Oracle of Delphi

I think I saw blackviper's house in that video ...

Yes my new 2011 2SS, RS Synergy Green Camaro arrives on 3/30/11. I will have a special Pink/Purple Delaware license plate on it, because well, I'm just too special for blue and gold ... So if you see said Camaro with said plate, stop and say hi ...

Pics may be a little late, since I'm having surgery on April 1st, and no that is not an April Fool's joke

Zzzzzzzzzzzz! Oh is it over? The music and dead brown scenery put me to sleep ...

Sorry, trying not to be a very arrogant German guy today ...

Drew, I prefer your write ups, so to me it would have been better with commentary, IMHO ...

You know me too well ...

I wish! Just from what you taught me, master

Now about the Terradyne, when can you take me for a spin in it? And how about the Sierra All-Terrain HD?

Well you have received US Mail from me, not very many can say that!

Maybe, hyper, and that would be my usual way of thinking too about Oracle.

But I think he posted this because of the Chevrolet (GMC) Sedona pickup he posted in the other thread, and the fact that the GMC Centaur influenced that design greatly.

I wouldn't read anymore into this that that point there. Yes, sometimes you have to read 'between the lines' with Oracle, but in this case I think he's just making a reference point. However, he can prove me wrong if he wants to

You know me too well ...

I'm trying to type this with my left hand since my right wrist is imobilized. Made a rare trip to see a doctor today to confirm the bad news I already thought was coming my way. Right now, I can't do any of the things I usually do to make a living and am supposed to start some harsh physical therapy after "resting" my arm for several weeks.

This is not in the budget.

Worse, it is spring and my best chance to generate some decent level of income just evaporated.

Sometimes things just suck.

Sorry for not getting back to you, Olds. Been a bit fixated on this.

I didn't even know you played tennis, who knew?

Link - http://bit.ly/fF0ZMs

Yep, the 1st week of April my new 2011 2SS RS Synergy Green Camaro will be pulling up to my garage in the beautiful hills of Hockessin, Delaware. I put the Hoe in Hockessin!

Link - http://bit.ly/gzjrhd

Link - http://bit.ly/dOYXcT

GENERAL Motors vice-president of global design Ed Welburn has given the thumbs up to the next-generation Holden Commodore and confirmed that the Australian-designed Cruze hatch is being seriously considered for North American sale.

Mr Welburn – an unabashed fan of the Holden Design team – told GoAuto at the Geneva motor show last week that he visited Australia last month to check on progress of the latest projects underway at Holden’s design studio in Melbourne.

Asked if he saw the next Commodore, designated VF and due in 2014, he replied: “I did, and it’s the absolute right Commodore for that market.

“I feel very good about it. We will have to change subjects – I can’t stand still thinking about that car.”

Mr Welburn refused to be drawn on the possibility of a Chevrolet version of either the VF Commodore or next Holden Caprice for general sale in the United States alongside the specialised Caprice Police Patrol Vehicle (PPV) that is based on the current generation.

However, he did disclose that Holden was working on Chevrolet models for global markets, alongside the next Commodore.

“They are doing work for Holden and for other projects around the world,” he said. “They are a very talented team – very talented – and I want to take full advantage of that.

“So, they are responsible for the look and feel of all Holden products, but they are doing work on Chevrolets, they have done some wonderful Buick work, and I could not be more proud of the work that they do.”

As GoAuto reported last week, GM’s German-based subsidiary Opel has confirmed that Holden designers are styling one of three new models that the European operation will debut by 2013.

The three models include the three-door Opel Astra GTC hot hatch, a small SUV based on the Corsa and a mid-sized four-seat convertible that also could spawn a Calibra-style coupe.

And as we reported last year, Holden put up its hand to design the next Chevrolet Corvette – the C7 – in the wake of its successful work on the current Chevrolet Camaro. It was one of 10 GM design studios asked to tender for the job

Mr Welburn confirmed that the Holden-designed Cruze hatch, which was revealed in Chevrolet production form at the Geneva motor show ahead of its roll-out in Europe, Asia and Australia later this year, was still on the agenda for the US.

“I would love to see it in the States, but historically we have not done well with hatchbacks,” he said.

“But with gas prices going up, there might be more of an interest in a smaller, more fuel efficient car that has this functionality, and this is a far better hatch than we sold years ago.

“We will just have to see, and we are looking at that very close.”

It is unlikely that the Cruze hatch would be exported from Australia, but rather made in the US alongside the Chevrolet Cruze sedan that has just been launched there to huge demand.

In February, the Cruze was Chevrolet’s third biggest seller behind the Silverado pick-up and Malibu, helping to drive up sales of the bow-tie brand by a whopping 43 per cent.

Mr Welburn also did not rule out a hot version of the Cruze hatch, saying: “Yes, you could do a hot-hatch version of this car – it would be a fun project.”

He added: “The guys in the studio are always looking at other opportunities and accessories and that sort of thing.

“This is where, with the power of this global organisation, there is so much more we can do – working together to make these cars really terrific.”

The upcoming Opel Astra GTC – a three-door hatchback built on the same Delta II platform as the Cruze – would be an obvious starting point for such a vehicle.

If that is the Opel project undertaken by Holden, a Chevrolet/Holden Cruze version would be a logical next step.

Holden has just started local production of the JG Series II Cruze sedan at its Elizabeth plant in South Australia, with the Cruze hatch to follow in the second half of the year.

The Cruze hatch is also going into production at GM Korea – the source of all Cruzes sold in Australia to date.

The Korean factory will supply Europe as well as Asia.

The VF Holden Commodore is expected to be a re-skin of the current VE platform, retaining rear-wheel drive and a V6 engine.

Mr Welburn’s comment that the 2014 Commodore was the right car for the market is most likely a reference to the retention of rear-wheel drive in the homegrown large car.

However, as GoAuto has reported, the all-new Commodore due about the end of the decade is more problematic, with elements within GM pitching their front-wheel drive platforms as a basis for the Commodore’s architecture in 2020.

Link: http://bit.ly/fSjeAP

Link to Video - http://bit.ly/g8rPgm

6th gen styling is a complete mystery right now. I'm working on it.

Not to me!

Thanks again BOBO, you can always find me on twitter if you miss me a whole lot ...

chinchilla

Jerry Penacoli, Oh wait that was a gerbil wasn't it?

Looks dull. Cannot be optioned beyond dull. I prefer the little Opel MPV that was just re-done, with the suicide doors. What's it called?

Did your lips just say Opel?

Where's the diesel?

Is ten months now the avg stay for people at GM?

Oh no young one, I have been at GM for 21 years! But then I have a habit of always picking the winning side in any internal debate!

GM HOLDEN has revealed that a decision on the generation-after-next Commodore – due from 2018 – will have to be made within the next 12 months or so, as the company moves forward with its family car options into the 2020s.

The local GM subsidiary has also indicated it is pushing for a rear-wheel-drive design for that Commodore, despite some moves within GM to promote a front-wheel-drive switch for the big Holden.

Holden chairman and managing director Mike Devereux told GoAuto on the eve of the North American International Auto Show in Detroit: “We have the best selling car in a very important market.

“And we will do everything we can to make sure we design ‘a Commodore’ that is right for Australia.

“The first rule for us is, no matter what we do long term (seven, eight or nine years from now), we have to make sure that the Commodore is a Commodore. And what that means is that, in about a year from now, our team has to figure that out.

“And it sucks that you have to make such a long call so far in advanced on what that architecture will be. And in the next 12 months we will have to make that sort of call.”

Although nobody at Holden would comment, it appears that rear-wheel drive (RWD) is poised to continue in the Commodore if the boss gets his way, as General Motors aims to retain Holden’s expertise in the field.

“The great thing about (today’s RWD Commodore) is that if you look at where that front axle is, and the length of the hood, and the space for some jewellery between the door and wheel arches … its just great proportions. It looks better. Cars like that just look better,” Mr Devereux said.

Before the 2018 Commodore happens, however, expect to see a rebodied version of the current-generation version in showrooms by 2015, employing the existing Zeta RWD platform that dates back to the VE of 2006, but boasting evolutionary new styling, completely revamped interiors, and significant powertrain updates.

Think of how Volkswagen has updated the current Golf and upcoming Passat as extensive reskins of their immediate predecessors to see how Holden is poised to keep its Billion Dollar Baby fresh.

A concerted weight loss program to help improve fuel consumption and lower emissions using chassis components like aluminium will also probably feature, though steel sheetmetal will again be employed on the grounds of lower cost.

Neither Mr Devereux nor anybody else at GM Holden would comment on what the Commodore of next decade would be.

However, he did play down rumours concerning the eventual adoption of GM’s all-new Alpha platform that is set to underpin a host of future Cadillac models beginning with the 2012 ATS full-sized luxury sedan, suggesting instead that there is still many years ahead for the Zeta platform.

Mr Devereux cited high costs associated with the exotic construction materials required to build what GM sees as its most serious assault on the BMW 5 Series, Mercedes-Benz E-class and Audi A6 segment, which would put overwhelming pricing pressures on a mainstream car like the Commodore.

The Alpha’s sizing, too, is not in keeping with the width Australian consumers expect from a full-sized family car, since the ATS’ chassis railings are said to be significantly narrower than the existing Commodore’s.

“There are obviously options for us to explore … but there are also issues like size; Zeta is a larger architecture than Alpha, and that has its advantages and disadvantages,” he said.

Asked if excessive mass may mar the Zeta’s chances in the future, Mr Devereux explained that lighter materials have already been looked at for future applications.

“Weight is not as much (of a problem) as you might think when you start factoring in higher-tech materials that we can apply to Zeta in the new car and in the longer term.

“And there are things you can do, obviously to the architecture itself as well as to the panels that hang off.”

Meanwhile, GM vice president for design, Edward Welburn, also weighed in on the Zeta’s future within Holden and GM globally at the company’s pre-NAIAS preview night, suggesting to GoAuto that a number of new cars using it might still be in the pipeline.

“There might be some cars or concepts coming from Holden that use Zeta … and this does not necessarily mean the need for any or all of these vehicles to be built or sold by Holden in Australia,” he said.

“Sure. (Front wheel drive) can be done (in a car the size of the Commodore) with Holden’s proportions.

“But having Mike (Simcoe) back at Holden (as GM’s executive director of international operations design) will help Holden retain the (current) Commodore’s big car look and proportions moving forward.”

Mr Welburn also pointed to the existing relationship with the Chevrolet Camaro keeping the Commodore in good stead as both models move towards their next-generation outcomes, especially as the Holden-engineered and production-designed ‘pony car’ has toppled the Ford Mustang in sales for the first time since the mid 1980s.

“The Camaro as I see it will never be front-wheel drive,” he said.

Link: http://bit.ly/hv26QR

Bond... James Bond

Couldn't resist replying

How are things, B?

Every day like a wedding, every night like a honeymoon!

Who?

Damn, who would have known?

I am the Oracle of Delphi, I see many things in GM's Past and Present, but my true gift is being able to see things in GM's future, way in its future in fact, it's almost as if I think it, and GM changes to match my thoughts! Nice meeting you BTW!

Link: http://bit.ly/gIxYzm

I have a feeling you went Zoom, and you love life will go Boom! Congrats, I guess, you'll look good tooling around in Mommy-Blogger style ...