Pontiac: 1926 - 2009

[Guest Dr. Strangelove]

RIP

[Guest windjamer]

What about the soltist??

[Guest THEHKP7M13]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: windjamer</div><div class="ubbcode-body">What about the soltist?? </div></div>

I think that might go away with the Pontiac brand.

[Dave@Moon]

The Solstice will likely disappear with Pontiac. However the Saturn Sky clone should live on for a few years (as long as the new owners of Saturn don't go belly-up).

It was announced today that the sale of Saturn has been accelerated to the fall of this year (A.P. News c/o Yahoo.com). Apparently they have several interested buyers, the winner of which will initially market GM built cars independently. Since the Sky is the best showroom draw they have, and the competing GM car (Solstice) is going away at the same time as the buyout, I'd be surprised if it isn't the first car kept and promoted by the new owners.

[Guest Bob Call]

Don't look for the Saturn Sky to survive the shut down of Pontiac. A blurb on the finance section of Yahoo quotes the president of Saturn, forgot her name (a real car guy?) as saying that the investment partnership that has made an offer for the Saturn division will market GM built cars for a couple of years until they get a flow of cars from their foreign supplier. In other words, they are buying the dealership network not manufacturting capacity.

The problem with the Solstice/Sky is it is powered by an inline 4. If you are going to build a real American sports car that sports car people will buy, put some real gas guzzling, fire breathing All American V8 under the bonnet. Look at the retro styled Ford Mustang, they're everywhere. With its short wheelbase it would handle like a farm wagon, but what the hell, its fast. The manufacturing cost for the 59 year old iron small block Chevy should be about a buck fifty by now. A no brainer to me. But, what do I know? If I knew what I am talking about I would be the CEO of Toyota.

[R W Burgess]

Bob, you're smarter than all of those nuts running car companies now. I'd hire you in a minute.

Wayne

[Guest Bob Call]

Wayne

Thaks for the flattery. Look at my rant under the GM thread below.

Bob

[Reatta Man]

Bob,

Isn't it interesting how GM wants to kill off dealers (remember Olds?) yet the reason buyers, foreign and domestic, want to buy Saturn is to GET dealers.....

Hmmmm.........

[Guest THEHKP7M13]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Reatta Man</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Bob,

Isn't it interesting how GM wants to kill off dealers (remember Olds?) yet the reason buyers, foreign and domestic, want to buy Saturn is to GET dealers.....

Hmmmm......... </div></div>

Your too brilliant to ever work for a car company. If everyone remebers right it was SATURN that cost GM a billion something to start. It couldn't make it as a one car line and started taking on other line. SATURN did two terrible things:

1.) It became OLDSMOBILE, so GM killed OLDSMOBILE.

2.) It kneecapped J-BODY development for 15 years. GM is still playing catch-up in the comcact/sub-compact arena. Can you imagine the world class cars GM would have had for the last 10 years or so if SATURN was never born and that money was used on vehicle development.

THANK YOU ROGER SMITH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

end of rant!

[Dave@Moon]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">2.) It kneecapped J-BODY development for 15 years. GM is still playing catch-up in the comcact/sub-compact arena. </div></div>

Actually the J-Body (with one major restyle in 1995) was built for <span style="font-weight: bold">23 years</span> (1982-2005). During that period of time the second through seventh generations of the Honda Civic were built as well as the fourth through the ninth generations of the Toyota Corolla (along with numerous iterations of the Tercel, Starlet, and Echo series').

If building just one line of subcompact cars in three body styles for 11 years (1991-2001), with one restyle of plastic body panels, was enough to "kneecap" car development at GM....

There's no need to finish that thought. Car development is and always was, what GM wanted it to be. It was the decisions that guided that development that GM is paying for now, not any kind of handicap that limited it. They did it to themselves.

The GM I respect could've handled Saturn in their sleep (like they did Corvair, unfortunately). I hope it's back to be saved.

[Guest abh3usn]

I stil see a lot of 80s Oldsmobiles and Buicks runing around here suprisingly. Must of been good cars. Seems though that whenever GM got something right they killed it. Like when they finally put the V6 in the Feiro, or the 350 in the Firebird. Or killing the Camearo/FIrebrid. What about getting rid of the Buick GNX? or the Regal platform it was built on? Or buying Saab .. what was that about?

[Guest Bob Call]

The Buick 231 cubic inch (3.8 liter) V6 was a great engine. I had an 89 Park Avenue, ugly outside, big and really comfortable inside and great milage. I believe the Olds 98 was on the same platform. If they would have updated the body styling occasionally they could still be selling that platform.

Remember when the Big 3 changed body styles every 2 or 3 years? Chevy had the one year 1958. The GM A body cars, except the afforementioned Chevy, changed bodies every 2 years in the late 50's and early 60's. The Chevy, and probably some other divisions, used the same chassis for 58 thru 64 with 4 different body styles (58, 59-60, 61-62 and 63-64). Ford was similar with 58-59, 60, 61-64. So was Chrysler, 57-58, 59-60 and 61-62.