interesting list of cars for whatever its worth- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...#Pontiac_Fiero

 

Interesting how they call Hummer a flop since it sales in the UK have been less than desirable.

I don’t think the UK market is going to make or break Hummer

 

I use to own an Eagle Talon back in 1990, but I never heard of the this before:

I dont know how the Isuzu Vehicross escaped that list ?? - http://www.japcar.ru/autowallpapers/..._800x600_1.jpg

 

Probably because it was a very limited production vehicle, and there were never any just sitting on lots. Those all got bought up pretty quick.

 

Holy **** they killed the Raider already??



I actually thought it was kind of good looking.

Mitsubishi, Izusu and a couple others need to just liquidate their assests and die.

Suzuki... that was the other one.

 

While I applaud any attempt to take risks and bring out unique automobiles, this list really shows how difficult the auto industry is.

Unfortunately Auto Corps often spend valuable time, money, and resources answering questions that no one is asking

 

Why was the XJ220 so "undesired" at the time?

 

Few items I disagree somewhat with:

AMC Pacer
The Pacer sold an average of over 300,000 cars the 1st couple of years if I remember as they point out, but petered out when the fuel crisis ebbed. The way the car entered the market was pretty haphazardly (it was supposed to be lighter and be powered by GM's rotary engine, and capacity was expanded far too quickly), but it's total sales over the years still met what was expected over the life of the model.... it just happened quicker than planned.

Chevrolet Corvair
Corvair was a huge success. Such a success that GM initially decided that the new Mustang was no threat to the technologically superior Corvair (Corvair has IRS, turbocharging, and a unique chassis, while Mustang was essentially a rebodied Falcon... then positioned where a Focus sedan is today). Besides, there was an updated Corvair planned a few years later. Ralph Nader put the nails in Corvair's coffin, but GM decided to go with the new & cheaper Chevy 2 chassis for a sports coupe & fade the Corvair out well before Nader's influence...... an influence inflated by Nader himself.

GM EV1
I'm amazed this vehicle is on the list. First off, it was never sold! It was leased to customers with a mandated buyback by GM. Second, it was made in limited numbers. Finally, it was more an experimental vehicle than anything. All were collected back by GM and destroyed... to the great fanfare and crying of the eco-friendly crowd who offered to sign lawsuit waivers and spend any amount of money in order to keep theirs. Proof positive that the people who support these cars are rich, overly insecure people who are more intrested in making a statement than solving an issue..... sorry, I should say IMO on that.

Lincoln Versailles
It didn't burn up the charts, but it did still sell pretty well for a period. I remember my aunt & uncle bought one when they came out.

Pontiac Fiero
It sold in phenominal numbers when they 1st came out, and was by no measure a failure. But it was handicapped by 2 things. First, 2 passenger cars have a finite number of models it can sell. Once it reaches that number, unless there's a serious redesign, it's going to stagnate. That's why GM is keeping Kappa's production numbers low despite massive demand. The 2nd thing that happened with fiero was that GM didn't do all their homework on the car, and it was almost literally a flaming lemon the 1st couple of years. By the time GM got the car right (and fire resistant), not only was it on the down side of it's sales cycle, the car had a... er...."hot" reputation.

Hummer
As pointed out, judging Hummers success by it's sales in Europe is downright silly. The Chevy Impala sells 250,000 cars per year in the US and zilch in Europe. Holden sells about 140,000 Commodores in Australia, and only a few dozen in Europe (if that). Do these make them failures as well?

 

That's what I was wondering. Maybe the 3.5L V6 was underpowered?

 

I was about to post that GM was missing one, because its parked in the deck at my school. I guess it has something to do with this.

They aren't doing **** with it. Just sits there, with people writing "WTF is this" in the dust on it. :blah:

 

GM spent only 300m to build the car, the iron duke wasnt the engine of choice, it was what they were given. The oil capacity was 1/2 quart too low and GM supplied connecting rods were failing, causing the engine fires.

Wikipedia must be trying to use revisionist history. The fiero never was unprofitable (unlike kappa). There were no fitment issues with the panels and frame due to the unique mill-drill process. The frame design was excellent, proof of that is the fact that the Corvette starting using a similar design in 1997- C5.

Anyone aware EV1 had an aluminum chassis nearly 10 years before the Zo6.
Spaceframe design as well.

 

Have to disagree with them on the Fiero for a lot of reasons stated above. I've driven an 88 GT and I really enjoyed it. There was a good posting on C&G talking about GM 80 and it's connection to the failed Fiero. I'm also scratching my head on how one of the most important muscle cars of all time (superbird/daytona) can be called a flop.

I saw an EV1 on the road by my girlfriends house about a year and a half ago. There's also some type of of big GM service building about 20 minutes away from my house in an industrial park and there were about 20 or so EV1's in the parking lot, I'll have to drive by there some time soon and take a photo if they're still there

 

LOL a guy over at fuelslut.net has one of the dakota convertable pickup trucks...

 

You can change it. It is a wiki and is open for editing by the general public.

 

A few weeks ago one of the Mitsubishi dealers here in Kansas City was running ads for buy a Raider and get a free Lancer! If you read the fine print, it was a 3 year lease on the Lancer, but still - that's still a pretty big incentive.