The Mullets are going to be pissed…

i like that firebird above…made by germans, eh!

Smart move… no clones, no badge engineering, each division with its own products and character.

“I think I’m gonna faint from all the gayness above”
Oh man, now maybe Burt Reynolds can do a 4th Smokey and the Bandit, oh wait Jackies dead…damnit!

so is Trans Am out also?

The last GTO was so freggin boring looking I think it ruined the nameplate for ever. Naming it a Firebird would be better. Or something completely new.

Firebird nameplate is ruined if any of them are. It was always a weak camaro rebadge. I don’t think any names are tarnished because the people who say that wont consider a GM product anyway.

I just want an aggressively styled, V8 RWD coupe from Pontiac, I don’t give a **** what they call it.

I always thought the camaro looked weaker then the firebird. The firebird/ trans am, had the high profile wing, and hot ram air hood. The camaro was less attractive to me atleast. But Like Oldsmobile said, i dont care what the call it, just make it hot and more different then the camaro.

call Sunfire….

Montana isn’t being used anymore, they should call it that

Neither is Aztec.. but that might not be such a good idea.

Referring to Oldsmobile’s comments, judging by resale value, the Firebird was not a weak Camaro rebadge. The used car values of the last generation Firebirds are higher compared to the last gen Camaros.

That’s because the Firebird was a much more aggressive looking car, especially the Firehawk.

I have a 95 Trans Am, so I’m not hating on the bird. But Firebird always played second fiddle to Camaro. Look which one came back…

Another marketing disaster this way comes… The support for Firebirds is as divisive as Mustang vs. Camaro. Not naming this car what it really is will bite them in the ass AGAIN. People are not as dumb as many would like to believe. The previous “GTO” was not a GTO but a rebadged car with a cool name. Failure. This new car is a Firebird through and throuh, calling it anything else will simply stifle sales.

If it’s such a bad idea to call it a Firebird, why is it a good idea to name the Chevy counterpart a Camaro??

It would make sense to call it a Firebird, if it was a Camaro clone. According to the article, it will be built on the Zeta architecture That doesn’t mean it will be a Camaro clone, only that it will be built on the same archtecture.

The GTO name is hardly tarnished. 400 hp makes up for a lot of styling.

hey, as long as they don’t call it the G10.

I heard that it’s most likely to be the GTO, but can’t verify that.
maybe this time they’ll get styling to match performance.

I’m not sure why, but I sense that using the Firebird name would be a mistake. GM really seems to be on a roll these days, and that includes not only greatly improved product, but making good marketing decisions as well. I’m not sure there’s room in the American psyche for both a resurrected Camaro AND a resurrected Firebird.

But if they DO call it a Firebird, I hope to God it doesn’t look like that cartoon in the picture above!

I don’t see why people hate the GTO design. No, it wasn’t a radical design, but look at the GTOs of the late 60s and early 70s. Those weren’t radical in comparison to the other cars at the time, so shouldn’t it make sense that the GTO of today is a bit of a sleeper to those who don’t know?

Assuming the car is going to be a Camaro clone, to not name it the Firebird is simply foolish. When they gave the Camaro and Firebird the axe, the Firebird was a clone at the time, and it sold well…But, as a former Camaro Z28 owner, it really doesn’t matter to me, I’d take the Camaro over the Firebird (or whatever they name it) any day.

GM has been known for defaming there most beloved nameplates, Monte Carlo, Impala, Le mans, Cutlass, and so on. I will miss Firebird, but I can live with GTO, if it isn’t boring to look at and doesn’t cost 40K for a badly adapted Aussie Muscle Car. 30K for a Pontiac specific performance-equipped car will be fine over a straight Camaro clone.

Time will tell…

Some logic to ponder… It has taken this long for the camaro to reach production. We can assume that if an original Pontiac is to be designed on the Zeta platform, as apposed to a camaro clone, then it will be that much longer the Pontiac will will take to debut after the Camaro. One also has to ask, is GM willing to spend millions in development for an original Pontiac design? Could Pontiac possibly design itself another success story of a Solstice nature?? Maybe, but that’s a pretty big gamble. So again we are left with a Camaro clone badged the GTO. Pity. Call a GTO a GTO, a Camaro clone is what it always has been: A Firebird.

This will not be a Camaro clone. They will share no sheetmetal.

well i bet it will be sweet what ever it is!

Heres an Idea the new Firebird T/A Turbo = LS7 twinturbo w/ dual GT2876R Garret turbines!!!

GTO fits the alphanumeric Pontiac system better than Firebird.. but then again, there is the Solstice..

I’ll vote for Banshee (a name used on 2 previous edition Pontiac concepts for the Firebird & T/A). It doesn’t have any known “image” to people that aren’t gung-ho diehard gearheads who pay attention to these things, and even if they did know… they’re probably not care one way or another. Beyond that… Banshee just sounds cooler than Firebird, T/A, and GTO IMHO. It’s a bit ballsier than many companies are willing to push for today (sorta’ like the old Dart Demon got laid to rest from hysteria amongst the religous types) so if the marketers want to get paranoid, we’ll probably end up with something like the Pontiac “Magenta”, complete with paisley seat fabric. :-\

Could call it the GX. Sorta’ a Roman Numeral play on G10. I still like Banshee better though.

WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!! I hope they mean their gonna use the trans am name instead of the name firebird. How can you bring back the camaro and not have the firebird. Well they can at least give us a retro gto or something. Give me a break.

the Solstice is being renamed to the Golstice.

I personally think that GM has favored Chevy(camaro) over Pontiac(firebird) since the begining. I mean both companies are owned by GM and almost in all generations the Camaro had more HP than the Firebird, if they were both making money for the same company why not give them the same performance and let the people choose. I own an ‘86 Firebird and I would like to see the Firebird reborn. The new Camaro looks cool but I wouldn’t buy it and I know a true Firebird fan would do the same, other people don’t really care.

That’s not really true for the earlier F-bodies. Back when GM let Pontiac be Pontiac (the performance division), the Firebirds were Generally dominant. Yes a very small number of COPO Camaros had 427’s etc but the Firebird boasted the Pontiac 400. A stock first gen Firebird sat a full inch lower than a First gen Camaro and handled better. It also was a full second quicker in the 0-60 when compared to the ‘67 Camaro SS. I could go on, but in short, average 1st gen Firebird > average 1st gen Camaro despite the Halo effect from cars from Yenko and Baldwin Motion etc.

As for the second generation there should be no doubt that Firebirds (or more accurately, Trans Ams) were dominant over Camaros in every single aspect. 2nd Gen Trans Ams even took down the Corvette in several years.

From the 3rd generation to the present though, I agree, GM has forced Pontiac to defer to Chevrolet despite being the “performance brand.” If there is going to be a Zeta-based Pontiac Camaro cousin, it ought to be a Firebird. If it’s going to be a sedan or some such thing, I’ll just have to wonder what GM has againsts the Firebird and Pontiac.

They really ought to call it the 6000SUX

The new Camaro looks cool but I wouldn’t buy it and I know a true Firebird fan would do the same, other people don’t really care. Comment by blacksuperbird

I agree I wouldn’t buy it either but I’d buy the firebird.

pass on the 5th gen Camaro but yes on a Firebird. My thoughts as well. GM doesn’t seem to care about our market or niche or whatever it is.

That is a sweet looking concept. If GM builds it, they’ll be back on top for sure. Combine this with the new Camaro and GM is going to rule the muscle car world. Let’s see your piddly Challenger or girly Mustang keep up with the new F-bods.

Won’t even be worth my time. Go GM

I think you’re confused, Simple Life. Did you read what was said, or just look at the picture? They’re saying there WON’T be a Firebird. That’s just the Camaro concept with the phoenix on the hood. Simple Life…try Simple Mind.