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Automotive News & Views Can GM make Cadillac the standard of the world Again?
6098 messages, Last post on Aug 14, 2009 at 4:43 PM
You are in the Automotive News & Views Forum. Your Hosts are steve_ & claires
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Replying to: circlew (Sep 21, 2008 4:16 pm) Well I think the issue here is that, for the most part, GM wasn't so much of an innovator. They weren't always the first into a new market, but once they entered, they usually took over. The GTO gets credit for being the first musclecar, but in name only, as GM coined that term. Truth be told, there were certain '62-64 Plymouth Furys and Dodge Polaras, with 413's and 426 wedges, that would send a GTO home crying. GM tended to be strong in styling and marketing in those days, but often it was Ford that opened up new markets first. For instance, the 1958 T-bird opened up the personal luxury coupe market, but then GM jumped on it with the 1962 Grand Prix, and then the Riviera, Toronado, and Eldorado. Ford also "invented" the ponycar, with the Mustang. Once Chrysler caught wind of it, they rushed the 1964 Barracuda into production, actually beating the Mustang to the market, but the Mustang was still the overwhelming favorite. Ford also came out with intermediates before GM, with the 1962 Meteor and Fairlane. And Ford's LTD beat the Caprice to the market. In the case of the GTO though, I think while Mopar beat them out by putting big, muscular engines in their shrunken Dodges and Plymouths for '62, the GTO is what really popularized the formula. And it was a great looking car. The Mopars, in contrast, were kinda vulgar. There is one other GM car between the GTO and the EV-1 that I'd consider significant, though. The entire 1977 full-size lineup. Ever since practically, the dawn of time, cars had been getting bigger and heavier, and thirstier. The 1977 GM full-sizers changed all that. The 1977 Caprice, for example, retained the interior volume of the mastodon-class full-sized cars that came before it, yet it was lighter and smaller than any intermediate on the market at the time. While there wasn't anything really revolutionary in the technology employed...mainly just smaller engines and lighter bodies, it did usher in a new age of efficiency for domestic automobiles.
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Replying to: fintail (Sep 18, 2008 10:00 am)
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Replying to: andre1969 (Sep 21, 2008 4:34 pm) |
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| I agree. That was probably the most fair and even handed, objective summary of the big 3's innovative history I've read in a long time. Well done, andre! | |
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Replying to: nvbanker (Sep 21, 2008 5:39 pm) Do you still have it? Have you tested the acceleration? |
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Replying to: fintail (Sep 21, 2008 5:58 pm) Mustang Cobra Corvette Police Interceptor That last one was fun.......
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Replying to: nvbanker (Sep 21, 2008 6:20 pm) That last one was fun....... I knew there was a reason I liked you. 
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Replying to: nvbanker (Sep 21, 2008 6:20 pm) And on the Caddy subject...I wonder if they will make any "4 door coupe" variant like the CLS, which has been a huge success for MB and is now being copied by others.
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http://www.hyundaigenesis.com
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Replying to: beseto (Sep 21, 2008 7:06 pm)
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