[salbracht]

I can't believe I voted "No".

When my dad took me to the drive in back in '77 to see Burt Reynolds and that black and gold Trans-Am I was hooked.

The first car I ever bought was a '73 Firebird. I replaced it in '96 with a WS6 Trans Am (but it still hurt to see it drive away.)

I have about 30 die cast Firebirds (and many more of the Hot Wheels size ones) and about every "coffee-table book" on Firebirds ever written.

I've converted my closet into a library for old car magazines (High Performance Pontiac, etc.)

So you see ... it's kindof like a sickness. I am a Firebird Freak.

But ... times have changed. (Sad to say.) Unlike the 60's when muscle-cars ruled, we are still caught in SUV/Truck hell. But things are looking better, with more and more RWD and V-8 performance cars coming back.

Chevy does need the Camaro. They no longer have a player in the muscle-car segment. (I love the Corvette - but it is in another class.)

But as long as Pontiac has the GTO, the Firebird is unnecessary. I expect the Camaro and GTO to basically be twins... not necessarilly looking as close as the Camaro and Firebirds looked, but sharing the same platform, engine, etc.

There is still room to grow the "muscle-car" segment though. I doubt if they will attempt to stuff a V-8 in a smaller car, so the Solstice will have to do in the small car segment. (Supercharge that ecotech to 240hp and you will have a very nice small performance car.) The other direction is the larger car segment.

There are already rumors of Chevy bringing back the Caprice. (Although I can't imagine they would use that name.) RWD Monte Carlo, Impala, Grand Prix (with V-8s) sounds like a good fit. (I would also love the Bonneville GXP to go RWD.)

The Firebird (in a sense) replaced the GTO back in the early 70's. Now (sadly) I guess it is time for the GTO to have a turn.

Steve

 

[salbracht]

Originally posted by Mestizo+May 18 2004, 04:03 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Mestizo @ May 18 2004, 04:03 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-salbracht@May 18 2004, 01:13 PM
Chevy does need the Camaro.  They no longer have a player in the muscle-car segment.  (I love the Corvette - but it is in another class.)

But as long as Pontiac has the GTO, the Firebird is unnecessary.  I expect the Camaro and GTO to basically be twins... not necessarilly looking as close as the Camaro and Firebirds looked, but sharing the same platform, engine, etc.

I'd rather have a Firebird over a Soltice anyday.

The problem with the GTO is it's way out of any non-Financially stable person's reach. I see Mustang LX's for 12K now, and GT are somewhere around 18-25K depending on features.


The GTO is 32? 33? 34K? I've even seen Mach 1's for 25.8K.....so really their not reaching the same audience.

I like the GTO, but if someone tells me I can have a 05 Mustang w/300 hp, and a 0-60 time of 5.2. Then someone tells me I can have a GTO w/350 hp, and a 0-60 time of 5.2 or 5.3. After I find out there is a 7K+ difference in price.....I'd have to go with a 05 Mustang.

The only problem that a Firebird would present is that it would hurt GTO sales, and Pontiac would cancel them both anyways. [/b][/quote]
Mestizo, I couldn't agree with you more. I've posted to this forum several times that I thought the GTO was way overpriced. (Probably made some enemies in doing so.)

I still don't think it would make sense to make both the GTO and a Firebird at the same time. How would they differ? Make the Firebird a little smaller? Maybe. Drop the quality of the Firebird to justify it's lower price. No way!

I think making two models (not to mention the Camaro) so close in function will do nothing but split the sales between the two, with neither being economically sound.

I love the Firebird. It was a horrible day when the last one rolled off the line. Unfortunately, I think it is gone for the time being.

The only way (my opinion) for the Firebird to come back would be for the GTO to flop so bad that they stop making them and look for another Pontiac performance coupe to replace it.

Steve