12 posts tagged “gm”

For some reason, I found the Buick Park Avenues of interest on Autocade today.

Buick Park Avenue (C-body). 1991–6 (prod. unknown). F/F, 3791 cm³ (V6 OHV). Attractive, roomy Park Avenue (the Electra tag disappeared), allegedly inspired by Park Avenue Essence show car of 1989. Characterized by darkened A-pillar. Supercharged Ultra model from 1992, but even base models had good performance. Thirsty, with sub-par steering and handling on base model. Not quite the top model, as Buick Roadmaster held that title for the early 1990s.

Buick Park Avenue (C-body). 1997–2005 (prod. unknown). 4-door sedan. F/F, 3791 cm³ (V6 OHV). Revised Park Avenue, roughly the same size as Buick LeSabre; now Buick’s range-topper in US. Sold on quality image and above-average ride; not a particularly inspired handler. Ultra models had thirsty supercharged V6. Portholes (Ventiports) returned for Ultra for 2003 model year. Final 3,000 called Special Edition.

Buick Park Avenue (WM). 2007 to date (prod. unknown). 4-door sedan. F/R, 2792, 3564 cm³ (V6 DOHC). Chinese-assembled version of Holden Statesman (WM), but with visual differences such as visually large grille, different bumpers, and no indicators and vents in wings aft of the front wheels. Smaller Australian-built 2·8-litre unit related to one from Cadillac CTS available on Chinese edition, along with 3·6 from Holden Commodore (VE). Otherwise mechanically similar to Statesman.

Jerry Flint in Forbes is one of the most intelligent motoring industry commentators in the world today. I pretty much agree with his latest column on saving GM. Highlights:

The issue is not whether there can be a rescue at General Motors; the issue is whether the current management can save it. The record is not good. Since 1992, GM’s U.S. market share has fallen steadily—from 34% that year to 19% in May. Many of GM’s leading executives are from the finance side of the business, but the financial failures are numerous. The company wasted $2 billion on an investment in Fiat and many billions more on the Delphi spin-off. Management also wrecked GMAC, its car loan subsidiary, by lending mortgage money to people who could not pay it back.

   And:

Unlike some commentators, I do not think GM’s problem is that it has too many divisions. It is shifting Buick, Pontiac and GMC to common dealerships, which means some divisions are becoming more like individual models rather than full-fledged brands. It causes less public relations damage and legal liabilities to leave Buick with a few models, rather than endure the type of bad publicity it endured a few years ago when it phased out Oldsmobile.
   I think that GM made a big mistake and did a great disservice to itself and to its dealers when it recently announced that it was looking for ways to unload Hummer. Yes, the biggest Hummers are gas pigs, but Hummer is a strong brand to put up against Jeep. It was a mistake, too, to cancel production of the Hummer H4, a smaller vehicle to compete against the iconic Jeep Wrangler. Just because consumers are flocking to vehicles that are more efficient does not mean that they do not want exciting, macho, sport utility vehicles.
   Russia has plenty of oil and enough wealthy people for vehicles such as Cadillac Escalades and Hummers. Why can't GM step up its export business to such markets?

   Jerry Flint also believes that Bob Lutz and many GM folks can lead the company to recovery. This might be worth a post on the main blog.
   Incidentally, I have been told that Condé Nast Portfolio published my letter to the editor about the US auto industry.

I was chatting to Nick Tomlinson au blog, and this ad for the 1988–9 Vauxhall Cavalier came to mind. Yes, the car of the future is the Opel Vectra A!

   No mention of a nuclear power cell, which GM actually did promise us in the Futurama shows of the 1950s.

Un pub britannique de 1988 pour l’Opel Vectra A, s’appelle Vauxhall Cavalier en Grande-Bretagne.

[Cross-posted] There’s a part of us that’s slightly cynical about the corporate involvement in this video, but it’s no different from sponsorships from fashion designers or fabric companies at polytechnic level. General Motors teamed up with the International Academy of Design & Technology and provided five cars from which students could be inspired. They had to design for categories such as avant-garde and eveningwear. Chosen entries were showcased at an event called Imagine 2008.
   General Motors gets an insight into young people’s thinking and how fashion influences its products, while the students learn about processes and how the Zeitgeist fuses product and clothing design together.

I had never heard of the film Vantage Point but IMDB says it was released in New Zealand in mid-March. YouTube has a bad-ass car chase from it. I understand it’s set in Salamanca, Spain, but this clearly looks like México to me—the cars are the big giveaway (car buffs, look out for the Chevrolet Montana, Volkswagen Gol and Volkswagen Polo Classic, while Dennis Quaid drives not an Opel Astra H, but a Chevrolet Astra H, if you look at the badging) and it doesn’t look that much like what I have seen of Spain in photographs. (Friends with digital cameras must make life hard for film-makers these days!)
   Sound quality is not what it should be, so it was probably pirated at the cinema.

For some reason I enjoyed researching these US-built cars on Autocade. Some are forgotten for very good reasons, others out of unfairness. Not a complete list by any means, but hopefully I can challenge some memories out there.

Eagle Medallion. 1988–9 (prod. unknown). 4-door sedan, 5-door wagon. F/F, 2165 cm³ (4 cyl. SOHC). Renamed Renault Medallion, an Americanized Renault 21. New marque after Chrysler bought AMC in 1987, but cars quickly cancelled in favour of Mitsubishis. Actually a good car compared with its competition, but AMC’s small size and rumours of takeover damaged its chances; and the problems were not solved with the change of marque.

Cadillac Cimarron (J-car). 1982–8 (prod. 132,499). 4-door sedan, F/F, 1796, 1991 cm³ (4 cyl. OHV), 2837 cm³ (V6 OHV). A good idea: build a Cadillac that could take on the BMW 3-series, and do it cheaply, on J-car platform. Seville showed that Cadillac could go smaller and succeed, but at least that car did not look like the Chevrolet Nova. Here, Cimarron was essentially a Chevrolet Cavalier clone, yet the price was nearly double. Few were fooled into buying the smaller Cadillac—at least not at the prices the company wanted to charge. Four-cylinder engines did not help perceptions, though V6 arrived in 1985 and was standard from 1987. Final year production of 6,454; cancelled afterwards. Sector not filled till European-market BLS launched.

Ford Falcon (1970½). January–August 1970 (prod. 26,000 approx.). 2- and 4-door sedan, 5-door wagon. 250 in³ (6 cyl. OHV), 302, 351, 429 in³ (V8 OHV). For half a model year, Ford transferred its Falcon nameplate from the compact model to the intermediate Torino–Fairlane bodyshell (117 in wheelbase for sedans; curiously, the wagon was on 114 in), making the Torino’s engine options available. Still marketed as an economy car, the last American Falcon is characterized by its swooping design. After 1970, Falcons were made only in Australia and Argentina (with an assembly plant for Australian models in New Zealand).

Chrysler Imperial. 1990–3 (prod. 41,276 approx.). F/F, 3301, 3778 cm³ (V6 OHV). Last cars to wear Imperial badge. Upscale Chrysler New Yorker Fifth Avenue of these years, with 3·3- (1990) or 3·8-litre (1991–3) V6. Y-body developed as largest version of K-car platform. Different nose and tail which made it longer than New Yorker by 4 in, though wheelbase stayed the same. Not that refined, with poor performance, suspension and transmission.

General Motors’ latest video, on its new Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1 and the Cadillac CTS-V, emphasizes the new cars’ green credentials. I’m not convinced. There’s a greater commentary over at Lucire, but telling me that a supercar is greener than its competition is like saying a small blade is less harmful than a large one during a knife attack. The ’Vette and its rivals are unlikely to ever see 20 mpg, while the video is a bit light on just why the Caddy is green, with 550 bhp and 550 lb ft.
   They look fabulous on the outside, as many American cars do, but marketing them as green is really optimistic.

OK, so driving and shooting pics do not mix but be grateful I wasn’t using my 35 mm for these (which I have done before in a number of countries).

   Have an old ambulance? Not a ghostbuster? If you are an under-floor insulator called Garry, then you might find a converted ambulance to make a good van. I loved this thanks to the business name: Man about the House.
   I never found out if Garry looked like Richard O’Sullivan, but this was a nice throwback to the 1970s’ sitcom of the same name—which Americans might know as Three’s Company (the remake of a British series by Cooke and Mortimer).
   Much nicer in terms of retro transportation was this: ’66 Ford Mustang GT fastback. Even if you know nothing about cars, you must find this cool on some level. And it was in such beautiful condition across from the Basin Reserve in Wellington, New Zealand. Props to the owner—this was the most beautiful thing I saw that whole day.

Car nuts will appreciate these photographs from Taiwan that I have already put on my hard drive.

   The first is of a Ssangyong Chairman, a car based on an old Mercedes E-Klasse platform (kind of how the Chrysler 300 came into being). However, the owner of this one has decided to add three-pointed stars front and rear to feel like he’s driving around in a German, and not Korean, car. I have to say that for non-car buffs, this would be pretty convincing.    Taiwan, like Red China, is home to many Buicks, but the ones here tend to be the same as the US-market ones (with the exception of the Daewoo-based Excelle, which is not very popular). I saw plenty of old Regals, Park Avenues and even a Rendezvous. Ford is probably the most popular American brand; GM, even through Daewoo, Opel and Saab, is thin on the ground in Taiwan.    A case in point: the Ford Escape is a popular SUV and outnumbers its twin, the Mazda Tribute. As Chinese car watchers know, the trim on these Escapes differs from the ones sold in the US. This one is in the Alishan, used as a police cruiser. In town, there were Ford Mondeo Metrostars. These are the Chinese-made versions, with a different front end, though the rest of the car is identical to the CD132s that had been made in Genk (the CD345 has launched, but I saw none on the streets). A few were used as police cars, along with Toyotas, Nissans, Mitsubishis and Daewoos.
   As expected, Japan dominates the car market, though there are some oddball vehicles here. The Subaru Tutto is based on the old Justy and since sedans are favoured by Chinese buyers, the company concocted this one for the local market. It’s still a hatchback, but features a small bustle, à la Volvo 345 or Ford Escort Mk III.    Given that Japanese cars are so prevalent, I was surprised to see a Volvo S40 in the countryside. It looked pretty good at this angle. Then I saw how it was souped up by its owner with garish wheels and a spoiler. For something that is basically a Ford Focus, the mods were optimistic.
   More as I download the pics and put them into themes.

Since the 1980s, there has not been much difference between Opel and Vauxhall in terms of their offerings. There have been exceptions: Vauxhall imports various Holdens as performance models, for example, but generally, a Vauxhall Corsa is an Opel Corsa, a Vauxhall Vectra is an Opel Vectra. These are sometimes made in Britain, but they are developed in Germany.
   Vauxhall, however, has a proud history in the UK and its parent, General Motors, has always kept the brand going, to the point of producing the same advertising, but with different logos and slightly altered footage. Publicity photos are usually mirrored to get the steering wheel on the correct side for the Brits. Here are two TVCs from 1989 for the Opel Calibra in Germany and the Vauxhall Calibra in the UK. Spot the difference.

   Les pubs pour l’Opel Calibra de 1989, en Allemand et en Grande-Bretagne. Le pub britannique a la marque Vauxhall, mais le véhicule, et l’idée, sont les mêmes.