hyperv6

If I recall the other story I read had Mickey Thompson also was involved in the building of this car in some way.

1952-53 Skylark is one of the best American cars ever made and my all time favorite Buick. The 1963-1965 Riviera The best styled car of the 60's. As for the rest of the Buicks I have a lot of miles in many different years and models as they were the choice in my family growing up for years. One Chevy and One Buick per year. Many were the old Duce and a Quarter Electras and many Lesabres. For some reason my Dads 1978 Lesabre sticks out to me. It was a gray and silver color and just was a tasteful car in a time and I learned to drive in it. Nothing special but just a nice car. I always wished it was a T type. One of my all time cars I hated, we had was the 1976 Regal 4 door. The styling was a mess and the quality only lower.

I think I remember reading about the Buick start cars in a story on the YF-12A. The Pontiac tow car was in a Air and Space Smithonian story too a few years back.

I think I have it in one of my Pontiac magazines I have.

NASA used Pontiacs as chase cars for landings and even towed mock ups of some projects before droppinh them like the one shown here. I had read about this car a while back. Present day the Air Force uses Z28's to chase U2 planes upon landing and in the past had 421 Catalina's for the same duity. The U2 pilots can not see the ground and need the following car to call out the distance. Even the SR71 engines had blowers to spool them up to ignite them run by 454 Chevys. GM has played many parts in our aircraft and space progams.

One look at the dash would tell is enough to tell it is not GM.

I have read part way though the new Book Why GM Matters. I must say in this age of misinformation and down right lies it is goods to see someone in the media have a fair look at GM. THe book cover where GM started, evolved under Sloan and failed to change as Sloans concpet of GM no longer worked. It explains and shows how GM was so large it failed to funtion sfficently when it needed to. It also addresses things on how some of the managment fail to understand how Toyota was working and how efficent they were in production when GM staffers visited with Toyota and brought back info that could have helped change their path. It also addressed how GM failed to focus on design that lead to the the failed styling of the 80's and 90's. The book even has a chaper on how Toyota is human and some of the problems they have and will face. It shows GM stands a chance if they get their house in order. Now if your a Lutz or Wagoner hater you may not like parts of the book as it will point out many of the things the two have done to GM's benifit. It does leave out some of their failings like the FIat deal. It does show how even when Lutz tried to present to the board great ideas they were tossed back at him. One chapter is on the Camaro on the styling bake off but no real news here. The book does focus a chapter on preception and the struggle to over come. It also has a long chapter on the Volt pointing out why GM went with a plug in after the EV-1 and why Toyota was against the plug in car. It even shows how GM managment fought Lutz when he proposed an electric car. Most of the book is a fair and accurate assesment of GM today. If shows how much they have fix in the last few years and what they need to still do. It shows they are far from washed up and if given the chance can rebound. Autoweek called this book a must read for the Obama oversight staff. I must say I have to agree as from I know of those chosen probably do not know or understand much of what is in this book. The book is a good lesson on what happen and how it happened and where they are today trying to recover. I know the book is a simplied version of all that has happened and many more basic details are not included but the writer had to keep it to 260 pages. This is one of the better books on GM since On a Clear Day You Can See GM by John Deloean. It is the kind of book GM needs now to better tell their story. Too bad so many in the public will never he it.

I have seen or read about every Pontiac show car ever made and this is one I have never seen or heard of. I suspect it was a one off car that someonw built on their own. While it has Pontiac parts if GM had done this it more than not would have had a GM not a VW front suspension. [Though there was sever Vette prototypes that did use some Porsche and Benz bits. It is good copy of one of the Alfa B.A.T. Back in the 50's-60's there were a lot of people in Europe and California well capable of hammering a bodyu out like this. This was not as rare of a skill as it is today. So getting a body made like this is not an issue. Dean Jeffries Hamered out and built his Aluminm Mantaray show car in only a month. I note there is a little Benz 300 cue in the exhaust too.

The engine form what I was told is only on hold. Untill you get the whole story don't get bent. GM could sell this to someone like Detroit Diesel or the like and let them build it in exchange for a good deal on buying them for less they they can make them in a GM plant. Most diesel pick up engines have a life of about 5-6 years and they need a major update due to goverment reg changing and improvment by the compitition. This is not a long term engine like the Small Block Chevy. GM has a lot on hold and a lot of good engines and product just waiting to come. The fact they have no money and that our wonderful goverment keeps changing the emissions and CAFE laws has changed the game. GM needs the diesel and I am sure they will find some way to finish this program. With fuel regs as they are they have to have this engine and find a way to convince Americans to buy it in large numbers in something other than a 2500 or 3500 series. While this is a program be in GM top 10 needs it still is not a top 5 yet.

I had no interest in a HHR SS let alone a HHR. Then last May I stopped at the dealer on a whim and looked at a new HHR SS. The saleman offered me a test drive 3 min into our first meeting. He gave me the keys and got my wife and son in as see you in and see you in a little while. Well I tok off and the car felt good. It was a 5 sp and had very good road manners. I had a car infront of me on a back road that turned off so I dropped into third gear and let it go to see the boost gauge climb. Well I saw over 15+PSI and shifted it into third. It was then I looked down and saw the small speedo just over 96 MPH and climbing. One I got over 100 MPH I let off, it was a residental area and I knew of a State Trooper living just up the road. The funny thing is 100 MPH in this vehicle does not feel fast with the well sorted suspesion. Then I took it too the winding roads and it felt even better. I then stopped at a buddys house to show him and as I left reved it up and let off in second gear to hear the blow off valve pop. The funny thing is I knew the salesman was ok with me running it as he took the time to explain the no lift shift and how to use it when I left. To me that was a green light. To make a long story short by letting me take that SS for a run sold me on it and I went back 3 months later to buy a car from that salesman. Now at the GM ride and drive the Z06 auto cross was a blast we even got to the point that my buddy and drifted through parts of the run and no complains from the GM co riders. THe only time I made him speak up is when I drove it deep into the stopping area as I am used to doing that when I auto cross. It must have not affected him too much as I told him I take my own car out for runs. I told him that is how I finish at the line and told him and I was sorry. He said no problem and asked if I wanted a second run and I was ok to drive it even deeper on braking which I was conservitive on in the first run. Needless to say I learned the true feel and magic of a Corvette Z06 due to GM letting me run one hard on a Airport appron that day. the shame is some owner have never done what we did that day with their own. FYI the CTSv was just a Z06 with 4 doors as my drive after the Vette was it and it was no less fun.

The story is a load of crap. While GM does and has had problems they have also done many things right. GM each of the last few years has offfered new cars that are as good and in some cases better than many of the imports. They offer many efficent cars that they get no credit for. They may not get as many cars off of one platform as they offer a wider veriety of cars that can not share the same platform. In other words sold real truck not trucks built on car platforms that claim to be trucks. The EV-1 one would have never flown and blown up in GM face. That car was a prototype that the was not proven for long term use. If you had to buy it verse lease would have cost too much for the market at that time and if you had to repair it you would aboandon it. The odds of the car not living up to expectations were great and if it fail GM would have been put on the cross for it. Lets face it the little electric Honda was not a hit in the cold states due to it poor winter driving and limited life of the battery. I have seen more Vega's on the road in the last year than the Honda Electric cars. GM has has a rough road to prove it is making good cars while dealing with high production cost and then add poor timing with high gas prices and the economy. GM today has some of the best engines and transmissions in the industry. I am not a Roswell kind of guy but I do feel there are people that are bent to see our country fail. You see it in the actions of many powerful people in different areas. Some in the press, Industry, entertainment and even goverment. They all claim to be for the good old USA but their actions speak otherwise. They always want to just run down what is wrong and never support what is right. Some claim to do it for the envoiroment and some claim to do it for our freedom or general welfare. The truth is they do more damage to our country than help. Better to give a hand to someone who is down and support them vs just keep stepping on them to keep them down. In other words give as much credit as you can vs just pointing out the flaws. The media and goverment need to take action in the way of where can we help vs just keep on kicking them. Together we stand devided we will fail and fall. Form Rome to Russia in history amny giants have fallen. Many will reget us when we fail but it will be too late by then.

Ah you forgot the Tundra crank failures! That was a good one.

Well I have two 08 Chevys with nary a problem quality or other wise. I had one TSB done on the HHR at my request where GM did a quality upgrade for the power brakes on the turbo engine with a electric vacuume pump. Brakes are at full boot now at start up after sitting for days. The same upgrade is available for the Solstice and Sky Turbo. The other is a 08 3.6 Bu and it has been flawless for my mom. I never thought I would like the car but I love driving it more than my 04 GTP. Nissan dealers also have service department and they also have new cars in getting thing fixed too. They are far from the Maytag man. Right now you may think the grass is greener over there but it is no greener.

Looks like the new resonably priced sedan for Top Gears 2011 season in testing. Even the Stig who is driving it is in Camo.

I would be ok with that but the problem is this. Chevy sell more cars and Chevy get more say. Add that to the history that the Camaro always out sold the TA most of the time. I would rather see Pontiac aim for perfromance cars that they can start selling in a year and keep selling into the future. Lets face it the Camaro is set till 2016 but the GM problems and economy the end could be sooner. Better if you need to retool then retool for the future. GM has a lot of good engine that can deliver performance and fuel economy. Put these Turbo V6 and 4 cyliner DI engines in smaller and lighter cars that stop, go and turn better than anyone else. Hell, I have almost 300 HP 2.0 and have seen 30 MPG highway in a 3200 pound vehicle that turns 13's that is a daily driver. I have learned like many others it is not the cylinder count that matters. You want to save GM and Pontiac you build for the future and stop living in the past as we are not going to relive the 60's again. The present administration in DC already is working on things that will put an end to most of what we call fun cars. Even if we vote them out in 4 years the damage will be done. So it is time to reinvent the fun performance cars. Like it or not change is something we are all going to have to live with as it is out of our hands now. Including new performance cars.

I dopn't own a Camaro, never have owned one nor plan on owning one. If I were to buy a casr in this segment and had the choice of Pontiac I would choose the Pontiac. So don't give me any bias carp if you don't know me. I am just looking at the reality that GM has too many models and too many in the same segment. When you have one platform and two car they need to be entirely different anymore. Case in point I am good with the Zeta in this country as the G8 and Camaro are on it but reach two different groups. If yhey had gone ahead with the GTO as it was planned it was a two door but it also reached for a different group. But a Bird and Camaro have always as would still reach for mostly the same demo. It is not about bias but more about using the limited funds at GM to reach more buyers with less product. Something GM is going to have to do in the next few year. When dealing with Pontiacs future one has to think with the brain these days not he heart. I still feel the only reason Pontiac is still around is it is cheaper to keep them with a few models vs buying out the dealers. GM's future needs to be and is going to be more direct where models in a market will not competer with other GM models. This is something GM needed to do years ago. I am against the Bird just as I am against a G5, G3 or G6. I was never for the Sky and the Solstice. I know thy had to share to make the money work but imagine how much better the Solstice would have helped Pontiac if they did not have a Sky. If Pontiac needs to offer GM models not shared with Chevy plain and simple and all need to be performance cars not reworked Chevy Aveos.

Just because they are doing it with other lines dose not make it right. Just because Audi and VW do it does not make it right unless they change the vehickes more. I ok with platform sharing but to just put a new nose and tail on a car your going to not sell over 50,000 is not to bright. We already lost the F body onece due to poor marketing or the lack of and we also had one car in a market you not going to sell much over 100,000 in the best of times. GM needs one model in this segment and only one. Why pee in the pool and hurt both? Take the money wasted on a Camaro rebadge and bring in a good Holden with AWD in a smaller sedan and coupe that would be unlike anything Chevy offers or any other GM division. Pontiac is much better off to do more deals like the G8 that gives us different product great products no other NA division sells. There would be less pressure for them to sell large numbers of models just as in the GTO and G8 case. We all sit here and complain about badge engineering in the same market and here is a chance for Pontiac to cut clean and really be different . But why every time some idiot dose a concept photo a hand full of people who know better fall all over it? The bottom line is if GM built a Fird it would sell for more money than the TA and off nothing more other than a styling change. It would sell in numbers smaller than 50,000 the first year and less every year later. These are not the same times or market as it was in the 70's. Even the Camaro is priamary a V6 car in GM's eyes. That is what they want and need to sell not the V8. If the V6 fails so does the Camaro. Whats next someone will want a Screaming Chicken on the hood too?

I just love this place. We all sit and complain about Pontiac just being Chevy's Bitch and then a hand full clamer all over another poor chop of a rebadged Chevy. This is the crap that got Pontiac into this mess. While I alwaysed love the TA myself I agree a rebadged Camaro right now is the last thing GM needs. GM has not money to make it, They have no money to market it, and GM will have a hard enough time selling Camaro's after the first year with the wonderfull economy we have [Things are not going to improve much for at least 2-4 years. GM needs to sell its first line car which is a Camaro and not delute the market with a clone. [Ford even figured that out in the 80's on the Mustang] A Pontiac with a few non rebadged American cars will do better than what they are doing now as they can really make them performanced based. I looked at a G3 and said to my buddy this is why they are in the place they are now. Time to stop living in the past. THis car would be worse for GM than Smokey and the Bandit 2 was for Burt and Smokey # was for Jerry Reed.

They are just trying to sell to the majority in the present not just to the few who live in the past. I rather see 2- 4 good strong independent Pontiac models based on Holdens and Opels not shared with Chevy vs what they have had over the last 25 years. It is either evolve to the present or die. In todays green age Performance will only be in small pockets till people get bored with it and move on to the next cause. I thinkyour still stable just disapointed as you have not gone off the deep end with endless rants of b pillars LOL!!

While things may look bleak for perfromance to some of us here to the majority of the public the car is just a way to get to work and the mall. This is not the last, first, second or third time performance has been under attack. Even if all we have are electric cars someone will have more powerful motors and bigger batteries. We will get throught htis one way or another. In real life as we age you eather adapt or die. I am too young to die so I plan to adapt. That is why I now drive a 300 HP 4 cylinder, adapting can still be fun. In time many will tire of the present administration as they will drive cost up with their energy plans and the green movement will not have as much drive. People are good with things till they take a hit in the wallet. Just like truck sales tanks when gas was up. They still love trucks but will abandon them if they have to pay more.

With the economy crashed right now and so many other companies in trouble the Chapter 11 deal is not seen in as bad of light as it woulf have been 8 months ago. Times and the economy has changed enough to make this acceptable to many. Also the public may see this as a more positive move now after they took the goverments money and not have to ask for more.

Yep Enclaves are everywhere here on the roads and seldom do I see an old person driving one. The reviews all have been good and it is a very well done vehicle. I too had my doubts it would sell but here in Ohio and In So Cal I have seen many on the roads. Hyundia has shown a company that made the first Elans that were crap and looked at as the second coming of the Yugo can change. Good product priced right, marketing well and reliablitity can change a lot. If Hyundia can turn around anyone can. I am more worried about GM as a whole vs just Buick. Buick is going to be fine but the rest of GM may do it more harm. Buick also has had so little product for 10 years many younger people will not recall how bad the last Century was.

I went to the Challanger right after getting out of the Camaro then went to the Mustang. The Challanger is a nice looking car but tghey should have done an interior. It is down right cheap looking and makes you feel like your just in one of their big sedans. The Mustage has a similar feel to the Camaro but the materials in the GT felt like the base Camaro. The RS makes it much nicer. Even witrh the flaws the Camaro felt better inside. On note the rear blind spot in the Challanger is the worst of the three and one of the worst I have seen in any car for years. I own a Fiero and a HHR with bad blind sports and can say the Challanger tops them both.

I fit is a Solstice fine as do most people. Some people don't fit in a Vette because they are too fat too. Some cars are just not for everyone. The Camaro back seat with the front seat moved all the way back would be good for LT Dan. It is like 911 leg room. I know most people will drive with the seat forward more but a tall driver will not very many people in back. The optional interior light is now a go for the car. They only will have them in the doors as they had issues with it in the dash. The trunk lid is large but the opening is small and will not take much in large square boxes or the like. You could fold the rear seat and put them in this way. But this is not a car most will be hauling much more than a$$ in anyway. I am sure there is some crash standad issue that is the root cause for this. The door lock button is in the center of the lower dash console area. I would assume because the car was intended at one time for left hand drive in OZ. The interiors of the three cars I was in were all Preproduction. But the one did get the new carbon like dash inserts that looked better than the cloth. Over all the Camaro is very nice and I could live with one very easy. I knoe everyone will pick at it for what ever. But we all should just be glad it is here and we finally got it. The more impressive car I thought was the Equinox. The new Nox has really changed for the better. I thing this will be a real hit with GM.

While I am not a die hard Buick guy I saw the new Lacrosse today at the Cleveland Auto SHow today. It was a very impressive car. The interior is fantastic and the over styling less the grill was spot on. The grill I thought could be shorter but it was not anything that would keep me from considering one. GM should do well with this car if it is price right.