First.....thank you Jason and Chris for 'doing the right thing"........you could have increased your web traffic by a huge margin yesterday, but you once again have proved to many many people that you are --both of you-- a class act. I'm truly grateful.

To my fellow enthusiasts. I think I'm pleased, for the most part, as to the comments I'm hearing. Yes, there will always be a few that have harsh words....that's to be expected. I still look forward with great relish to watching the faces and expressions of my fellow enthusiasts as they see the concept in person for the first time....(you have no idea of how much I look forward to it.......)

Now.........why am I upset? (let's forget the Corp. position for a moment, shall we?)

How many times have you met someone......and your first impression was "Well, if he/she wasn't

>all sweaty/dressed poorly/bad-hair-day/20 pounds overweight/bad mood/ --insert anything bad here -- <

...........he/she would be a knockout...........

See what I mean? First impressions are oh-so important. We did not get the chance to control a first impression. The pictures you saw are obviously not of a finished product.

WE won't go into the financial impact this will have on GM....but suffice to say it will.

We do want your input.......but there's a proper way to get that. Your input, believe it or not, has been somewhat compromised in that, again, you did not see a finished product.

Moreover, it started a firestorm of controversy on several sites..and people started flinging insults back and forth.....and in a few cases, some close friends were summarily flamed beyond recognition. Because of someones' (that's plural, by the way) poor judgement, people are now mad at each other. That is even MORE unfortunate.

So........yup.......I am beyond angry at the GM or contract employee that allowed these photos to be posted. I suppose I will eventually lose some of my anger at a few webmasters that also played a part in this scenario.

All that said..........I hope you like what you saw. It is not the finished concept...and moreover, you can never adequately or fairly judge a product by a picture......esp. one like you saw. I hope that each of you will get to see the concept in person as it tours the country to several autoshows and events.......and that you are even more excited and enthused.

I hope that there's a lot of good that comes from this unfortunate experience......and that now, most, if not all of you can plainly see that 'The Future Indeed Looks Bright!"

 

Good thing its not finished... It kind of looks ghey with those exhaust tips...

Firebirdv6.com still has them on their site. You may want to contact them..

 

May we openly discuss it here, Scott? (without actually posting the pictures, I mean) I have nothing but positive things to say, and I can hardly control myself with joy even though it wasn't finished.

 

Thanks for the comments Scott. You pretty much hit the points I had guessed you would.

I'm going to link to this thread from LS1LT1 and MTFBA since there are plenty of folks there with questions too.

 

Scott,
Just to let you know, I've been hearing the "Keep the Faith" thing forever, and to be quite honest, I was as aggrivated hearing it as I'm sure you were saying it. That being said, I'm a 20 something who recently out of college, is finally making "decent" money, and am looking for new cars right now. The fact that these pictures came out has given me inspiration to purchase something used in the meanwhile, and put all of my extra cash somewhere safe so I can be the first on the block with a 5th gen.

It may have been a "boo boo" to say the least, but I now have a renewed faith, and WILL be driving one in the near future.....Marina Blue....White Stripes....6 speed, that's all.

Keep up the good work, I'm sure it was difficult the last few years.

*edit*
also, is it safe to say that these "Embargoed" pictures will be able to be freely posted once the NAIAS has opened, or will the still be considered "CONFIDENTIAL"

 

Your thoughts complement what I’ve been saying since yesterday.

I knew after looking at it for 10 minutes it was a clinic car and not the real thing.

I will disagree with you and say personally the first impression for me is not changed.

What I saw looks almost exactly like 3 concept renditions that have been floating around here for months. Shoot, some of the drawings had a better quality then what I saw yesterday.

Honestly after letting this sink in after a night of sleep I feel very positive and my passion for this car has only grown.

Unfortunately not everyone on the internet is as educated like the people here about how these concepts work.

But I will hold my final judgment until the Dallas Auto Show.

And Scott if you’d like, I will personally stand next to the concept with you and give my personal constructive thoughts then.

I’ll end this post saying I’ve had a huge smile that wont go away since yesterday.

 

I think that's the silver lining so to speak (pun intended for those of you who saw the pics).

I've talked to many people since the story broke about the concept at NAIAS and many have said "whatever, I'll believe it when I see it".

The events of the past 24 hours have definitely changed some attitudes.

 

Well Red, my impression of the car is that even though it does bear quite a resemblance to a 69, it is not a completely retro car in the same fashion that the Mustang and Challenger are. It does have new facets to it which I like. For example, I think the taillights are pretty cool. Overall, I think the car is pretty nice, and I am one of the guys who was against complete retro. I don't really see that much 2nd, 3rd, or 4th gen in it though, unless you really nitpick it. I thought you mentioned the car would have alittle bit of every generation. Perhaps the real car at NAIAS will be a good bit different from this one (although obviously the overall shape is going to be the same.)

 

That’s true, we have all been down in the dumps about this car over the past few years,

I do think the surprise would have been better for the general public if the cat wasn’t let out of the bag early.

 

Here's my $.02 ...

Pictures - tasteful

Being leaked - dis-tasteful

I'm still looking forward to Detroit .

 

I think those taillights were hideious....

 

I'm gunna burst! Like a kid who hears his parents generating hype about a surprise vacation spot our big gift they're getting - that they know and you don't.

ARGH!!! I can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Theres going to be NO looking at pics for me!

I'll hold my post and wait for the official unveiling, no matter how much sanity I lose in the meantime!

 

constructive criticizm as well as positive comments are always welcomed.

Constructive means just that. It is OK to say "I don't like it and this is why--..>insert reasons here<"...........However, let's keep it clean. I really don't want to see people clobbering each other over differing opinions...we're all friends here, agreed???

And again I'm gonna repeat one of my mantras: Do not put forth final judgement before seeing it in person!

 

By the way.......where in Sam Hill is Z284EVER???? or Guy?

One last thing...the car is not retro.......it really isn't at all in person.

 

I noticed a lot of similiarity to the 99 GTO Concept, which BTW I really liked and wished Pontiac would have built that concept.

The roofline, c and b pillar and rear 1/4 panels look very similar.

I think the next gen GTO will look alot like the "Camaro" concept. If it doesn't it damn well should.