"LUTZ SEZ" PONTIAC G8 SHOULD BECOME CHEVROLET CAPRICE (AND THEN "LUTZ SEZ" IT DOESN'T)

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Here's a rumor that ought to give nightmares to the Glass House Gang. Just when it looked like the mega-potent V8/RWD Holden Commodore, oddly known in the States as the Pontiac G8, would be retreating back to the "Land of Wonder, the Land Down Under," "Maximum Bob" Lutz may intervene to save it as a Chevrolet Caprice.

(That sound you just heard was a host of Ford lifers exclaiming "Crikey!")

Given that the Commodore is already sold as a Chevrolet Caprice in the Middle East and likely could be easily "badge engineered" into a bow-tie bruiser (Why bother to do anything more than just rip off the "Pontiac" badges and glue on some new Chevy ones?), Lutz's proposal is a "beyond obvious" move.

Whether "Obama/U.A.W. Motors" can pull off the switch before the Obama hikes in Corporate Average Fuel Economy hit is a question. Another question is whether an obviously good idea such as the "Holden Caprice" can survive the current political climate for what would likely be a short run.

Ford, of course, will be left without any U.S. certified V8 capable RWD sedan chassis after the slaughter of its Panthers sometime in the 2010-2011 time frame. Thus, as the Second Supercar Era ends in the hailstorm of "climate change"/"Cap-n-Tax"/"Global Governance" madness, FoMoCo will not be able to build one last "muscle car" sedan to tide us over through the coming malaise. (The overweight, under-performing, V8-less "Fat Buddha" 2010 Taurus and SHO (Slow, Heavy, Overpriced) certainly won't!

Tragic. Stupid. And just as predicted here, Ford has "Lutz more to worry about."


[UPDATE: After this post, Truth With Speedzzter reader "Alex" and Bangshift.com reported that Lutz had to flip-flop on the Caprice, saying that there was no "business case" for it.

As Speedzzter wrote over at "Bangshift,"

And a bunch of those FoMoCo execs who approved the Taurus SHO (Slow, Heavy, Overpriced) are now breathing again . . . .

(Of course they probably never really expected that "Government Motors" would offer something as audacious as the RWD V8 G8/Caprice.

and

No "business case" is Detroit-speak for the when the parasitic Robert McNamara bean-counter types (i.e. Fritz Henderson and his appliance motorist handlers on the Car Czar Central Committee) shoot down a what looks to everyone else like a "no brainer."

So much for another good idea.]

ALAS POOR PONTIAC, WE KNEW THEE WELL

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In General Motors’ rush to placate the appliance motoring braniacs who compose Obama’s Car Czar Central Committee and avoid bankruptcy, Pontiac was offered up in sacrifice.

Pontiac, the “pirate” division of GM.

Pontiac, the builder of “driving excitement.”

Pontiac, the progenitor of the first truly popular, mass market 1960s “muscle car.”

Pontiac, the audacious one whose clued-in managers of times past once named beautiful, pavement-shredding brutes after the world’s most famous racing series, venues and automobiles – Grand Prix, Trans Am, LeMans, Bonneville, Gran Turismo Omologoto, SJ . . .

Pontiac, the youthful one who for a time defied the stodgy GM Board and the American Automobile Manufacturers Association ban on the promotion of power, speed, and racing.

Pontiac, the one who peppered the language of hot rodders with evocative phrases like “Ram Air,” and “Super Duty,” and "Wide Track" and “Hurst,” and "Rally Wheel" and "Tri-Power" and “turbo.”

Pontiac, the Detroit company who built and sold more “shaker” hood scoops than all the rest combined.

Pontiac, the division who refused to cave into the malaise of the 1970s gas crunch and who kept building 400+ cubic inch supercars (albeit less “super”) when everyone else was playing with small blocks.

That Pontiac -- who although 83 years old, did not really come of age until Semon “Bunkie” Knudsen decided in the mid 1950s to abandon the brand’s prosaic flathead past and seize a high performance, youth-driven, overhead valve V8 future – has actually been dead for a long time.

GM politics, government interference, and mindless bean counting had already killed it. Bean counter Fritz Henderson merely recognized what his predecessors had already accomplished.

Pontiac’s mortal wounds began decades before its sales peak in 1978.

GM politics for decades deprived Pontiac of a true sports car in order to shield Corvette from intramural competition.

GM politics killed Pontiac’s dominating motorsports program in the early 1960s.

GM bean counters slaughtered the Super Duty parts program.

Without racing, Pontiac coasted through the halcyon 1960s on the inertia of its thin competition heritage and on the smoke and mirrors of savvy ad men such as Jim Wangers.

While production GTOs, Judges, Sprints, Firebirds, Formulas, Trans Ams, Grand Prixs, and 2+2 were seldom the dominant performance vehicles in their respective classes in actual competition or on the street, Pontiac’s advertising and styling departments kept them at the forefront.

The irony is that while Ford was actually winning races and championships in the 1960s, Pontiac was the brand that was “takin’ it to the streets.”

Its reputation was so solid that Pontiac could credibly run an ad with a photo of a GTO in front of a Woodward Avenue street sign. Everyone who mattered knew what it meant. GM’s Board made them stop using it.

In the early 1970s, the government and the insurance industry, however, succeeded in squelching Pontiac’s party better than GM’s Board and bean counters ever could.

Yet Pontiac reintroduced the Super Duty V8 for a time – perhaps as one last jab in the face of those who cannot stand high performance excellence in the marketplace.

In the 1970s, however, Pontiac often seemed like that fat, old Elvis of the postage stamps. Lots of swagger, but lacking the athleticism of youth. GM’s bean counters forced Pontiac more and more into “corporate” molds. The Firebird was allowed to age not so gracefully.

Even so, the antique second-generation Trans Am was the “poster car” of 1970s rebellion, staring in the quintessential anti-establishment automobile film of its time: 1977's “Smokey and the Bandit.”

The message was simple. The insurance companies can take our money with unreasonable surcharges. The oppressive central government can force us to live with engine strangling regulations, fuel economy standards, and other market interference. The Arabs can jack up oil prices with embargos. The Congress can cut the national speed limit to 55 m.p.h. The greedy land grabbers and zoning police can close our drag strips and race tracks. The "suits," lawyers, and bean counters can try to kill all our fun. But as long as there’s a rumbling, snarling big block V8 in a bespoilered, black and gold, T-Top Pontiac thundering on a stretch of country blacktop, they can never take our freedom!

That next year was the best sales year in Pontiac history.

The real last stand of the “true” Pontiac was during the Iranian hostage crisis. Stripped of its proprietary 400 cubic inch engine, in 1980 Pontiac equipped its huge, holdover F-Body relic with an optional, downsized, turbocharged 301 V8. The turbo engine was underdeveloped and not very impressive. Yet it was still "all Pontiac" in the hearts of the brand’s faithful. It was more genuine than the Oldsmobile 403s and Buick V6s that had defiled some Pontiacs in the past couple of years.

California emission regulations meant that some received their ancient Trans Ams and Firebirds with 305 Chevrolet engines. By the 1982 season, the “real” Pontiac V8 was gone. Replaced at the behest of bean counter efficiencies by “corporate” Chevrolet power.

The heart and soul of Pontiac was gone. The raison ‘d’etre for the brand was history. In some quarters, the death watch began.

Although Canadian Pontiacs had long used Chevrolet power due to a quirk in Canada's protectionist auto rules, Chevrolet V8s in U.S. Pontiacs were the final blow for all of those who’d lived and fought the Chevy-Pontiac rivalry on the streets in the ‘50s, ‘60s and ‘70s.

The corpse of Pontiac struggled for identity in the 1980s. In essence, it was a zombie.

Its brilliant Fiero was compromised by its horrible choice of engines and a penchant for bursting into flames. GM’s protectiveness of Corvette and its parsimony, however, were probably most responsible for its failure.

Pontiac’s sporty cars became little more than upscale Chevrolets festooned with ever more bizarre plastic body kits, gewgaws, and unreliable gadgets.

Pontiac never hit the combination in the emerging sport compact market, again hamstrung by what the bean counters allowed to be installed under the hood and the lack of factory performance development.

Pontiac's half-hearted attempts to become some sort of "American BMW," with cars like the forgotten 6000 STE were still-born as a result of GM's corporate-enforced uniformity and affection with "badge engineering."

While Pontiac arguably had the most successful of GM's badge engineered '80s compacts -- the N-Body Grand Am -- its FWD performance and image were more exciting among secretaries and rental car purchasing agents than among the potential next generation of Pontiac fanatics.

It was hard to believe that the same company which had once defied corporate oversight to cram a triple-carbureted 389-cube V8 into a mid-sized Tempest and audaciously name the creation after a top-of-the-line Ferrari racer could sell a sled as bland and forgettable as the Grand Am.

As Mustang sales dominated the Second Supercar Era, Pontiac's languished.

Pontiac’s reentry into NASCAR and other motorsports was powered by Chevrolet. Its NASCAR ambitions did not tie into the bland, low performance FWD cars sold in the showroom. And most of its competition intentions were ultimately sacrificed for the good of Chevrolet.

Near the end, Pontiac motorsports was consigned to the low profile ghettos of NHRA drag racing and Grand Am sports car racing. However, no one was fooled. The Chevrolet powered “Pontiacs” were wholly unrelated to anything for sale to the general public.

This time, smoke and mirrors weren’t going to be enough.

Pontiac’s alleged “resurgence” in this decade was principally through rebadging Australian-built, Chevrolet powered Holdens and in the Miata-fighting, corporate-powered Solstice sports car.

It was too little, too late.

Sadly, the introduction to Pontiac for millions was through a hideous Aztec, a dust-buster Trans Sport minivan, or a plastic-clad, FWD Grand Am rental/"program car." The alphanumeric Pontiacs of the last few seasons hardly register a blip on the popular consciousness.

Thus, the torred conflagration that began back when Bunkie Knudsen removed the “old man’s” “Stratostreaks” his father had symbolically placed on all Pontiacs during the Great Depression has now been completely extinguished in GM’s great depression.

“Government” Motors has no place for toothless octogenarian "pirates," badge engineering, and fading dreams about muscle cars.

"BLANDTASTIC HUGGABLE SMILEY CARS WITH NO POINT OF VIEW"

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]

Autoextremist Peter M. DeLorenzo has posted a "must read" column on the slow death of Pontiac and it's potential rebirth as a targeted niche brand.

Ford's Glass House Gang and Obama's green crew of "appliance motoring" car czars would be well advised to meditate over the following excerpts (if not the whole column):

It's hard to believe this now but at one point during its glory days in the '60s Pontiac was the hottest car company in the country, breathing down Ford's neck in third place in sales. If ever a car company defined "swagger" - Pontiac was it. Pontiac was GM's "pirate" division, and if they could have raised a "skull and crossbones" flag over its headquarters in its heyday, they would have. . . . More than any other American car company, Pontiac delivered cars to the market bristling with a maverick, rebel attitude, edgy appeal and genuine soul - a commodity so far removed from most of Detroit's products today it's appalling.

* * * *

Today it’s allegedly all different, with consumers shying away from blatant design statements and instead focusing on “inner-directed” qualities in their transportation. Listen to enough of these so-called marketing “experts” and maybe they’ll start to convince you that the automotive era is dead and buried and that the industry will never recover. That the future of transportation will be made up of blandtastic huggable smiley cars with no point of view whatsoever, perfectly in keeping with the doom-and-gloom mindset that’s permeating every facet of our society these days.

* * * *

Well, I’m not buying it in the least.

Amen, Peter!

Now what if Ford was really making similar "bold moves" with SVT or even Mercury . . . .

What if we were looking forward to some "right-sized" EcoBoost V8s (with variable valve timing and cylinder deactivation), RWD sedans, or even a DOHC Boss V8?

What if Dearborn was taking the lead with high performance hybrids?

What if a cheaper, decontented Mustang V8 with forged, power-adder-ready internals was offered to the legion of Ford performance buyers who'll never be able to buy a limited-edition $35,000-$75,000 "Super-stang"

What if that "Pirate Flag" could credibly be raised over the Glass House?

2010 TAURUS SHO PROVES THAT FORD LEARNED LITTLE FROM THE MARAUDER DEBACLE

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At the Chicago Auto Show, Ford Motor Company announced the return of the Taurus SHO (tm) in 2010.

For TWELVE THOUSAND DOLLARS more than a pedestrian Taurus, the new SHO will feature a 365-horsepower Eco-Boost (tm) twin-turbo V6 and all-wheel-drive.

No manual transmission . . .

No Eco-Boost V8. . . .

No symphony of high performance V8 sounds . . . .

According to Automotive News, Ford’s Jim Farley, V.P. of marketing and communications claims that "The car has better performance and much better gas mileage than a BMW 550i, which uses a 4.8-liter V-8."

That, of course, remains to be seen.

The early photos of the car suggest an almost-sleeper profile, with only big tires and a rear spoiler distinguishing the new SHO from the Tauri that Ford may end up peddling to fleets and rental car houses (like Dearborn’s new friend Dollar Thrifty – just when you thought the Glass House Gang was FINALLY kicking the addiction to residual/reliability score-killing “program car” sales . . . .)

While the new SHO isn’t approaching the market as down on power as the 2003-04 Mercury Marauder and will have the traction advantage of all-wheel drive, the price point ought to give some cause for concern.

Will enough Taurus buyers pay a one-third premium for a V6 turbo car with no particular competition heritage or image?

(That much markup stinks of price gouging – and that’s before Ford’s dealers kill off initial demand with greedy “additional dealer markups” and other add-ons).

Is Ford prepared to move enough SHOs to prevent the “sales constipation” borne of dealer greed that killed initial demand for the Marauder and hurts GT500 sales to this day?

Are there enough buyers who want an American-sized WRX/EVO (sans all of the entertaining boy-racer wings, scoops, flaps and body kit) or more likely what will be seen as an Americanized Audi?

Will the SHO be compared favorably in the market to the simpler, cheaper V8-powered offerings of Dodge (Charger) and Pontiac (G8)?

Will it get killed on the street and the drag strip by 415-horse G8 GXPs and 425-horse Hemi SRT-8s?


Is 365 horsepower enough for the last blast of the Second Supercar Era?

Does the SHO sap all of the excitement (if any) for the paltry 315-horse Mustang GT?

There are a lot of questions that the new SHO has to answer.

Certainly many will celebrate the SHO, even as they lament the huge price markup that prevents many of them from purchasing it. And perhaps it’s enough of a halo model to make people forget twenty years of neglect and damage to the Taurus/SHO franchise.

But is it too little, too late (and for too much money)?

CUT IN FLEET SALES LEADS FOMOCO LOWER IN JANUARY 2009

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Ford, Lincoln and Mercury car sales dropped 35.1% to 28,707. Total trucks fell 40.5% to 61,889 with the flagship F-Series pickup down 38.6%.

Ford said fleet sales, primarily to rental car companies, plunged 65%. The retail business slipped 27%, though Ford pointed out that it gained retail market share for the fourth consecutive month, a streak that hasn't happened since 1995.

Ford Motor Company's pull-back from rental car sales is painful but necessary. While rental fleet units keep factories humming at a predictable level (and yield some economies-of-scale profit potential), they drive down the residual values and brand reliability scores.

Moreover, with the a few exceptions, such as the limited-production Hertz Shelby GT Mustang, fleet cars are equipped as bland commodity vehicles. These vehicles tend to give potential customers the wrong impression of model features and flagship technologies.

Some fleet sales are useful, such as FoMoCo's taxi and police business. Fleet sales can also be used to highlight a halo or niche model that might otherwise be ignored in the crowded marketplace (Speedzzter wonders if Mercury might have had more success with the somewhat understated, underpowered, and overpriced 2003-2004 Marauder if it had featured it as a fleet model in place of the pedestrian Grand Marquis).

However, as Ford rebuilds its image among skeptical, import-biased consumers, reduction in fleet sales should have a long-term positive effect on brand perceptions, even if it causes some short-term "pain" through reduced sales.

RWD DODGE CHARGER AND PONTIAC G8 GONE IN 2011?

The current issue of Road and Track features a Battle-of-the-American-Pushrods shoot-out between the 425-horsepower SRT-8 Charger and the 415-horsepower Pontiac G8 GXP. The end of the story encourages potential buyers not to wait in their purchases.

Good advice.

Notwithstanding the precarious conditions of GM and Chrysler, the R&T story notes that the huge increases in Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards coming from the Obama Administration (not to mention even stricter state standards that will be rammed through by California and the nearly one-quarter of U.S. states that will follow in lockstep) will likely mean the death of rear wheel drive and high-performance V8s in the redesigned Charger and G8 by 2011.

Ford, of course, will completely miss out on this last round of RWD V8 super sedans. Its 2010 Taurus is still on the ill-proportioned, V8-adverse Volvo D3 platform. Although much of the bland, orthopedic-shoe styling will be gone in the next Taurus, Ford will enter the "last dance" for "American Muscle" with nothing more than a 350-horsepower EcoBoost V6.

That's a sad legacy.

However, one could argue that the die was cast when Ford failed to develop world-class RWD V8 sport sedans in the 1980s. Most certainly, Ford's failures to (a) recognize the resurgence of RWD in this decade and/or (b) make sure that the FWD-ready modular V8 would fit into its mass market AWD sedans were missed opportunities.

Hopefully at some point Ford will tap into its long heritage of popularly-priced V8 leadership with a "right-sized" DOHC Eco-Boost V8, featuring variable valve timing and lift, cylinder deactiviation, variable-geometry intake manifolding and other high-efficiency technologies. Sadly, that day -- if it ever comes -- will be after fuel efficiency standards have killed off the traditional RWD V8 sedan for years to come.