Cheers and Jeers for 2005

[bobo]

Here’s the fourth annual list of the best and worst of GM and C&G during the past year. If the year could be summed up in one word, it’s “disaster.” There were plenty of natural disasters, most notable being Katrina, and GM had its own disasters to wade through. Prominent passings included Johnny Carson, Rosa Parks, and the only Pope that many people knew. News regarding GM came at a steady drip—of bad news, including the Fiat fiasco, pension and health care woes, the Delphi mess, falling market share, junk bond status, and record low stock prices. C&G experienced its own woes with glitches the first seven months of the year, and then the site went offline altogether for three weeks after getting kicked off the server. But it came back with updated forum software and a shuffling of moderators, and the general merriment returned. And there are glimmers of hope that things may turn around at GM as well.

And now, the highlights and lowlights of the past year:

Cheers to GM for finally introducing “Gotta Have” vehicles. The Solstice and HHR are certified hits. Now if only the same treatment can be given to all automotive segments, in particular the family sedans, instead of just niche vehicles. It’s all about product. The new GMT900’s are a step in the right direction, and what is known of “Zegma” shows promise.

Cheers and Jeers to GM Marketing for “GM Employee Discount for Everyone”. This promotion cut through the clutter and gave everyone haggle-free pricing. The public bought into it, even if the deals were no better than could have been had with aggressive sales negotiations. Real employees lost out because the pricing was not as good as GMS pricing before the promotion. The 2005 stock was cleared out, and there were conquest sales, but the hangover is here with diminished sales for the 2006 models. And GM continues to count on image-damaging incentives, which brings us to…

Jeers to GM for the hopelessly weak “Total Value Promise”. GM had a chance to wean consumers off the absurd mega incentives, but instead there was a timid program of more standard features and slightly reduced prices. This was this year’s “Lock ‘n’ Roll.”

Cheers to b2b for Best Post, in his succinct design analysis of the Honda Civic. link

Cheers to Satty for Best Use of Irony. Just weeks after getting his Solara, he disses the Sostice as being “girly. everything about the appearence says, ‘Look at me, I'm a sorority girl.’” link

Jeers to the constant bitching, moaning, and petty arguments on the board. Is it really necessary to argue over every little thing? A Cheer to wildmanjoe for illustrating it best in his recent “light bulb” thread. link

Cheers to regfootball for Best Haiku. Well, it was the only haiku posted. It was reg’s response to buickman in the debate of what ills Buick, and not everyone will agree with his sentiments. The site could use more poetry.

thir-ty eight hundred.
i-RON block. nine-ty degrees.
la-zy boy front seats. link

Cheers to Hogans_Heroes for Best Commentary on GM’s woes in the “Body Blows” thread. link

Cheers again to Hogans_Heroes for Best Thread, regarding GMX386, the next Malibu. link
Honorable mention goes to Northstar for the thread he started on speculation on the next Camaro. link

Jeers to the American Family Association for trying to impose their bigoted values on an American corporation, the Ford Motor Company. While this item does not directly relate to GM, the AFA in the past hounded GM for the content on DirecTV, which GM previously owned, and GM also advertises some brands, including Cadillac, in the LGBT media and could be a future target. A small Cheer for Ford for reversing direction, but this happened only after a backlash and probably an assessment of the potential loss of an affluent demographic. link

Cheers to PlumCrazy for Best Concept. He took a sabbatical and came back with a vengeance. The standout was a new interpretation of the third-generation Camaro.

link

Honorable mention goes to American_Revolution_2005 for the heritage GTO:

link

Cheers to aaaantoine for Best Signature. And this also shows that GM is capable of occasionally making good stock footage.


And just for fun, here’s aaaantoine’s classic 2003 toaster sig, which belongs in the Signature Hall of Fame:


Jeers to C&G for not having a delete post function. In the past, there was the problem of disgruntled members going back and deleting posts wholesale, but with the common occurrences of double posts, this function is needed, at least for a short while after a post is made. (As for a previous quirk, remember when right click was disabled on the old Snitz board?)

Cheers to CSpec for being the Moderator of Merit. He’s low key, no nonsense, and gets the job done.

Jeers to the Worst Poster/Troll of the Year. There was a fair share of lackluster members in the past year. The worst poster was a GM fan, but that didn’t necessarily translate to a high level of intelligence or virtue. What a waste of humanity. This member shall remain nameless.

Cheers to blackviper8891 for being Special. With BV baring his soul and exposing all that teenage angst—girl problems, car problems, parent problems, school problems, money woes, depression, sexual orientation issues, and being stuck in a small town hellhole—he warrants some kind of recognition. Who can’t relate somewhat to what BV is going through? And he makes us older folk feel glad that we are way past our adolescence and have not looked back. But we all support BV and hope he spends more time staying in school so that he will be able to use his talents for something worthwhile. Your troubles shall come to pass. So BV, this Buick Special is for you:


And finally, Cheers to all the insiders and industry folk who continue to feed their insights and revelations to keep the board going. Special mention goes to CD/BP for his spyshots and jovial banter. And for Flybrian for trying to keep the seams from unraveling. And to Josh and Walt and the other staff and members of C&G who continue to make this forum our favorite virtual hang-out.

Happy New Year everybody.

[Northstar]

Definetly a good read, thanks bobo. And I got an honorable mention! :D

[!!!TED!!!]

Cheers to bobo for documenting all the happenings on C&G so eloquently!
Jeers to members who have red x's in their avatars. It drives me crazy.

[Flybrian]

Jeers to members who have red x's in their avatars. It drives me crazy.

[post="65862"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

Except for James'. His is awesome.

Cheers for me for bringing back post delete in 37 seconds with the sworn promise that no one will pull a you-know-what.

This is my fourth year being mentioned *sniff* such an honor.

[ocnblu]

Excellent post, bobo! A nice summation. On to bigger and better things in '06...

[Mike The Canadian]

cheers to the 3100 and the century :lol: all joking aside, nice read guys, cheers to all of c&g and happy new years guys :)

[Chris_Doane]

Jeers to the Worst Poster/Troll of the Year.  There was a fair share of lackluster members in the past year.  The worst poster was a GM fan, but that didn’t necessarily translate to a high level of intelligence or virtue.  What a waste of humanity.  This member shall remain nameless.

And finally, Cheers to all the insiders and industry folk who continue to feed their insights and revelations to keep the board going.  Special mention goes to CD/BP for his spyshots and jovial banter.  And for Flybrian for trying to keep the seams from unraveling.  And to Josh and Walt and the other staff and members of C&G who continue to make this forum our favorite virtual hang-out.

Hrmm... who's "swallowit" ?? Or maybe, what are we wishing for said person to swallow?

Heh and ooh I got a mention. ^_^ Edited January 1, 2006 by CD/BP

[the_yellow_dart]

Is delete seriously coming back? I thought it was impossible with the new forum software... Edit: spiffy. Thanks. Edited January 1, 2006 by the_yellow_dart

[NOS2006]

Great list, bobo! Thanks for adding it back in, Fly! And I see me being modded in '06. B) This is my year. :P

[Cory Wolfe]

Okay... I thought I would get mentioned, but I am surprised that I got a whole paragraph! :P Heh.. thanks. Makes me posting all of that seem better... I mean, I was called special! :lol: :D

Although... I was pretty sure that my Hitler sig was unbeatable as with my other sigs. B)

Anyways, NOS, you are not allowed to become a mod unless I am and we all know that won't happen. So have fun being just a member for the rest of your life. Like m. :AH-HA_wink:

[MyerShift]

Bravo to all. What sense is a forum and discussions without differing opinions? Cheers to GM for great introductions in 2005 and 2004 and the future! And kudos to those who observe all sides of the story, and point them out to twits like me, lol.

[trinacriabob]

Cheers to aaaantoine for Best Signature.  And this also shows that GM is capable of occasionally making good stock footage.

[post="65853"][/post]

Damn right. It's excellent. I've looked at it carefully a few times. The detail is commendable and it really captures the attention.

[trinacriabob]

A cheer to ocnblu for going yet another year without forgeting to bold any of his posts. I envy his memory.

[post="65916"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

That's effin' great. So when he does forget to bold a post will be indicative of senility setting in, right?

[Sixty8panther]

:cheers: Cheers to GM1, Balthazar, Camino, Black&BlueLandscaper & Ocnblu for meeting up with me on my crazy spur-of-the-moment road trip to NJ & PA. :cheers: Cheers to Blathazar again for reminding us that just becuase it's newer does not mean it's better. :cheers: Cheers to WildManJoe for sending me dozens of awsome GM advertisements from the '60s, '70s and '80s and a some Minn. plates. (I sent a few plates from New England states in return)

[capriceman]

good read but Can I commend my self for having the coolest B-body car. ^_^ or most Foreign hating bastard :blink: Edited January 4, 2006 by capriceman

[Turbojett]

Jeers to members who have red x's in their avatars. It drives me crazy.

[post="65862"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

Hey, dude, I fixed mine!!! :lol: Edited January 3, 2006 by Turbojett

[ApolloBoy]

Cheers to Ford for replacing the Taurus. Not to say the Taurus was a bad car, but it was getting long in the tooth and I think the Fusion will do a good job of replacing it.

Jeers to Saab for introducing the 9-7X. I'm a big Saab fan, and it just pains me to a rebadged TrailBlazer in Saab's lineup.

Cheers to Honda for putting out a redesigned Civic. I actually like the new Civic, and I would definetly consider getting one.

Jeers to Honda for introducing the Ridgeline. Honda definetly messed up the execution on this one.

Cheers to Dodge for discontinuing the Neon. Out of all the cars Chrysler has produced, the Neon's at the bottom of my list.

Jeers to Chevy for putting out the HHR too late. The HHR's fine, but I think Chevy should've put it out earlier so it would better compete with the PT Cruiser.

Cheers to Pontiac for introducing the Solstice.

Jeers to Volkswagen for changing its image. I thought Audi was VW's luxury brand, not VW itself...

Cheers to Saturn for changing its image.

Jeers to Nissan for producing subpar SUVs and trucks. Apparently, the new plant in Canton has never heard of quality control.

[91z4me]

Cheers to all of C&G for being better than GMI. And for not letting so many GM hating trolls invade the boards!

[Satty]

I eagerly await bobo's take on 2006. Does anyone remember 2005? That was some wackiness. And irony rocks!

[NOS2006]

Oooh wee. Just a little bit before we get a dosage of C&J '06.

[Josh]

Jeers to C&G for banning Dollinger, a true visionary in the automotive field.

Beers to NOS for getting laid! WOO!!!!!

Edited December 31, 2006 by Josh

[91z4me]

Jeers to C&G for banning Dollinger, a true visionary in the automotive field.

Beers to NOS for getting laid! WOO!!!!!

Didn't you leave the site for your own?

[Chris_Doane]

Didn't you leave the site for your own?

That post is from "Josh" (satty.) Not Josh.

Edited January 1, 2007 by CD/BP

[Satty]

That post is from "Josh" (satty.) Not Josh.

[91z4me]

That post is from "Josh" (satty.) Not Josh.

Is the post date the give away or was there something else?