Just got back from the Chicago show press days. Scott was nice enough to give me the 50 cent tour and let me hop up on the stage and sit in whatever was there - as long as I didn't break anything.


Cruze:

What a cool car. Okay, this one is sort of a conceptualized production car with 19" wheels and Brembos, which I'm not so sure would make production. But man, they looked great on that car. The interior is fantastic! Nearly up there with the new CTS. I'm not kidding. Chevy needs this car now! Did I mention it'll get about 40 mpg?



LaCrosse:

I was surprised at how much this car captivated me. I mean, it not sleek or swoopy - but I couldn't take my eyes off of it. It's 19" wheels are simply gorgeous and suit the car perfectly. The interior is first rate. I can't help to think that this will put a dent in Lexus sales.


The new Equinox and SRX also look like winners.


Genesis Coupe:

Some good things, some bad things. I really, really like the size, proportions and driving position in this car. But man, some aspects of it's styling (like it's front grill), are frankly bizarre. The interior looks decent, but I was alittle shocked at how cheap the materials feel - especially the leather on the steering wheel. I think they're going to sell a bunch of 'em though.


Mustang GT500:

What an impressive freshening. It's almost like the car's proportions have changed for the better. The bigger wheels probably have something to do with that. The interior is really nice. Leather/suede on the steering wheel and shifter. Very nice job Ford. Not that crazy about the rear fascia though.

I also liked the Taurus SHO, Fusion Sport and Lincoln MKS.


I'll think of more later....

 

5th gen?

 

Lots of Camaros there. 2 V6's, 2 SS's, BLACK and Bumblebee2.

BLACK had alot of very neat trim and interior revisions. I didn't care for the GFX though, pretty cheesy.

 

As I was staring at the Stingray concept - looking for even one elegant line - it occured to me how bad things have gotten for Corvette.

Since Tom Wallace (Corvette's Chief Engineer) retired, there seems to be no strong leadership at Corvette.

That's the only way I can see that this monstrosity has been allowed to hit the show circuit with the Corvette name on it.

 

Tom Wallace retired only 3 and a half months ago, so it's far too early to measure any impact of his departure. Any judgement of a lack of leadership of a car line that is rendered less than a year after a change at the top is bit biased (pro or con) at best.

Tom Wallace was chief Engineer for Corvette, not chief Designer. Holding the additional title Vehicle Line Executive, like Scott, his job was also taking the feedback from owners and making a better Corvette.

Team Corvette is a very small and tight knit group and because of their close connection with the Corvette community, know what Corvette is or isn't more than any of us. If there is any loss of focus regarding the Corvette, then it's at General Motor's upper management not at Team Corvette.... with or without Tom (who along with Scott a fellow Pittsburgh native ).



The Stingray wasn't made after Mr Wallace was walking out the door, it was made essentially as a prop for the new "Transformers" movie.... meaning the thing's at least a year old already, and simply is on display now that the movie is getting close.

This is the important part:

THE CAR IS NOT A PRODUCTION INTENT CAR..... IT'S A MOVIE PROP!!!

The car came into being back when Michael Bay was touring GM's design department looking for vehicles for the original movie after contacting GM after seeing the original concept Camaro unveiled. In the tour he spotted the original Stingray concept car from the late 50s. When he started getting things together for the 2nd Transformer movie, He contacted GM about doing a modern version of the Stingray concept for a character in the new movie (something called "Sideswipe").

GM designers had the liberty of taking the original design and letting thier imaginations go... it's not everyday you get a chance to take a historic dream car and update it, let alone design a car for a movie.

Since filming has long been done, and the movie is due out later this year, we have 2 new "Bumblebee" Camaros, and a few other props making the car show circuit, including "Sideswipe"... a modern version of the "Stingray" concept that caught Michael Bay's eye...and was made for his movie....

....well before Tom Wallace said anything about retiring.

 

Guy, I know that Stingray's been around for awhile - we've seen movie set spy pics of it for a year.

My point is that the car is ghastly, and does nothing for the Corvette's image.

 

Oh come on.

If Corvette's image survived that monstrosity from the movie "Corvette Summer" (you're about as old as me, so I know you remember that movie), this new Stingray concept isn't going to do anything bad to Corvette's image!

 

I don't think the StingRay is all that bad.
Sure it's kinda cartoony right now, but it's concept AND a prop in a movie.

I think if the car was toned down & smoothed out and the proportions were corrected, it would make an awful nice C7.

 

I'm hoping that there will be a Cruze SS (and barring the worst I assume there are plans for one) so maybe those 19s and Brembos will show up at some point. The current Cobalt SS Turbocharged has forged 18s and Brembos.

 

Geez Guy...I thought me and my buddies were the only people that saw Corvette Summer. The bigger surprise was that Mark Hamill's image survived.

 

Actually, it was suggested that this car is a good representation of a Cruze SS.

 

Couple of other random things:

*I always noticed how competitors examine each others' products very closely on press preview days.

I was checking out the CTS-V last week. It was equipped with the optional Recaro seats, and the driver's side bolster was showing some signs of wear. These two Japanese gentlemen seemed to be highly interested in that bolster. They took about a dozen pics of it, and I could hear them discussing the wear (or so I deduced) in Japanese for about 5 minutes.


*The Mazda 3 used to be a cool little car. The new one, for lack of a better word is just .........ugly. What was Mazda thinking?

 

So the 1.8 would be the base engine and the turbo 1.4 the SS? i was hoping for the LNF to remain in the Cruze SS and be announced later. I was figuring the 1.4 would be an efficiency option more than a performance option. It's only a couple of horses more than the 1.8.

 

Just guessing, but probably not - since the 1.4 only has 140 hp.

 

Let us not mistake movie props for production intent....