bruddah_man_matt

http://www.autoblog.com/2007/02/28/r...f-monte-carlo/

Well anyone with half a brain saw this one coming once GM replaced the Monte Carlo with the Impala in NASCAR's CoT races. And even if you don't follow NASCAR you could have seen it coming with GMs future product lineup. With the Zeta based Camaro being a bigger car overall it sort of overlaps a bit with the Monte Carlo in terms of where it stands in Chevy's lineup. With 2 Doors selling as **** poorly as they are it makes sense for Chevy to axe one of its models. Of course with the new Camaro on the horizon this obviously means that the Monte has to go.

I certainly hope GM doesn't get stupid and decide to build another Monte quite so soon. If GM decided to produce a new Monte Carlo it would no doubt be underpinned by Zeta. This means that the car would overlap with the Camaro a bit and would definitely compete directly with the new GTO. Besides, removing the 2 door Monte from Chevy's lineup makes a bit more room for - if they decide to bring it here anyway - the Holden Ute to be sold as an El Camino. Personally I still think the Ute would make the perfect GMC Halo vehicle, but it it were to come here as a Chevy I can't say I'd argue with that either.

mzoomora

iTrader: (36)

I would like to see what the sales numbers are for the Accord coupe and Camry Solara. The Monte is larger, but those were the only mid-size FWD coupes that came to mind. I owned a 98 Monte Carlo as a DD for a while and it was a great car. 7 years and it needed absolutely nothing aside from maintenance, and I liked the FWD for the Chicago winters and didnt want to drive a smaller car or a 4 door. It is good for GM to cut low production cars for the sake of profit, but it sucks if those sales will end up with competitors instead of other GM products. I think RWD will still be a tough sell in the snow belt for a lot of people as a all year car, many of them have never driven one!! Overall a good decsion on their part though.

bruddah_man_matt

The Solara has never been anywhere near as popular as the Accord Coupe. IMO the second gen car looks almost as bad as the Monte Carlo. The first gens were clean looking but underpowered. Still, IMO it wont be long until the car is discontinued. Several things point toward this being the case.

1. Toyota - like Chevy with the Impala - has decided to use the Camry nameplate in NASCAR instead of the Solara moniker.

2. Toyota did NOT give the updated 2007 Solara the 2007 Camry Sedan's 268hp 3.5L 2GR motor. Instead the 07 Solara continues to make do with the underwhelming 210hp 3.3L 3MZ-FE. Additionally the 07 Solara is also down a cog versus the sedan and continues to make do with an outdated 5 speed automatic while the sedan received a 6 speeder for MY 2007.

Honestly Toyota should just kill off the Solara unless they want folks to start referring to it as the Toyota Sebring. IMO the only reason they're keeping such an underwhelming and underperforming product around is to prop up "Camry" sales figures. Honda sells a lot of Accord Coupes and I'm sure if the Solara were canned there's a good chance the Accord would take over the top spot as America's #1 selling passenger car. This is assuming of course that "Camry sales" and "Accord sales" refers to sales of both sedans AND coupes which may not even be the case so don't quote me.



As for the Accord Coupe, it's a pretty good seller last I checked. Honda showed off the Accord Coupe Concept this year in Detroit and you can bet they'll respond to the threat of the hot Altima Coupe and to some degree the G6 Coupe with an even sportier offering in the next gen car. I don't have all the numbers but I'm willing to bet that the Accord Coupe is one of if not the best seller in its segment. Keep in mind that within the past 5 years Honda has discontinued the Prelude, CL and just last year the Integra/RSX. That means that if you want a sporty two door Honda - excluding the S2000 of course - your choices are limited to the Civic Coupe or the Accord Coupe. Honda has really stepped up the Accord's performance in recent years not only to compete with the Altima, but to compensate for the demise of the majority of their sporty cars. By offering a better performing Accord Coupe Honda is able to offer something to the potential buyers of those discontinued nameplates. In fact it wasn't until 2003 that you could finally order up an Accord Coupe with a V6 and a stick shift. The V6/6 speed combo didn't arrive on the sedan until 2006.

As for other cars in the segment, the aforementioned Altima Coupe to be introduced this year and the G6 Coupe come to mind. Of these four vehicles the Altima Coupe will probably be the sportiest offering with its available 270hp V6 while the Accord Coupe remains a competent all-rounder. The G6 Coupe IMO falls a bit short in this segment but its still a cut above the lackluster, lukewarm, boring and underwhelming Solara.



Getting back to the Monte Carlo, it's time has come. No one wants a FWD boat that borders on being a full size two door anymore. Especially one that has lackluster performance, a crappy suspension, an outdated transmission and just plain looks ugly. There's much more of a market for a smaller Malibu Coupe IMO although if I were GM I'd stay away from that and focus on improving the G6 Coupe first. As for a Zeta Monte Carlo, not yet. I say focus on the Camaro and the GTO first. If by some God given miracle you end up not being able to build enough of both cars then by all means give the go-ahead to build a new Firebird and a new Monte Carlo. But with the two door market already as small as it is, GM shouldn't take any chances in terms of pushing an excess amount of product into a ever shrinking segment.

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

Blah blah blah....

I like my Monte anyway, whether you think it's ugly or not.

I love full sized/near-full sized two door cars. I also have a '76 Eldorado in my garage. Now that's a car with remarkably ****-poor performance. 500ci V8 motor with 190hp, in a car that's well over 2 tons.

mzoomora

iTrader: (36)

Yeah, but mod that 500, they go fast- DIRT cheap.

Mayeb just not moving 5000lb lbs.

NewYork Art

so would you say "a 2 door collector muscle car of the past"" or an edsil?
And now what about whats on the car lots now??? will the price drop with big give-a-ways?

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

I had no idea there was an aftermarket for the Caddy 500ci motor. I mean, sure you can toss N2O on anything, but are there actually aftermarket heads/cam/intake setups for these motors? And stuff like cranks, rods, pistons too?

Remember, Eldorado was already FWD by '76, so front axles would be a major issue with a car that heavy if you started making some real power.

bruddah_man_matt

Fair enough.

Hey man to each his own. You can love your car all you want but obviously not enough people share your view otherwise GM wouldn't be pulling the plug.

Don't think I don't have any love for the Monte, my first car was an '83 G-Body Monte into which was swapped a 350 from a wrecked GM something. It was a ticking time bomb but I won't deny that I had some fun with that sucker in high school.

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

Hey man stop messin with my quotes! (it was funny though )

I see tons of these Montes on the road. Not sure what it's like out by you, but here in northern IL, I must see at least a half dozen of the '00+ body style MCs every day. Not bad for a coupe, that's apperently not popular.

And I know, to each his own, I don't expect everyone to like a car just because I do, but what's so ugly about this?......







In terms of cosmetics, frankly I think it looks better than the '04+ GTO in every way.

wowsers

iTrader: (7)

i think they look fine, they just have no *****

mzoomora

iTrader: (36)

Yeah, there are people who specialize in the large CI caddies.

Also, I see a bunch of the late model (00-up) Monte Carlos around, but I think Chevy is still the number one brand in these parts, at least it was recently.
I like a little bigger car myself, and i hope they give the new Camaro a little better ergo's than the 4th gen (like not sitting so low and maybe a little larger back seat, not for passengers but for stuff I keep in my car).

krayzie7th

that only thing that i didnt like about the monte carlo was the rear they should of made it different and gave it more power but other then that i like it and its a good DD.

bruddah_man_matt

Everything.

The *** end is too huge. The rear three quarters seems to go on forever. There's too much space... *ahem* real estate between the end of the door and the tail. The front end is bland and it already looked dated the first day it hit showroom floors. The rear end looks like *** and it appears to have been shaped purely to win NASCAR events. That inteior while functional with a full set of gauges looks like crap with its cheap and tacky plastics and definitely came before GM realized that a decent amount of thought has to go into interior design.

BLASPHEMY!! Styling is always subjective so we could dispute this one all day, but please at least tell me you think the "interior" cosmetics of the GTO are far better than that of the Monte Carlo.





is much better than





As for exterior design, I've never found the GTO to be ubersexy, but I do find it to be handsome in an understated BMW 3-Series sort of way.



That to me is classy as opposed to the Monte Carlo which I find to be a rather messy design that appears to have been thrown together.

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

Wow. As usual, we disagree fully on this one. The GTO is rather bland and boring in the styling department, IMO. While the interior is made of high quality materials and fit & finish are good, the styling inside is "just ok" at best. The steering wheel looks gay, the gage font reminds me of a diesel semi, and the dash arrangement has all the curves of a 14 year old boy.

As for the exterior, the rear bumper design looks like the car was rear-ended (though it looks MUCH improved on the '05+ car, with the addition of dual opposite side tips and provisional contours). The doors are way too short, like they belong on a Cavalier coupe, the rear passenger windows are too big, and the trunk is too short. The hood mounted windshield washer nozzles are reminiscent of my old '94 Corolla. And while I do certainly like the GTO's "dropped" look (seemingly gapless area between the body and tires), the factory wheels are the most unappealing I've seen since the 3-spoke "swirly" wheels offered on the '00 WS6 cars under RPO N66. The later addition of the ram-air hood certainly helped the front end a lot, but overall, the car reminds me of a nice bedroom slipper....comfortable, purposeful, yet not "fun". There is zero flare to the style, as if the car was designed in such an effort as to not offend anyone with it's looks, yet it's also not able to grasp anyones taste with beauty either.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think the GTO is a bad/ugly car by any means, it's just "average" to me. But with a good set of aftermarket wheels, they can look pretty sharp.

Only thing I like better about the GTO than my Monte is what's located in the engine bay and between the rear wheels.

Quick1998Z28

iTrader: (1)

LS4 ones run mid 13s. They just have no handling ability whatsoever

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

bruddah_man_matt

You never post what sort of cars you own. I'd be interested to see what you think is worthy of being seen in.

Whaddaya got in your garage? Mine has already been opened and subjected to your judgement, now it's time for us to pass judgement on yours.

Tom Tom Turbo

not to get off topic, but anyone who doesn't like the GTO interior has obviously never taken a decent ride in one. This is the best GM interior I have ever owned, they changed the font on the gauge cluster, and I have never been in a more comfortable seat, at least not from the factory. The GTO is everything the original ones were....stupid amounts of power in a seeming non-threatening package. I agree with the good-looking "in a M3 sort of way"

Everyone bitched about GM not having a rear drive affordable car, and when they give you a fantastic interior, retarded amounts of power, and great fit and finish, crazy handling and still...everyone pounds the looks.

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

I never said I didn't like the quality. It's very nice, high quality materials. I just don't like some of the styling ques. And yes, I've been in a couple for some decent rides. Nice suspension/handling, decent power for the weight.

The GTO is not exactly affordable in the same sort of way that a base V8 Camaro was. Yes, GM offered huge rebates in the '04 model year that brought the prices to stupidly low levels for a period of time, but comparing based on MSRP, the GTO was much higher priced than even a well optioned Z28 just two years earlier. So yes, I would expect the GTO to have better interior quality, fit & finish, considering the higher MSRP.

Hopefully GM will remeber that when designing the GTO replacement.

dailydriver

NOT I!! In fact I think the '04s look better with the "flat" hood Vs. the latter scooped deals. To me the ONLY drawbacks to this car were the weight (partly due to not being able to order it "stripped"/no options), and the room (or lack thereof) in the wheelwells that precludes the use of serious road race rubber. Any rear diff/ind. suspension weaknesses are an easy fix. I guess I'm one of the "few" who actually like the looks of this ride! They should have offered a "club sport/factory lightweight" option a la BMW M3s.

WECIV

HALLELUJAH this thing is dead!!!

W