illinest

So, I hope you'll read the whole explanation before you vote.

First: I want a new Firebird
Second: I fear that GM may not be willing to rebadge the Camaro as a Pontiac this time around.
Third: Pontiac (GTO and Solstice GXP notwithstanding) seems to have a hole in their lineup where a 'true' fixed roof sports car should be.
Fourth: GM has done very little to address the youth market (Cobalt SS?!?)


So my proposal is: Turbo-charged six, AWD.


Pretty dramatic shift from the old FR V8 formula I know.
I anticipate the first question to be: Why?

Well, the largest part of it is marketing. Today's 'fast and furious' drivers are tomorrows G6 owners, or so the theory goes. Neither the Solstice or the GTO has any cachet with these young drivers. I can't think of any better way to gain the interest of the young'uns than to sell them something familiar.

Why a turbo-charged six w/ AWD?
Well a Firebird is supposed to be bad-***, but based on the assumption that another FR V8 is too similar to the Camaro, you need to change directions sufficiently in order to differentiate it without sacrificing the bad-assedness. Going MR might be an option but I'd rather save something of the old firebird profile. And when thinking about cars I've driven which are relatively bad-*** and yet also very different from a Camaro, I thought about the Mitsubishi EVO.

Why six instead of 4? 6 is better.





It's not entirely foreign. Firebird has been turbo-charged in the past.

Kebrock

illinest

LOL! I expected this.

Kebrock

My 79 TATA would be turning over in the garage

illinest

if the camaro hadn't been announced already and we had this same conversation, i'd be one of the people voting No myself.
I think I'd actually have used the 'must be FR' button myself, figuring that there's been alternative power trains in the past, but either way I'd be defending the firebirds heritage as well.

But I think it would be ridiculously stupid to have Firebird/Camaro twins again. I'm afraid a firebird would cannibalize Camaro sales more than it would take Mustang sales away from Ford.


But like I said in my last post, I expected it to be an unpopular idea.

micro

not gonna happen

the firebird is dead

but pontiac will have a new rwd coupe in 2/3 years

outnumbered

GM needs more tuner type cars. They need to attract as many youngsters as possible, If they don't, they will not survive another 20 years.

JustinStrife

Folks we have a winner. Many Corvette guys wonder why I own a Mazda RX-7, and a Nissan 240sx, when I have a Corvette. Well before I got my C5 last year, I was dealing with imports. 3x 240sx's, 1x RX-7, 1x Toyota Corolla GT-S RWD. Lightweight, RWD platforms with massive aftermarket support. You can drop V8's in the first two, and even supra turbo motors in the old school corolla. Not to mention your choice of 50 different suspension/brake options.

I'm in the 240sx about $13,000 right now(including cost of the car), including over 3 grand in body work(to restore it like new), 1 grand for the japanese front end, and another 5 grand in engine, exhaust, wheels, and I've got a car that looks stock, and keeps up with my C5. Granted it doesn't make power till 3,000 rpms, but even my dad(who has owned 15 corvettes), can't believe how fast she revs, and how hard she pulls under boost(very smooth transition with the stock turbo). It's like having a RWD Cobalt, with a HUGE aftermarket following(and much better looks than the Cobalt).

Sky/Solstice are GM's first jump into the kind of cars I've been building for the past 4 years, but they're roadsters. So GM STILL misses the 8-ball for me, outside of the Corvette. Even after the Rx-7 is gone to give me $ for Corvette mods, I won't be getting rid of the Nissan. It's one of the best tuner cars on the road hands down.

Will

ptindall

The car is a fine idea, but naming it Firebird is a bad one. Old Firebird owners would hate it and the "Fast and Furious" crowd wouldn't want to be associated with a redneck Firebird. Good idea if they could make it keep up with the new EVOs, just call it something new.

illinest

5 positive
11 negative

so far anyways.
But it bears mentioning that you probably couldn't get a more traditional, conservative, change averse crowd than on corvette forum.

Would the fast and furious crowd be able to embrace a car called firebird?
You raise a good point but I don't think it's a clear slam dunk.
If you skinned it like a retro 70s firebird then you'd probably be right.
But there's a lot of cachet that name has with the press. A new sports car from Pontiac would get some attention, but a controversial new take on the firebird would get LOTS of attention.

And I have to admit to a slightly romantic view of the imagery of the pheonix. The name of the car itself, taken slightly out of context, is suggestive of rebirth.

outnumbered

A Firebird is a screaming chicken.

Big Top Gt

IIRC: it was a turbo car twice.

Once with the turbo 301 (voted "top 10 worst engines ever" in a recent poll) and again with the turbo V6 in the late 80's/early 90's.

I'd love to see a smaller wheelbase, turbo 6, AWD performance platform from GM.

Calling it a Firebird would only be icing on the cake.

PCMusicGuy