(Positive) RANT on the 05 Mustang - GREAT Read!
7/1/05, 05:29 AM
#21
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He makes it sound like the Plymouth Barracuda was an afterthought even though the 1964 model hit the showrooms a few weeks before the Mustang did. Of course, we all know it wasn't the right car at the right time like the Mustang was but a good writer needs to do his research! Otherwise, great read.
On-Topic:
Another article worth reading on the same topic is one I read a while ago on Autoweek. They talk about how the boys down at THE TUBES are banging their heads against the wall :bang: and getting all hot and bothered because:
"I wake up every day knowing that I am spotting Ford 150,000 to 200,000 units.
Chevrolet may offer rear-drive answer in response to successful Ford, Chrysler efforts
RICK KRANZ | Automotive News
Posted Date: 6/27/05
SAN FRANCISCO -- Stung by the success of the Ford Mustang and Chrysler 300, Chevrolet is studying rear-drive cars. The brand could decide this year whether to build more rwd vehicles.
"I think we probably will have more to talk about in the next several months," says Ed Peper, Chevrolet general manager.
The rwd Mustang, 300 and Dodge Magnum are selling well without cash rebates. Ford expects to produce 192,000 Mustangs this year.
And Dodge is expected to resurrect the Challenger name for a rwd Mustang-fighter around 2009.
With the exception of the Corvette, all Chevrolet cars have front-wheel drive.
Asked at a press event here whether a rwd sedan, coupe or Chevrolet Camaro-type vehicle are being considered, Peper said, "We are looking at some of those segments right now."
Peper says he is not sure whether Chevrolet will have a rwd concept car at the Detroit auto show in January.
"The ideas and the concepts are being talked about right now," he said.
General Motors was planning to introduce the first in a family of rwd cars for North America in 2007. The vehicles were planned on a rwd platform code-named Zeta. But the automaker's financial problems forced it to cancel Zeta this year.
Yet GM insiders still expect the company to develop a range of rwd cars, although the platform and timetable are unclear. Already in the pipeline are the Pontiac Solstice, a rwd roadster coming this fall and a sister car, the Saturn Sky, scheduled to arrive next spring. Both were developed on the small rwd Kappa platform.
Chevrolet's last large high-volume rwd car was the Caprice, which was scrapped after the 1996 model year. The sporty rwd Camaro was dropped at the end of the 2002 model year.
Regarding the Mustang, Jim Campbell, Chevrolet car marketing director, says: "I wake up every day knowing that I am spotting Ford 150,000 to 200,000 units.
"Do we want to take that head-on? Absolutely we do. There's an opportunity for a rear-wheel-drive coupe."
7/1/05, 05:51 AM
#22
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GM is stuck, mental, in some weird form of thinking about cars and trucks. Yes, it is a business. GM's goal is to make money - not cars.
However, Alfred Sloan picked cars as the way to make money and formed GM. He created the after-market parts industry by not meeting that demand. When it comes to buying cars, none of us are rationally (well, maybe a few). Do we put the same level of emotion in selecting a deordant; soap, refrigerator, etc.?
Yet, the people who design cars know how the public responds to a well designed, fairly priced car: it buys them by the dozen. Why GM is late ot the party (the HHR) - or worse - shows up at the wrong address (the Bel-Air) is very strange.
I would like to see a decent Camaro and 'Cuda. A shortened coupe on the 300 dogy...that's another thought.
However, Alfred Sloan picked cars as the way to make money and formed GM. He created the after-market parts industry by not meeting that demand. When it comes to buying cars, none of us are rationally (well, maybe a few). Do we put the same level of emotion in selecting a deordant; soap, refrigerator, etc.?
Yet, the people who design cars know how the public responds to a well designed, fairly priced car: it buys them by the dozen. Why GM is late ot the party (the HHR) - or worse - shows up at the wrong address (the Bel-Air) is very strange.
I would like to see a decent Camaro and 'Cuda. A shortened coupe on the 300 dogy...that's another thought.
7/1/05, 06:18 AM
#23
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Wow... the Bel-Air! As Delorenzo loves to say... That was the answer to the question absolutely NOONE was asking. If they made it retro... it'd be a hit. But they won't. GM shoots themselves in the foot around every turn because they LOVE to pretend like it's the 1950's and 1960's. They LOVE to remenisce about the old days where they could make just about ANYTHING and people baught it wether it was good or bad.
Those days are long gone. Dealers are out of touch and more concerned about having their own little slice of EACH market share. GM is still stuck in a rut where they pay more attention to the dealers than the customers.
A perfect example of this can be sumarized in one nameplate - Velite. That car was so spectacular. It was over the top. It was gorgeous. It wasnt' retro, yet it was. It was everything that all of us have wanted to see GM make buick since the 60's. It is one of the most beautiful cars ever designed (in my opintion). It is RWD, it has a V8. It's SPECTACULAR. I saw it and took pictures of it at the Cleveland Auto Show this past March. I was within arms length.
The lovely model that was showing off the car said: "We want to know if you want us to build this car. Call 1-888-BLAH BLAH BLAH and tell us what you think. Should we build it or not?" The public responded in overwhelming numbers. Lines were FLOODED with calls. "BUILD IT!" they all begged.
And yet... GM dropped the entire project, including the platform research, in favor of "a more profitable TRUCK market" that just so happens to be drying up. People are FLOCKING back to cars thanks in no small part to the successes of the 300, Magnum, and Mustang, and any car manufacturer out there STUPID enough to ditch cars in favor of trucks right now is falling behind the curve.
People are starting to crave stylish CARS again. Women are tiring of TRUCKS that ride like tanks and handle like a slop bucket on wheels. I have been predicting this for a YEAR and change now, and it's happening. Here we are on the CUSP of a massive change in the auto industry, and the only companies I see that are equipping themselves for the change are Chrysler, Ford, and Toyota (style may/may not come).
GM needs to take their collective heads out of the WAY BACK machine and get their RWD acts together, although, to quote Delorenzo again - they probably couldn't do that if we spotted them the "A" and the "T". Come on GM... Use some of those brilliant minds you are paying and buy a clue!
Those days are long gone. Dealers are out of touch and more concerned about having their own little slice of EACH market share. GM is still stuck in a rut where they pay more attention to the dealers than the customers.
A perfect example of this can be sumarized in one nameplate - Velite. That car was so spectacular. It was over the top. It was gorgeous. It wasnt' retro, yet it was. It was everything that all of us have wanted to see GM make buick since the 60's. It is one of the most beautiful cars ever designed (in my opintion). It is RWD, it has a V8. It's SPECTACULAR. I saw it and took pictures of it at the Cleveland Auto Show this past March. I was within arms length.
The lovely model that was showing off the car said: "We want to know if you want us to build this car. Call 1-888-BLAH BLAH BLAH and tell us what you think. Should we build it or not?" The public responded in overwhelming numbers. Lines were FLOODED with calls. "BUILD IT!" they all begged.
And yet... GM dropped the entire project, including the platform research, in favor of "a more profitable TRUCK market" that just so happens to be drying up. People are FLOCKING back to cars thanks in no small part to the successes of the 300, Magnum, and Mustang, and any car manufacturer out there STUPID enough to ditch cars in favor of trucks right now is falling behind the curve.
People are starting to crave stylish CARS again. Women are tiring of TRUCKS that ride like tanks and handle like a slop bucket on wheels. I have been predicting this for a YEAR and change now, and it's happening. Here we are on the CUSP of a massive change in the auto industry, and the only companies I see that are equipping themselves for the change are Chrysler, Ford, and Toyota (style may/may not come).
GM needs to take their collective heads out of the WAY BACK machine and get their RWD acts together, although, to quote Delorenzo again - they probably couldn't do that if we spotted them the "A" and the "T". Come on GM... Use some of those brilliant minds you are paying and buy a clue!
7/7/05, 06:06 AM
#24
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I'm still SHOCKED!!! :shock: GM saw the 2005 Mustang coming a mile away I can't believe they just sat on there hands on this one 
It's so funny talking with GM fans they are so mad right now. When you talk to them they have this like stunned look on there face. They are praying and waiting for GM to do something so they don't have to buy a Ford. They always have the sporty Cavalier ...I mean Cobalt to play with till then
I always get the same response "We have the Corvette it's faster then the Mustang," It might be yes but you had to pay 50K to get it. I work for a living I can't afford a Corvette but I can afford a Mustang. Like it was said in the posts above more bang for your buck.
Nice Post Stanger X you’re them man!
It's so funny talking with GM fans they are so mad right now. When you talk to them they have this like stunned look on there face. They are praying and waiting for GM to do something so they don't have to buy a Ford. They always have the sporty Cavalier ...I mean Cobalt to play with till then
I always get the same response "We have the Corvette it's faster then the Mustang," It might be yes but you had to pay 50K to get it. I work for a living I can't afford a Corvette but I can afford a Mustang. Like it was said in the posts above more bang for your buck.
Nice Post Stanger X you’re them man!
7/7/05, 07:16 AM
#25
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Great read, history does repeat itself. Ford deserves extreme praise for taking the gamble and spending the dollars on the development of the new Mustang. Way to go Ford!!! You build it, we'll buy it.
7/7/05, 09:02 AM
#26
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I hope that history does repeat itself and Chevy and Dodge come out with their worthy Mustang fighters. All the competition will push Ford into improving the Mustang. :usa:
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