...who many or many not have been secertly forcing another member to stay in the Ford display long enough to convert him.

On with my thoughts on the 03 NAIAS: (it's long but covers anything and everything)

Overall what a great show, I really liked the setup this year. Remember everyone has their own opinion and this is mine so don't flame me to much.

Dodge: What a horrible display, everything was scattered around and that tomahawk thing, it IS ugly... I don't even know what to call it. At one time I liked Dodge trucks, but now they are ugly, boring and Dodge has beat the Hemi thing to death and guess what it's not all that impressive. For displays and content Dodge was by far the worse.

GM: Why in the hell would you put your great new GTO off to the side so no one can get in it or real close so they can really check it out? It might sell for a couple years but I see the f-body happening all over again, sales will plummet and they will pull the plug. And only ONE of them, come on. The general public needs to see this car if they expect it to do well, we know what it is but most don't and yes it is very plain looking but rumor has it 2 years for a redesign.

The flagship car, the Corvette. Where is the z06, where is some excitement for the 50th year, I heard one guy say I guess it only comes in a convertible. Major finger of shame for the vette display.

The SSR I have liked since it was introduced as a concept back in what 99. Why in the world GM has screwed around so long with it is beyond me. IT WILL SELL, just build it.

The G6 is cool looking, I thought it was suppose to be 2 door however.

The SS concept, from the front it looks like an SSR or the Pontiac concept from last year(Can't remember the name of it). It's something but I wasn't all that impressed.

It was nice to see the freshened up Impala and it should do well with the rumored supercharged version. I believe the Monte Carlo is getting the same treatment, refreshed slightly and a supercharger. Both these cars should do well.

And the Silverado SS, what a joke. GM didn't spend anytime on it so I won't either.

The 16 from Cadillac, that thing looks like the batmobile but I will give them this, it is the ultimate in luxury. The XLR was very nice, didn't get to really check it out because there were a ton of people around it, which is a good thing for Cadillac because it seemed to be a hit. Nice to see Cadillac will have some newer, lower priced cars available but with the quality & luxury you expect from them. Rumor has it the CTS-v will be 400hp ls6 and around 35k, I can't wait to see it and read the production specs.

And there were a lot of SUVs but that doesn't interest me so the
time spent in GM was cut short because of that but wait what about the C.., oh yea they killed that but what about the F... wait that is gone too. There is a rumor something big is coming from the Chicago show, it looks like it might start with a C and end with E. We shall see.

FORD: On to who I thought had the best overall display and showing of production vehicles/concepts and the most excitement for good reason. The NAIAS has been a great way to kick off the year for the 100th anniversary celebration for Ford!

The new F150 is a very good-looking truck, it will nicely replace the current F150. The new/concept Lightning OMG what a great looking truck. I want one. The Special Vehicle Team did an excellent job on this but change the yellow interior other than that it's perfect.

The Freestyle FX(I believe it's called), is a 4 door AWD wagon concept that caught my eye. Rumor has it something like this will be built within a year and with a low-end price tag it should sell well.

The concept mustang gt(concept tech sheet for the gt shows 400hp(est) 390tq believe it or not), I'm still not sold on it. It's basically what I figured it would be but I still don't care for very retro look but it seems to be a hit. I do see a problem with the huge increase of HP on the GT, it is awesome to see that kind of jump but I have a feeling prices are going to jump as well and if that is the case sales are going to start to fall, I sure hope Ford is thinking about this.

The TBIRD, never really been a fan and won't be anytime soon for 41k suggested price tag(I have heard with dealer mark up they are 50k+), I'm not sure if this is the supercharged version, if it isn't look for it later this year or next year.

The 427 Concept(427cu v10 590hp 509tq), I love this car and I hope they build it and what would be even more awesome is a 2 door ragtop version.

I was very impressed to see the 03 SVT lineup, first time sitting in the 03 Cobra and boy was I impressed. I heard a lot of people complain about the lack of legroom in the drivers seat but it is not true. I was very comfortable in it(I'm 6 1), actually I felt more comfortable in it then my old 01 Camaro SS.

The current lightning is also very comfortable to sit in although I never became a fan of the exterior. Ford also had a bunch of 03 Mustangs of all kinds and a Mach 1 that looked awesome but I still feel the HP # is a little weak.

Mercury had a nice display, several Marauders, Grand Marquis and Crown Vic's all of which looked great.

Misc:
Subaru is coming out with a 300hp 6-speed AWD version of the WRX, which will be very cool. VW really knows how to push a car (GM could learn a thing or two from them), I swear they had about 5 or 6 of the new convertible bugs and people looking at every one of them(not just girls either). The Tiburon from Hyundai was surprisingly a nice looking car and for 170hp + @ less than 20k it should sell well to the younger generation. The Honda Element will compete with the aztek for ugliest vehicle but I read an article on it and understand a little more where they are going with it.

Well I think I have rambled on long enough.

Like I said all in all a great show, I am still disappointed in Chevy but I guess they are in it to sell and make money, so let me introduce the NEW flagship of GM THE SUV.


Tom

 

Gee, I guess people will get confused having 2 performance cars appealing to 2 different markets at a company as small as GM. Afterall, having the the Grand Prix coupe confused all those Firebird & Camaro customers, right? Those Buyers were the same people who would have bought a F-Body if it was available....what? It was available?

Good god, maybe we should get rid of Monte Carlo too. When Camaro comes back, the Monte's sales will plummet as well. Oh, that means we can forget having a Chevelle coupe too. Someone might be confused, and it's sales will never get off the ground. Darn!

Rest of the report was good.

 

How could people be confused about the F-bodies when a lot of the population didn't have a clue what they were all about due to GM's wonderful marketing.

It's rather odd that it was not out like most normal production cars. After all it is a NEW car that most people don't know every little detail about. But I guess it's good enough to let it spin around in a circle and call it a great display of a new car.

 

Very good point.

 

Thanks for the report!

 

??

 

Probably a typo... CTS-V is supposed to start around $35k... (I posted a thread a few months ago when Lutz gave a very specific price...)


Link:

http://web.camaross.com/forums/showt...threadid=39157

 

Yes it was, I didn't even notice that but how cool would that be if it was 25k, they would sell like hot cakes.

Post has been edited.

 

If CTS-V were $25k , I... I.... I don't know what I'd do... I'd go but TWO of them!!

Hmmm... if only we had a modern, RWD, V8 car from GM for around $25k.... ... (Note to self: Patience... )

 

A RWD, V8, from GM, for around $25k?

Is that REALLY possible?

Wow. It'd be neat if GM actually came out with something like that... too much to ask for I guess

I'm just hoping GM comes out with another FWD V6 sometime soon... never can have too many of those you know...

 

LOL So true.

 

lol, one word....... Holden. The SV8 comes in at around $40k aus or $21k US. But you guys don't get it so you get screwed. But "A RWD, V8, from GM, for around $25k?" does exist!!