GoFast908Z

anyone have pics of the next mustang concept?

Good Ph.D

There is no, "next mustang concept". Automakers use concept cars to gauge reaction to new vehicles or generational changes.

They arent going to spend millions making a concept when they already know they arent going to do anything but change a few panels.

krazzycowgirl

as I said the NEW Mustang is a Redesign of a Redesign of a Redesign.

Its the same car that has been gone over & over & over. There might be a piece here or a piece there that might be new but nothing else. Its going to be the same style of the car. They might as well put MUSTANG II on it

greg_nate

And therein lies the crux of the debate. Do we truly believe this? This is why a lot of us are scratching our heads.

- Are we to believe that the running concept, which was admittedly made specifically to be production ready, and we know it was being driven in its current form in winter of 2005, is going to take 4 years to get to production in 2009?

- Those of us who feel emotionally burned by the original cancellation in 2002, are ambivalent at best about a 2009 release. It is difficult for us to remain excited for a 2006 top class vehicle, that may not be top class by the time 2009 rolls around. 7 years is a long time to wait. A lot of enthusiasts who kept the dream and hope alive will have moved on.

- And here's the real kicker. It would be easy enough for me to just say "F-it" and move on and accept the fact that an era is officially over, and that the 2009 will be nothing more than a halo car with a short life, akin to Ford's revived Thunderbird. But we keep hearing rumors from fairly credible people that "this thing is farther along that people know about". The little rumors about teams working feverishly in Australia and such, keep me hanging on, hoping for a miracle.

greg_nate

...where's that Ford dealership?

krazzycowgirl

right where I am keeping the faith & waiting for the new Camaro. Believe me I have owned fords & I will never own another Mustang or Ford Truck in my life (well as for the mustang I might if someone handed me a 64 1/2)

krazzycowgirl

Then maybe I should suggest you go find that ford dealership.


Oh what the media doesnt want you to know is ford is in more dire straights than GM right now.both in quality of the vehicles & money

greg_nate

See that's what I am talking about - on many levels.

The problem is, what exactly does "Full Tilt" mean according to GM?

- In Toyota parlance, it means the car will be on floors in 18 months.

- In GM parlance, it likely means the Board of Directors has given approval to the general Steering Committee to assure a 50% funding for an unspecified coupe, who's allocation will go to Chevrolet, contingent on Union agreements based upon 2007 contract negotiations.

I often get the feeling that GM is so big and ignorant that they are constantly stepping on themselves, and that the true miracle of God is that despite themselves, they somehow manage to produce cars.

greg_nate

Oh hush. I was making a somewhat tongue in cheek response to a very valid question. Try reading my sig, and you'll see that in fact, I went to the Chevy dealership and picked up a Vette

And the media definately wants us to know about Ford's dire straights...its all over the place and its not looking good for the Blue Oval.

Good Ph.D

Its a concept. That thing could be a Daewoo under the skin for all we know. That has nothing to do with how long it takes to make a totally new car.

Relax.

It will be out, as soon as it can be out. If thats not enough time there are other options, but it would be silly to wait this long then go elsewhere now.

SFireGT98

I dont think they blew their chance at all. People saw the Solstice well in advance and GM can't build enough of them. The SSR didnt exactly blow up the auto show circuit, was a love it or hate it design, and was kind of an overpriced pig so the SSR isnt a great example of a stale design (as others have mentioned).

Also keep in mind that GM went "full tilt" on the GMT-900's and they were out earlier than expected. Now they're going "full-tilt" on the Camaro. Hmmmm....

CLEAN

When they say "production ready", that means that the design is doable in a real world sense. The bumpers are the right height, the sightlines are ok, all future saftey equipment has room to be installed, ect. In fact, I think the biggest issue that has been discussed is the lack of room for suspension travel. Granted that will be solved a bit by smaller wheels, but that is something they will need to fix. Other than that, the overall design is doable in terms of the real world necessities of a production car. The underpinnings of the concept have nothing to do at all w/ whats going to be under the '09. The new platform isn't on the road yet in any way shape or form. The concept was a styling exercise, nothing more. The fact that it can be driven (at no more than about 30mph, in closely controlled condtions and road surfaces) shouldn't lead you to believe that it in any way is close to being road ready.

Now let's get to the math....The program was announced 3 days ago, they will be knocking them out in 4th quarter of 2008, thats 28 months at the latest. How is that 4 years? Enjoy the vette, buy a Camaro in 2009, and don't sweat the stuff you're worrying about, because it won't make a difference in the end.

greg_nate

Either you missed my point or we just simply disagree. This was not just any ole concept. There were detailed CAD drawings of the chassis, engine and interior available long before the unveiling. The Red Camaro is a mock up for sure, but the Silver one is clearly intentionally built to match the CAD drawings.

The silver Camaro ain't no frikkin Daewoo. The engineers said themselves that the concept was built as if it could be produced today. Its riding on an a Holden chassis.

If it were just a Daewoo, you'd be right, but this concept is not a mockup art project.

I wonder if that's the same thing Enron stockholders said to each other

krazzycowgirl

Dont Hush me lol

CLEAN

You've got the wrong line of thinking here. The cad drawings ARE NOT THE '09 CAMARO, THEY ARE FOR THE CONCEPT. It is NOT the same underpinnings that will be the basis for the '09. It is the same thing as when the solstice concept came out a few years ago, it had a Cavalier suspension for heavens sake! The concept at least has an STS suspension on it .

I think I'm seeing your point though. But again, I think you're reading too much into what you've read. Did you actually talk to a Holden engineer who told you it could go right now? If so, I have no explanation. The ones I talked to at NAIAS and the little gettogether the night before said it was a conglomoration of several off the shelf pieces to give the concept a limited ability to be driven, not at all to be considered to be the finished platform. As you say, if it were the actual platform, it COULD go tomorrow, but it isn't. It sounds like the Holden guys words got misconstrued. And as stated before, the design has production in mind, meaning it won't need a radical restyle to be doable in the real world, not that it's ready to go now.