New Gto, Disgrace To The Name, Or A Great Tribute

Chrysler is the only company that I can think of that doesn't excessively "water down" the concept car to the point where it makes you wonder why the company even made the concept car...
...and that's not to say even they don't water them down at least a bit.

But GM is the worst, by far, as far as "watering down" concept cars.

I wouldn't say that it's a "great tribute" to the original GTO, since it is different than the original in so many ways...
But, it's better in all those ways, so you might say it's a superior car to the original. I would...
But it's so different than the original car. The original was a stripped-down musclecar to appeal to young people.
This GTO is a dolled-up leather-clad yuppie-friendly interior, with an exterior that bears too much resemblance to the Grand Prix IMO. It seems meant to be appealing to thirty-somethings rather than youth.
It's not a car that you'll see pinned up in high school locker doors.
But it's no "disgrace", that's for sure. One of GM's best cars currently.

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I think GM is a mismanaged ball of shit though, honestly.
They keep making great decisions (the GTO is one of them!)... and then flushing them down the toilet slowly over the course of a few years.

It happened with Saturn... new plant, new methodology, new system, new designs, new products... and they produced superior cars, and even a cult following.
Then, they decided to slowly erode all that away... build Saturn large cars in an aging GM plant in the end of it's life... and sure enough, inferior quality. Now, Saturn small cars will share a platform with Cavaliers and Sunfires.

I can see it now...
GM uses their Holden affiliation to bring the great GTO to the United States... in many ways, the GTO is great despite GM, great in ways GM simply couldn't or wouldn't... every single time you read about the GTO, they praise it and make special note of how superior it is to "typical GM cheapness". The interior is even of high grade.
Performance is obviously of high grade, and it supposedly handles like a european touring car.

But my prediction-
As soon as the GTO has been on the market for 4 or 5 years, and will be slated for a redesign... rather than continue allowing it to be built by Holden (and yielding a superior car), just wait....
They'll redesign the car, and deploy it to be built alongside something like the Chevy Malibu...

It never fails...

 

That mismanaged ball of shit is also the largest, highest grossing ball of shit in the world for over 5 years running . GM is almost twice as large and wealthy then the second largest company in the world. That's right, in the world.

Also of valuable note, Saturn is not a GM company. They mearly purchase parts and designs from GM. Oh, did I mention Toyota also does that? Oh, wait, so does your beloved Honda :blink: . Were you aware that GM is supplying most of the parts, almost all of the electronics, and all the diagnostic equipment (including factory scan tools) to Honda?

Are you aware that the Cavaliers are Toyotas? Are you aware that the Impala is a Corolla? The very vehicles you bash are made by your prescious import manufacturers.

That mismanaged ball of shit has it's hands in over 80% of all car manufacturers buisness today... Including Ford.

The new Mustang has a dash designed and built by... Delphi Electronics.
The batteries in all Ford Vehicles are... Delco Batteries.

Hrmmm...

Look under the hood of any Honda at the local dealer Chris, and tell me how many electronic components on the engine do you see that posess the label "AC"... That would be almost every component :bye:

Tell me one mass produced car that is superior to the Corvette.

Tell me who developed the first transaxle.

Tell me who has the longest running engine design on the road of all times.

That mismanaged ball of shit is also going to be the first to market with camshaftless Engines. They were the first to market with electronic vehicles... oh wait, they were the only company to go to market with an electric vehicle.

The design principals GM has developed and are currently developing have changed the face of the automobile, and the industry. They have changed the way that you live. Simply because they don't go to market with the concept design you may like does not eliminate them from being the leader in the automotive industry today. Seen the SSR? Looks nothing like the concept huh? The fact that they are constantly implimenting new designs with old nameplates does not mean they are going to flush it down the toilet. The population simply prefers less then what is initially built. Everybody has the old Impala dreams, but they simply have a Toyota pocketbook. GM is in this for the money, not for your approval. Money drives their design changes, and as the largest company in the world, I would say they know what they are doing more than you or I anyways

The new GTO?

It's a Corvette in a smaller body. Sounds great to me no matter how you slice it

 

I'm not a fan of the Hondas since they decided to kill the dual-unequal-length A-arm suspension... It was really the thing that made Hondas potential performance platforms (and the light weight).
Reliability is nice, but I'm getting the feeling that's been slipping even lately (I'll be looking in August when that data is published). Hey, I can buy a Toyota, if reliability is my primary concern.
Hondas don't have the appeal that they used to, IMO.

My comments were with respect to GM inconsistencies...
A symptom of a bloated management structure.

Saturn is a good example, which is why I mentioned it-
Which was a revolutionary concept, it was a plant built by GM as en exercise with how to compete with the Japanese, an admission that the Japanese were building better cars for less... and "darn it, we're going to not only learn how, but do it ourselves!"
It was a great idea. The first Saturns were great cars.
...and now look at Saturn today. It's been essentially assimilated into the GM conglomerate... which simply isn't "the Saturn way".

I'm simply speculating, of course, that GM would change the GTO fundamentally down the road. I say this actually because the current version looks so good.

I remember another car, similar in many ways..
The Oldsmobile Aurora. GM-defying style. Supposed to have been a pretty good car too.
Then, came time for redesign... and "the original car was too exotic".
Management called down to the design studio, and said "make it look more like everything else on the road."

Maybe it's just me... but "me too" styling isn't my cup of tea... driving an Accord or Taurus would simply be embarassing...
Any Douglas Adams fans know what the "Total Perception Vortex" is...
I'd feel like I was plugged into that, every time I sat down in the seat of my Taurus #4,565,984,543... that looked like every other car on the road to boot. :lol:

I welcome cars like the Scion Xb, Toyota MRS spider, VW New Beetle, Honda Element... because they scare the "me too" guys. B)

GM's relationship with Honda scares me, also, on a side note...
It's been a few years, and all that I've seen since that relationship was struck.. and I'm sure GM has benefitted, but I don't think Honda has...
I've seen them drop the dual-unequal-length wishbone suspension, and apparantly drop in reliability (at least, the little stuff).

But that also follows historical trends...
Look at Ford and Mazda.
Essentially, now, Mazda IS Ford.
That's not necessarily a bad thing, currently... but for a while, during that "Assimilation time", Mazdas were sort of a confused 'yawn'.

At any rate, my comments were simply a wish that someone in GM's seemingly uncoordinated management staff doesn't some day get arrogant and say "hey... why are we having Holden of Austrailia build this car for us? It could easily be ported over to the Grand Prix platform..."

That's my concern... if GM doesn't do that, it'd be a deviation from historical trends.

 

I think that the mismanaged ball of shit was mainly just the automotive branch of that. At least that is what I read. Just a question though... According to Forbes most recent ranking.... GM is NOT the wealthiest company this year... that spot is taken by Wal-Mart, which would make sense considering they are run by the wealthiest woman in the world.....

oh, none of that was sarcastic.... just thought I would add that, I just think that there is a possibility I am not as up to date on the list as I thought.

 

I think Seth meant the largest automotive company in the world.

The largest corporate empire has been held for a long time by my former employer, General Electric - who also holds the title for the largest corporation in the world.

Wal-Mart may be the largest retailer... but they are pretty single-purposed, focusing on retail.

General Electric on the other hand makes most of their money on things that you likely aren't aware that they are involved in. GE doesn't just make appliances and light bulbs... in fact, those businesses are a small percentage point of total revenue, actually largely maintained due to historical ties, and PR associated with that history. I was involved with GE Capital, which is actually their largest, most profitable branch. Outside of that (and honestly, inside of it as well), GE is truly an assimilation machine.

That Forbes ranking had some qualifier that you missed... perhaps largest in some particular area (ie. retail), or most profitable last year (as opposed to greatest assets, or investments, etc.), or largest number of retail outlets, etc.

 

I will have to re-read the article. I guess I did not think much about it, I just assumed that was for the company list, they are doing extremely well right now I know.... They just recently made a $350 million donation to the University of Arkansas... And also having had an opportunity to speak to Alice Walton, I know they are growing EXTREMELY well.... I know it was not the largest retailer, because I have a vague recollection of other sorts of companies being in there. I did not pay much attention to it, I was just reading the magazine to catch a small article on a local company that my father works for.

 

Bill Gates current net worth (In stock alone, but I doubt the peripherals would be enough to amount to the differance in the money required to give each person $1,000,000) is listed below, both in maximum worth and current estimated...

The total poulation of the US is about 292,000,000 or 292 million.

If you do the math Bill Gate's net worth to be able to accomplish this goal (not the .625% of his worth, but the total cost of giving each American $1,000,000 total) would be $292,000,000,000,000 or 292 trillion dollars. The deficit of the united states is about $7,224,408,462,400.49 (That's $7.22 Trillion.) The estimated date for Bill to make enough to pay the national debt (considering his current growth does not slow or stop) is Feb 9, 2025. That is still over $285 billion dollars short of giving every American a million bucks.

(Info found on Bill Gates Net Worth page, and the Fact Monster webpage. )

For you trivia buffs

 

good god seth. chill out dude :lol:

It's all gonna be OK

I think GM has some ugly freakin concept cars, but meh. Most company's do.

The new GTO may in no way represent the old one, but as a car itself, it's a bad

mofo, at least to me. I'd buy it in a heartbeat, if I made more than $7/hr.






Jeff