guionM
11-24-2003, 11:17 AM
I went to the San Francisco Auto show yesterday one of the 1st in (meaning I beat the crowds big time:)), and just wanted to post a few observations from there.
Chevy SS concept:
This car should not be made as is. It looks too much like the Corvette. It's interior isn't as roomy as you'd expect by the car's size (much like the 4th gen). The car has plenty of styling cues that should be on a future Chevy (ie: the brushed alumunum panel in the rear is an excellent touch). You were able to get very close to the car, and could clearly see the interior. Having an accessible SSR 10 feet away and THREE Corvettes made the Chevy display one of the more popular.
Chevy SSR:
The interior is fantastic in style, but also seems to be very fragile. It was the very start of openining day, and the dash compartment over the tranny hump (I think it was the ash tray, since it had an outlet) was broken already.
Chevy Silverado SS:
HUGE mistake parking it 10 feet away from Ford's display of new F150s. The F150s seemed to steal the show as far as the 2 are concerned, and it's obvious why. The interior of the Ford trucks simply put the Chevy to shame. What made it worse was the $42,000 pricetag of the SS, while the short cab Ford was about $27,000 and the full on F150 AWD, complete with chromeed & brushed metal interior and counsole, with seemingly everything was just $37,000. It was just amazing the contrast between Ford & Chevy Trucks! :eek:
Chevy Equinox:
This crossover is going to be a WINNER!! It looks simply fantastic, inside & out! Don't go by the pictures, see this one yourself. :)
Chevy Malibu:
The exterior design of this falls under the "What were you thinking?!" catagory. The sides are full size van flat, the front is blocky, it simply isn't a good looking car. To be perfectly honest the Malibu Maxx looks better (it's fast sloped rear at least breaks up the rest of the car's looks). I don't feel Malibu will sell unless GM piles on incentives & loads it up with standard equiptment. No one's going to buy one on desire alone. :no:
Cadillac SRX:
Great interior, less than great exterior, but in that area, it's just my opinion. People (older) seemed to like it. But there were 2 things that floored me about it. 1st, it cost over $53,000! :eek: 2nd, though it had just a 4.6 V8, and was based on a car, it only gets 15mpg city & 20mpg highway! :shock: I may be wrong, but a 6 liter 2500 gets better fuel mileage!
Ion Redline:
At least they get great looking seats, and loose the really dumb looking steering wheel.
Pontiac's display:
Pontiac may want to re-examine it's policy of putting it's money on hardware over appearence. The car at the Pontiac exibit that got the most attention was the GTO (all I heard was good comments), even though there was Bonneville, Sunfire, & Vibe GXPs, all seemed to be ignored. Other than the GTO, the Pontiac display seemed to be the 2nd most ignored next to Buick. Then again, having the SSR, SS, and 3 Vettes directly across didn't help.
Cadillac's display:
The Cien still attracts big crowds. The CTSv is flasher than pictures indicated. Especially when it's black. The XLR also was pretty popular.
Other Observations:
*The Chrysler 300C is one imposing car! It's not really huge (seems between CTS & DeVille in size) and it's profile isn't anything new, but that massive grille, the highly detailed headlights, and the massive wheelwell bulges pushed seemingly to the ends of the car, along with the high beltline is going to make this every bit of a intimidating ride as the jet black CTSv was.
*The new Durango is B-I-G ! It's probably as long as an extended Trailblazer, but it's taller & wider. It has a good interior (as did what I saw of the 300... it was on a pedastal), and seems Chrysler is on a winning streak in improving it's interiors. Even the Pacifica's interior materials were excellent.
*The SRT-10 Truck is just simply bad*ss. No other word can describe a Truck that has a large hoodscoop, 22" polished alumunum wheels, Parelli Scorpion tires that seem almost cartoonish in width, that bolt on spoiler, dual chrome tailpipes, and a very noticeable shifter sticking out of the floor. That "Viper Powered" label on the sides of the hood scoop drive home the message if someone still doesn't get it.
*The Mercury Messenger is a great looking ride. It looks as if it could compete with the Solstice coupe since it's just as wide, and not too much longer. If it was painted something other than pastel Blue, I'm sure it would have been a bigger smash last year at Detroit.
*Newer Detroit vehicles have reach (and in some cases, exceeded) parity with foreign brand's interiors. Malibu, CTS, Durango, & Pacifica all were every bit as good as the Mitsubishis, Toyotas, & Nissans I sat in. The Ford F150 by far was the best interior by feel & quality of materials & design of anything I sat in at the show that wasn't BMW or Mercedes. IMO, it's even better than the VW Phaeton.
Chevy SS concept:
This car should not be made as is. It looks too much like the Corvette. It's interior isn't as roomy as you'd expect by the car's size (much like the 4th gen). The car has plenty of styling cues that should be on a future Chevy (ie: the brushed alumunum panel in the rear is an excellent touch). You were able to get very close to the car, and could clearly see the interior. Having an accessible SSR 10 feet away and THREE Corvettes made the Chevy display one of the more popular.
Chevy SSR:
The interior is fantastic in style, but also seems to be very fragile. It was the very start of openining day, and the dash compartment over the tranny hump (I think it was the ash tray, since it had an outlet) was broken already.
Chevy Silverado SS:
HUGE mistake parking it 10 feet away from Ford's display of new F150s. The F150s seemed to steal the show as far as the 2 are concerned, and it's obvious why. The interior of the Ford trucks simply put the Chevy to shame. What made it worse was the $42,000 pricetag of the SS, while the short cab Ford was about $27,000 and the full on F150 AWD, complete with chromeed & brushed metal interior and counsole, with seemingly everything was just $37,000. It was just amazing the contrast between Ford & Chevy Trucks! :eek:
Chevy Equinox:
This crossover is going to be a WINNER!! It looks simply fantastic, inside & out! Don't go by the pictures, see this one yourself. :)
Chevy Malibu:
The exterior design of this falls under the "What were you thinking?!" catagory. The sides are full size van flat, the front is blocky, it simply isn't a good looking car. To be perfectly honest the Malibu Maxx looks better (it's fast sloped rear at least breaks up the rest of the car's looks). I don't feel Malibu will sell unless GM piles on incentives & loads it up with standard equiptment. No one's going to buy one on desire alone. :no:
Cadillac SRX:
Great interior, less than great exterior, but in that area, it's just my opinion. People (older) seemed to like it. But there were 2 things that floored me about it. 1st, it cost over $53,000! :eek: 2nd, though it had just a 4.6 V8, and was based on a car, it only gets 15mpg city & 20mpg highway! :shock: I may be wrong, but a 6 liter 2500 gets better fuel mileage!
Ion Redline:
At least they get great looking seats, and loose the really dumb looking steering wheel.
Pontiac's display:
Pontiac may want to re-examine it's policy of putting it's money on hardware over appearence. The car at the Pontiac exibit that got the most attention was the GTO (all I heard was good comments), even though there was Bonneville, Sunfire, & Vibe GXPs, all seemed to be ignored. Other than the GTO, the Pontiac display seemed to be the 2nd most ignored next to Buick. Then again, having the SSR, SS, and 3 Vettes directly across didn't help.
Cadillac's display:
The Cien still attracts big crowds. The CTSv is flasher than pictures indicated. Especially when it's black. The XLR also was pretty popular.
Other Observations:
*The Chrysler 300C is one imposing car! It's not really huge (seems between CTS & DeVille in size) and it's profile isn't anything new, but that massive grille, the highly detailed headlights, and the massive wheelwell bulges pushed seemingly to the ends of the car, along with the high beltline is going to make this every bit of a intimidating ride as the jet black CTSv was.
*The new Durango is B-I-G ! It's probably as long as an extended Trailblazer, but it's taller & wider. It has a good interior (as did what I saw of the 300... it was on a pedastal), and seems Chrysler is on a winning streak in improving it's interiors. Even the Pacifica's interior materials were excellent.
*The SRT-10 Truck is just simply bad*ss. No other word can describe a Truck that has a large hoodscoop, 22" polished alumunum wheels, Parelli Scorpion tires that seem almost cartoonish in width, that bolt on spoiler, dual chrome tailpipes, and a very noticeable shifter sticking out of the floor. That "Viper Powered" label on the sides of the hood scoop drive home the message if someone still doesn't get it.
*The Mercury Messenger is a great looking ride. It looks as if it could compete with the Solstice coupe since it's just as wide, and not too much longer. If it was painted something other than pastel Blue, I'm sure it would have been a bigger smash last year at Detroit.
*Newer Detroit vehicles have reach (and in some cases, exceeded) parity with foreign brand's interiors. Malibu, CTS, Durango, & Pacifica all were every bit as good as the Mitsubishis, Toyotas, & Nissans I sat in. The Ford F150 by far was the best interior by feel & quality of materials & design of anything I sat in at the show that wasn't BMW or Mercedes. IMO, it's even better than the VW Phaeton.