GTX?!? Pontiac is going to sell a car with a Chrysler name plate?!?
Nah, the GTO is in fact a GTO, and I look at it as such. After all
what was the original, except for a rebadged Tempest? No difference there.
I'll agree to the "badgewhoring" though. It's fine to reuse an old
nameplate when a new car that's introduced, matches the namesake that
it's supposed to live up to. But yeah, the new Dodge Charger is
straight out prostitution of the name. After all, it's 4-doors! And DC
claims that they refuse to make 2-door cars, because they always loose
money on them. But they only make 2-door cars that are boring. Sebring
is nice, but I sure as hell wouldn't buy one for the asking price.
An even better example: Change the front & rear clips of a Ford
Taurus, and install a wood trim kit and leather seats in it. And now
it's called a Jaguar. I don't know who's worse: The greedy,
unimaginetive bean counters who churn the crackerboxes out, or the
moron consumers who are foolish enough to buy them.
Oldsmobile was indeed a loss. Oldsmobile was like Plymouth in as they
both were the divisions of major manufacturers that cranked out
race-ready version of current car platforms.
The GTO is a good idea, because it's a forign car design that we've
never seen here, so it was new to us. Saved money, and finally allowed
us Americans to have a sample of those Aussie cars.
I can't wait for Renault to return to the U.S. Hondas and Ford Focus'
shall fear the Clio!
-Robert
--- In DMCForum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "Joe OBrien" <joeyoseppijoe@xxxx> wrote:
>
> Can't believe I forgot to mention the GTO in the badge engineering
> thread. Maybe because I don't consider it a GTO. Am I the only one
> that thinks it looks like a beefy version of the Pontiac Grand Am?
>
> Speaking of the badge engineering, or "badge whoring" as of latley
> with manufacturers, now we have the Impala again, the Monte Carlo,
> now the Dodge Charger is making a comeback. Will it ever end? Or
> will a manufacturer stop disgracing automotive legends to promote a
> car that by itself wouldn't sell as great.
>
> For an everyday car I drive an Oldsmobile intrigue with the great
> little 3.8 V6. Basically I have the same car as an Impala, Monte
> Carlo (with 2 extra doors) and the rest of the GM fleet.
>
> I used to have a 2003 Oldsmobile Aurora 4.0 V8, but talk about a gas
> hog. Great power, but man every 300 miles it demanded another $40 to
> fill the monster tank.
>
> Now speaking of the Oldsmobile Aurora, since everyone knows the Olds
> line is dead (what a terrible shame) GM wasn't about to waster all
> the engineering that went into the Oldsmobiles. Look at the "NEW"
> Pontiac Bonneville GTX I believe it is called. It is 100%
> mechanically and stucturally my former Oldsmobile Aurora. Same
> engine, tranny, frame, hardware mounting, same door handles, inside
> & out, seats, trim, electronics, sunroof, doors, roofline, trunk,
> exhaust, brakes, steering rack, etc.
>
> All the "new" bonneville has is different fascias badging, and the
> usual oddball radio and steering wheel controls. Don't get me wrong
> the GTX is an awesome looking Bonneville, just it amazes me that it
> is basically my old Aurora in disguise.
>
>
> Of all the Badge engineering, the GTO is really missing out, unless
> they do a more masculine redesign, and bring back some classic GTO
> features, it'll always be a Pontiac Grand Am on roids to me.
>
>
> Joe OBrien
>
>
>
> --- In DMCForum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "timnagin" <timnagin@xxxx> wrote:
> > I would like to add the new GTO to that list. I was sorry to see
> the F-body
> > go away, but glad to see they decided to do something with the
> LS1 / LS2
> > engines in the new GTO.
> >
> > I was out of town, saw one at a dealership, and pulled a U to get
> a look at
> > it. I looked at the sticker, then at the car, then back and the
> sticker and
> > said, "you want me to pay how much? for THIS?" I was so let down.
> >
> > Greg
> >
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: therealdmcvegas [mailto:dmcvegas@xxxx]
> > Sent: Saturday, February 19, 2005 11:28 AM
> > To: DMCForum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > Subject: [DMCForum] Re: H2: Go anyhere. Including directly to
> jail; Do
> > not collect $200.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Car manufacturers will also do this in order to save money on less
> > sucessful car lines as well. Take the "J" body for instance. Been
> in
> > production since the 80's, and gave birth to the Cavalier,
> Sunfire, &
> > Cimmaron. GM has made their money back on the tooling for these
> cars,
> > so if they discontinue them, there's no profit loss. Which is what
> > they had to do, in order to cover their losses on their other car
> > line. The one that birthed dismal sales failures such as the
> Catera,
> > Malibu, Impala, & Chevrolet Classic. Bland, boring cars so bad,
> that
> > GM could only profitably sell them thru fleet sales. And that's not
> > saying much.
> >
> > Now GM has reintroduced these future rattle traps as the "New"
> > Cavalier replacement, the Chevy Cobalt. Just as they had to do when
> > they migrated tooling from the failed Pontiac Aztek over to build
> the
> > Buick Rendevouz.
> >
> > If you want an example of a vehicle that failed when it got badge
> > engineered, but because of it's rarity, it's gonna be worth serious
> > cash some day, take a look at the Lincoln Blackwood. Those things
> are
> > gonna be the next "Dodge Dude".
> >
> > -Robert
> >
> >
> >
> > --- In DMCForum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "timnagin" <timnagin@xxxx> wrote:
> > > Actually, JZD did mention "badge engineering" when asked about GM
> > dropping
> > > the Buick name from their line. He thought it would be a waste
> to
> > get rid
> > > of the name when they could stick it on an import or something
> else.
> > >
> > > Even though the Escalade and Navigator are more expensive than
> the
> > vehicles
> > > they are based on, quite often the parts used on those vehicles
> are
> > the same
> > > or less expensive to manufacture. Take a base vehicle, slap on a
> > few
> > > different items and jack the price up by $10k and people believe
> it
> > is
> > > better. It is the same vehicle, thus, "badge engineered".
> > >
> > > Greg
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