The future of the Chevy Monte Carlo?

Could it have a future as Chevy's midsize FWD/AWD coupe riding on the same platform as the next gen Malibu? Or would Chevy and GM drop the Monte completely and just offer a sedan on Epison II? A case could be made with just new sheetmetal and it share the G6's coupe platform variation. Also couldn't the 5.3 LS4 be certified to be used in the Epison 2 platform. I think a 325hp AWD Monte Carlo/Malibu SS would sell really well.

It was to be replaced as part of the group of large Zeta coupes.

Not sure what's going to happen with the name.

I can see it going to Impala's RWD replacement, and I can see it going to Impala's spiratual FWD replacement, I can even see Chevy using it on a large coupe, and I can see Chevy killing the name off completely.

The only person who knows exactly what's going to happen to the name, so far isn't talking. :)

so far isn't talking. :)

Get the hot pokers, and the toothpicks! We'll make him talk!

If a rwd Grand Prix could render a GTO, could a RWD Impala also render a Monte? And while im loafing in thoughts, maybe a 4-door Regal and a 2-door Grand National...

Just thinking out loud.

To steal V8 Slayer's words, Buick would rather be probed with red hot pokers than bring back the Grand National.

If you think Pontiac is being pretty hesitant in bringing back the Firebird name, imagine a luxury-american road car with Lexus aspirations chosing to return to a car named after a NASCAR race and all it's conotations. Pontiac even decided to run away from it by pulling out of NASCAR completely.

Believe me, though it may sound like I'm being melodramatic, if anything, I'm understating.

GN ain't coming back. :no:

I see.

Sorta was a little problem with the current GTO?

European fit and interior but with musclecar name
Musclecar name and 2+2 coupe but with luxury sedan price
Exciting heritage nameplate but with Pontiac economy car front end look....

Reaching a little, I know.

I see.

Sorta was a little problem with the current GTO?

European fit and interior but with musclecar name
Musclecar name and 2+2 coupe but with luxury sedan price
Exciting heritage nameplate but with Pontiac economy car front end look....

Reaching a little, I know.

No way am I saying that Buick won't have their own muscle coupe. It's that it will fit in with what Buick wants to represent.

Pontiac is going to be well rounded, Chevy is going to be cheap performance and drag racing (and probally NASCAR), Buick will have fast, smooth cruisers. Think Velite.

To steal V8 Slayer's words, Buick would rather be probed with red hot pokers than bring back the Grand National.

If you think Pontiac is being pretty hesitant in bringing back the Firebird name, imagine a luxury-american road car with Lexus aspirations chosing to return to a car named after a NASCAR race and all it's conotations. Pontiac even decided to run away from it by pulling out of NASCAR completely.

Believe me, though it may sound like I'm being melodramatic, if anything, I'm understating.

GN ain't coming back. :no:

Funny how Toyota has to beg to be in NASCAR...and GM's excitment division (that built part of it's reputation in NASCAR) Pontiac...is snubbing it's bose at it?:confused:

Funny how Toyota has to beg to be in NASCAR...and GM's excitment division (that built part of it's reputation in NASCAR) Pontiac...is snubbing it's bose at it?:confused:


Thats an interesting point. I think Toyota is really trying to establish itself in the "drive American" crowd. What better way than to infiltrate the one motorsport that is unique to the U.S.

Pontiac has been active in Grand Am and Drifting. I think the idea is to appeal to a more cutting edge type of racing fan.

I heard its dead,

No reason to sell two sport coupes next to each other

Pontiac is going to be well rounded, Chevy is going to be cheap performance and drag racing (and probally NASCAR), Buick will have fast, smooth cruisers. Think Velite.

There's an intrinsic problem with that statement (not guionM's) that GM have failed to define...

Chevy.... cheap performance
Pontiac... well rounded? I thought the term performance related to Pontiac?

Sorry for getting OT.

Not cheap. Value priced. :)

Not cheap. Value priced. :)


People cross shop Chevy's with Kia.....what do you call Kia?

People cross shop Chevy's with Kia.....what do you call Kia?
I call it a cheap, random mess of parts resembling a car.

Not cheap. Value priced. :)

Better. :)

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WHEN MONTE CARLO GOES AWAY, I DO NOT WANT CAMARO TO TAKE IT'S PLACE IN NASCAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:lol: doubt Camaro's front end will be NASCAR friendly. :D

:lol: doubt Camaro's front end will be NASCAR friendly. :D

You mean the Camaro's front end decal.

The more I look at the Camaro's grille....the more I see a nice chrome one for the Impala also.

hahahaha

I don't know if I would laugh or cry if Camaro went to NASCAR.

:lol: doubt Camaro's front end will be NASCAR friendly. :D

I don't think that matters anymore.........have you seen the NASCAR's this year, example: Charger. I guess they don't do factory templates anymore. Why are they still using model names on these hideous looking race cars, that have absolutely nothing in common with the street car (body panels). They should start calling them funny cars, because that is what they are looking like more and more each year.

I know they haven't used "production" based cars for a very very long time. At least up until a few years ago the body mold pretty much had all of the factory lines. But now that is all out the window.

In the LeMans Series GT class, the C6-R along with the other cars in the class are all pretty much use the factory body molds wrapped around a tubular inter-sturcture. And the C6-R still looks very much like a C6. They can tweak the areodymanics and still retain the "factory look"
I find this kind of racing a lot more interesting and any other kind that is based on "real" production cars. I don't care for NASCAR or Pro Street drag racing anymore, because now even the outer shells of the race car doesn't resemble the car its called except for the decals on it.

The deal with Chargers body shape is nascar's "common body" they came up with. Although not exactly the same, theyre baaad close. This eliminated the crying each year at Daytona about one make being faster than the others.

The ALMS cars start off as production cars that are converted to race cars.

Nascar has had purpose built race cars for a looong time.

2 different breeds of dog. One of which, America doesnt care much for watching and oddly enough its the one that's cars best represent what they really are. Odd huh?

Nascar has had purpose built race cars for a looong time.



Yes, a very long time, but up until recently you could see the difference lets say between a NASCAR Chevy Monte Carlo and a Ford Thunderbird. Now the Monte Carlo, Fusion and Charger all look-a-like, except for the decals that make out the fake headlights and grilles.

Speaking of the Rolex GT series, that is some good racing! I love the GTO-R; last year with Jan Magnusson (sp?) that car was smoking!

So basically NASCAR's heading the direction of IROC except the races are longer with more drivers. They might as well take the last step and give everyone "identical" cars.

I'm sure they'd field an Impala racer before they ever put a Camaro on that track.

FWD/AWD EP2 Monte would be best. Then Chevy wil have a a coupe for everyone. RWD/FWD/AWD.

So basically NASCAR's heading the direction of IROC except the races are longer with more drivers. They might as well take the last step and give everyone "identical" cars.

I'm sure they'd field an Impala racer before they ever put a Camaro on that track.
They do have identical cars now with different stickers. Heck the motors and suspensions are about the only things they can change. I don't watch Nascar, my family does, but bring the V8 supercar series to the states and I will watch that.

Yup, the brands are more or less just sponsers with stickers on the cars now. It would be cool if they at least used modern Hemi and LS2 engines.

Yup, the brands are more or less just sponsers with stickers on the cars now. It would be cool if they at least used modern Hemi and LS2 engines.


Now you're talking about something fun to watch. Real motors would make one feel like he/she could make the same motor.

I heard its dead,

No reason to sell two sport coupes next to each other

That's a load of bull...not directing that at you, just directing it at the person who said that...

How similar is your's and my Grand Prix to a 4th gen Firebird? Ok, now how close would a revamped Monte Carlo be to a new Camaro?

Enough said. MC is the LAST sub $30k midsize coupe left...its sad GM wants to abandon a niche it used to dominate. The only reason the MC sells so little these days is not because the niche doesn't need to be filled, but because the damn car doesn't look much different than it did 11 model years ago!!!!!!!!!!!!! :mad:

That's a load of bull...not directing that at you, just directing it at the person who said that...

How similar is your's and my Grand Prix to a 4th gen Firebird? Ok, now how close would a revamped Monte Carlo be to a new Camaro?

Enough said. MC is the LAST sub $30k midsize coupe left...its sad GM wants to abandon a niche it used to dominate. The only reason the MC sells so little these days is not because the niche doesn't need to be filled, but because the damn car doesn't look much different than it did 11 model years ago!!!!!!!!!!!!! :mad:
Ummm. G6 coupe anyone? Mustang ring a bell? Eclipse, Sebring, Solara... The 30K midsize coupe market is actually kind of full right now. Throw in a Camaro to take MC's place and GM has 2 entrants vs most companies that only have 1.

Ummm. G6 coupe anyone? Mustang ring a bell? Eclipse, Sebring, Solara... The 30K midsize coupe market is actually kind of full right now. Throw in a Camaro to take MC's place and GM has 2 entrants vs most companies that only have 1.

Exactly. And a GTO coupe fits in where? Aren't there rumors of a Caddy coupe as well?

Ummm. G6 coupe anyone? Mustang ring a bell? Eclipse, Sebring, Solara... The 30K midsize coupe market is actually kind of full right now. Throw in a Camaro to take MC's place and GM has 2 entrants vs most companies that only have 1.

Go sit in the back of ANY of those cars, and tell me how midsize ANY of them are. The Sebring coupe is dead, the Eclipse is as small as a Camaro inside (would YOU call a Camaro a midsize coupe?????????????), the Solara I can't comment on, but a G6 coupe is definitely not as big in or out as my Grand Prix...I sit in one on the showroom floor every Saturday.

Also, the GTO costs more than $30k...so again, other than a MC, show me a midsize coupe (with the added caveat that someone can fit in the back...I'm 5' 6", and my head hits the headliner in a G6!!!) under $30k...

You helped me prove my point...thank you :)

I too am not convinced the "Chevelle" Zeta is dead.

I too am not convinced the "Chevelle" Zeta is dead.

go on......:D

Go sit in the back of ANY of those cars, and tell me how midsize ANY of them are. The Sebring coupe is dead, the Eclipse is as small as a Camaro inside (would YOU call a Camaro a midsize coupe?????????????), the Solara I can't comment on, but a G6 coupe is definitely not as big in or out as my Grand Prix...I sit in one on the showroom floor every Saturday.

Also, the GTO costs more than $30k...so again, other than a MC, show me a midsize coupe (with the added caveat that someone can fit in the back...I'm 5' 6", and my head hits the headliner in a G6!!!) under $30k...

You helped me prove my point...thank you :)
Jason you work for Pontiac and you think the G6 is not midsize? :confused: Seriously it is directly midsize. I have a 97 MC, pretty much the same floor pan as the current MC, and I think the G6 is darn close to the same rear leg room, head room is definately less. So are we going by objectivity or by subjectivity?

Pontiac.com
G6 coupe
Head room, rear, inches 36.3
Shoulder room, rear, inches 51.1
Hip room, rear, inches 49.9
Leg room, rear, inches 35.8

GP
Head room, rear, inches 36.2
Shoulder room, rear, inches 54.8
Hip room, rear, inches 54.3
Leg room, rear, inches 36.2

So the G6 is down in every area but that doesn't make it midsize. Also the GP is coupe only so it would likely loose some areas if it were a coupe.

I hate to burst your bubble, but F-bodies have competed in upper level NASCAR sanctioned events in the past.

go on......:D

GTO and Camaro had different program codes, meaning they weren't the same car. The "Chevelle" was to be Chevy's GTO, and would have beaten Camaro to market.

Most all projects were moved to this upcoming chassis being done for Chevy. but I can't see GM investing seemingly every penny and engineer they can muster just for a Camaro, Chevy sedan, and a couple of reskinned sedans for Buick & Pontiac. Also, not sure why Holden is doing work on Camaro, but not Belair, or why the Monaro (and GTO) replacement was done at Holden so early in the game.

I'm also aware there is/was 3 Zetas.

Things are going to be pretty intresting later this year. :think:

Right now....GM has a "periphial" vehicle concepts designed for Zeta that could easily be be brought to market if-

1) The cash starts flowing after the initial Zetas and GMT-900's hit full swing. Right now,,,GM could not a not justify spending $100 million (guess) on a Firebird to sell say 20,000 units over what it would have done with just Camaro. The financial situation gets better and GM doesn't have everyone breathing down their neck...it becomes a much better preposition. [My opinion] If Pontiac/Buick/GMC will be their own sales channel...and Pontiac is the performance brand....then no Firebird would be insane when you look at economies of scale.

and

2) The public demands it. The public is demanding Camaro...and look where it is.


In short a Firebird or Chevelle may be nothing more than computer engieering (if that) at this point....but once the initial engineering is done on Zeta....they can be brought to market VERY quickly.

Go sit in the back of ANY of those cars, and tell me how midsize ANY of them are. The Sebring coupe is dead, the Eclipse is as small as a Camaro inside (would YOU call a Camaro a midsize coupe?????????????), the Solara I can't comment on, but a G6 coupe is definitely not as big in or out as my Grand Prix...I sit in one on the showroom floor every Saturday.

Also, the GTO costs more than $30k...so again, other than a MC, show me a midsize coupe (with the added caveat that someone can fit in the back...I'm 5' 6", and my head hits the headliner in a G6!!!) under $30k...

You helped me prove my point...thank you :)

To the best of my research, the Monte Carlo is the only car you can buy today with 2 doors, five seat belts and a V-8. From that perspective, it has NO competition. I hope GM keeps it, but it's hard to justify this many coupes for one brand: Cobalt, Monte Carlo, Camaro, Corvette. As for NASCAR, I predict Chevy would switch to the Impala. Charger, Fusion and Camry are all four-doors anyway. That could be a reason why the '06 Monte and Impala front ends are almost identical; change the shape of the side window and the tail light decals, and voila, you have an Impala racer.

Jason you work for Pontiac and you think the G6 is not midsize? :confused: Seriously it is directly midsize. I have a 97 MC, pretty much the same floor pan as the current MC, and I think the G6 is darn close to the same rear leg room, head room is definately less. So are we going by objectivity or by subjectivity?

Pontiac.com
G6 coupe
Head room, rear, inches 36.3
Shoulder room, rear, inches 51.1
Hip room, rear, inches 49.9
Leg room, rear, inches 35.8

GP
Head room, rear, inches 36.2
Shoulder room, rear, inches 54.8
Hip room, rear, inches 54.3
Leg room, rear, inches 36.2

So the G6 is down in every area but that doesn't make it midsize. Also the GP is coupe only so it would likely loose some areas if it were a coupe.

The previous gen GP has identical headroom whether its a sedan or coupe...I used to recite that constantly when they were new :D So just because a 4 door is made a coupe does not mean it automatically looses headroom.

I understand the G6 is classified as a midsize. It has the width, but does not have the length, and nowhere NEAR the rear seat headroom to be considered a true midsize coupe, IMO. I was driving my GP earlier, and thinking of this very question. My GP can COMFORTABLY have 3 people in the back, and so long as the rear seats aren't all the way back, they're fine. Do that in a G6. There's no middle seatbelt, and ZERO headroom. I don't know WHERE Pontiac gets its headroom # from...I sit in the back of a new GP 4 door fine...I demo them all the time.

I know where you're coming from, and don't mean to disrespect your opinion. But trust me...a G6 coupe is more like a compact inside because of the roofline, and more like a compact outside because of its length. Its a full foot shorter than my GP, and a new MC.

I guess what I needed to say is what Chevy Ryan said...the MC is the only FIVE PASSENGER, LARGER MIDSIZED coupe under $30k. 10 years ago? We had the GP, the MC, the Cutlass Supreme, the Regal, the T-bird...I miss my comfy, larger coupes. I HATE SEDANS. Period.

All the other coupes you mentioned, outside of the Solara, are 2+2s and nothing more...

I hate to burst your bubble, but F-bodies have competed in upper level NASCAR sanctioned events in the past.

No offense, but what does that have to do with anything? An F body was classified as a subcompact by the EPA despite being 6" longer than a G6, which is a "midsize"...so?

One thing you gotta say about the Monte Carlo is, it sure keeps chugging along sales-wise. Last year it outsold the last Camaro by about 25%. And the new one is even up from last year, +17% YTD.

I run into plenty of people who think the Monte Carlo is the cat's meow. And as we said, it's a roomy, full sized, 5 passenger coupe. I wonder though, if people would sour on it if it weren't FWD?

Anyway, with that said, I'd doubt we'll see another one after the W-car runs it's course.

The only name that could replace Monte Carlo would be Chevelle.

To the best of my research, the Monte Carlo is the only car you can buy today with 2 doors, five seat belts and a V-8.

You just stated the exact case for bringing the car (if not the name) back.
Unfortunately, outside of Bob Lutz comments that it will return (meaning he's cleared it for final approval) I don't know exactly where it is in development, or it's timetable like I do the sedans and the Camaro & GTO.


As for NASCAR, I predict Chevy would switch to the Impala. Charger, Fusion and Camry are all four-doors anyway. That could be a reason why the '06 Monte and Impala front ends are almost identical; change the shape of the side window and the tail light decals, and voila, you have an Impala racer.

Actually the reason was that the Monte Carlo would be replaced well before Impala was. When that nose was penned, the Monte Carlo was scheduled to be replaced for 2008MY (a year to a year and a half from now). Impala wasn't initially scheduled till 2010MY. That's why MC only got the new nose and dash, while Impy got the whole thing. :)

Actually the reason was that the Monte Carlo would be replaced well before Impala was. When that nose was penned, the Monte Carlo was scheduled to be replaced for 2008MY (a year to a year and a half from now). Impala wasn't initially scheduled till 2010MY. That's why MC only got the new nose and dash, while Impy got the whole thing. :)

Cool, thanks. From your other thread today about Lutz's comments on Zeta, it sounds like the MC is still on. Personally, if they made a RWD Monte and Camaro, I'd probably pick the MC. That third rear seat belt would really come in handy for my growing family. The only downfall is that they would never put a manual tranny in a Monte Carlo. Hmm, now that's a tough one. Row my own gears with the Camaro, or keep the missus happy with a real back seat??

No offense, but what does that have to do with anything? An F body was classified as a subcompact by the EPA despite being 6" longer than a G6, which is a "midsize"...so?

I was responding to z284ever, and his disgust at the thought of a Camaro in NASCAR competition.

If Chevy wants to have two coupes, the Camaro and one Larger coupe, I think it would be a good idea to discontinue the Monte Carlo and call the large coupe Chevelle. What are your thoughts?

I don't know, I think today the Monte Carlo name has more clout than the Chevelle name, and its certainly been around a lot longer than the Chevelle name. Certainly the '70 Chevelle 454 SS overshadows the first Monte Carlo SS that deduted that year in todays collector market. But what would the Chevelle name mean in todays market? Bringing back the GTO name didn't get people running rampid.

I just think the Chevelle name should remain on the nostalic list of classic Chevy names that are retired. And I hope Monte Carlo gets to continue. Hopefully with the slight '06 update and the optional V8 this will be a good sales year for the Monte.

Thats true, the Chevelle name alone wont cause a stir. Maybe the Camaro and Vette would be enough. Then throw in a rwd Impala with an optional high hp v8 and that would be a nice lineup.

The name issue is extremely age dependent.

I don't think that it would be such a bad idea if Monte Carlo were to stay FWD.