Pontiac GTO (nee Monaro) tanks in the US

[08ESE]

VERY close to a Volvo C70 coupé.
.

been sayin that since i saw the first one myself

[CussCuss]

???

think plain jane wrx vs evo, its no contest.

Mustang : 4 seater 'sports car' with a v8 option
Corvette : 2 seater proper sports car, flagship model, costs over 10k more, and completely wallops any kind of mustang and thats not even taking into account the z06, when you take that into account your probably looking at a car that is twice the price of a mustang.
Its like saying why dont you compare a mustang to a ferrari 360?

[The Pupat]

Exactly. 2 Completely different target markets.

[Mini_Me]

Is that being ironic?

AUD$60 million to develop the Monaro is the perfect example of economy... making a dollar stretch the furtherest.

A minor model change like the last of the AUII -> BA was something like hundreds of millions.

It's well known that BMW, Mercedes and the Americans spend billions to develop their new mass market model, eg. 3 series, C class.

AUD$60 million to them is enough to design some new exterior mouldings.

T.

$500 million i believe for the BA

[Captiva Fan]

*scraps entire NeroMag Niki 650 vs. Trabant comparo story*

[kabab]

Had an automotive designer here at work for a while and he was also commenting how bland aussie cars look... not that they look ugly just bland.

Mind he he aslo thinks and i must aggree that most American cars are just plain ugly!

Another problems the yank have is all the concept styling looks awesome but they totaly disregard all manufactoring costs. So when it comes to making the dam thing it turns out looking ugly as feck. Just have a loook at all the concept designs for American cars and what actually got produced.

[Lon]

A minor model change like the last of the AUII -> BA was something like hundreds of millions.

Minor? I thought it was a rather major change.

[Captiva Fan]

Had an automotive designer here at work for a while and he was also commenting how bland aussie cars look... not that they look ugly just bland.

Look what happened the last time Folden tried something just-so-slightly outside of the Bland Box ... the AU. Talk about a buyer smackdown as a result of making something slightly unusual! Australian buyers are conservative, and Folden therefore have to style conservatively.

BMW, on the other hand, increases sales in most markets after an accross-the-board controversial styling decision ...


Lon, BA is as similar to AU as the current Impreza is to the MY2001; I'm pretty sure it was (approximately) the same panels that were changed. They've basically only changed what usually gets done in a "major facelift" for most models, but they've changed those panels in a way that makes the whole car look different.

[Gazilla]

I thought they did alot more than that, when did their current IRS come out? was that with BA? The engine changes are much more than a facelift usually gets (ie VP-VY commos haveing basically the same motor) etc.

[Captiva Fan]

Oh, there are a few more changes than your average "facelift", but it's certainly not as new a car as the AU was. The engine-changes aren't really much more than VR-VS, and the adapted-from-Ford-Europe rear suspension kinda uses a new rear subframe-section that replaces the existing rear subframe-section (I think sort-of like the differences between the rear of an AWD Lancer & a FWD Lancer).

[kabab]

Look what happened the last time Folden tried something just-so-slightly outside of the Bland Box ... the AU. Talk about a buyer smackdown as a result of making something slightly unusual! Australian buyers are conservative, and Folden therefore have to style conservatively.

Yeah but that thing was UGLY!!! Nissan and Mazda did a great job with the 350z/Rx8 and they are selling well here.

[TonyJZX]

As as aside, you ask Americans, Brits or Euros what they think of the AU.

You'll be surprise what they say!

T.

[SpaceCowboy]

News Flash

I've just received some leaked sketches from Holden on a US-only Monaro. They've added a few extra touches to spice it up for the American market.

[crYnOid]

my understanding is that all but a few HSV GTO (VXR) have been sold, and Vauxhall want to double the amount imported next year. Dunno about the plain Monaro but for what I have gathered Vauxhall are pretty happy about this whole thing.

[TonyJZX]

Would I be churlish in thinking that Jeremy Clarkson might have something to do with the popularity of the VXR?

T.