight LS 1964 Oldsmobile Ninety Eight Custom Sports Coupe( with Bucket seats) 1966 Oldsmobile Ninety Eight LS 1975 Oldsmobile Ninety Eight Regency 1982-1984 Oldsmobile Ninety Eight Regency Brougham 1991-1993 Oldsmobile Ninety Eight Touring Sedan 1963-1966 Oldsmobile Starfire 1973-1976 Oldsmobile Toronado 1984-1985 Oldsmobile Toronado with the digital cluster 1984-1985 Oldsmobile Delta Eighty Eight Royale Brougham LS 1984-1985 Oldsmobile Delta Eight Eight Royale Brougham coupe 1995-1999 Oldsmobile Eighty Eight LSS ( with bucket seats) 1984-1990 Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser (loaded) 1975 Pontiac Grand Ville Brougham 1976 Pontiac Bonneville Brougham 1980-1981 Pontiac Bonneville Brougham 1984-1986 Pontiac Bonneville LE 1976-1977 Pontiac Grand Prix LJ or SJ ( with Bucket seats) 1984-1987 Pontiac Grand Prix LE and Brougham 1985-1986 Pontiac Parisienne Brougham 1963-1965 Buick Riviera 1984-1985 Buick Riviera 1989 Buick Riviera 1989-1993 Cadillac Fleetwood and Sixty Special 1989-1993 Cadillac Coupe Deville and Fleetwood coupe 1992-1993 Cadillac Seville ( column shift and digital cluster)( non Northstar) 1992-1993 Cadillac Eldorado ( column shift and digital cluster) ( non Northstar) 1990's Holden Caprice and Statesman 2000-2009 Holden Caprice and Statesman 2009 Holden Calais 1988 Chevrolet Caprice Classic Brougham LS