hyperv6

If Cadillac put out a full line of cars that were all $60,000 and higher they would not last too long. You can get people to take a chance on a $40,000 much easier than a $80,000+ car. Cadillac needs to earn it inage back in all areas as a world class car. If they can't build the best in class ATS and CTS no one will be fooled into paying six figures for a Flagship. For now they need to sell cars and make money as they improve the line. I expect the ATS to show more of the gains Cadillac will make than any other car. THe CTS and SRX were done before the Chapter 11 and while much better still did not get all they can now put into them. The XTC is just going to be a different car all together with the hyprid design. It also will throw a bone to the DTS owners that are still not too old to drive. Like the new SRX or not it has improved the sales and market share of Cadillac. People like it and many are not GM fan boys. Now that you have them in the car make the next one even better. It is near class leading for it's group and with a few more tweeks and for a few more dollars they can win this one out right with the best in class. Also Image is another important part of this. People who buy cars like this do so as much for how it makes them look as anything else. Marketing will also be a big part of the future.

The fact is Cadillac is repostioning their line up. We only see part of the picture at this point. The ATS is coming and to give it room the CTS will grow a litte but not to STS size. The XTC sedan is ccoming and it will be STS to a little larger but with different mission than the CTS. The larger RWD flag ship is also coming and will fill in with a larger car. Some are saying it could also be a coupe like a Bently GT. Not sure on that just something I read. Cadillac needs to build from the ground up. You can just build a $100,000 Caddy and expect everyone to fall all over it and put that kind of money out when they have not even surpassed the competition with their lower cars. BMW was really built on the 3 series and once people found them good they moved to more expensive models as time went on. Power will drop in many cars. Even the Euro luxury cars are moving to smaller engines in many cars and Hybrid systems. We will see much the same with Cadillac. Till Cadillac gets the ATS and CTS to the point they are the class leaders not as good or nearly as good they still have work to do. If they can't get these right then who would want to shell out more for a almost as good car for a similar price. As it is the SRX moving down has worked as sales have improved. The next step is to make it best in class.

The cost of major year to year redesigns were done by the early 70's. I could remember my Great Uncle who was a retired GM engineer would order two new cars every spring and have them come in late Aug. The dealer then would have to hide them at the dealer because they could not let the public see them. I always thought it was cool when I was a kid to go and get to see the cars a couple weeks before anyone else. The pain part was we often had to wait far a couple weeks till GM would release the paperwork so he could pick them up. The 1968 Chevelle was the sweet one for me. My dad ended up with my Great Uncles Chevelle Concouse. Later on I owned a 1968 Chevelle SS myself. The original owner told me it was the first 1968 Chevelle Jack Sommer Chevy sold and he gave me the paperwork from when he bought the car. Well I went home and pulled the file my Great Uncle kept on ever car he had since the 20's and found that my Chevelle was sold two days after my Dads. Odds are they came to the dealer on the same truck. What are the odds of that 25 years appart? I have noted many of the automakers are getting better camao now and GM is talking new cars much less ahead. Maybe we can get back to some more suprises in the future again. GM has had some good camao like the Vette under the Camaro Body and the new ATS under the CTS body. The old days were fun!

Our Rides to School were in 1963 GP, 65 GTO, 64 GTO, 76 Jag sedan with a 425, 69 GP 428 HO, 61 Tempest Convertible slant 4, 67 400 Bird, and we had more different Pontiacs as time went on. These were all fun cars and belonged to my buddies dad or to him. They all were in mint condition. They still have the Jag, 63 GP and the 64 GTO. The 63 GP was a boat but it would haul a$$. It had a 421 at one point and now has a Ram Air IV 400. It also has the old streamlined manifolds and tripower on top with the single large air cleaner. This was the first car I drove with the 8 lug wheels. His father worked at kanefel Pontiac in the 60's and early 70's Knafel Pontiac. We always had some trick parts to play with. I finally got his dad to go to the Pontiac Nationals last year. He finally got to meet up with the old racers he knew like Bestwick, Vanke and Tanner. It was fun to sit and listen to the old stories. I missed the Knafel years but did get to spend some time in the building when it became Pace Pontiac. knowing how the dealer was set up and the area made the stories even better. These are the cars I miss with the loss of Pontiac. One day I will own a old 4 speed Tri Power Cat. With 8 Lugs!

The V8's may be smaller and will have Direct Injection, Variable Valve Timing and a few other tricks. They will get better mileage and atleast the same power of better. I would not be suprised if GM also used a Turbo V6 in the trucks. GM has some V6 Turbo engines coming and have already shown they can have over 400 HP and near the same Torque. GM has said little but this is what many are expecting. We may still get a few suprises too. You never know what they may add. GM is not saying much on any new product that has been started post Chapter 11. Note the new V8 will be in the new C7 Vette and then spread to the trucks.

Jimmy Hoff is said to be in Jersey too. The many stories of the GM show cars are very interesting. How they made it out and where they ended up are of great interest. The price on the 3/8's car was no suprise to me but the low price on the clone car shocked me. I just think he took a loss if he intended to sell it. While Show car fans like us know this car few people have ever heard of it. He would have done better to build a Penske Grandsport Roadster Vette. I have someone I know that did one and more than doubled their money. They sold it for more than this car sold for. To build this car it had to be done for the love nothing more. I think the BJ Scottsdale auction was a poor choice for this car. I think it would have done better at Pebble Beach. I also have been waiting to see if the Nomad Vette shows up. It is said to still be around. I figure Bortz will find these cars if they are still around. He is now done with the Biscayne and needs a new project. In time I bet we will see some more cars come out. You just never know what may come up as some of these owners get older and pass away.

We had a guy at work you did the Demo circuit here in the mid west. HE was using Mopars till they were banned. They are now using the Crown Vic with Chevy Conversions in them. I never new how involved Demo Deby was. He had 5 cars he used in a rotation. I even saw him on Spike TV once. I thought these were just a one time county fair deal. These guys play serious. He also said here in the mid west the Mopars do not always fair well if they unibody is rusted out. I know when I was wrenching on cars in school thier frame sections would often crush due to rust. He said they could use the old wagons yet but they were just too hard to find.

This was sold before a couple years ago. After all the work I was shocked the guy let it go. He may have had to because of the money involved. One of the Pontiac Magazines did a story on this car. It was interesting and amazing how they did some of the things on the car. To this day no one can say 100% where the original cars is. Some claim it was crushed in 1958 while other say it was hidden away as many other Motorama cars were. There has been great hope it may show up someday. Odds are it was quietly scrapped and not well documented like the 6th Grandsport Vette that was burned. I saw the small 3/8 go cart of this car that Harley Earl had made for his grandson If I recall. Imagine havine a well detailed Go cart of a Motorama car built by GM as a kid! It will be interesting to see how much it goes for this time. At BJ the car went for $110,000. I suspect it cost more to build than that to build. The 3/8 car sold in 09 for $82,500.

My dads buddy had one of those pace cars. I loved that car. The Wagon, there has never been a better Demo Derby car built. They are still a legend as they could have taken a building down as they were that solid. I did hate having to try to fix the gates once they did break. By that time they cost more to fix than the car was worth. I still remember the third seat in these cars as a kid.

The HHR SS 4 speed will runs 235 HP in first and second gear and 250 HP in 3rd and 4th in factory tune. the GM Performance Turbo upgrade kit has 290 HP and 315 FT LB in all 4 gears and it keeps the factory warraty. I have yet to see an SS lose a Auto tranny yet. The 5 speeds have been know to kick a clutch but that could be due to the driver. If they wanted to the could have put the power up they could have with the available trannys and engine management systems. If they has moved the power up it would move into the GS place. Note too all the people I know with the 2.0 Turbo easily get better than listed MPG with their cars. No matter if it is a Solstice, Sky, HHR or Cobalt. We all seem to do better than the posted numbers with out even trying. The Turbo upgrade with more power gets a confirmed 1-2 MPG more. Bill Duncan confirmed it was a unintended bonus that they came up with when they made the kit.

As well as more of their cars will be. Also they use a lot of imput from design and marketing from Americans. To turn a Company around as they have it takes some smart choices and few mistakes. They have been good so far so lets see if they can close the deal.

Hyundai also has a lot of experience with difficult unions. The UAW here is nothing compared to the near militant labor unions in Korea. The first thing everyone has to remember with Korea. They may be Asian but there are not Japanese nor Chinese. They have a different outlook and mind set from the other nations there and too often people tend to lump them all together. They are smart and adapt fast.

I picture Hyundai as a good lease car, get it use it and get rid of it before you have to put money in it. Based on the way many Hyundias have held up un the midwest I really question their resale value. Many Hyuindai' have had brake and rust issues here. Put that with the lower purchase price and the fact many are now in fleet sales the resale on these cars may not be very good in many areas. My guy at the dealer also said they are far from cheap to repair. Not everything is always covered by the warranty and many customers find out the hard way and are not happy about it. As he has stated with some of the chronic issued he said they neeed the big warranty. Note he passed on his discount and bought a Chevy. The key to Hyundai is they have improved a lot from where they once were. They also have improved the styling over many Asian cars. It is like they better understand America and their styling likes vs the likes of the Cube, Juke and Scion. It may have been the American presents in Korea but I have always felt the Koreans understood America better than Japan. But the real key to Hyundai is price. They have the key like Walmart. Price rules and make people over look other issues much easier. I expect Hyundia to increase their quality in time but they will lose the pricing advantage. I think they hope they will by then sell on their own merits vs price alone. The key is will people be forgiving once the issue come about after 4 years. Ford used to sell for less and give you more but resale was horrible. I found this out on my T bird. You got a lot of car upfront but later there was little resale. My GM cars I have had to pay more for but I always got it back later. Though I fear my GTP GP will take a hit once I sell it even in excellent condition. The three cars in this story I feel will hold up better longer and will see better resale value. That is as long as none are whored out to fleet sales. I do not see Acura or VW doing this and pray Buick does not do this.

Hate to tell you while they are not horrible Hyundai's build qulity is not the best. My buddy in the dealer will tell you that.

I just don't see the 220 2.0 as a performance car. It is a better car but it is still a car for good performance and good MPG. Kind of like the 1.4 Cruze as it is not a performance car either. In todays market Turbo does not always mean fast. Often it means small engine making better power and good MPG and that is all.

This car is set for spirited driving and MPG. It is not the sport model by any means. I would still take it over the Acura anyday. The VW CC is one sweet car and is one of the few non GM cars I would really consider. For the money it is a really nice car. Even with the discount I still can warm to the Sonata styling Just too busy. But still better than the Acura's. I would have likes to see this comparo witht the GS.

I almost bought a SSR but figured it would kill me to drive it year round in the snow. I already have enough cars that sit out the winter.

I thought that was the general plan already. I thought most models were to be global with only a couple special models made for local markets. Even those would be based on shared platforms. I assumed most of Buick was going to be mostly Opel in due time with a few shared models with China and a few local SUV's just for fun.

the 4th one is for sales too. Also the styling buck Chevy used. This is going to be a very good sale. Might also note the 00001 1970 Camaro is also up for bids.

130,000 over how many models? I can remember when just the Caprice could do about twice that on it's own. If the Lucerne, DTS, and STS were gone by tonight is would have few upset.

Yep these cars were in such high demand and GM was making so much money on them that they killed them to make trucks. I know GM wanted to keep them around but the Marketing segment that you speak of were not really buying enough of them to make it worth even moving to another GM plant. The Caprice and the police package and taxi package kept it more alive than anything. I did hear a few Funneral homes were dying to get more Fleetwoods and Roadmasters. LOL! We did have a local home that had a dark metalic red Roadmaster hearse. It was one of the best lookinf hearses I had ever seen. The Service car industry took the biggest hit with their loss. While they were nice cars they were far from milestone cars. While I will be the first to say these cars were nice to drive and comfortable cars. I have no issue with them as nice cars. Just don't try to turn them into a Icon. I think todays price on the used ones give a clue to their future as a collector status car.

You may have them in your area but they are high mileage JD Byryder welfare wagons here. They have held up well but they are far from pristine. As for my Hawk compare. The Bro Hams were all sisters under the skin with the Caprice and Roadmaster just as the Packards and Stubakers were the same under the skin. At one time it ment somthing to be a Packard and it was reduced down to a standard shared platform. Years before it was like Cadillac and shared little with any other car. Many were one offs. This is part of what killed Cadillacs image. The only Buick of any value in the future in the last 30 years is the Regal Turbo. There has been and will be demand for these cars as they were at least different under the hood and the GN was one of the best looking cars of its time. The rest of the Buicks will fade away as parts become harder and harder to find. Few people will reproduce parts for cars that have little demand. The high amound of plastics in these cars will mean an end to most unless they are customized. Don't get me wrong I liked these cars but know I am in the minority with the public at large. A few old people who pass will leave them and a few low mileage clean ones may show up at shows in the future. But they will never be in a class like the 63-65 Riv or 53-54 Skylark. The crowd that will embrace these cars as they already have will be the low rider fans. I do not say that in jest. These cars are just what they need to continue to make the kinds of cars they like and want. They also can restore them with custom made parts and not have to try to find impossible to find interior parts. While I am not a low rider fan I have seen some of these and they were very well done. Lets face it when these cars stopped production few people noticed or cared other that fans like us.

Some tend to forget that this car is the Alpha not the Omega. It is only the begining not the end. They also tend to forget the first Prius and what it really was. Todays 3rd gen is no where near the same car. Also the price of the second Gen went over $30K for many who bought in the first year or two and it came down with sales. These kinds of cars advance in steps.

The fact is most of these cars if they are still running are rolling wrecks. The cost to fix one up to suitable condition would be much more than the value that the car would see in many many years. The are still a lot of them around but few resto parts and too little demand to bother making them. The SS will always have some demand as it was a cult to it's own. The rest of the B body line is something that might make some neat future hot rod material. You can restore one cheaper if you go custom. I have many customers in Japan that have exported the wagons. They love them over there. The Fleetwood will survie in a few examples as grampa's car that he never drove. Once he is dead the family will give it to the 16 year old high schooler to trash. Lets face it is not a custom bodied V16 from the 30's here. Even the Allante is dirt cheap with a custom body. Cadillacs of this era are not really anything many will prize. They were kind of like a later 50's Packard. Yes still a Packard but not what they used to be. It may have said Packard on the hood but it was a Hawk all the same.

I see GM doing a small mini van on this platfrom similar to the one they showed in China. If people need more room I see this the next step with the 2nd or 3rd gen. By then they will have a little more range on battery and the price will come in line more to make it more appealing. Besides the Prius one will be out next year. Though it is not really all that much bigger based on the billboards.