The Last Chevrolet Monte Carlo Rolls off The Line

[knightfan26917]

Originally Posted by 61695

The last MC was RWD. period.

*raises eyebrow*

Sooo...I'm not the only one?



Cort:33swm."Mr Monte Carlo.Mr Road Trip".pig valve.pacemaker
WRMNshowcase.lego.HO.model.MCs.RT.CHD = http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort
"Never compromise what's right" ... Aaron Tippin ... 'You've Got To Stand For Something (Or You'll Fall For Anything)'

[doh]

Fairwell to a long lasting name. Heck I dated my wife in a Monte Carlo, over 20 years ago

[SSrevolution]

Kind of sucks for me. I'm hardly on this site anymore so I miss out on a lot of stuff.

I want to voice my sadness at this juncture, even figuring in a handful of you will read this.

The Monte Carlo is a piece of history. On the market since 1970, a brief hiatus in the late 80s and early 90s, and back into a tough world in 1995.

The last generations of Monte Carlos were as we would describe squandered. The ones up til 99 were still getting outsold by imports but at least they sold well and had an identity, and at the time were some of the nicest cars out there. But the bland styling, poor execution, and bad reputation plagued the venerable Monte Carlo until this last restyle from the 2000 year. Base models were plastic on wheels and the nicest were just not quite nice enough but for some reason, unbenknownst to me and I'm sure to you all as well. It holds some sort of little special place in our hearts.
It was never ground breaking, never particularly exciting, or had a following.

The Monte Carlo didn't fail. It was GM that failed the Monte Carlo. The car had enormous potential to stave off the invasion that took place in the 90s. GM had a homerun, but they didn't follow through. Like what Ford did to the Taurus and the Ranger, it was forgotten and left to be eaten alive.
The next generation was a lost effort, it seemed like it was updated just enough to justify not killing it. That generation lasted 6 agonizing model years without anything new or exciting.
This last generation is phenomenal in my humble opinion. But the Monte was pushed out of the spotlight by its bigger and more practical brother the Impala. Ignored by the masses and the parent company, the virtually identical Monte Carlo eventually slid away. And after years of keeping it alive through mediocrity, GM killed the poor little legend without a second thought as to what the name means. Despite the fact that the nameplate is the winningest in all of NASCAR history, and despite numerous opportunities and wasted efforts and time to make it the world beater it deserved to be, here we are. Writing on a message board about the death of a legend. I'll miss it a lot. And I don't know why.

[Blue04Quad]

Originally Posted by dueus2007

It's sad, that car had so much potential to be more than it was....

I second On That. they were real popular cars when i worked at budget we hardly ever had them available.

[TriShield]

Good riddance.

[knightfan26917]

Originally Posted by SSrevolution

It was GM that failed the Monte Carlo.

*nods*

Whole-heartily agree on this one.



Cort:33swm."Mr Monte Carlo.Mr Road Trip".pig valve.pacemaker
WRMNshowcase.lego.HO.model.MCs.RT.CHD = http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort
"Nobody likes to be let down" ... Jack Johnson ... 'Flake'

[inov8r]

If anyone can justify the 2-door version of a specific model, beyond what the Camaro and Corvette offer, I'd like to read the explanation. I do agree that a Malibu might make sense, as the engineering of a 2-door, via the G6, has already been done (BTW, G6 convertible fared VERY poorly in crash tests). The old school folks won't be satisfied by a FWD "sporty" 2-door Malibu, but GM is not operating in the same market today as it was 40+ years ago when the Malibu name first hit the street. The Camaro will have to do...

Monte Carlo? I've suggested in the past that this name might be used for an upscale version of Zeta/Impala--YES, as a FOUR DOOR--after all, the original Impala SS was all 2-door (61-69), but after 25 years it was revived as a 4-door, and I see no reason why the MC nameplate couldn't come back as a.4-door sedan. Much classier name than Caprice. It would be akin to the relationship between Camry & Avalon.

[AndrewGS]

Originally Posted by inov8r

If anyone can justify the 2-door version of a specific model, beyond what the Camaro and Corvette offer, I'd like to read the explanation. I do agree that a Malibu might make sense, as the engineering of a 2-door, via the G6, has already been done (BTW, G6 convertible fared VERY poorly in crash tests). The old school folks won't be satisfied by a FWD "sporty" 2-door Malibu, but GM is not operating in the same market today as it was 40+ years ago when the Malibu name first hit the street. The Camaro will have to do...

Monte Carlo? I've suggested in the past that this name might be used for an upscale version of Zeta/Impala--YES, as a FOUR DOOR--after all, the original Impala SS was all 2-door (61-69), but after 25 years it was revived as a 4-door, and I see no reason why the MC nameplate couldn't come back as a.4-door sedan. Much classier name than Caprice. It would be akin to the relationship between Camry & Avalon.

There are people on the planet that like roomy, luxurious coupes, not Grand Tourers like the Monaro/GTO. These people may not know it because there hasn't been a decent, big, roomy coupe in a long time, but that is what the Monte Carlo was originally, that is what it could be again.

That is why my dad's first new car was a 1974 Monte Carlo. He wanted a luxury two-door car for image purposes but room for four or five people when he went out. I guarantee at my dad's age (51) if GM built a Monte Carlo with a V8, RWD, decent handling, nice styling and enough room for four adults he would want it for a daily driver.

[IheartOLDS]

a sad day yes. but the problem with the monte carlo is they didnt keep it competative. i saw this day coming. why did they get rid of the monte emblem with the new cars an replace it with the bowtie? the monte could have been alot better. i think the nicest montes are the ss´s from the 80´s.

[Chris322]

Wikipedia is reporting on their Monte Carlo page that Bob Lutz has confirmed a new Monte Carlo will debut on Zeta within the next few years. Now I am not that gullable that I would actually believe that. However, I think that if after the Camaro has had a chance to prove itself and is selling well, a low-volume Monte Carlo might be a good idea.

[inov8r]

Andrew, the problem is that when the 1974 MC WAS part of a popular market segment, gas was "cheap", the influence of environmental and safety regulations was much less than today, and the car, nicely equipped, could be purchased for a smaller percentage of the average person's annual income. By 1997, just 10 years ago, when the last of the B-body models was being cleared from dealer inventory--cars with the same basic chassis, driveline and dimensions of your Dad's 74 MC--the automobile market, and GM's position in that market, had changed CONSIDERABLY.

It no longer makes economic sense for GM to try to revive a model that has such limited market appeal, that competes NOT with other manufacturers, but slices up the GM pie further, since most buyers of a MC probably moved from another GM vehicle to do so. It is perhaps defeatist of me to say that, and while it was a nice effort at the time, today there is no justification to have another car that would be so close to the Camaro in size--if the new Zeta/Camaro is as big as all the stories suggest, it will be larger than the Monaro/GTO and the now deceased Monte Carlo.

The cost of bringing a new model to market from GM today is huge, and unless the vehicle has sufficient market appeal--at a price that buyers consider worth doing so--it's going to be VERY difficult, since there is much more competition out there today, seeking customer dollars. GM has not shown itself to be very adept at re-capturing markets or market segments.

It isn't 1974 anymore, much as we might like it to be.

[TahoeMikeZ71]

Originally Posted by Chris322

Wikipedia is reporting on their Monte Carlo page that Bob Lutz has confirmed a new Monte Carlo will debut on Zeta within the next few years. Now I am not that gullable that I would actually believe that. However, I think that if after the Camaro has had a chance to prove itself and is selling well, a low-volume Monte Carlo might be a good idea.

The Monte Carlo is dead. Don't believe anything on wikipedia.

[mikmak]

Another classic marque fed to the dogs. From what I could gather, it was a specialist coupe that epitomises comfort. Something that goes hand in hand with the venerable American (and Aussie) road trip. Strange how something so class defining in its time can become so irrelevant later on. The Australian Fairlane/LTD recently suffered a similar fate and oddly enough, was of the luxury/comfort (as opposed to luxury/sport) persuasion. It seems everyone is in a hurry these days and nobody wants to take it easy.

[BigC]

This breaks my heart. I know a lot of you didn't care for the styling but I love the way the 00-05 looked. It was distictive it doesn't look like every other generic import on the road.

Personally I think the 2 mistakes GM made with the Monte Carlo were marketing and low interior quality. Almost all of the marketing the Monte got was through Nascar. Most Nascar fans are 30-40 somethings WITH KIDS(NASCAR Dads?). So although they maybe fond of the monte it isn't practical for someone with a family. Not to mention by marketing it through Nascar it made the monte a mans car. When in reality there are probably many women who may have been intrested in it. The car should have been marketed towards recent college graduates, or young single professionals. Neither of whom are seen at Nascar very often. As for the interior styling. I don't think it looks bad at all. The problem is everything feels kind of cheap and flimsy. A good solid interior would have done wonders for the MC.

At any rate I'm really sad to see her go. May she rest in peace.

[marinerbc]

Great car for road trips at XX mph on the Interstate. Will really miss it.