"TRD" might be the most unfortunate name for a "performance" (I use the term very lightly...) division there is.

There are 3 choices of vowel you can add between the T and R and get either an accurate description of the owner or an accurate description of the performance capabilities of said vehicle.

 

Hey, no arguments from me! But they've sure created a following. Maybe Chevy, (does it even have to be Chevy? Could it be Pontiac? ), can have a better name for it's stuff.

BTW, Nissan, Kia and Hyundai are showing strong signs that they want a serious piece of this entry level action.

GM needs to be there.

 

Quoted for truth.

 

GM is starting to do this with the Cobalt . Its not under any special name though , just GMPP ....same as always . All are warrantied separately if installed after new car purchase , and do not harm your bumper to bumper . You can include them in your brand new car purchase , then they would be included for the full term of your new car warranty .

Stg 1 , tuning and injectors = 31 hp

Stg 2 , above contents plus a 3" blower pulley and belt 42 hp if I remember right .

GM catback , built by Borla ( for all models )

Ported exhaust manifold

Polished 18" wheels ( other rims for base models )

They say much more is on the way ....its a good start anyways

 

I'm glad their doing that, I hope they do more.

But right now Derek, I've got this bug up my butt about a $17,000, youth branded, customizable, RWD car. What if instead of a Chevy, it were a Pontiac? Tempest?

 

I think the front end is a little goofy, maybe change that a little but the body of the car really isnt bad at all. Kind of like Guy said, a front end style away. Maybe also a little lower stance as well...

 

Yeah, I suppose the front end is the biggest styling offender.

BTW, when I was at the Heritage Center, (before the Camaro unveiling), I was talking to some of the design guys about the Bel Air which was coincidentally afew feet away from us. Since I had heard that the Bel Air' styling actually started out as a "Camaro" proposal...I thought this would be a good time to get an "inside story" on it.

He told me that the whole point of the concept wasn't so much to show off the styling. It was about Wayne Cherry's desire to showcase a BOF car concept.....which could be manufactured MUCH more cheaply than a unibody. This one was based on GMT355 (Colorado).

Personally, if they could have put the '99 Nomad concept's bodywork on that platform.....I think GM would have had a huge winner.

 

Yes, I was also told that story when the concept debuted back then.

Like you said, the sketch started as a old Camaro idea, that ended up being used as a "study" on how to get a RWD chassis to market very cheaply and very quickly. IMHO, if it wasn't for Zeta and someone getting the idea of using Holden, I honestly believe GM would have made it or something similar to it and would have put it into production by now.

One of the more interesting things about the car is if you look at the "Press pictures" and look at the car that went on display, there's differences between them up front, indicating that the styling was being revised, even in the months leading up to the show.

I saw a picture of a evolved Belair long after the concept ran it's course over a year ago. It had a front end that I can best describe as similar to the Malibu before it got it's current front end, complete with Chevy's now discarded "Chrome bar of death". The car also looked slightly wider as well.

At the very least, the car continued as a low keyed design exercise project. At the very most, it evolved into what would have been Chevy's GTO, the so called "Chevelle" (like I said, the picture I saw did seem to have gained a little width).

Don't honestly know what's become of the idea, but the design evolution of Belair certainly didn't die with the concept.

 

Well do you think its possible to bring the opening back down to the bottom no chrome? SSR seemed to pull it off. The 3 hashes behind the front headlights could be functional ram air or for cooling the engine. Also if you decided to put the fins back over the headlights, they could channel the air. The hood ornaments could be replaced with air inlets. This is a 57 with painted bumper I found on Google, just for a rough idea. Give it the 57 wheel well lines. Maybe give the hood a little faster rake and match it at the windshield.



The fins on headlight and tail seem to give it charachter. Thats where I would start. What do you think?

 

I just want a Nomad for my wife!!!



Hey, what if you put the Nomad front end on the Belair??? That would be HAWt!!! Then you'd have a whole line of cars again...

Belair
Belair Convertable
Nomad wagon

All with LS based engines of coarse and it doesn't matter FWD or RWD for these cars although RWD would be a lot more fun

 

Yeah, at the last minute, GM revised some trim and lowered the ride height before displaying it at the Detroit show. Those minor revisions actually made a big improvement in it's looks IMO.

Actually, when it first came out, I went out of my way to cut it down to anyone from GM who would listen. Why? Because I was afraid. I was a afraid of a chain of maybe unlikely events, that might lead a GM bureaucrat to say...." Here's your damned Camaro you chumps....now stop yer whining". Okay, maybe alittle paranoid, but I was taking no chances.

Anyway, in retrospect, I wish a Bel Air would have gone into production on that platform. That along with the Nomad. Bob Lutz said that the Bel Air convertible would have sold for around $20,000. Maybe optimistic, but even if it were low $20's, that would have been a screaming deal. With perhaps a hardtop version well under $20K. How cool would that be?

 

That's a great idea! I thought the Nomad's front end looked great.

And I like your line up too. I think I would take a V8 Nomad for low $20's.