Mule Bakersdozen LS

So let's see, this leaves 2007 Pontiac with G5, G6, Grand Prix, Solstice Vibe, and Torrent, almost all of which have some major deficit of one kind or another. I tihnk Pontic needs to bring back the outlandish exterior styling/design cues on some cars. I'm not talking about cladding, but my ideal Pontiac exterior would look something like this: Vibe bodyside moldings, bodyside curvature (see previous Grand Prix), Vibe headlights, Bonneville SLE 2005/GXP rocker panel cove, G6/REV concept prototype-style windows, and the cars should have increased passenger and cargo room, and semi-fastback rooflines. Now, for the engines, there should be no such thing as a Pontiac with a High Value engine. Ditch it now, put in the 3.6-liter DOHC HF V-6 engine into more models, specifically G6 and Torrent (and later Grand Prix or Bonneville). With RAM AIR, give it upwards of 270hp, to meet or beat cars such as Nissan Altima or Murano, or Mazda 6/CX-7, G6 and Torrent's key rivals. And give that new G5 the Piranha badge and supercharged RAM AIR to a top Formula model with 270hp for that 2.4-liter DOHC ECOTEC I-4. Just a few livening suggestions Pontiac needs to start taking if they want to live past 2009.

There will be a base model and a performance model they said-so maybe this could be an SJ with a 2.4-liter DOHC ECOTEC 175hp I-4, while a GT (Formula preferred) could have the SS Supercharged 2.0-liter DOHC 205hp (or more?) I-4.

http://www.autoweek.com/apps/pbcs.dll/arti...MOTORSPORTSNEWS Not sure if it was posted yet, but here;s my take: Good Points: Montana SV6 in its current form dies, LaCrosse Super is confirmed and coming, and Enclave will be a 2007 model! Bad Points: The G5 name, if its not changed enough from Cobalt, ("It looks like a Cobalt." That's a nasty phrase...).

I too think Saturn is in everybody's (Chevy, Pontiac, Buick) way, but I also think they need to keep going and find their way, whatever direction that is. I'm looking forward to Sky, VUE II, Outlook, Aura, and Evoke should the latter still be on, but given their new mission, they could easily be folded into Chevy (Evoke, VUE II, Outlook) and Buick (Aura, Sky), and as most people might tell from my posts, I would rather see Pontiac and Buick get thrown the lifesaver, because Saturn just doesn't have their history or proposals.

That's a Buick Enclave!

I hate to ask, but does anyone think that Cadillac might spread downward and introduce smaller cars (sub-CTS, XLR, and SRX that is) in North America and sort of usurp Buick's role, kind of like what happened with LaSalle after 1940? The biggest consolidation story in modern times I can think of is what happened with the 1986 Chevrolet Caprice. The Oldsmobile Delta 88, Buick LeSabre, and 1987 Pontiac Bonneville went to vastly inferior, barely-full-size, front-drive platforms, the Impala was turned into the base Caprice, (the Pontiac Parisienne sedan dropped after 1986, Safari wagon after 1989), and the Caprice line branched into Base sedan (and 1987 wagon), Caprice Classic coupe, sedan, and wagon, Caprice Classic Brougham sedan and Caprice Classic Brougham LS sedan. What I mean is, Chevy expanded to cover their former market segments, and they've more or less done that ever since-I'm seeing it now with the Impala's today. GM desperately needs to learn from their past, and I'd love to help them do that, mostly because they don't seem to be learning much, if anything at all right now (see: Lucerne, minivans, Pontiac Torrent, etc.).

Personally I think the Super will just be a trim level with a bigger engine (i.e. LaCrosse CXS, but now with a 4.6-liter DOHC Northstar 275hp V-8-ditto Lucerne Super), and once the 4.4-liter (?) DOHC UV8 V-8 engine arrives for the Enclave, I think it'll actually be optional for Super, with the V-6 being standard on both Enclave Reserve and Super. I also still think if the Velite arrives anytime soon, it'll be a more luxurious cousin of the Pontiac G6 retractable-hardtop coupe-convertible-they'll need it to go against the Chrysler Sebring RHT more effectively than with a less-luxurious Pontiac. I like the 3rd idea too ehaase-all three seem like very likely and well-off scenarios.

I still don't understand the whole FWD-HEMI thing and if it doesn't look like a Ram/Nitro on the truck side (which this is not-though that styling would be more ideal here) or a Charger/Viper on the car side, its not an ideal Dodge to me.

Here's what I think Buick should do with the current LaCrosse: drop the CX trim, turn CXL into Reserve (make cloth and/or velour upholstery standard, drop the price a little, leather a low-cost option, front split-bench seat standard-buckets no charge), make CXS the Super with the 4.6-liter DOHC Northstar 280hp V-8, 3 portholes per side on both models, revise the rear taillamps to look like those of the 1998 Signia concept, maybe add a lightly indented sweepspear bodyside curvature, reduce the overall length a little bit without any passenger or cargo room sacrifice, and you have a nice updated LaCrosse. And keep adding the standard equipment and options!

Mopar had an ideal subcompact base! It was called the Mitsubishi Colt and Smart forfour platform! The 2000 Chrysler Java concept car previewed it and program PA44 was underway, but it got foolishly cancelled and no other Neon variants (other than Neon and PT Cruiser) came to production, and DaimlerChrysler's paying for it now, not just in the Caliber's ugliness and odd styling, but also in their lack of conventional subcompact or compact cars. Now DCX has to crawl to VW for their new and not-improved (from what I remember) Polo platform. And yes, Dodge should have kept moving upscale in a sporty fashion-now we get boxes and bad grilles and strange front ends, what's next, Viper gets Caliber styling? That's a nightmare I hope never comes true! And by moving Dodge up and giving different exteriors and possible interior pieces, Plymouth should've stayed.

I want to say about 1998 or so? I have the Cars of 1957 Issue and the one with the Plymouth Duster/Sedan Deliveries in it-I plan on getting the one with the Latin American Chevy's this weekend or so, its a great niche magazine, I wish I got the issue with the old stillborn Lincoln's i(1981 Lancelot, anyone?) n it, and still I kick myself for it, lol. I love especially the clay models and drawings and the retrospective insight in there. However, there's been a lot of imports in there lately, but its still interesting to read about them. Car I've been reading since 1995-when I got my first issue.

I'd love to see the Enclave in person-I think that is the key to Buick's future-I have to do a write-up on Buick and I'll be including this for my English paper. On the other hand, once the Lucerne looks like a Buick inside and out....then we'll talk.

I like it-I'd personally rather like to see something Chargeresque, but I was expecting a boxier variant like this, and this looks sharp and much better than anything else in the class, Aveo and Accent included.

Personally, I'd just leave the Cobalt with the 2.2-liter DOHC ECOTEC 145hp I-4 (CS-current LS/last year's Base-once and for all, LS) and 2.4-liter DOHC ECOTEC 175hp I-4 (LT, Z-24-i.e. former "SS"), then have Pursuit SE, SJ, GT and Formula parallelling Cobalt LS, LT, Z-24, and exclusive to Pontiac trims respectively. I know GM's got a tough situation, but the Torrent's not even necessary if its just a pitiful rebadge of the Equinox, ditto Montana SV6 if its not even sporty. I say the G5 was inevitable because we all knew it was coming-I've been waiting for it and I wasn't surprised or horribly disappointed either.

That Evoke name was nice, but hey, Astra's not bad either and there's a lot of support for it. Personally I think the interior is cheap-looking, but then again, I've never seen it in person, so maybe it looks a little different.

The only magazines of much value I read are AutoWeek and Automobile-that's about it, with the Internet being where I get most news. And I forgot about Car, occasionally Auto Express (not so much these days), and Collectible Automobile, the latest issue of which had something on the history of Chevrolet in Brazil or other parts of Latin America. Car is expensive though-the U.S.A. price is now like $9.25, or more than double that of Automobile or a regular U.S.A. magazine.

Hmm...maybe I am too harsh....I'll have to think more constructively I guess-but don't get me wrong, overall, I am for this car, and if it is priced above Cobalt with higher standard equipment-then that shouldn't be a problem at all. And while they're at it, just to give breathing room, dump the SS Supercharged so this Pontiac could get its "Formula".

It was inevitable about a Pursuit or G4/G5 coming along-I knew it all along-hopefully there will be more differentiation here, I know Pontiac designers are more creative than the useless crap (Torrent, Montana SV6 in this non-sporty-oriented form) or vastly underwhelming, disappointing material (G6) or a nice car with an aging chassis in a world of Dodge Chargers (Grand Prix).

Welcome to the site Carstar and thanks for the pics! I hope this is a Touring trim-because Chrysler sure doesn't need any base models if they ever want to move upscale.

Let Buick do large sedans and crossovers? But that's Buick now-how are they going to get ANYWHERE at all by just doing that if they're not doing so now? They need to branch out into where luxury is going-its not just about large sedans and crossovers. Its about style, sophistication, features, and size and to a certain extent, variety. Why would Pontiac target Audi, Acura, or BMW? Pontiac is not a luxury or near-luxury brand and they never have been, and never ever will be. I see Pontiac as more of a rival to Mazda and Dodge, though with both, they've been failing miserably. I do agree with you however on the G6 and front-wheel-drive points-they should not be Pontiac's lone reasons for existence. It needs Piranha (think of the 3), a shorter-wheelbase/increased passenger/cargo room, far more stylish G6 (that effiency thing), a redesigned Bonneville (and Grand Prix for a mid-size, rear-drive version), and Firebird and GTO, and maybe an Aztek, based on Theta with sporty, but not awkward styling. Think Vibe plus Equinox plus the sloping, fastback rear hatch of Aztek.

Not bad looking-a bit reminiscent of the Rendezvous in its shape, but hopefully not as tall but still with similar, if not more, passenger and cargo room. Too bad the next VUE and Antara won't look anything like that hot concept car-instead they're stylish, but not outlandishly like the concept.

Better than that? Heck, the Dodge Ram, Ford F-150, and the new Tundra beat that about 10 times over!

Just don't even bother showing the Chevy Silverado or GMC Sierra-they're now bottom-enders for the class for sure (this is considering they will probably have little to no differences in styling from the Tahoe/Suburban/etc.). This Tundra looks big, nice, wide, a little awkward at first, but the large truck has always been more about function, and now style and design are a bigger part of the mix, and it shows with this Tundra, which looks like Toyota finally got right. And with 236hp compared to circa 200 for the other guys' V-6's, maybe that V-6 in a large truck was finally worth bothering with. Oh yeah, I'd never take anything below the second V-8 anyway, but that's just me. Nice job Toyota!

Looks alright, but like Aveo, its the same, not-so-good stuff underneath and the same dated, weak, inefficient engines too.

Except for the lime green color on that convertible and the SportCombi body style, the 9-3's a big yawn to me, and that's why its sales are down. They have potential, its not being used, and if GM doesn't use it pronto, then just flush it.