Uggh. Im tired of excuses.

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Dec 4, 2004 | 01:32 PM

#16

guionM

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Joined: Mar 2001

Posts: 13,713

From: The Golden State

Re: Uggh. Im tired of excuses.

Quote:

Originally Posted by gtjeff

I would add to the list the 1964 GTO-first muscle car, the Corvair- very unusual for an American manufacturer to build a rear engine car and maybe even the Grand National-production car with what could be considered a race engine. I would also include the ev1-electric car with aluminum chassis.

Don't forget GM also had cars with turbo V8s, independent rear suspension, flexible driveshafts, overhead cam 6 cylinder engines, and all this was in GM's regular mid-size car line! Then there was the FWD Toronado V8.

But finding leadership like that since the early 60s is nearly impossible.

The GTO was NOT a product of GM, it was weaseled out the side door by Delorean and his minions. If it didn't explode in demand, it would have been simply a small production one year wonder.

Dec 4, 2004 | 05:51 PM

#17

0toinsanein5.4sec

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Joined: Nov 2000

Posts: 1,381

Re: Uggh. Im tired of excuses.

Quote:

Originally Posted by guionM

jg95z28 touched on the "whys" regarding GM. GM is a huge company that relys on volume to make profits. Ford & Chrysler are far smaller companies, that have fewer people and traditionally can afford to do things differently.

I still fail to see why they cant change that to make things work more efficiently, because IMHO the way it works now is far from efficient. Spending 2 years to decide whether or not to build a car that everyone loves is, quite frankly, unexcusable. IMHO

Dec 4, 2004 | 09:14 PM

#18

HAZ-Matt

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Joined: Mar 2001

Posts: 4,000

From: TX Med Ctr

Re: Uggh. Im tired of excuses.

Quote:

Originally Posted by guionM

Corvette came out 1st as a limited edition car with a pretty weak 6 cylinder, and was destined to be killed after a 2 year or so run.

The Thunderbird came out with big V8s, superchargers, and much more pizzaz inside & out. As a result, T-Bird simply overwhelmed Corvette in sales.

I should have been more specific about what I meant about Corvette following Thunderbird.

Corvette was created because Harley Earl convinced the powers that be that Chevrolet needed a sports car. Unfortunately, there were many problems for the car in it's first couple of years. For MY1953 there were very few units produced and you basically had to "be on the list" to get one. The Corvette was also not as attractive as some of the European roadsters it tried to copy, as it only came with a 2 speed automatic and was more expensive. And it wasn't like Chevy decided not to put a V8 in the car for '53 and '54... the SBC didn't exist yet. The Blue Flame Special was the best engine they could get given how quickly the Vette was rushed to market. By MY1955 there were many higher ups that wanted the car killed, but this was due to slow sales not because it hd been planned as a limited edition car. The introduction of the 265cu in V8 gave the Vette a much needed performance boost, but sales were down to 700. With the introduction of the Tbird in 55, Chevrolet could not bear the idea of pulling the Vette and having it appear as if Ford make a successful two seat roadster when they could not. So the Corvette had a bunch of money thrown at it for 1956 and was given some focus as a real sports car. Thunderbird, on the other hand, was always touted as a "personal luxury car." It was about style and personal comfort, with some sportiness thrown in. If Corvette had truly followed Tbird, I don't think we would be calling it "America's Sports Car" today.