well I won’t be seeing any of those as I live in California

the g8 and gto better look good because the last ones looked uglier than hell

Bye Bye BMW. Nice knowin ya! Better yet, nice seeing you get your asses handed to you by our boys at GM. BMW’s are overrated crap next to Pontiac and these cars are gonna prove that

Good move to add more RWD cars to their lineup. Now they just need to make the G6 RWD.

I say keep the G8 name. That way, the car has a chance. Given the lessons learned from the Charger 4 door and the new GTO, I think they’d be wise to cut the power to the Grand Prix moniker.

Then I wont have to see countless threads and articles telling me that the new RWD grand Prix doesnt hold a candle to the ‘68 or ‘81 or, well, choose your poison.

Ehh I dont’ know I kind of think this alphanumeric naming scheme has gone way overboard.

Maybe, but regardless, I still think they should drop the Grand Prix moniker.

Audi owns alpha-numeric names, The G+ a number naming system is meaningless, derivative and unevocative. GM should bring back names like Bonneville and Tempest and Safari and Catalina for Pontiac and Wildcat and Electra for Buick and Bel Air, Nomad and Biscayne for Chevrolet. Dart and Polara are great names for Dodges, Falcon and Futura for Fords, Cyclone and Cougar for Mercurys.
Valiant Barracuda and Fury could be brought back by Chrysler

CamaroMullet: The CamaroMullet used to have full reign over the mullet brethren, but that was back in the 70’s and 80’s. This species has fallen from grace since, but can still be seen enjoying NASCAR events and shopping at Kragen, or up in the attic cooking up crank. Distinguishing features include: a molester mustache (peach fuzzy), tight-fitting acid wash jeans, and an ever-present key ring hanging from the belt loop.

Feel the mulletude emanating through your computer screen from this rare pic.

It is not recommended you confront the CamaroMullet, for they are very aggressive and cannot be hurt (this might be due to the frequent use of methamphetamines, angel dust, etc.).

Mulletude: 10

Aggressiveness: 10

Hobbies: primering cars, bar fights, picking scabs, losing teeth.

Sightings: Kragen, Grand Auto, working on a Camaro on their front lawn.

Favorite Band: AC DC

I am with B_R here on the number schemes. MB still makes sense, where BMW has lost it to the marketing folks (various numbered 3 and 5 series cars have the same size engine), but Pontiacs just try to mimic the Germans without any rationality…

I read somewhere that they are tying the number to engine size but G6 with a base 4 cylinder? G8 with a base V-6?

Lincolns alphabet soup BS has got to go as well.

And who will actually call the Miata an EM-EX-FIVE?

The Miata has always been the MX-5 everywhere in the world but the USA

I hope they figure a way out to make the GTO look like the ‘66 and ‘67. That would be great competition. If it looks anything like the one now, its going down the drain.

Adam, retro styling has got to go. It works now, but it wont very soon.

Just give us some well built, well priced RWD muscle and we may come back to you. I don’t care what you name it.

Imported Holdens as both the G8 and GTO, sounds like a great plan. Only problem is the volume limitations, but if Pontiac is going to be a more niche RWD brand then that might be fine.

Pontiac and Buick are going to be more focused brands (fewer products), so maybe importing them will be the way to go. We will probably get them quicker. G6 is the volume car anyway.

It better not look like that, or it’ll be even worse than the GTO debacle. As far as retro goes, people really like American cars from the 50s and 60’s. Give the people what they want. The car should not be slavishly retro, but it should take its cues and overall profile from the mid 60s Pontiacs and the bird nose look of the early seventies. Modern interpretation of heritage aesthetics works for car companies. Reinventing yourself works for Madonna, but not cars. If you ignore the past you lose some of the brand’s personality and special ness. And for god’s sake name it Bonneville, Catalina, grand prix, not G8, no one buys a car named after a useless trade summit.

I disagree 2006300C, the only way forward is to stay fresh and look forward. All brands that have been continually successful over the years (BMW, Mercedes, VW, etc) dont embrace retro as a whole. Pontiac must creat “new” legends, and not dwell on an era long ago. In the 50s and 60s Pontiacs weren’t based on cars from the 20s were they? Nor should they be now.

Bmws least successful model was the Z8, Fords Thunderbird didn’t sell and the New Beetle doesn’t sell in huge numbers

In the 50s and 60s people wanted American cars and the cars were awesome. Get your confidence back AMerica build those Impalas that everyone wants. DCX bring back Plymouth and Darts, Valiants Barracudas

“Bmws least successful model was the Z8,”

In fact it was the 318ti, a car on the opposite end of the scale. At least is was huge failure in the US.

The Z8 was a limited production hand built machine. It was never designed to be anything more than a halo car. This car will be one of the most collectble BMWs ever.You can only sell so many $120K cars.

least successful in that at the time it was in production no one really liked it, it was deemed cynical and not a particularly good drive

Ohh, how narrow-minded of me that others may wander in from outside the US on this site…

Say the following with the foreign accent of your choice:

Yankees will never call the Mazda MX-5 by its proper name, i.e. the MX-5, but will stick to an old fashioned and ‘cute’ name. So trite.

So Golf, er Rabbit-like…

Boo Hoo!! Oh La La MGBYG just so you know Im from Yoorp

Modern American styling has basically been bland and in many cases ugly. The designers have no choice but to look to a better time because the present and future are not that bright. The 50’s and some of the 60’s was a time of hope and optimism in the auto industry, these times are not. Retro design is kind of like going back home again so to speak., you find your bearings and find new inspiration. As for some failed examples, the Z8 is considered one of the worst BMWs ever made, the thunderbird was neglected and was only competitive for a bout three years, and the new beetle is more expensive and inferior to the golf in every way. The styling was what people loved but could not get past the engineering, or corporate faults.

G8 sounds like “Gate” I say make it G9, as a replacement for the Bonneville.

The whole alphanumeric name thing should be left to Cadillac. Call it the Grand Prix.

I own a 06 GTO & I love it , if you havent driven one dont dis it

Crikey! Drive one of these cars and you’ll know, instantly, that Aussies know how to build a rear-wheel drive car to perfection and have been doing so for many, many years. If you get this car, be happy. I now own the Aussie version, the VE Commodore, and it is just a wonderful car…you should be so lucky to get them in the States. IMHO, the Commodore and its many derivatives would sell like hotcakes in the good old US. Check out these models in Google to see why:

2006 Holden Statesman 2006 Holden Caprice

This car is what EVERY domestic, V8, RWD loving person has wanted. A reasonably priced, nice sized, high performance RWD vehicle for those of us that don’t want / can’t get a $50k Bimmer.

I found a good site… There’s a lot more detail about the car here:

http://www.L98G8.com

Brian