Northstar

The Competition is scheduled to end Oct. 1st at midnight now.

Since it's in Canada I believe the government pays for health care anyways. I don't see the need for GM not to sign it, as it seems like it's not much of a pay increase. If it does involve health care (which I doubt it does because I think the Canadian government pays for it), then that's another story. Health care is what's killing GM right now, not wages.

Somewhere I read this was $134k. You can get two Z06s for that price, and I'm not really liking all the bodywork they did. The scoop is pretty cool, but everything else is just blah. And the rear looks really weird without the little spoiler thing.

evok: Would the station wagon be a Pontiac most likely if it's going against the Magnum? Also, the Camaro would be on it's own platform, correct?

I'm guessing the ION will handle fine since it will probably share a lot with the next Astra.

I dunno, they weren't that nice to the STS V8, and the C6 and Z06 are both pretty damn nice.

Wow, a loaded CXS without chromies and extra-cost paint is only $37k, that's pretty damn good.

I think I did see this, but I don't remember the Aura at the end. Was it just the concept Aura or was it the production one? I assume the concept.

By Jason Stein Automotive News / September 26, 2005 DETROIT -- General Motors is considering diesel engines as an option on some models of its next-generation SUVs, GM's top truck executive says. Gary White, GM vice president and vehicle line executive for full-sized trucks, says GM is mulling alternative fuels for SUVs built on its GMT 900 architecture due next year. "Diesels certainly would be considered a viable option sometime during the life cycle of this truck," White says. "We've got some pretty aggressive emission standards coming, and when you move those into the SUV category, the emissions are even more stringent. We've got to balance that and look at capacity and workload." More: http://www.autonews.com/article.cms?articleId=54663

By Jason Stein Automotive News / September 26, 2005 http://www.autonews.com/article.cms?articleId=54631 DETROIT -- General Motors might not have Snoop Dogg in a commercial. But it will have a Cadillac with factory-installed 22-inch wheels. GM is still a few months away from unveiling its next generation of Cadillac SUVs, but the automaker already is nicknaming its 2007 Escalade the "King of Bling." GM can thank a few trendsetters for the tips. Two years ago, during the early development of its next-generation Escalade SUV, GM brought in more than 30 of the biggest names in sports and entertainment as consultants on the vehicle. A month ago, GM brought back the same group to make sure Cadillac got everything just right. "We had a private showing to these same guys, and they gave us input that we then brought back," says Jim Taylor, Cadillac's general marketing manager. "They took another look, and I was pleased to hear from these hip-hop guys, 'I'm not going to have to do anything to this vehicle," in the aftermarket. "That was music to my ears." To bling up the Escalade, Cadillac made 22-inch wheels optional (the 2006 model offers 20-inch wheels), added a glitzier chrome grille and used interior materials such as continuously lit white-LED backlighting and richer fabrics. Taylor says designing the Escalade to meet the tastes of the influencer is not easy. "It's a fine line," he says. "If it becomes commercialized, it looks forced, and immediately that group can turn on you." The Escalade will be available in the first quarter next year.

GM needs only 2 big SUV plants Automaker plans to shift production to full-sized pickups By Jason Stein Automotive News / September 26, 2005 DETROIT - In the face of high gasoline prices, General Motors is counting on improved truck sales to offset modest expectations for its large SUVs. GM plans to build the next generation of its full-sized SUVs in two assembly plants, rather than the current three. But the automaker expects total full-sized truck capacity to stay about the same. GM will allocate more capacity to its full-sized pickups, chiefly the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra. GM built about 1.7 million full-sized trucks and SUVs in North America last year. GM has built the current generation of full-sized SUVs in three plants: Janesville, Wis.; Arlington, Texas; and Silao, Mexico. But if the segment mix holds at its current level, Silao will primarily build the Silverado and Sierra. Next month, the automaker will shift most of its Silao production from SUVs to full-sized pickups. When asked whether Silao would switch back to SUV production when GM's new full-sized SUVs debut next year, Robert Lutz, GM's vice chairman of global product development, replied: "I think we're properly balanced right now." Speaking at a press event last week, Lutz said that "as near as we can tell, two plants are fine" for full-sized SUVs. But the plant will be flexible enough to build some SUVs there if needed, GM says. More: http://www.autonews.com/article.cms?articleId=54671

capriceman - you need to copy the link and paste it in the address bar, otherwise it does not work.

I think I'd rather just have T-tops or a sunroof, but it is a cool feature.

Oh, damn I'm sorry LS1. I'll put your pic up. If anyone wants to edit their vote and vote for LS1powered_Z28 then they can.

Well I know Crispey still needs more time too. I'll just wait another few days and see if he gets it submitted by then.

Total Zeta (2009) - 250k Camaro - 75k (in effect replaces MC) Bel Air - 100k (replaces nothing, placed above Impala and may steal some Impala sales) Grand Prix/G8 - 75k (replaces current GP) Then if they meet their goals, by 2012 or thereabouts we'd have: Total Zeta - 365k Camaro - 75k (in effect replaces MC) Bel Air - 100k (replaces nothing, placed above Impala and may steal some Impala sales) Grand Prix/G8 - 75k (replaces current GP) GTO - 25k (replaces current GTO) Velite sedan - 40k (replaces Lucerne) Velite coupe - 15k (takes spot left by Rivera departure) El Camino - 35k (in effect replaces SSR in lineup but priced much lower and is not a convertible). Prices would be: Camaro: $20-29k Bel Air: $27-35k Grand Prix/G8: $28-36k GTO: $32-37k Velite sedan and coupe: $29-41k El Camino: $22-32k Maybe an Infiniti FX style crossover here or there would be added somewhere along the line, but it would appear GM is going to have the crossover segment covered by the time any Zetas would arrive. Maybe the market will be shifting to that type of crossover by then, it would all depend. I really don't see the need for any more Zetas than what I've already listed unless you want to give Saturn one. And to be honest, I don't really see the need for a Velite coupe and GTO (one but not both), I just think Buick needs a halo like the Velite coupe would be. The Bel Air probably isn't really needed above the Impala if you just converted the Impala to Zeta, and 5 Chevy sedans could be hard to justify. It could make the Zeta business case easier to approve if the Impala was moved to RWD and had a projected volume of what it does now (250k+) which would definetly up the total Zeta volume a lot. Technically the El Camino isn't needed either, but it'd be relatively easy to just import the Ute from Holden and I think there is a niche market for it. A Bel Air coupe (or MC) could possibly be justified, but I think the Camaro and GTO should be able to handle the coupe segment. If it was really cheap to do then it would probably be a good addition for those wanting a bread-and-butter coupe but wanted something bigger than the Camaro and without a V8 (meaning they wouldn't want a GTO). Again though, unless it's cheap it wouldn't make good business sense. If the vehicles have to be saleable by '08 then most of these are probably not going to make it. I guess the easiest two would be the El Camino and a Grand Prix based on the Commodore (not the current one, the next one), and I think that the Camaro may be far enough along as well. The Camaro is not even on Zeta at this point from what I've heard, so it's possible that you would have to remove it from the list of Zetas.

1 6 I am pleased with all the great chops. They all are of very good quality and there's not a bad one in the bunch. Nice job everyone.

Welcome to voting for Choppin' Competition 5! If you entered the competition, you MUST vote. Artists should also not vote for themselves. Artists who do not vote or vote for themsleves will be assessed a 4 point penalty. Please vote, as it only takes an extra 15 seconds and the Choppers in many cases spend over an hour doing their chop. You get two votes, 1st place votes receive 2 points and 2nd place votes receive 1 point. Voting will end when I get home from school on Wedensday. Here is the pic that the Choppers were given to chop: Here are the chops: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

The competition is now closed. I will begin voting as soon as mygraphix PMs me his entry. Whoops, didn't see his edited post. Voting will begin shortly.

Welcome to Choppin' Competition 6! I decided to do two pics again for this competition, so you can do both the front and rear if you want. If you do choose to do both, they should be related and will be considered one entry. Your task is to chop the photos provided below in any way you want. Change the wheels, background, etc. Please resize your chop to 768 pixles wide. Contestants that do so will recieve a bonus point as it takes me a long time to resize all of the entries that are not the specified size for the voting thread. The deadline for entries is Saturday, October 1st at 11:59PM EST. For whatever reason, Imageshack wasn't allowing me to upload the pics as big as I wanted them, so please copy and paste these links (clicking them will not work) into your address bar to download the pics: Front: http://gm.wieck.com/forms/gm/previewpage?026579 Rear: http://gm.wieck.com/forms/gm/previewpage?026584

He meant that the latest an 08 MY vehicle would/could be released would be late '07, not that it had to be released in late '07.

Ok well since I doubt the GTO would be out by then, and probable not the Velite either: Camaro G8 Bel Air

How many are we allowed? AH-HA's seems about perfect if the vehicle is a sedan.

If the console and stack were integrated, it'd make it a lot harder to put a front bench seat in for 9-passenger seating. The same thing is done in the Impala, Lucerne, and DTS.

We were having bandwidth issues so we got rid of the member uploads to keep the bandwidth in check. Try imageshack.us for uploads.