If it takes brand uniform styling to move pontiac away from the way they have been styled the last 20 years, so be it as long as the cars get cleaner, faster and of better quality I can live with all of them looking like their in the same family.

 

Eh, IMO, with the exception of Aztek... Pontiac's styling hasn't been all that bad over the last 20 years... actually, I've pretty muched liked what they did as far as styling.

 

The one thing that I hate about all GM cars is stereos. What the heck are they thinking? Those huge bulging buttons are from what era, the 60's? And those ugly electronic displays? Calculators in the 70's had them, and GM has still to distinguish themselves.

If you look carefully at the above picture, everything looks nice and new, except those ugly stereo buttons....

Stereo design is the #1 turn off point for many of my friends who have import (european/japanese) cars. They are among the cheapest looking stereos out there. Actually, Ford and Chrysler have similar designs.

Same thing can be said about power window buttons.

 

I really like the Bonneville and the Grand Prix. Both look very good IMO. The others look good, except for the Altezzas and the aluminum fuel door on the Grand Am. Does anyone have an idea on how much money the GXP package will be?

-Mike

 

The Grand Prix and the Boneville are the same car...? Im with you Doug, I dont like not being able to tell any of the BMWs apart, but alas, they sell and I guess with GMs slumping sales moving cars is more important right now.

Does the GXP mean the end of the GTP?

 

I have no truble telling them apart-- the only thing in common is that they look like Pontiacs, no mistaking them for anything else.

All cars look pretty kick ***! Very impressive

 

The thing that pi$$es me off is they can't seem to debate the issue without attacking me personally with insults a derogatory remarks.....I don't attack them ....usually this means they don't have a good rebuttal so they resort to calling me names

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When it's finally shown in production form, I'll probably agree with you 100%, but I will reserve my judgement until that time.

As for the GXP cars, I think they look good, and are distinct enough to be able to tell what's what. Just my 2 cents. Give me a Sunfire GXP with a manual and I'll have a new daily driver.

Since the ONLY thing Pontiac has seen fit to give us is the one and only sketch.............and we ALL are simply playing "armchair quarterback" here.......then the ONLY thing we can debate is the ONE sketch.........that being said, Based on the only known sketch in existance I still think it so closely resembles a Grand Prix.....and now every other Pontiac sedan that will be hard to know what just drove past you on the hiway...........something Corporate Design does to destroy individual model identity.....obviously something I just can't stand....it's a cop-out to real design.

Notice I have never, with the exception of the Sunfire, even said the cars were ugly....heck I own a GTP.......it's just that they are really getting boring to look at....

 

Well, I do agree that the sketch released looks WAY to much like a grand prix. But for some reason, I really like the way all those GXP models looked. You could look at them and say "it's a pontiac" which is kinda cool. But I could understand how someone could wish for more diversity.

 

Watch what I say? Am I not allowed to voice my own opinion? You react as if this is something new...why else go through the trouble of pointing it out? You said experiment. This is an experiment that has been going on for decades... Sounds like a failure, yep.

I still don't get how people think the upcoming GTO is a clone of cars that were created on a different continent under a different brand. The car will have a bumper that resembles other Pontiacs. How is that a clone??? That's like saying you have your Mom's nose means you're a clone of your mother. Aren't you the one calling for logic in these discussions??

Yeah, that's just chalk full of logical discussion. "WTF cares...I know why, but I'm not going to acknowledge it." You said you have a GTP? Yeah, well you already bought into it.

To think anyone on this board is a fan of the mundane and orginary is ridiculous. We are in the minority as performance enthusiasts, and the Camaros and Firebirds were not cars that appealed to the masses.

I don't recall offering praise or criticism on these GXP models. I enjoy individuality like anyone else. Just the same I am not surprised with the current crop of Pontiacs. What was one to expect?? The Grand Am will be looking at a redesign shortly, so maybe we'll have more distinction between it and the Grand Prix then. Overall, I think they are all visual improvements over the everyday variations and hope there is added performance to match.

 

WOW those cars looks great!!!!!!!!! They finaly made the sunfire look good. I like the Grand Am the best, fuel cap is cool so is the new nose. 18" rims on all the cars!!!!!!!!! it's about time they offer bigger than 16" rims, bigger rims can make all the diference on how good a car looks. Just look at the 2004 Grand Prix, people loved the G-Force but didn't care for the GT, the only big difference from the outside is the G-Force had 19" rims vs. 16" on the GT. Best of all the GXP is not just an apperance package!!

275HP s/c 3.4L V6 Grand Am
285HP s/c 3.8L V8 Grand Prix
295HP 4.4L V8 Bonnie
and s/c 4 bangers in the other two.

 

I gotta agree with those that dislike the way Pontiac is making all of its cars look almost exactly alike, and agree with those for diversity and distinctivness in models. Cars need to stand out and catch attention in their own ways. Pontiac seems to be against this since I can barely tell apart their cars now and it seems that its going to become more frequent with the new cars, and it looks like the GTO isn't gonna help it any either.

 

Dude, it was sarcasm....settle down Re-read what I wrote for crying out loud....

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You react as if this is something new...why else go through the trouble of pointing it out? You said experiment. This is an experiment that has been going on for decades... Sounds like a failure, yep.

Again, the word new is yours not mine.....the fact is it is new to Pontiac, why would Lutz make it a point to state this publicly and have it show up so obviously in this new crop of GXP's??

It IS a failure.....even Chrysler is finally starting to differentiate their models...i.e. Crossfire and the new station wagon thingy.......tell me you can name more that two Chrysler models in their sedan line and what makes them different from each other....

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Yeah, that's just chalk full of logical discussion. "WTF cares...I know why, but I'm not going to acknowledge it." You said you have a GTP? Yeah, well you already bought into it.

OK, name me 3 different sedan models from BMW or MB or Volvo or? and tell me what differentiates them and what thier market segment is...OH, and what makes each one "special"............................yeah, didn't think so....

You know I get enough grief from people like you on this board by simply stating MY opinion and I could go on about what I think about other car manufacturers.....but WHO CARES??? One, it's just MY opinion and two, I don't care about them because as I said, I don't want to buy one of their cars.....I want to buy a NEW Camaro....or other V8, RWD, affordable performance car from GM...and I don't like Corporate Styling that keeps me from finding my damned car in a parking lot full of clones.

At a national event in 1993 I stood up in a crowd of excited new 4th gen owners / buyers here in Indy and asked current GM of Chevrolet, Jim Perkins, why in the heck did they make the 6 cylinder 4th gen cars look EXACTLY like the more expensive, more powerful Z28's??!! He answered something about keeping the 6 cylinder buyers happy!?! (So see, I've hated this direction for some time now....)

Finally, I bought the wife the ONLY 4 person car made by GM that could get out of it's own way........didn't have much choice on the styling.......

Can we now get back to the subject of this thread?

 

Big stereo buttons?

Oh, you mean ones sized for human-sized fingers, ones you can see and use when you're driving without . . . looking . . . squinting . . . trying to see what that tiny little label says . . . CRASH!

If your friends base their buying decisions on how the stereo looks, they're idiots.

 

Heh, that stereo does pop up everywhere... I wonder if GM and Delco are planning to retire it anytime soon? It looks a little outdated, but I like the big buttons and *****.

I noticed that the new trucks have an option for XM radio now?

 

These sound good. I think it strengthens Pontiac as a brand. Having a bunch of good cars that all look similar, they'll drive by and it won't be "There's a Firebird, those are awesome" It'll be "There's a Pontiac, Pontiacs are awesome" like BMW has now.

I've also always kind of liked how the M3 is hard to tell apart from the 325, good sleeper effect. Same deal with the GTO compared to the other cars here. Distinct but subtle differences, the average "I have 0 attention span" guy will think they're the same car, but the more attentive person will see the wolf in sheep's clothing.

I for one prefer to keep a low profile, I don't want the CHP noticing my car more, that's for damned sure.