SAmadei

He mentioned it is a tan and black interior, actually it think GM called it parchment and dark pewter. As a 2004 GP Comp-G with this interior recently joined the my fleet, and me tell you, its NOT like being in a dark hole. In fact, its the cheeriest interior I've seen in a while.

Maybe once Holden is on it's own, they can start importing Holdens to America. If Pontiac is going away, I would certainly support a independent Holden import in America, since GM will only be selling neutered shrunken appliances.

Sales over the last 30 years says the consumer buys what their friends have, what the media recommends and what has the biggest incentives. Modern technology has made cars ride and handle like a dream compared with old tech, but the general public does not realize which wheels are powered, and has no idea the compromises they are making. The most technical opinion people have about cars is what color it is. What kind of car do you drive? A blue one.

I remember that. IIRC, it was only during the period when there was no Z-car in production for the US... '97~'99 maybe. This way Nissan could still sell a sports car of sorts. I always wondered how that worked out, as far as sales and profit went.

Agreed. But the braintrust at GM is likely considering a midengine FWD C7 just to piss us off. When did GM change their slogan to "Standard of Excellent Spite". The best part about having a big BOF RWD car is helping tow AWD idiots out of snowbanks.

I'm nowhere near that old and actually desired the Eldo. The only thing that stopped me is that they were too expensive for a FWD appliance. As far as potential, I'd use it. I look at the senior citizens as caretakers for the mint Eldo I will eventually buy for a song at an estate sale. Wish more seniors had bought B-bod Impala SS's and 35th anni Trans Ams.

Its worse than a Corolla. Makes me ill just looking at it. Makes me think its a Kia attempting to make a older Accord.

A W-9 cylinder would certainly be interesting.

I like panel interviews... if you can ace it, it really can separate you from the weaker competition. I have a feeling many folks here are good at thinking on their feet.

Too bad they didn't make the cockpit about 2 inches longer.

Are the crash ratings for the sedan G6 vs sedan Aura/Malibu or sedan/coupe/convert G6 average vs sedan Aura/Malibu? Obviously averaging in the coupe/convert would dilute a strong showing by the G6 sedan, as smaller door holes are easier to reinforce. After thinking about the ideas presented to shift the old nameplates down if reapplied to the disasterous Gx series... I think I'm for it. Pontiac is headed towards smaller cars (unfortunately for me), so a redo of the 1982 Bonne platform step-down to LeMans makes sense. G8->Bonne, G6->GrandPrix G5->Grand Am. I don't think people's memories are go strong that they would revolt to the Grand Prix name on a Grand Am sized car. Of course, if Pontiac is eliminating most of their lines, I would hope whatever the remaining Gx series would get renamed. I think it's silly to only have one Gx in the lineup. Actually, I think the whole Gx series is silly... especially since I feel that customers would assume the x would indicate engine cylinders.

It looks like someone's eyeliner is running. Or one of those tear tattoos.

Very close, it was actually the Astre. It was also different than the Chevy by having a set of '67-'68 Firebird taillights, as well.

Daryl, that post was in no way directed to be insulting to you, but it was a question to the group for firsthand or secondhand knowledge of a CLEAN engine. Every engine I have broken down has had sludge in it. The engines my friends have broken down had sludge in them. Everybody who has ever talked car talk knows that some people come up with some pretty outrageous stuff citing thirdhand, fourthhand or nth-hand Snopes stuff, which is what I wanted to exclude from the discussion with a little humor, hence the smilie. So, I'm not starting anything with you, and if others thought I was, I would think some other forum members would have called me out, which they haven't. In any case, I don't think this kind of language is warranted. Besides, as far as I'm concerned, there is no sport in insulting people on the internet... so why bother.

Wow... its only $7000. Ugh, it has no VIN. Anyone up on kit car registration? ;-)

Thinking more about this, the 45-year old P-brake cables didn't run in sheaths like modern cars. Bare cables are less likely to rust and seize up.

My parking brake complaint is the little tiny drum brakes some cars have... they do not have a slot to adjust the star wheel. A lot of the newer cars seem to have rear brake adjustment problems, unknown to the owner because the fronts are so effective, and then the parking brake ends up useless... regardless of foot or hand actuated. As far as the problem at hand... my '99 is likely like yours, in that you push down on the pedal to engage it, then push down on the pedal a second time to disengage it. The thing you are seeing in the picture is likely part of the ratchet/release mechanism. I haven't looked at mine lately, so I'm not sure by your picture if it is assembled wrong. Since the assembly looks unitized in your picture, I doubt anyone would disassemble it, as it would likely be replaced whole. Another thought... my '99 P-brake is really hard to engage... you have to step on it like you mean it. I assume this is to override the release mechanism. Just for kicks, I would check the under car routing of the cable to ensure its not crimped, crushed or hung up somewhere. If you haven't, you may want to post the problem at BonnevilleForums.com. I'd be surprised if nobody there hasn't pulled one of these apart. I would pull some diagrams from my '99 Bonne factory service manual, but I have them at my other home.

I'm not saying its likely... I'm just sharing because it would have never occurred to me it could be illegal. OTOH, I would say its a tip off when the cop sees you pushing the car backwards in the parking lot. Or in the middle of a K turn... blocking his way... to the orphanage hostage situation.

Get a 'body in white' and start perusing the GMPP catalog. I wonder what the BIW Camaros will price out for. I wholeheartedly with your later post about paying cash on the barrel. I financed my '99 Bonne in '04 and even bought the warranty for 36K or three years to develop my credit and to get a modern car like my father wanted me to. Well, I put 40K on the car the first year... Warranty gone. It was as reliable as my older cars and soon I ended up replacing parts just l did on my older cars... The final payment is next month. I will FINALLY own it. Its now 193K and worth about $900. It just spent three months in my driveway as I casually replaced almost every gasket, filter, plug and sensor on the engine. The next car, a 2004 Grand Prix Comp-G... uh, paid cash for. Granted, I still want a G8 GXP, and I would have to finance that... but I still like the idea of buying a 30 year old Craigs List special for $700, if it wasn't for the Jersey rust curse.

This is why the F-bod hiatus was very damaging... most of the fans went to Mustangs, and found the blue oval wasn't so bad. Now it will be somewhat difficult to get them back.

Your forgetting about the $9995 Versa, the current winner in the race to the bottom. I agree with DF, I'd rather take the front seat out of the G3 and drive it across the country from the back seat than go Greyhound. I used to take Greyhound back and forth from New York City to Atlantic City every week... I did this because the final cost after the casinos give you money back is about $9-$11 bucks... which wouldn't cover the tolls to do that in a car one way... plus I don't have a place to park in NYC. I feel the NYC<->AC route is Greyhound's worst. It is the most disgusting way to travel. The buses stink, have lousy temperature control and break down. The seats are stained and ripped. The fellow passengers stink, are loud and rude. The bus drivers are mostly ignorant and on a power trip. There is no leg room and the inconsiderate jerk in front of you thinks it is his god given right to recline the seats onto your knees for three hours. After nearly throwing a few passengers off the bus via the window at 75 mph, I started taking NJ Transit... a relative limo service. To go from NYC to Los Angeles, it costs $220 and 3 days of your life. If you value your time at $5/hr that total is $400. If makes flying look good. My point... people lake to compare cars to greyhound because they've never done it. Once you've done it, you would rather take a 3rd world taxi cab across the country than Greyhound.

Been there... have the T-shirt. It's like when your starter is dead, and you have to park on a hill EVERYWHERE you go so you can pop the clutch to start it. Has nothing to do with anything, but its actually a ticketable offense to drive a car that cannot go in reverse in some states... such as PA.

The trick is to use these to keep the old cars alive. But I would actually be pretty happy with a crate LSX376. GMPP has some pretty trick stuff, making these drivetrains almost modular, so retrofitting is _way_ easier than trying to stuff a LS2 into a old Camaro.

I share Car And Driver's opinion...Motor Trend is a bunch of wienies. It's the only major car mag I refuse to subscribe to... its almost as bad as reading car reviews in Consumer Reports.

So, this is the GM as Toyota plan. Playing devil's advocate... Why stop at Chevy/GMC/Cadillac? Since they are, IMHO, as damaged as the rest, just get rid of all "Divisions"... let all the dealers become GM dealers and have them sell whatever they want. You could still get a GM Pontiac... it would be a G8. Actually, it could be a GM Pontiac Roadster (Solstice) and GM Pontiac Deluxe Sedan (G8). It would be like 1939 all over again. Also, I like the simplification of the drivetrains... a plan I am very much in favor of. Why do we need more than a micro-4 cyl 1.1-1.4ish, a 2.1-2.4ish 4 cylinder, a 3.9 V6 and a 5.7-6.0 V8. Make it so any model can swallow 2 or 3 of these engines to give the public some choice. I'm not real familiar with GM's manual transaxles, but I thought GM didn't build any manual transmissions anymore... but bought them from Tremac and ZF. If GM does still make manual transaxles, they should be built by someone else, as well. Personally, I don't like 80% of your plan, as I feel killing off historic brands limits during these times is short-sighted and will limit GM's future ability to compete with all comers. I also don't like the future development of SUVs and Pickups. This is, IMHO, wasted money, and GM needs to take a page from the '70s/'80s truck development and have 15 year product cycles with minor yearly changes. They are trucks for crying out loud, and the basic truck hasn't fundamentally changed much since 1911. GM needs to lure these truck buyers back into cars to combat CAFE... because if they don't, Toyota will. One thing your plan does not address is that GM needs a big dose of flexibility. Taking half a decade to react to trends is not going to cut it. With modern manufacturing techniques and just in time inventories, GM needs be able to shift the product portfolio on a dime. Why GM management was able to cope with major market changes like the Great Depression, WW2 and the fickle public of the '50s, but couldn't react to the SUV slaughter, when you could see it coming from a mile away, is beyond me... and tells me ALL GM management needs to be scrapped. Yeah, scrapped... like put in a big car crusher, not just fired.