Why Pontiac, and not GMC???

[Dave W]

Govenment intervention in the economy always requires more government interventions to correct the messes created by the earlier interventions.

[Lightyear]

Da comrade! 

"Excuse me but is this the line for toilet paper or bread?"

[godofthunder]

Too bad the government had to get involved.  I think the market should determine the winners and losers in industry.

The Gov. should have let the market decide instead of wasting OUR money on GM. I think I hear the swosh of a toilet.

[Barklessdog]

Should one save a drowning Witch?

[Dave W]

The market will decide. The difference now is that taxpayers' money will be flushed down the toilet along with investors' money. And our money isn't being used to save GM, it's being used to help GM's creditors.

[Pilgrim]

I may be the minority opinion, but I do believe that GM is worth saving because of the big ripple effect on the economy if it fails completely. I'm not sure that the method chosen was the best possible, but even if GM goes through bankruptcy, if the government money allows it to go the airline route and re-emerge from bankruptcy rather than be dissolved, I think that we're better off for that.

As of a few minutes ago, it appears that Chrysler has gone the bankruptcy > reorganize route, and that people anticipate it will emerge intact and partner with Fiat.  I'm all for that.

[Dave W]

I also think GM is worth saving, but it will take bankruptcy to do it. That will be the only way to force the issue with the creditors and the dealers.

Creditors are forcing Chrysler into bankruptcy. I did read that the government wanted them to wipe off the $7 billion in debt since these same creditors had received $90 billion in TARP money. I can't verify this is true, but it really wouldn't surprise me.

[Highlander]

Italy is a communist country... the Ferrari was developed when they turned an Itallian WW2 tank round the wrong way... they reputedly had the best reverse gears in the world...  and according to Spike Milligan, all the women are called "Maria" (except for Sophia Loren and Carla Bruni)
They have a really odd premier...  with a very beautiful wife...

There is no such thing as British any more, except debt... we have a Vauzhall Zafira (7 seater-ish) , and before that a couple of Cavaliers... my wife hates changing vehicles so they usually have to be pushed to the trade-in...  we have never had a "new" car... never seen the point of driving something off a forecourt and finding out you have immeadiately lost 20% of what you just payed... 

I have just been told that I will have to take my old van  (4 yrs - 134000 miles) down to the south coast in the morning so I can swop it for a brand new Merc Vito... most importantly they have fitted a dedicated Ipod dock...

Happiness is an Ipod dock and lots of volume...

[godofthunder]

The market will decide. The difference now is that taxpayers' money will be flushed down the toilet along with investors' money. And our money isn't being used to save GM, it's being used to help GM's creditors.

I fell so much better now.

[eb2]

I once played atomic punk behind the wheel of a 66 Tempest with just basic cook book stuff done to it.  But man, what a ride! But now...

Sorry UAW and Congress.  I now drive a VW station wagon.  The true people's car! 

And it is a few years old, so I have CD, cassette, and most important, AM and FM.

[bobyoung]

I have a Pontiac G8 GT, I bought it specifically because it is a V8, posi-traction, rear wheel drive car. It will do 160 with the ECM reprogrammed, it is governed at about 140, mine is pushing close to 400 HP and the torque will snap your head off and scare the little woman . it may be mostly Australian but it is the kind of car Pontiac got famous for. GM as usual did not give this car a chance to develop a following, March of this year was it's best month ever and then they ax it. They should have let the banks sink and bail out the car companies instead. The 04-06 GTO's may not have been American looking enough but they were motor head cars in every sense of the word and I would love to own one especially an 06 although I like the G8's better. GM has a serious marketing problem, they don't know how to advertise and have no integrity. GM will regret this. I do agree however that the past 20 years of Pontiacs have been boring old ladies cars for the most part. A Pontiac should have rear wheel drive and have a V8 that is capable of burning the back tires off, just like the G8 GT. At least we have the Camaro again.

[the mojo hobo]

At least we have the Camaro again.

I drive past a Chevy dealership on my way home from work. Today I had to do a double-take. A WTF kind of car is that thing. Oh, it's a new Camaro. It is even uglier in person than the photos suggest.

GM needs an overhaul.

[Dave W]

I didn't want to be the first to say it. 

I've only seen pics. Its looks doesn't impress me.

[Pilgrim]

I saw a GTO yesterday...walked past it as it parked.  It sounded great...and looked like a Chevy Cavalier.  Boring, bland and cheap.  I had a '66 GTO and I was excited when Pontiac announced they would re-issue the name.  I've never been so disappointed by a car as I was with the styling of the GTO.  WTF were they thinking??? It needed to LOOK like a GTO!!!  I don't care how good a car it was, you can't sell a performance car that looks like a Cavalier.

My jury is out on the Camaro - I definitely don't like the grille, but I haven't seen one on the street yet.  The rest of the car looks good to me, but the grille should have been MUCH more like a '67 or '68.  Instead, they took their stupid corporate grille that has emerged in the last couple of years, cut it in half and pasted it across the front.  I'm hoping that it looks better than the photos.

When they announced the new Camaro, my comment was "They need to sit their designers down in a circle around a '67 Camaro and tell them NOT to come out of the room until they had taken that car and re-interpreted it for today."

I don't think they managed it.  But Ford did it with the Mustang, and Chrysler did it with the Challenger.  It could have been done.

[bobyoung]

I like the new Camaros a lot better than the new Chargers, Challengers and Mustangs. I think people should be able to drive any type of car they want to drive. I drove the speed limit to Brooklyn NY from my home in MA which is a distance of about 200 miles and got 27.9 MPG exactly. Motorhead cars have come a LONG way. I regularly get 18 mpg driving exactly the way I want to and it runs very clean, the old argument that cars like these ruin the atmosphere and suck all the gas out of the ground is no longer valid. GM made a big mistake by dropping Pontiac and especially the G8 GT.
The old GTO's are classics and are beautiful but they were terrible on gas and not so hot on handling and the new GTO's (and G8 GT's) will leave them in the dust (including the tri power 389's) in acceleration, handling, comfort and MPG, I actually like the new GTOs because they are such sleepers, the only thing that gives them away is the beautiful sound from the dual exhaust and watching their taillights rapidly vanish. GM does not know how to advertise and doesn't know a good thing when they have it except for the Corvette.