I guess it all depends on how we define this "stripper" thing. We certainly have no definitive answer in this thread.

number77 sounds like he wants a bare bones car, with a trim level slightly below that of a base Colorado. Basically, a bench seat/hose out, for the absolute minimum amount of money.

WERM on the other hand, has possibly a more intriguing concept. Not an austere strippo necessarily, but an attainable cool car. Kind of like a RWD Mini Cooper maybe.

 

Recertify the Chevette!

 

That's exactly what I'm thinking. If they are going to blow up the Camaro's and Mustangs to be 3600lbs+ and 30k+ for a decent performance model, then I'd be much more interested in a cheaper - and much smaller - RWD car.

For the record, I think the 1 series BMW is a really neat car - it's just ugly.

 

wasnt the srt-4 nothing more then a cheap car with a "high horse power motor" shoved in it. didnt the srt-4 sell good?


call me crazy and every one in says i am and dont now what im talking about.

but if i was gona offer a stripper i would take a car and this ist just an example. i would take a camaro body re badge it say oh firebird. take a ls2 shove it in there make manual door locks and maual windows radio , ac nothing really fancy inside. i put a solid rear axel in the rear. very simple eaily moddable car. get the price down as low as you can.and not offer a traditional chevy warranty, and advertise it as a car you can drive to work on Friday and race on the track Saturday.

now of course this would never happen but it would be a neat idea.

 

you know i was very tempted in buying a camaro 95 that had ALL manual...weight issues???

I remember the 240Z era, they were (are) loved cars and they are all manomatic. If the vette came like that... be sure mine would be like that...

My father's vette has nothing but power windows and power locks... I am begining to think that power windows are lighter than regulars??? still... some PERFORMANCE cars should come like that... one thing though.... PS and A/C are a must!

 

The right product could be sold for a profit in this segment. Look at the fiero as an example of this, it turned a profit every year made and with a weight of 2400-2850 pounds it fit the defination of a stylish stripper car. No matter what type of car, a spaceframe design with plastic panels would allow for a profitable, reasonably priced entry level vehicle.

 

crash standards anyone????

 

GM builds an excellent space frame, those that have been crash tested have received 5 star ratings. Note: Corvette is not tested, many of the expensive sports cars are not. It also looks like the Solstice hasnt been crash tested yet.

 

It should have a LOUD electric starter. Like a piece of heavy machinery(or a transforming transformer).

 

It's called City Jetta and City Golf. Maybe it's only in Canada (check out http://www.vw.ca) and it has no AC, manual windows, just the basics. Lists for $16K CDN, which is quite a good price IMO.

I'm sure it won't sell for a very long period of time (beyond this model year), but it's something.

 

That Jetta City doesn't look bad. How fast is it? I wonder how fast it'd be if it was a coupe?

GM would make 2 models of this stipper coupe. One slow economy one to market to parents who want to buy their kids a reliable car with a 100k mile warranty and good fuel economy, and two seats so that their friend's don't bother them when they are driving.
The other would obviously have something like an ls2.

 

I've often thought about this "stripper car" for many years, and as many times i've said, I would buy one so they should come out wiht it, theres small factors that make you think twice and go, oh yeah, damn. One of the main reasons not looking at this technically, is that the US market, especially for GM hasent exactly been up to snuff in the past couple of years. Take a look at GM, I mean, they're crying about how theyre not turning a good profit. They make one to many of the same friggin trucks and SUV's, just with a different grill and price tag, and they wonder why people arent to into the GM market, cuase they continue to stick to the truck market, and the way gas is going, it doesnt look like were gonna be able to guzzle gas anytime soon and not worry. But overall, in any manufacturer's case, bringing out a car that was light, had some power to it, doesnt even have to have a V8 in my eyes, just a good power stat to start out wiht ,and a good aftermarket, and was more set onto becoming something you take to the track and then to the food market, then being a family car, wouldnt be hard, but no company wants to take a chance, not at teh way our market is looking period. I mean you gotta design it, set up a plant, have the machinery set up, buy the parts, the workers, the shipping, its literally in the 10's of millions of dollars in the end, and what if they dont turn a good enough profit from it, it doesnt exactly glisten in the car buyers mind, well now they have to lay of workers, shut down the plant, end contracts and buy out the contracts and such forth, thats why you see GM saying for a while there, oh the camaro's just a concept car, they said that to see what the car buyers market would say to it, they didnt watn to say oh its coming no doubt about it, and then have a giant stall on the sales. the Soltice is coming out with a track car version, I believe called the ZOK package, but they're already 26-30K, so id expect it to be around 35 for this car, I mean for that you could buy a GTO, and the question I have to you all is, what would you rather buy, a stripped out car with a turbo, only making 230 horses, and a tuned suspension, or a beast of the breeds out right now with an LS2 and 400 horses to your expense. I think my buzzer is going for option two, and believe me, I love nothing more then autocrossing. But at the same time look at Ford, nobodies come out wiht a more sucessful car in my mind then the new mustang, GM, and Dodge completely flopped on the run with them, both in price and style. The mustang looks old, yet hip, the Charger tho powerful, just doesnt have the looks, Y, they tried to base it off another platform so not to spend alot of money on the prgram incase it flopped, same thing wiht GM, the GTO to me looks like a 1996 Taurus bang a pontiac grand prix and birth that reject looking child, why, it's based off a platform. The Mustang and the LS came out at the same time, and tho the LS is closing down, the mustang is hotter then ever. It doesnt need 400+ horses, Its got the looks, and a fair pricetag. So should GM or Dodge take a leap, and see what happens, why not, your markets dying anyway, so throw that life presrver out of a hail marry throw, and see what happens. I mean look at the roadrunner, that was built to be a stripped version of the coronet i believe ( not too keen on dodge's history lol) and became one of americas muscle car icons, Big motor, stripped car, fun times. My personal suggestion, come back with the fiero, just make it more....fireproof, and safer, but keep that engine in the rear, put the 2.0 soltice turb oin it, or the 3.8 buick in it ( preferably supercharged) and bam, you got a small, light, agile car, wihta nice power to it, and could be low cost, and they could some out wiht a spec version just like the miata, and wipe the floor wiht them now that the weight distribution would be more in the rear. Thats ,my person al view on it, the fiero baby.

 

What about an electric cutout for the track? The thing could have a 280 cu.in. v8, so long as it is a v8!
Cheap, lightweight, and a v8!


I guess I'm not gonna rally the troops here.

Maybe I should try the Dodge forums.

 

Go ahead, if Dodge even still exists in 5 years they will probably be lucky.

 

This is how I see the game. positive = good negative = bad