oh god its official!

My Dad bought a year ago and loves it.He said it is one of the best cars he owned.If Pontiac did their homework they wouldn't be sold off,they had cars like Chevy that no one wanted to pay the a higher price for the same car under the chevy brand

 

(about government just shot my dog) comment! LOL!

Yeah also I heard about the Pontiacs this morning on the news - and if there's any truth to what you said; "hang on to your safari's they will be worth boons", then maybe I should reconsider my plans. Hrmmm....

 

Like I said on another thread, GM to Pontiac in modern netspeak: GTO GTFO

My first love was a Plymouth and in a way it was okay with me when they stopped using the badge-- I still had my Fury. But my sympathies to those who still liked the new cars.

 

it replaced both the regal and the century in 06 its called the allure in canada!

yeah the series 2 3800 was probably the best one....the only real hiccup was a bad batch of trannies in 98 model year. the century's need a new one at about 100k the supercharged regals at about 60k ...speaking of which the blower regal is a blast to drive... my mom had one when i was in college.

 

i didnt know there were plans to drop the Lucerne. As far as Buick being a step down in Quality. NO way, they are built much better than a Caddy. check the initial quality ratings where buick beat out everyone else.

 

Right on, Jase!

 

What a sad day. It was just a matter of time I guess. Pontiac really screwed up when they remade the GTO. I do not know what the designers were thinking. They should have made the GTO look more like the classic ones like Dodge did with the Challenger and Ford did with the Mustang. The classic GTO was a muscle car, but the new GTO looks nothing like a muscle car and looks nothing like a GTO for that matter. Now don't get me wrong it is a nice car, but they should have named it something different and saved the name GTO for a design that resembled the classic GTO.

 

Yup...you're right, CE. And I don't much like the way the world is heading. But....I guess I don't have nearly as much time to worry about it as you do.

 

Did you all know that Buick sells more cars in China than the US? The Chinese actually designed the new Buick interiors.

Buicks are fantastic cars. Pontiacs on the other hand are just as good as Chevy's. All GM cars are reliable and get great milage. It's sad to see any of them go but I think GM and Chrysler especially have lost their direction.

Hopefully Ford can survive intact. They started their reorganization in 2001 after the Firestone fiasco but even then their sales were 55% biased towards trucks and it almost killed them.

I takes all car builders way too long to react to market conditions. It's a very hard thing for carmakers to anticipate changes in the market as it takes a good 36 months to bring a new car to market. It's a tough buisness and even the Japanese are learning that lesson.

 

To solve the problem, they shoul all make a few basic models.

Stationwagon(fullsized 7-8 seater, not some 5 seater POS)
1- SUV Mid sized and with a spilt 60/40 seat in front and a 3rd seat option that folds away.
1- 2 door coupe
1- econo sh*box in 4 door
1- 4 door sedan
6- pickup versions. 1/2 ton 2wd & 4wd 4 door, 3/4 ton 2wd & 4wd 4 door and a 1 ton dually 2wd & 4wd 4door. All having the full 8 foot bed, no matter how ugly they look or how oversized they are, just to simplify.
2- Vans Mini and 3/4 ton with basic interiors.

Back in the early days up through the 60s, we didnt have 30 models being produced by each car manufacture and people survived. They need to KISS and ditch the damn unions and give a realistic sallary to the workers, none of this $40 per hour crap! $15 per hour is more then enuff to add a seat or bumper on a production line. I do roofing, construction, both residential and commercial and I make between $12 and 15 per hour and Im up on roofs risking my lives daily. Ontop of it all, I pay for my own General Liability Insurance that is $765 a year. If you want special features and add ons, then make them be ordered, not prebuilt and sitting on a lot waiting for someone to buy them. I remember when my dad used to order all his cars and trucks custom tailored to his tastes. They should offer basic transportation or custom ordered with a nonrefundable downpayment if you want something fancy.

 

Well...the way things are going, car companies AND owners are going to be a lot worse off. I can see ridiculous limitations coming. I'm afraid that cars we have known and loved are headed for extinction. Certain social engineering fronts, that have never been exposed to the history of our nation, are hell bent on change. Personally, I would like to run each of them over with the heaviest wagon I could find.

 

I came home from the hospital as a newborn in a 1953 88 (it was not new, I am 50). We moved to Florida in 1960 in a 1955 88. My 1st memory of a car was my grandfather's 1960 Super 88 convertible. There was always an Olds or 2 or 3 or more in my family at any given time. I still have 3 (1976 Toronado, 1975 Delta 88 Royale convertible and Big Edie the 1976 Custom Cruiser).

They could not have had a more loyal following. But they closed it down.

Flash forward to the 70s. My Dad became a Cadillac dealer during probably the worst times to be a car dealer. My parents knew at that time that GM in general and Cadillac in particular were so difficult to deal with, beaurocricy, etc.

Over the years it just got worse: unions, badge engineering, Roger Smith years, killing Olds, to where it is now.

I love the mid 70s luxo cruisers the best, and am grateful to have saved mine and to be the custodian of these cars.

They are not hot, but they are so cool to me.

When my lease was up on my 2006 Acura, I said no more, I will drive the Oldsmobiles.

If I have a bad day at work, I get in it to drive home and I smile.

So it costs me a little more at the pump, it's the price of entertainment.

http://www.hemmings.com/users/jeffreyalman/

 

Well said, Jeff.

 

The Chief rides into the sunset a final time....
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30438201/

 

Yup, I wish I was of an older generation, wouldn't be so worried about all this bullcrap, but I have many many more years of it.