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GM staff builds new F-Bodies in spare time

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Old Aug 7, 2002 | 08:21 PM
  #1  
SilverWS6's Avatar
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Post GM staff builds new F-Bodies in spare time

Check out this link:
http://www.autonews.com/article.cms?articleId=40275
Old Aug 7, 2002 | 08:29 PM
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Cool cant wait to see if its true.


Hey silver u got any pics of ur ride?
Old Aug 7, 2002 | 08:33 PM
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The Good: At least GM is doing something and maybe these cars will show that there is a lot of interest out there in a new car.

The Bad: They are built on current chassis and meant to be a "farewell" to the Camaro and Firebird. This is not a "new" car.

The Ugly: There still doesn't appear to be any real progress on a 5th gen.
Old Aug 7, 2002 | 10:56 PM
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Perhaps styling exercises to publicly test the direction of a 5th Gen? Who knows.

------------------
Mark

94 Z28, Red, A4, 3:23
Lone Mods--LPE CAI, !Lapeer Dragway.
(Hey, I'm a college boy I can't afford gobs of bolt-ons!)

Best time: 14.658 @ 95.1
with SES light on and Driver off! (First and only time at track)

The F-body will NEVER die.
Old Aug 8, 2002 | 03:13 AM
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<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Z28Wilson:
Perhaps styling exercises to publicly test the direction of a 5th Gen? Who knows.

</font>
But Iv been doing that for years.



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Old Aug 8, 2002 | 03:49 AM
  #6  
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Actually, this is great news!
Heres a little backrounder:
<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">GM designers Kip Wasenko and Jim Brinkerhoff directed the designs.</font>
KIP WASENKO
Kip Wasenko was Chief Vehicle Designer at Cadillac since 1996. He was the lead designer of the 1999 EVOQ concept car. Kip has worked with Corvette and a wide range of other brands thoughout his career. He is most known to Corvette fans for his work on the Two Rotor concept car.He has been a GM designer for 32 years and has worked at Chevrolet, Buick, Opel, Holden, Oldsmobile, and Saturn (where he was the first Vehicle Chief Designer in 1985).
In his spare time, he races Corvettes in the SCCA/ITE World Challenge series, and has won the Central Division regional championship in a World Challenge prepared Corvette.
Kip owns (and has restored) a Ferrari Dino 246 and is generally known as a hard core "car guy".
Kip on the EVOQ:
"We're exploring a style that draws heavily on design cues from the past, but interpreted in a completely forward-looking, hi-tech package," Wasenko said. "That's the magic of Evoq -- it's a bold direction for Cadillac design that is very fresh and compelling."




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Old Aug 8, 2002 | 06:58 AM
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Cool

That would be hilarious (and really sad) if Reuss' statement about suitable, RWD platform was meant to be for these one-offs...
Old Aug 8, 2002 | 11:28 AM
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So when r we gonnna se these cars, and did any know they were coming?
Old Aug 8, 2002 | 06:50 PM
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Check out these links for more info on the Dream Cruise:

http://www.gm.com/cgi-bin/pr_display.pl?3126

http://www.gm.com/cgi-bin/pr_display.pl?3129

I'm believing that the news about these 2 special F-bodies is pretty significant. What we're seeing here is GM's willingness to work with the Firebird and Camaro.
And they are probably testing the waters and seeing how people react to these cars.
This, to me, is the best news regarding the F-bodies in a long time.
Old Aug 9, 2002 | 11:54 PM
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It says those one-offs will debut at that car show on the 17th?? Someone had better be there with a digital camera and post pix here!!

------------------
1982 Recaro Trans Am (Y84), LU5/WS6/CC1/G80/J65/etc. 3,082 orig. miles (7/24/2002) - http://ohok.com/82recaro
1985 Base Firebird, F41/LB8/GU5/etc. CB radio, 142kmiles. http://ohok.com/82recaro/kizzsfb.jpg
1984 Firebird S/E, WS6/LL1/MD8/etc. All original, 102kmiles. Sold 5/02 http://ohok.com/82recaro/kizzsse.jpg
Old Aug 10, 2002 | 03:24 AM
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<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by HuJass:
Check out these links for more info on the Dream Cruise:

http://www.gm.com/cgi-bin/pr_display.pl?3126

http://www.gm.com/cgi-bin/pr_display.pl?3129

I'm believing that the news about these 2 special F-bodies is pretty significant. What we're seeing here is GM's willingness to work with the Firebird and Camaro.
And they are probably testing the waters and seeing how people react to these cars.
This, to me, is the best news regarding the F-bodies in a long time.
</font>
I don't really want to burst anyone's bubble, but I'm a little confused. It was said in the second link that "classic" versions of Chevy's Camaro and Pontiac's Firebird will be featured at the show with
parts from the performance catalogs. I fear that there won't be any "new" concept F-body's, just a couple of old one's restored and or modified, as in "pro touring" style. The only other hope I seen of a possible 5th gen is in the section that referred to one-off dream cars. Other than that and the classic f-bodies mentioned, I didn't see anything that would lead me to believe that GM was going to pop out a couple of bombs like this with no one knowing. Granted the link that SilverWS6 gave us was hopeful, but the way it sounds to me is that GM is trying to use the Dream Cruise to pump up the upcoming GTO, which is great. I can't see them possibly overshadowing that with the thoughts of new F-bodies coming out. I guess we'll find out for sure on the 17th when the Cruise happens. This is just my 2 cents though. I'd be more than happy if GM did surprise us all, but I don't think it will happen just yet.
Andrew
Old Aug 14, 2002 | 02:22 AM
  #12  
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They're using the 3rd gen platform with previous generation cues to make two cars, which GM wouldnt even really invest money into. They make their engineers do it on their own time. The engineers love to make the stuff, but the bean counters just shoot it down when they realize that more than $3.79 will have to be invested in the car.

Oh well, I hope the cars look cool
Old Aug 14, 2002 | 03:24 PM
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If they use a 3rd gen as the basis for the cars, it's probably because the winshield is a bit more upright than the 4th gen's.
So that could mean, that if a an F5 is approved, it would be a more upright car.
Old Aug 14, 2002 | 09:29 PM
  #14  
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Unhappy

FYI, gang...

These cars are NOT 5th gens. Not even close. They are just one-offs that reflect the f-body's classic racing heritage.

This says it all...
<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">
The vehicles borrow from their 1970s racing heritage and production styling. For example, a functional shaker hood was formed using a mold from an early 1970s Trans Am. The Camaro includes a full roll cage.</font>
The Camaro, for example, is a modern mockup of a famous late 60's racing Camaro.

I am saying this so no one gets all worked up and then let down.

Yes, I know what the cars look like. Yes, I like them, but they are not intended to be a shape of things to come.

Sorry if that is what some of you are thinking.

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