I think the embargo ends Wednesday morning.

Pontiac has another partial pic of it at their Pontiac Underground web site:

http://pontiacunderground.autos.yahoo.com/

You can really see the resemblence of the front fascia (under the grilles) to the G6 front end.

The spoiler on the G8 is not like the Commodore, either (thank goodness).

rlsedition's got some interesting posts over at LS1GTO.com on the GMX285 G8 he was part of the team for... the front end is pretty similar, he said, except for the hood scoops (like the G6 GXP car has) and the chrome around the dual-kidney grilles... the car he was part of had Pontiac-style tails, the G8 has them lifted from the SS-V.

 

i hope *wink wink* no one pm's me with those pics *wink*. that would be bad





please?

 

Yeah, being the former program manager of the GTO and G8, rls is absolutely full of interesting tidbits.

Of course, Guy is on record here, more than once, essentially saying that Roger is full of BS.

 

Same guy who said Pontiac wouldn't have a zeta sedan till after 2010 because one wasn't being worked on here?

 

Roger is a little bitter, and rightfully so. He knew that Pontiac needed the G8 and a next-gen GTO to survive, and that some of the reason they were killed was corporate politics.

I've got an email from him I'll dig up and post in this thread... it was in response to something posted on this site.

BTW, for a front-end pic of the G8 (on a video screen) from the Chicago Auto Show webcam, go to

http://www.g8board.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10

 

 

 

OK, after seeing the images, who is going to miss the FWD W-body Grand Prix?

Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

 

GM looked at both the expanse of the Zeta project, and the redundancies, and decided to cut things back. As Lutz once pointed out, unless you kill a project, things just keep on going.

Just before the program was cancelled, Zeta was planned to be made in at least 2 factories here in the US, 1 in Mexico, & 1 in Australia of course. It was felt that the program was running away, so the US program was killed so everyone would stop while they got better coordination of the program.

I think Roger misread what GM was trying to do, and went into a 'they-can-do-no-right,-their-going-to-go-straight-to-hell-and-burn-anti-General Motors' mindset. If I recall, he quit in a fit over the whole thing.

Prior to the plug being pulled on the whole US zeta program 2 years ago, there is no better source to info on the GM Zeta program. He's highly knowledgable and infact was very much a part of Zeta. Believe it or not, I even recieved emails from him a long time ago. To this very day, I have nothing against the fellow.

But since he left GM, he seems to have let his bitterness cloud his posts.

He's had harsh words for Holden, which ended up getting the Zeta program lock-stock-and-barrel at the expense of GM-North America. This probally also cost some jobs here, or atleast sent an exciting project overseas. A good reason to be bitter. Another item is his previous ironclad belief that Pontiac wasn't going to get a Zeta sedan. I know people in the related planning meetings that took place after his departure, and I knew he was dead wrong. This week, we'll get a look at a Pontiac Zeta sedan that will be on sale by year's end. There's talk of one rolling off the Oshawa line by 2010.

We'll see how accurate I was (or even perhaps wasn't) on a GTO successor soon enough. This is another area where things have changed since he quit, but I feel is letting his bitterness cloud his opinions. But like I said, we'll see soon enough.

One of the unfortunate things about typing words on a computer screen versus talking to someone face to face (or even on the phone) is that things can easily come out far harsher than intended if you communicate in direct ways, which I tend to....... except in the case of Buickman..... and Redzed.... and some of the other occasional people that showed up over the years without their medication. There's quite a few people I've called up to explain what I was saying or to appologize when it's pointed out I've gone a bit overboard if it wasn't my intention. If I had Roger's number, I'd do the same.

......but that doesn't mean he's right on certain things.

 

like the 9th for instance????

 

Forgotten about good ol'RedZed and his Holden less than Korean car philosophy!

 

No, you won't see anything like that at Chicago if that's what you're thinking.

I'll just say stay tuned, Camaro won't have a twin in the skin, but won't be born alone (as in the only coupe), and leave it at that.

 

*crickets*

 

I think you're being unfair. I believe I've read all of his posts and I've never detected that at all. I found him to be a very straight shooter. As far as him leaving GM, somewhere he posted that he took early retirement because he couldn't be assured a specific position after Zeta's cancellation.

Right now there are no Pontiac Zetas in the strictest sense. A combination of factors allowed Holden the flexibility to export Commodores for Pontiac - and that's a good thing. But Commodores are also shipped out as Chevys, and no one calls that car a Chevy Zeta program. Same with Buick.

 

Yeah, I like the G8 compared to the Commodores.
The front end gives it a kinda BMW-ish look...I like it.

Supercar racing has been on "Speed" channel this week, Commodores in action.