Speaking of dream cars, sure wish Buick ws getting the Vette format like Cad is!

[Guest]

Yesterday my buddy came be with his (well, his wife's) new Corvette Z06. This is the most incredible car I have ever driven or had a ride, I would have paid for it! You can decide to take a corner you've passed, it will still make it! <P>Cad is getting it, why not Buick

[geno]

You must be talking about the V-12 Cad concept car going on at the Auto shows

[Guest]

Actually, he is talking about the Cadillac XLR, due out late this fall. It is going to have a retractable hardtop and a rear wheel drive Northstar powertrain. Depending on who you believe, the Northstar may be supercharged with over 400 HP. Since the XLR and Corvette will both be built at Bowling Green, this XLR platform will then be backfitted to the next generation of Corvette. The Corvette will then also have the retractable hardtop, but will use an LS1 based powerplant for motivation.

[BuickNut]

Not to be a wet rag on this discussion - but Buick needs some strong lessons in vehicle body design. While it's better looking than the Aztek - the Rendezvous is their latest design venture. Given the niche that I would have thought they were targeting - the design is not nearly cutting edge enough...or retro enough (saaaayyyy...why not make it look like a '49 Woodie !!! ). Their last venture into something sporty (beyond the Regal GS's - which are pretty slick) was the Reatta..and that was a little tame for such a vehicle. Don't get me wrong - they're nice...but not for the type of design I think was needed (...just my opinion here - nothing more).

[Guest Skyking]

All the people at Buick have to do is stop and think for a second. What was Buick's best year ever in sales. "1955"......Sales soared throughout this country like no other year. Design something similar to that car. 3/4 of a million people were'nt wrong. Still today, it is one of the most popular cars Buick people collect. The lines were great, the styling was super. I really believe if a car company comes out with a very look a likable car, their sales will soar. I think people in general are a little tired of the round cars......My thought!

[WQ59B]

Actually (and I only have figures up to 1980) Buicks best sales year up to then was then: 1980 at 854xxx units. I don't think many people are clamoring for '80s to return.<P>As far as a Corvette/Buick variant, I'd like to see that platform kept exclusive to the 2 for a long while. GM is focusing on Cadillac at the present time, pulling out all the stops to 'be a contender once again' (I don't neccessarily agree that they AREN'T). Buick could do a bit of coattail riding image- & sales-wise if Cadillac rises back up to the top again. But to 'water-down' the XLR by spreading out the vette platform to other models would not be prudent.<P>I haven't cared overly for any of the recent Buick concepts. The Signia & LaCrosse looked too lumpy.<P>The '95 XP-2000 was pretty slick- a more modern yet still related version of the current Century & LeSabre's lines. The Bengal, tho -I thought- was VERY nice. What a unique and fresh face, and so nicely retro-Buick! Alas, it was not to be.

[BuickNut]

But BUICK (???) make a PERFORMANCE car....come on now...they NEVER did ....oh, unless you count the earlier Centuries in the 30's and 40's, and ALL the GS's with plenty of grunt and oumph . Shows they CAN do it right if they want - and with PLENTY of style. Hopefully, they see the light before that light turns out to be the same light Olds saw....the train coming at them through the tunnel !

[BUICK RACER]

GM Gets Behind Rear-Wheel Drive<P>Detroit Free Press<P>January 16, 2002<P>By Mark Phelan, Detroit Free Press Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News<P>Jan. 16--Years after steering its customers toward front-wheel-drive vehicles, General Motors Corp. is planning a new series of passenger cars with traditional rear-wheel drive, Vice Chairman Robert Lutz said.<P>The rear-wheel-drive series is slated for one or more of GM’s high-volume U.S. brands -- Chevrolet, Pontiac and Buick.<P>GM will invest hundreds of millions of dollars to develop the cars and either refit existing assembly plants or build new ones to produce them.<P>The plan represents a major philosophical shift within GM’s engineering and sales organizations. The world’s largest automaker committed its high-volume passenger-car programs to front-wheel drive decades ago, spending vast amounts of time and money developing the cars and convincing the American public that front-wheel drive is safer than and superior to rear-wheel drive.<P>"Over time, we will have a nice blend of some architectures that remain front-wheel drive and other architectures that go rear-wheel drive," Lutz said in an interview at the North American International Auto Show.<P>The new cars will be based on a less-costly, higher-volume version of GM’s new Sigma luxury vehicle architecture, said Lutz, GM vice chairman for product development and chairman of GM North America.<P>The likely GM candidates to switch to rear-wheel drive include the Chevrolet Impala and Monte Carlo, Pontiac Grand Prix or Bonneville and Buick Century, Regal or LeSabre. GM has also considered the Sigma architecture as a basis for a Camaro or Firebird replacement. The program would also likely spawn the replacement for GM’s successful Australian sedan, the Holden Commodore.<P>Because rear-drive is associated with the classic powerful American sedan and offers the potential to sell image-building, high-performance models, the program could reinvigorate GM’s passenger-car sales. GM traditionally dominated that market, but has been losing ground for three decades.<P>"It’s a gamble, unless they plan on a massive rethinking of their product lines," said Jim Hall, vice president for industry analysis at consultant AutoPacific. "GM needs more rear-drive cars, but not every division needs one. It must be based on what’s the right car for each division. There are plenty of very happy Toyota Camry and Avalon owners who don’t know or care that their car is front-wheel drive."<P>The Sigma platform is the foundation of the new Cadillac CTS sport sedan. Its basic components and dimensions -- the architecture, in GM development parlance -- will spawn a wide range of future Cadillacs, including the rear-drive replacement for the Seville luxury sedan and an all-wheel-drive crossover wagon based on the Cadillac Vizon concept car. All of those cars will be assembled in GM’s new Lansing plant, which opened Jan. 9.<P>The upcoming Cadillac vehicles will take that plant to its production capacity, meaning that any additional models will have to come either from new assembly plants or existing plants reconfigured to build the cars.<P>GM would probably need to sell around 200,000 of the new rear-drive cars annually to justify the investment needed to build a new plant, Hall said. However, if the cars replace models GM already builds, such an investment would be part of the normal cost of doing business as GM replaces models at the end of their life cycles.<P>Changing volume brands to rear-wheel drive will take time, said Lutz, who was hired by GM Sept. 1 and has been charged with revitalizing its product line.<P>The Sigma architecture was developed as the basis for Cadillacs priced from the CTS’s $29,990 to a possible $60,000 flagship sedan, people close to the program say. Lutz refers to the Cadillac architecture as the "premium Sigma platform," while the less-expensive cars will derive from what he called the "high-volume Sigma platform."<P>Executives at GM’s higher-volume brands have previously expressed guarded interest in adding a rear-wheel-drive sedan to their lineups. However, they were concerned over whether their high-volume brands could afford the sort of sophisticated electronic traction and stability control systems that Cadillac will use to make its rear-drive cars manageable on snow and ice.<P>GM executives close to the Sigma program have said that the architecture could be used for less-expensive cars, but that sales projections would have to justify at least another assembly plant’s worth of production before GM would approve any non-Cadillac cars using the architecture.<P>"It gets very expensive to be the next GM division that wants a Sigma product," one senior executive said. "You have to be willing to commit to the cost of a new plant."<P>It’s very unlikely any existing GM assembly plant could produce the high-volume Sigma cars without being gutted and rebuilt.<P>The vehicles and the assembly process are intended to be flexible enough that a single assembly line can produce vehicles as different as the compact CTS, full-size Seville and the Cadillac crossover wagon based on the Vizon.<P>If the new high-volume rear-drive cars succeed, the program could be the key to reversing decades of eroding market share for GM. It could also change the face of the U.S. auto industry, by forcing GM’s competition to respond with similar products.<P>The Chrysler Group has already committed to rear-drive replacements for its full-size 300M and LHS family of full-size sedans.<P>While Chrysler’s rear-drive program is well under way, GM’s move could put Ford Motor Co. at a competitive disadvantage. Ford’s only North American rear-drive sedans are the aging Mercury Grand Marquis and Ford Crown Victoria, and the expensive Lincoln LS and Town Car.<P>GM built its last North American full-size sedan in 1996, when it phased out the Chevrolet Caprice Classic, Impala SS, Buick Roadmaster and Cadillac DeVille. It began its move to front-drive to develop smaller, more fuel-efficient cars following the 1970s oil shortages. GM built 167,103 of those cars in their last year of production.<P>Front-wheel drive better uses interior space, but it is widely considered a compromise when used in big cars. While it improves traction in slippery or wet conditions, front-drive cars generally cannot handle as much torque or horsepower as rear-drive, meaning that a full-size car often feels underpowered.<P>New developments in electronic traction control and stability control now allow automakers to make their rear-drive cars more practical for snowy climates.<P>While those systems can still cost several hundred dollars per car, suppliers and some GM engineers say they believe the cost will fall to the point that they can be offered on high-volume cars without a substantial price increase. The same thing happened with antilock brake systems, which began as $1,000-plus options on luxury sedans.

[Guest]

Hooray for GM. Maybe in ten years I'll consider buying a used GM car instead of having to SETTLE for a European RWD car.

[Guest]

I'm happy to see that GM is returning to their roots with RWD. Too bad that they are demolishing the plant where most of their RWD cars were built, Buick City Assembly. Maybe if the recall of Flint's mayor is successful, the cleared site will be considered for a new plant to build RWD cars. The workforce is still in the area and they sure know how to build world-class quality cars! Cross your fingers!

[Guest]

I think it's a crying shame that they've even considered building a new Caddy in the Corvette plant. The Corvette has been astoundingly successfull and the line and the plant are flourishing. While I'm all for the new Caddy, What will happen if it doesn't take off and starts to lose money? Will it take down the whole Vette plant with it? It's scary. Also, they were originally talking about building the two seater Evoq (Caddy) at Bowling green, not the new four door, rear wheel drive model. And if they incorporate Caddy retactible roof architecture into the Vette, it would be a disaster and too heavy and gimmicky. The Vette must stand on it's own. Period. When will GM learn to leave well enough alone? As far as Buick goes, rear wheel drive would be very welcome. The Rendevous is a great concept. They need to come back with rettro styled cars like a Skylark, GS, a Wildcat and a Riviera. And if they want to compete with the jap crap and the kroutmobiles, they better start offering stick shifts in ALL their models again, to go along with the rear wheel drive. And remember, when your daughter, son or wife is ready for a new or used car, make sure it was designed and built by an American company. Insist on it.

[BUICK RACER]

XLR is way cool, I'd buy one, probably before I'd buy the ZO6, but hang on, this is the most exciting time to be a GM fanatic and be a GM employee! We are (the salary side) are actually getting stock options for 2001, nothing has been said about this in the press, probably so as to not upset the UAW side that is not getting "profit sharing", but we aren't getting anything either in variable pay (AKA profit sharing), and our raises have been put off till at least September if we even get them, when we usually get them in June!<BR>Things are shaking, the biggest thing right now, is to write your congressperson about the CAFE law changes to 35 MPG, that will put us all in puppy cars and trucks. Check out <A HREF="http://www.sema.org" TARGET=_blank>http://www.sema.org</A> or <A HREF="http://www.gm.com" TARGET=_blank>http://www.gm.com</A> for more info on what to do to fight it!

[Guest]

What you may get in the US is a GM Australian built rear wheel drive coupe with a 3800 supercharged V6, built in Aust, or with a US built Chev 5.7 V8. Called Monaro here<BR> <A HREF="http://www.holden.com.au/app/serve?page=monaroEntry" TARGET=_blank>http://www.holden.com.au/app/serve?page=monaroEntry</A> <P>Was in the news here in Australia in the last week that GM are considering building here an exporting to US. (3 out 10 cars made in Aust are exported)<P>The Monaro has been in the market here for a few months (in right hand drive)<P>Now GM build the 4 door sedan version here and export it to the middle East as a Chev, so building a left drive coupe should not be hard.<P>What brand GM would call it is a subject of interest. Chev, Buick or ??

[Guest]

duplicate<p>[ 02-21-2002: Message edited by: 1939_Buick ]