formula79

I couldn't help but notice that GM is turning the Orion Assembly plant that makes the cars in the Grand Am plant in 2005. My question is since we know the Auroua us dead and the other two has been mentioned as lame ducks...does this mean that all three will die...or will they shift productuion of the two low volume cars to another plant?

stars1010

Isnt there a Bonneville GXP about to be produced with 280hp?
Why would they improve upon this car before axeing it?
Oh well I wouldent mind seeing these cars go.

97z28/m6

GM does that alot plus if i wanted a luxury car i would buy a park avenue ultra so if they decide to axe them it would not be a good idea.

StreamlineZ28

i dont beleive that they will kill the bonneville that is a lot of money to waste making a concept and talking production and then killing the year after it comes out

kizz

I remember reading a while back on a reputable website that the 04 Bonneville would be the last, along with some Buick; I guess it was ther Park Avenue. It seems they were right.

84-88 fiero, 91-96 b-body, others I'm forgetting, now the bonneville. Kill them in their prime, with no sense of responsibility or explanation to the public. I don't see how anyone can be sincerely surprised. I guess Pontiac has too many cars. They need to kill off their most refined car to increase the SUV-to-car ratio. Like the ******* that they are.

guionM

Bonneville hasn't been given a reprieve, so it's still set to die on schedule, and Pontiac will be bringing out a replacement sedan by 2006 (can't honestly say which chassis it'll be on). The Park Avenue is due to be replaced by 2005/6, seemingly by a version of the CTS based rear drive sigma. Aurora probally won't last beyond 2003, so nothing's changed there. All this clears out Orion in time for Grand Am.

That about covers it.

redzed

The explaination is that full-sized sedans don't sell very well anymore. Although this move would leave GM with only the LeSabre and Deville in this segment, the other models didn't seem to be moving that many units anyway.

I don't think that the loss of these three cars will have the impact of the B-body cancellation. It's not the passing of an era, just a decrease in model diversity.

guionM

Just one thing to add. In Pontiac's case, what really is the purpose of having the Bonneville and the Grand Prix in the same showroom? To the average customer, both are nearly identical in size, have nearly the same look inside & out, yet Bonneville costs more.

It's going to be replaced by another sedan within a year of being discontinued. Hopefully the difference between it and Grand Prix will be bigger, and I suspect it will (I got a feeling the Aurora V8 powered GXP is a steping stone).

kizz

What I know is that when I see police departments in 2002 still using 6-to-8 year old cars (Caprice) for a substantial percentage of their patrol cars instead of brand new Fords, it's hard to sit there and listen to people saying it was a wise decision to cancel them or that full size-sedans don't sell.

Same with Fiero. That car's following 14 years after its demise if absolutely jawdropping.

Bonneville / GP - In the 70s and 80s, having 2 similar sized bigger cars to choose from in each division was the rule, not the exception. Suddely this seems weird? I don't see why. Now that SUV's have dominated everything, it seems like the sedan selections are too much, yet they haven't really changed dramatically. In an imaginary world with NO SUV's, does the current Pontiac car selection seem like too much? Hell no. Bonneville / GP / Grand Am sounds great to me. that's like top of the line / a notch below / economy sport. But GM will do as they see fit regardless, so I think I'm wasting my time here..

GT

formula79

My whole point is that all three of these cars are rumored to be on teh chopping black. As tight fisted as GM is...do you then retooling another plant to make the low volume cars for another year or two after they move the Grand Am in? I don't.

bigsteve7

I dont think either of these cars will be missed by the general public. I know for sure I wont be shedding any tears.

guionM

In the 70s & 80s Bonneville and Grand Prix were not the same size and even when both were briefly built on the G-body, they most certainly were not aimed at the same market. Bonneville was always the "big car" or sedan...there were no 2 similar sized big cars to choose from. Meanwhile, Grand Prix wasn't even a sedan till it converted to front wheel drive!

And are you trying to say Grand Am is in the same size catagory as the Bonne & Grand Prix?!

MunchE

I was actually thinking the other day that there is far too much overlap in the Pontiac line.

GP - Bonneville - GTO overlap too much.

So it makes sense to axe the Bonneville.

Around these parts it's really rare to see an old Caprice. Highway Patrol is all 98+ Crown Vics (and Camaros...), and city cops are almost all Crown Vics. Only the really slow depts where they don't use the cars still use Caprices.

In general, police cars are retired at a certain milage, so if a dept. is still using Caprices, they just must not drive their cars much.

gab

After seeing your post above, it jolted my memory of a segment on TV recently about a V10 Crown Vic running on propane.

Found it here, sorry it has nothing to do with this thread

My '79 TransAm in Australia was converted to run on 100% propane in 1993 and it was a real performer compared to the original 6.6 Olds. Big bonus was the H2O by product in the tailpipe; I actually had surface rust on the inside of the tailpipe instead of black soot.

kizz

Yep. And if you take the time to read what I wrote, you'll find that I never claimed them to be. Nowhere in my post does it say they were the same. I said they were similar. Catalina / Grand Ville were the big ones of the 70s, with Grand Am / Grand prix below that.

No, I never said that either. I said it as clearly as I knew how:

"Bonneville / GP / Grand Am"

"top of the line / a notch below / economy sport."

GT