GMC probably gave out the corporate order to their engineering and design dept: "We've got to at least appear to go with the times, but don't lose the appeal for people who couldn't care less about energy consumption. Come up with something ...".
And thus it unfolded, come up they did ... :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :
https://youtu.be/MjMhZKmHKGk
Now I want one too (I'll even forgive them the Led Zep in the background!). :rimshot: "11,500 pound feet of torque" will still just about help you in most everyday traffic situations I believe, I mean we all have to make sacrifices to save the planet. 8)
I've recently become interested in electric vehicles. The amount of instant torque is impressive and presumably fun. ;D Last December we got my wife a hybrid Ford Fusion. Man is it weird having the vehicle move in dead silence when the gas motor isn't running! I'm not much of an off road guy, so I'd go with this over the Hummer. And yes, I HATE that they put the Mustang name on it, but it was a good marketing ploy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BR3skBYp3v4
Something must be wrong with me, I find this almost repulsive. I'm just not a "truck" person, way too much Tiny Dick Energy going on there - A great big Nope!
P.S. The last good looking car from GM was the '79 trans Am!
I find it enchantingly repulsive, if that makes sense. Sin is always alluring.
Quote from: uwe on November 05, 2020, 08:42:46 AM
I find it enchantingly repulsive, if that make sense. Sin is always alluring.
That thing is the automotive equivalent of a "Double Bagger"...........Chew both your arms off so you can never be seen driving it!
Electric vehicles are great too drive. The torque over the whole rev curve is impressive. But last weekend I borrowed a Bentley with a 6 liter W12 and two turbo chargers and I just goot hooked on the sound. So much low end! A real bassist's car!
I thought my 1966 Pontiac GTO with the 389-4 barrel had one of the greatest bass notes in history at wide open throttle.
It's true folks, even my Nissan Leaf can surprise people at the lights.
Last electric car I had was Scalectrix... :mrgreen:
My '08 Mustang GT puts out a pretty mean low end with the Ford Racing version of Borla Stinger mufflers that I put on. 8) That car still puts a big, stupid smile on my face.
Quote from: TBird1958 on November 05, 2020, 09:32:48 AM
That thing is the automotive equivalent of a "Double Bagger"...........Chew both your arms off so you can never be seen driving it!
95% of the cars designed and built today are either nondescript or just plain butt ugly.
Quote from: lowend1 on January 14, 2021, 10:08:39 AM
95% of the cars designed and built today are either nondescript or just plain butt ugly.
It's true. There are very few distinctively designed cars - and since SUVs and CUVs dominate the market, they all share a similar silhouette. I wouldn't call many of them ugly, but nondescript is quite accurate.
My youngest daughter just bought a Toyota Rav4 Hybrid - not a plug-in, but one that powers the rear wheels with an electric motor that's powered by the gas motor. There were three reasons for that choice:
1) It's faster than the gas model! This was important because she and I both hate slow cars. Anything that move out faster than 7 seconds 0-60 usually doesn't interest us.
2) NO plug in required. The whole idea of plug in cars with today's electric-only driving ranges is a huge drawback.
3) Although it's faster than the gas model, it gets better mileage - over 40 on the highway.
It's also a curious color called Lunar Rock, which looks, grey. green or blue depending on the light. She has black wheels on it like this one.
(https://www.rav4world.com/cdn-cgi/image/format=auto,onerror=redirect,width=1920,height=1920,fit=scale-down/https://www.rav4world.com/attachments/beach_m-jpg.148758/)
Quote from: Pilgrim on January 14, 2021, 12:12:52 PM
It's true. There are very few distinctively designed cars
"Distinctively designed" to look like something that's 50 years old. I love it.
(https://i.imgur.com/IyxiGM3.jpg)
I'll stick with my 90's gasoline powered Toyota Hiace and save the world by never buying another car :)
If the whole world started to buy electric cars, there would be no more cobalt in the world and we'd all have to use ceramic pickups :P
It's a conspiracy then!
I think the Challenger is an inspired update of an old design. Ford also has done a consistently great job with the Mustang (until the electric suppository they call a Mustang E...)
I have been a fan of GM, but they must have sent all their designers to a gulag sometime around 1980. Aside from the Corvette and Camaro, the styling of their passenger vehicles was freakin' awful, and the interiors weren't any better. When Olds went under, if I were CEO I would have scrapped all the styling on the Chevy cars and used the Olds bodies instead; they had a few attractive points. But in general, it all sucked. For about three decades there wasn't a single GM car I liked other than the 'Vette or Camaro.
For the resurrected Camaro - my thought for the design would have been to park a 1968 Camaro in a big garage, put chairs around it, send in the designers and tell them "don't come out of the room until you have a design that echoes this car." They came within shouting distance of it, but I thought it was not as close as the Challenger or Mustang.
I don't think the Camaro was supposed to be a retro design. Only little bits and pieces of the past were allowed to squeak through, leaving it with an ambiguous, unfinished look. The Challenger and Mustang were fully fleshed out. The Challenger is a heftier car than its ancestor, but I've always been a big-car guy anyhow. I think if Buick were to revisit the Grand National, it would sell. Of course, they would have to use a Chevy motor, which would kinda be sacrilege.
At least GM has the worst TV car ads in history.
What happened to the Dodge Viper, is that still being built in some shape or form? I remember a friend calling it "Pamela Anderson as a car". :mrgreen:
Quote from: uwe on January 16, 2021, 04:13:27 AM
What happened to the Dodge Viper, is that still being built in some shape or form? I remember a friend calling it "Pamela Anderson as a car". :mrgreen:
It went out of production in 2017, although the remaining new old stock cars are still being sold.
https://www.motor1.com/news/447601/two-dodge-viper-sold-q3-2020/#:~:text=That's%20down%20from%20the%20five,has%20ceased%2C%20its%20sale%20continues.
Quote from: uwe on January 16, 2021, 04:13:27 AM
What happened to the Dodge Viper, is that still being built in some shape or form? I remember a friend calling it "Pamela Anderson as a car". :mrgreen:
The Viper was a fantastic "halo car" - low production, expensive and with limited market appeal, and drives the brand image. When they introduced the Hellcat, Demon and variants thereof, they realized that building a V10 specifically for the Viper didn't make much sense, especially since the Hellcat V8 is more powerful. A Viper without the V10 kind of defeats the whole purpose of its existence.
I saw one once in Germany - not a lot made it over here. The side exhaust pipes were a work of art, like pythons trying to get into the car. :mrgreen: