The Best Concept Cars were built by????

[G. David Felt]

Boldride had their story published on Yahoo Auto's today. They asked who built the best concept cars and in researching for this story they found even 6 yrs after the production lines stopped, Nobody built better concepts than Pontiac and they were from the 80's!

 

Nobody better than Pontiac Concepts?

 

1986 Pontiac Trans Sport

 

1987 Pontiac Pursuit

 

1988 Pontiac Banshee

 

1989 Pontiac Stinger

 

Concepts did not stop in the 80's either. Just a taste of what you can find at Boldride web site

 

1990 Pontiac Sunfire

 

1992 Pontiac Salsa

 

2007 Pontiac Solstice

 

So what do you think? Is Pontiac the best out there for building Concepts? If you disagree state your facts and post some pictures and links so we can discuss this!

[balthazar]

Traditionally, the concepts @ GM came out of the Advanced Studio. I have no reason to think that by the '90s that had changed, but IDK for sure.

I know, I know; I'm nitpicking.

 

On a corporate level, IMO GM definitely had the best concepts over time. In the '50s when GM was cranking out multiple functional concepts/yr, Ford was primarily building 3/8th scale models. But I admire a bunch from numerous Companies, all have had their bad & their good. For instance, I find the '55 Biscayne pretty ugly.

 

Of the Pontiacs above, the Salsa & the Stinger are OK, the rest are nice in each of their own ways. I think I would take the Sunfire first, given the choice.

Edited June 17, 2015 by balthazar

[oldshurst442]

I fell in love with that Banshee which in turn made me love the 4rth Generation F-Body Firebird/Trans Am and was quite pleased with Pontiac/GM that the production model was quite representative of the Banshee concept.

 

Which leads me to this concept. The Rageous. And Im quite surprised the article did not mention this one.

 

 

When GM was on the fence about canning the F-Body and was contemplating this as a replacement for the Trans Am...I was just as happy as when I saw the Banshee a decade before. I still LOVE the Rageous and would buy one in a second.

 

Instead of the Rageous...we got the Aztec    and the Chevy SSR    ...like WTF???!!! 

[balthazar]

See; I'm in the opposing camp. I thought PMD was on very solid concept ground right up to the Rageous.

I still remember the first image I saw of it, I consciously thought 'uh-oh'; that Pontiac was losing it.

[oldshurst442]

Wow.

Aint the human brain great?!

Its amazing how two people could see the same object at the same time and have complete opposing views and opinions on it.

 

The Rageous did live on though.

Through the Aztek and Vibe...without the LT1. Or was it LS1...but unlike with the Banshee, the translation of the Rageous was lost through those vehicles. 

 

Out of curiosity...

 

Question #1

What was about the Rageous you did not like?

 

Question #2

a) What was your opinion about the Aztek and Vibe?

b) What did you like/dislike about them?

 

I did not like the Aztek because of the way it looked and what platform it used...but I liked the fact that Pontiac foresaw the craziness for SUVs/CUVs....but maybe it OVERestimated the outdoor lifestyle of the pretend "in" crowd to be "active"...

 

I liked the Vibe and the Matrix...because it addressed the needs for a small CUV....a precursor to the urban vehicle...the hatchback that is small and nimble that looks like a CUV...aka Buick Encore and BMW X1 and the like...

 

I loved the way the Rageous looks.

I LOVE Pontiac boy racer styling and body cladding excess and flaring nostrils and pop up headlights.

I also love the fact that its a muscle car V8 RWD (was it AWD too? I have a feeling it was) and that I could haul my family in it...and its a wagon type vehicle...without looking like a wagon...it looks like a sedan...and its actually got wagon space...not like a Dodge Magnum or Cadillac CTS Wagon....where the roof line is angled towrads the sporty side of things limiting space...

 

Awesome...I could use this to haul anything...including the wife and kids and still look like a young lad doing it ...

Mid life crisis is also handled via LT1 (or LS1) V8...and for the fact that its got boy racer styling. ...

Edited June 18, 2015 by oldshurst442

[balthazar]

I'll stick to the styling, rather than address any practical use potential.

 

In looking @ Google images of the Rageous, it's coming back to me; I really liked nothing about it. IMO: poor surface transition/flow, disliked the 3-spoke rims, the black chin, whatever was going on on the lower doors, the front fender humps, the wonky belt line, the spoiler… it's a unilateral thumbs down for me. So broken up. Put in ext to the Banshee and it's night & day.

 

I don't know if you are asking about the Aztek concept or production, but the concept is another DOA job in my book. That hood cutline makes it look like another vehicle got smashed down on top of another. The production car is absolutely killed by the black lower section, among many more details.

 

Vibe is a disposable appliance. Just because some folks are yearning for a CUV doesn't mean they've endeared themselves one iota more to me. Boring stylistically. 

[oldshurst442]

About the Aztek...I guess both...but Pontiac made the production version very close to the concept...aaaaaaand... it did indeed look less crappy...and like you said about the production versions hood cutline.....at least the concept's hood cutline was....well, it was a normal hood cut line. The concept looked waaaay better...I must admit...but a beauty queen she was not.

 

Thanx for you taking your time to answer me.

I really respect your opinions in here.

I look forward to your responses and posts.

[G. David Felt]

Ragous had potential but to me came across as 3 teams making up the front, core middle body and rearend. They then stuck it together to see what it would look like. This was a project that showed me you CANNOT have independant teams work on parts and end up with a solid product.

 

Even Boeing learned the hardway that the dreamliner had to have more internal work than external and as a fact from my brother inlaw who is head of the propulsion for the dreamliner, Boeing brought many of the jobs back to Everett to keep the quality and consistency for the end product  in place.

 

Ragous should have gone through one more review internally and a smoothing of the transition between the front middle and rear.

[Frisky Dingo]

GM does the best concepts hands down. I think probably the only ones close are Chrysler and Lamborghini.

[cp-the-nerd]

GM does the best concepts hands down. I think probably the only ones close are Chrysler and Lamborghini.

 

Can't argue with that.

 

 

 

[G. David Felt]

Now if GM would only deliver their concepts and not something totally different but named close to it.

 

I for one would love the Elmiraj as is!