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saubouin · 09-17-2008, 08:29 PM

Personal attacks & Flames, I guess my Post upset some of you?

Too bad!

Before I continue let me clarify a few things to all the HATER responses. No I'm not a teenager, I turn 40 next week (but I still do act like a kid, always will!!) Yes I do own all the vehicles listed plus I have owned various motorcycles over the years my latest one a Gixxer 1K, I also have a little Honda scooter that I put a stroker kit on (goes 55mph now!) and finally I own a 25 foot Baja Powerboat with a Fuel Injected Chevy Big Block that hits 62mph on GPS. I regularly post on the Corvetteforum, ls1tech and offshoreonly forums and all sorts of ther car forums depending on the car I was owned and was working on. I’m a car nut thru & thru.
Now back to the crux of my original post. This car bares absolutely no resemblance to the concept car. None, which is what really upsets me. GM has been parading this car around in all of its advertisements and tv commercials. Even during last weeks NFL games we could see the concept VOLT being used in two different commercials. GM never even tried to make the concept car a reality. They must have known the concept car would never pass mustard in the wind tunnel. Starting with the Dodge Viper the Big 3 have usually not strayed too far from their concept cars. Usually the wheels and tires are smaller and other body panels are tweaked to meet real world driving conditions, all understandable. I have not seen a prototype and final production car vary this much since some of the crazy prototypes of the 50’s & 60’s. But this VOLT fiasco was such a blatant “bait & switch”. I was prepared to spend $40k on the concept car, or something very close to it for the simple fact that my car would actually have not look like another Honda or Toyota Hybrid going down I-66 on the way to work in the morning. This production car is going to just blend and melt right in with every other car on the road. Sure it might be the latest cool mid-sized compact on the road this week but it will quickly lose it’s luster in 8-16 months. What they gave us is a car with completely different dimensions. It’s not as wide, does not have the long hood, and it does not look like a RWD vehicle. The concept car looked like a futuristic Pony car that was a little more stretched out to accommodate 4 adults comfortably. It was such a great looking car from a style and design stand point that for me that it reminded me of GM of old. Back when Harley Earl and GM had the guts to design something like a 57 Bel Air, 59 Eldorado, 69 Camaro a 65 Vette. I knew the killer tires and wheels would not make the final cut as well as some other interior layouts, but the overall angular body and shape is what I fell in love with. The concept car not only was going to be a technological break thru but a leader in Design. Japanese auto manufacturers have ZERO originality when it comes to molding cars. Toyota Camrys and Honda Accords steal bumbers and hoods designs from last year’s BMW’s, Mercedes and Volvos and graft them onto their current years release. In the past GM and other American car makers lead the world in both innovation and design. Now we are just copying Toyota, what a crying shame.
The car that GM is going to sell you has none of these dimensions and probably fits within inches of the Prius footprint. There are no body curves on this production version that have much originality. They look like bits and pieces taken from other Japanese vehicles already in production. My point is that in 20 years you will never see this production VOLT at a Barrett Jackson auction. It does not have a design style that will stand the test of time.
For those of you that are simply going to buy this car because of the technology I sincerely congratulate you. I personally would not want to spend $40k on a car that looks like a Prius. Toyota and Honda are probably relieved to see that GM could not build the car we all fell in love with at the Auto Show.

09-17-2008, 08:29 PM	#275 (permalink)
saubouin Walking Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 7	Re: Volt Revealed! Personal attacks & Flames, I guess my Post upset some of you? Too bad! Before I continue let me clarify a few things to all the HATER responses. No I'm not a teenager, I turn 40 next week (but I still do act like a kid, always will!!) Yes I do own all the vehicles listed plus I have owned various motorcycles over the years my latest one a Gixxer 1K, I also have a little Honda scooter that I put a stroker kit on (goes 55mph now!) and finally I own a 25 foot Baja Powerboat with a Fuel Injected Chevy Big Block that hits 62mph on GPS. I regularly post on the Corvetteforum, ls1tech and offshoreonly forums and all sorts of ther car forums depending on the car I was owned and was working on. I’m a car nut thru & thru. Now back to the crux of my original post. This car bares absolutely no resemblance to the concept car. None, which is what really upsets me. GM has been parading this car around in all of its advertisements and tv commercials. Even during last weeks NFL games we could see the concept VOLT being used in two different commercials. GM never even tried to make the concept car a reality. They must have known the concept car would never pass mustard in the wind tunnel. Starting with the Dodge Viper the Big 3 have usually not strayed too far from their concept cars. Usually the wheels and tires are smaller and other body panels are tweaked to meet real world driving conditions, all understandable. I have not seen a prototype and final production car vary this much since some of the crazy prototypes of the 50’s & 60’s. But this VOLT fiasco was such a blatant “bait & switch”. I was prepared to spend $40k on the concept car, or something very close to it for the simple fact that my car would actually have not look like another Honda or Toyota Hybrid going down I-66 on the way to work in the morning. This production car is going to just blend and melt right in with every other car on the road. Sure it might be the latest cool mid-sized compact on the road this week but it will quickly lose it’s luster in 8-16 months. What they gave us is a car with completely different dimensions. It’s not as wide, does not have the long hood, and it does not look like a RWD vehicle. The concept car looked like a futuristic Pony car that was a little more stretched out to accommodate 4 adults comfortably. It was such a great looking car from a style and design stand point that for me that it reminded me of GM of old. Back when Harley Earl and GM had the guts to design something like a 57 Bel Air, 59 Eldorado, 69 Camaro a 65 Vette. I knew the killer tires and wheels would not make the final cut as well as some other interior layouts, but the overall angular body and shape is what I fell in love with. The concept car not only was going to be a technological break thru but a leader in Design. Japanese auto manufacturers have ZERO originality when it comes to molding cars. Toyota Camrys and Honda Accords steal bumbers and hoods designs from last year’s BMW’s, Mercedes and Volvos and graft them onto their current years release. In the past GM and other American car makers lead the world in both innovation and design. Now we are just copying Toyota, what a crying shame. The car that GM is going to sell you has none of these dimensions and probably fits within inches of the Prius footprint. There are no body curves on this production version that have much originality. They look like bits and pieces taken from other Japanese vehicles already in production. My point is that in 20 years you will never see this production VOLT at a Barrett Jackson auction. It does not have a design style that will stand the test of time. For those of you that are simply going to buy this car because of the technology I sincerely congratulate you. I personally would not want to spend $40k on a car that looks like a Prius. Toyota and Honda are probably relieved to see that GM could not build the car we all fell in love with at the Auto Show.