It's all good. Besides, I got an '06. It's not perfect, but I love it!
RANT:
As far as that article, Bob Lutz fought G.M. tooth and nail to bring the brand back. It was because of him they made the Solstice. When the bean counters at G.M. unveiled their vision of the GTO, it was an utter disappointment to everyone. In fact, in '04, at various conventions around the country, it was rumored G.M. was trying to kill off the brand. Seeing the actual GTO with a side exhaust, no hood scoops and bland styling, only made the rumor circulate more.
Eventually, someone in the design department came up with the SAP (
Special
Appearance
Package) for an additional $3K...or something like that. It was sort of a blessing..but not. It only made the appearance that someone other than Mr. Lutz cared about the brand Pontiac. The dual exhaust SAP 'option', gave some of us hope that a GTO with dual exhaust was in the works. In reality, it was more a ploy to appease some in the industry. With advertising targeting...well...pretty much nothing, it was inevitable that Pontiac would show slumping sales numbers for the brand.
Because of the meager sale and the general public asking for it, the new hood was considered standard for 2005 & 2006 (
you could get the plain hood as an option for less $$$...though not a single 2006 GTO was ordered with the lower cost hood!), along with the redesigned dual exhaust
rear fascia, new colors and 18" rims. The car was better, but the stigma of the crap the higher ups at Pontiac threw together for the launch of the 'GOAT's' unveil left those who
would have bought one, to consider something else.
I mean, the tail lights changed every year. The standard items-which should have been standard (were added on in '05 and more in '06). This is my opinion, but from what I was told at various conventions, the re-introduction of the GTO was a façade. That Chevy was going to be deemed the "regular folks brand, Buick was the upscaled version, Cadillac was to be the high class version and the Corvette was going to be split off into a completely separate Brand. There was NO room for Oldsmobile and Pontiac...so those two would get the axe...
This is what was circulating back in the 90's and look at what happened! In 2004 the last Oldsmobile rolled off the line. Though Pontiac outsold Buick in the U.S., Buick had better sales in China and other Asian markets; and in 2009, the Pontiac brand followed suit because of 'restructuring'.
...I find it ODD that rumors in the 90's came to fruition about a decade later...
Now, in C/D magazine, there are articles about the Corvette Zima...or whatever the F*** it is supposed to be called. Why not just call it what it is...a Ferrari wanna be!
There was a report which came out the other day, that I thought was kind of epicically odd. You don't have to read the entire article to get the gist, but apparently, Ferrari is posting RECORD sales! --->
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/2e9b42e6-deec-11e0-9af3-00144feabdc0.html
So, how do you get in on this. Well, first, you don't pay for it. You get a "bailout" so you can "restructure" the company. Then come out with a P.O.S. VOLT and say it's the best thing since sliced bread. Hide the fact the car catches fire and doesn't perform to the specs you advertised. Take the $$$ you got for R & D and do the same thing...hide it. After a while sell the volt inventory to government agencies and work the bugs out. Once you almost have it right, sell the idea and it's workings to companies in China for pennies on the dollar.
...HEY....but you get a tax break for buying one! G.M. lost about $40K PER CAR, but SO WHAT!...
...Oh, and G.M. is still reporting losses, but no big surprise there...
Fast forward to today and what will 'supposedly happen in 2017. Once most things are in place, you redesign the Corvette look almost EXACTLY like the Ferrari Berlinetta. Spending all kinds of $$$ equipment to build high technology frames out of Aluminum and various carbon fiber parts, you slowly convert "America's Car" (citing the old advert: Baseball, Hot Dog's, Apple Pie and Chevrolet!) into a high dollar line-up like Ferrari or Lamborghini.
Being there are more millionaires today than before the huge housing crisis and high dollar sports cars are in demand, as a company..I get it. You go where the $$$ is.
However, as a business owner and a consumer, you ALWAYS help those who helped you. This is #1, followed by your word is your honor. If you say you are going to help or do something for someone, you do it! but when a major million $$$ company takes hordes of cash and lies about what it is doing, they are NOT helping you and they are NOT helping me.
If people want to worship these cars and say how sexy they are...GREAT! I for one may take part in admiring the car...but I will NEVER buy another G.M. product built after 2009. This goes double for Dodge-who was sold to Fiat. I don't blame Fiat for wanting the Dodge brand and buying something which was a spectacular deal LONG TERM! However, because my government gave Dodge a SHIT LOAD of $$$ and then allowed the company to be sold to a NON-Aamerican brand...I CALL BULLSHIT!
FORD may be guilty of some things...like the Firestone tire problems of yore, but it is becoming more and more difficult to do business with fair, responsible and honest companies. G.M. and Dodge are NOT one of them. The fact that Pontiac was killed off in '09 makes that an easy way to remember when the U.S. taxpayer was played as a bunch of fools. I love my country, I love my countrymen, but our government is a bunch of liars, cheats, crooks and the likes; who take "contributions" to their re-election funds from large corporations.
They are a lot like DIAPERS! After a while, they need to be changed for the same reasons!