Rear-Wheel Drive

Amazing how many people want to rename this car! I've heard the same idea from several friends who can't wait to pull off those G8 emblems, and now I'm seeing it in these posts. I agree it would be fun to put on something meaningful - but what? What little consensus exists suggests it should not be alphanumeric - that it should return to a storied name with some history and brand recognition to it which evokes the earlier great years of the "Wide Track" era. Remember though, that at a wheelbase of 114.5" this is an intermediate car - not full-size . Full size cars traditionally have had a wheelbase longer than 116", so only the LWB WM-Zeta cars (2020 Chevrolet Impala? I hope I'm just kidding about the year) will qualify. For that reason I think you have to discard the names traditionally attached to LWB cars of the past including Torpedo, Chieftain, Streamliner, Executive, Catalina, Bonneville, and Grand Ville. Even if you don't buy the wheelbase argument - it just doesn't look like a Bonneville! You are left with intermediate wheelbase names from the past - Tempest, LeMans, Phoenix, Grand Prix, Grand Am, and Ventura. Finally, it hasn't helped the legacy of Pontiac that some of those names have been slapped on front-wheel drive cars in some cases and should be disqualified due to our immense suffering of recent years. This eliminates Grand Prix, Grand Am, and Phoenix. I find Tempest sounds a little dated, and LeMans a little pretentious, so the winner for me is... VENTURA. It will be hard to find emblems at your local Pontiac dealer parts department though.

GM has to have at least one long-wheelbase rear-wheel drive car in their stable if they are to be taken seriously as a full-line car company. They can make excursions all they like into trucks, minivans, sporty cars, etc. but in the end they will have to come up with a serious attempt at such a car. They simply cannot ignore the segment - CAFE increases notwithstanding. Too many are sold worldwide and they are too profitable. The news that the Impala may have slipped again (to 2011) isn't good. The zeta architecture will have been around for 5 years by then and the competition (Hyundai Genesis?) ain't standing still. By then even Ford might be in the game with a new Crown Vic based on the Australian Falcon, and Chrysler will be on their second generation LX-platform Dodge Charger. Chevrolet will use the LM LWB platform from Holden for their full-size car (118.5" wheelbase), and by then we have to pray they will have gotten over the jitters and will produce both a luxo-barge Caprice and a sporty Impala SS version.

Think strategically. This isn't about Chrysler, which will be slowly absorbed by GM anyway. It's about building Daimler-General - a global colossus and the most powerful automotive brand on the planet.

Dodge Charger sales for 2006 - 114,201. Potential market for Pontiac G8? At least as many, given all those frustrated GM fans who have been moaning about getting this car for 11 years since the B-Body died. Plus the same number again for the Zeta WM long-wheelbase (118.5 inches) version fo the 2010 BelAir/Caprice/Impala/Whatever. So, of course this car is coming to the Oshawa, ON plant. Won't beat an Charger Hemi with 390 ft. lbs and high thirteens, though. "Might catch a door but you'll never lose her".

Earth to GM fans - what's with all this rebranding of a Holden Caprice to an American Buick? GM needs this car to stay a Caprice and to be launched without delay by Chevrolet. Hasn't anybody noticed that the Dodge Charger just outsold the Chrysler 300 for the first time last month and now is selling at an annualized rate of 120,000 units! When the Chevrolet Caprice/Impala SS B-Body died in 1996, it was selling at a lower rate than that. The full-size RWD sports sedan is back with a vengance. With the fosselization of the Ford Crown Vic and GM lost in space for the last ten years, Dodge now own the market for the full-size mid-priced RWD American sports sedan! Niche Buick and Pontiac versions of this new Zeta platform can wait - GM needs a high volume Chevrolet first - and they need it fast!

This post just confuses things and appears to reopen questions about what is coming that have already been answered. The Holden vehicle is not very helpful in understanding the North American environment as we already know what is under the skin engineering-wise from previous announcements, and the exterior is not going to be duplicated here anyway. GM have already announced their rear-wheel drive plans in the post of August 15th by Mark Phelan of the Detroit Free Press - "GM plans rear-drive family". Why are we going around and around on decisions which have already been made? They have said there will be at least 7 offerings - Chevrolet Caprice/Impala, Chevrolet Camaro, Chevrolet Monte Carlo, Pontiac Grand Prix/G8, Pontiac GTO, Buick Roadmaster, and Buick Velitte. The key questions left are: 1. The dates and sequence of the roll-outs (which will probably now require up to 2011 to complete versus 2010 before the Zeta development delay), and 2. How has Lutz managed to overcome the problem he had when he first announced the Zeta delay - namely that the original Zeta designs were not price-, quality-, and performance-competitive with the Chrysler 300/Dodge Charger competition? How does Lutz plan to beat out a Charger SRT-8 with a quarter of 13.2, and a top speed of 173 mph, all at under $ 40 large?