spiffffffy

Flint has been dead wrong on MANY occasions before.

he may as well be predicting the 08 presidential election for all I care, doesn’t mean his word is gold, or that the prediction will come true.

seriously, Pontiac, carve your own path… who cares about boring FWD vehicles… and screw what this Flynt guy says about the the thunderbird and LS… those are boring RWD vehicles… Just keep making exciting RWD vehicles. Pontiac has something really good and genuine with the solstice, they could definately keep expanding on this idea of designs that strike a nerve, that make you realize there is some passion in domestic automotive design… Keep it going… In general, people love cars with a sporty look to them… Who likes boring? That’s where the thunderbird fell apart. It was boring, uninspired, and sterile. Bring back the GTO, make it more muscle than the current one… Make a kick ass RWD sedan, with some muscle injected into it (a la 300c, or Charger). Make a lightweight 2+2 RWD coupe on the solstice chassis with the turbo motor… That would be a vehicle to dominate the imports. Forget what all the others are doing, make them want to compete with you… That sould be their ad campaign… “Carve Your Own Path”… Genius…

I agree with the LLN perspective. This article is stupid. The Buick-Pontiac-GMC dealership channel will take care of the lack of pontiac trucks i.e. torrent moving to GMC. Chevy/Saturn pick up the slack on toyonda wannabes. Who wouldnt want the base pontiac to be a RWD sport compact then an AWD G6 and a big beautiful grand prix with a V8 and RWD.

Do Pontiacs sell anywhere outside North America?

Jeez, Flint just loves to wallow in his own crapulence. This is what happens when auto writers get old and cantankerous (see also: Brock Yates, Pat Bedard)

So the guy from Forbes, which we all know to be the oracle for all things automotive for enthusiasts, thinks that going to rear wheel drive will not make a difference. Let’s go back to a darker time, let’s say 1988 when the spectacular new front wheel drive Ford Probe was going to replace the tired old rear wheel drive Ford Mustang. Rear wheel drive is dead, Ford tried to tell us, and front wheel drive is the future. Now let’s jump ahead 18 years, where’s the Probe? How’s the Mustang doing? Pontiac should resume their self-proclaimed Excitement Division title and go rear wheel drive.

^^Right on Ed… you couldn’t have said it any better… FWD sucks!

Why the hell doesnt ford have a RWD sedan?

Pontiac! Driving Excrement

I personally think it would be pseudo moronic to go to a full RWD lineup for pontiac. DCX proved that they could sell again (the Lx trio) but I would expect that some but far from all of the sales of them were patently because they were rwd.

The G6 this year has been one of the few things to cheer about in terms of sales – compared to almost uniformly a fleet of turds.

I’m all for unique niche cool cars, but the fact of the matter is as the big kid on the block who’s market share is dwindling by the month – they need volume sellers. Mock the Camry and Accord – but their sales volumes are no joke (despite the fact that I’d never own one).

They need a high volume mid and small sized car and I seriously doubt a whizzy wild turbo car or a rwd mid size will be what the masses want. Cool car? Sure. But more in line with the low volume solstice. A low volume car or lineup sn’t going to save the day.

If they want to go RWD, start with the big cars. I don’t see a need to bring back the chevette.

kevin, ford has a rwd sedan… the crown vic.
ford needs to get back on the rwd wagon as much as gm does… they already have the chassis, just in australia…

Yozzie, Bedard’s still brings it, at least once every two months or so. Not fair to lump him with the execrable Yates and the unhinged Flint.

As for Pontiac as RWD-only, there are a few issues. Most of the commentary mixes causation with correlation. As jonas — Mr. Carve-your-own-path — correctly points out, the FoMoCo RWD sedans probably bit the dust for general suckiness, not RWD-iness.

That said, RWD could be a nice distinguisher, if you aren’t looking to sell a quazillion. You’re never going to beat the Accord or Camry with a RWD platform. Too much packaging efficiency to be had.

Like RWD is gonna cure all Pontiacs problems

Bring back Bunkie Knudsen. Is he still alive?

Well I think John DeLorean is still alive so they could bring him back to re-create the GTO and Firebird. i

um, paul.. hes been dead over a year…

John Z. DeLorean, unfortunately, went to the big race track in the sky. Despite what some people may think about him, he was one that definitely changed the automotive landscape for the better.

lol John De Lorean Died last year

i said it before…its all about looks. Never in all my years have i had any intrest in saturn….until the sky. I would own one of them in a second, simply based on looks. The engine might not be the best performer and the interior materials are not so good, and the top is weird….but man does it look good. Persoanly i think audi has the best looking sedans out there…GM just needs to go hire that guy.

Audi’s also have build quality that GM can only dream about. (remember build quality is different from reliability, besides after the initial problems have been fixed Audis last forever)

You can’t beat an audi VW heated seat fire. lmao.

“carving out their own path” = Digging their own grave. ‘Over already; pear it back to Chev, GM and Caddy. Get back in the Game.

j i m

I like the idea of all Pontiac “cars” being rear-wheel drive, with the exception of a G6 replacement. Make the G6 sporty like Mazda6 turbo. I also like the idea of the Torrent…make it handle like at BMW X5 with a kickass engine and sporty interior. The new Torrent needs to go to finishing school for handling and needs a 270hp engine. It looks the part, but needs to act the part.

To those who don’t agree with the Torrent, at least it’s not one of the station wagons or luxo barges that were sold along side of the GTO and Firebird in the 60’s.

Station Wagons are HOT in Europe

No, RWD will not solve all of Pontiac’s problems, far from it, but it’s a start. They also need to move the engine behind the wheels, try to give the car 50 / 50 balance, come up with engines that are powerful enough, while getting good enough gas mileage, and especially making their cars not only drive better (i.e. corner), but also feel better, and start to use some decent materials coupled with good design.

Jon.

(I don’t attack one brand or another brand, I see everything openly and well, some companies are just better than others; such is life, and right now GM isn’t sitting pretty)

Very fair analysis Jon. I sometimes like to look at GM with rose colored lenses, probably because I grew up GM, and am now on the path to become a gm tech. But most of the time, I realize they are far from where they need to be. But they are making inroads, you must admit that.

Very fair analysis Jon. I sometimes like to look at GM with rose colored lenses, probably because I grew up GM, and am now on the path to become a gm tech. But most of the time, I realize they are far from where they need to be. But they are making inroads, you must admit that.

Uhh, pontiac does have an suv.. the torrent. And while it may not be the best thing they make, it still applies and therefore this guy writing the article is a jackass. I’m sure Pontiac is well aware it doesnt JUST take RWD to make a brand successful, but it is a big step forward, and is an ingredient in the recipe for the image and success they are hoping for. No performance brand would promote FWD, and this guy is a dumb **** for questioning it.

as much as i dig LLN, you gotta stop linking to that moron flint.

he’ll say anything to get noticed.

I guess were also gonna have to question the RWD strategy at BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Rolls Royce, Bentley, Ferrari, Porsche, and fill in the blank. FWD is for cheaply assembled econoboxes…on second thought, its perfect for GM.

#30 you are 100% correct ! Good call…..

Madcapp, WTF are you talking about?

Jon.

I very much doubt this Mr. Flint knows a thing about cars.