A new Monaro?

Yuk! Looks like it is trying to be a BMW

Select to expand quote

GalahOnTheBay said..
Yuk! Looks like it is trying to be a BMW

You mean Jaguar. Still it looks by far better than most of the average body styling Holden produces. Let's see how it gets dumbed down by the production engineers and the bean counters before we start waxing lyrical about CGI.

Want me to bag out your house designs Ado??

Probably look a lot better with a decent set of wheels. Every one has gone over the top with this fashion for low profile. Way past the optimum performance profile I'd think. Wheels need rubber.

The vehicle pictured is the Buick Avista concept vehicle. It was designed in the GM Warren studios in Michigan and built there also. I was informed earlier that it just won the 'Eyes on Design" award at the Detroit show for best concept vehicle, the same award that the Buick Avenir show vehicle the GM Australia team designed and built last year won. Well done Chip and the Buick exterior team.

kind of looks like jag meets merc/amg

feel a little sad it's missing a v8. maybe they'll supply one of those "cigarette lighter v8/tacho sensing" things that you play through your car stereo

does anyone remember some of this stuff? http://gallery.oldholden.com/HQ_SS/Other+HQs/

I have no problem with taxpayer support for the industry. I am in favour of it generally, but even with it these manufacturers couldn't produce cars that were sufficiently commercially successful so that they could keep in operation. They took the money, but kept building cars that fewer and fewer people wanted. Essentially they had their wages bill covered by the rest of us but didn't do us the courtesy of actually building cars lots of people would like to buy.

Until you drive it, that's where the comparison ends

Select to expand quote

mr love said..
Want me to bag out your house designs Ado??

Just my opinion - ease up. Holden's have a nostalgic value for us Aussies, but 99% of the time no one else is paying any attention. They have muscle and used to be tough. That's why we like them.

I quite like the concept but being Holden/GM I don't think anyone is claiming they set international body styling standards. The Sportwagon was pretty good and innovative in the bum, but hardly the snappiest looking wagon on the market - worked or not. Again - just my opinion so don't shoot me!

No Jaguar fan, but hey, just saying. This car is actually in production. That Buick concept is well - just a concept so let's see how it gets dumbed down. Never seen a production car look better than a concept.

On the one hand, I totally agree.
I spent most of my adult life swearing the one car I'd never own was a boganmobile.
Then I bought one.

Why?

I was sick of small cars.
I was over the foibles of Euro cars.
I wanted to own a V8 for once in my life, and doing mostly highway kms, and not getting any younger.

I started searching carsales.com using just V8, entering price ranges, sorting by year.
There's not 'exclude make' option. I got so sick of flipping through 30 pages of dunny doors to get to ... anything else.
I persisted...
After a while it just didn't make sense. Why look at a 10 year old .. something else... when I could get a 5 year old commonwh0re for the same money?

At the same time I was servicing a Euro car.
$1500 for a harmonic balancer at a cheap mechanic for a Renault (3k if you have a BMW or Merc..). Commodore just cost me $530 for same.
$2k for timing belt. V8 has pushrods so that's free.
My workmate's VW toureg cost him 10k to keep running, and is only worth that after 7 years (new at 60-80k)

Etc.

So to me, an AMG c63 says "I'm bad with money, I paid $240,000 for this depreciation bomb that's gonna be worth $20k in 10 years. It's gonna cost me a further $15k to keep it running in that time. Meanwhile everyone thinks I'm an ostentatious w@nker on the road"

I agree about what a commodore says - but in a way I find it liberating. I'm generally very courteous, polite, aware on the road, but if the mood takes me I can drive like a t0sser and just think "oh well it's just what they're expecting anyway..."

Now if you took a new SS-V at 56k, added the 26k walkinshaw kit, you're talking about 547kW and 880Nm - a very, very fast car for $82,000.
I believe the c63 has 373kW and 610Nm for $240,000.

I'd pocket the $160k and enjoy 25% more go, personally.

To make you feel better, I think Holden/GM design better looking cars than Toyota, Nissan, Mitsubishi, Subaru, Honda, BMW, Mercedes, Peugeot, Citroen and Fiat.

But that show was in Detroit in the country where they think the world is run by the USA.....and no I didn't say "can't design cars to international standards".

I said in my opinion I don't personally think and GM cars set design benchmarks that take car styling in new directions. Even that car you've posted above takes very strong cues from Bentley. I also don't think Mercedes design is all that good anymore either. In fact I think they've lost it like Subaru and BMW.

You know I own an Octavia vRS. There's nothing super wow about the styling, but Skoda has got a lot of things right, taking styling cues from Audi A4 and BMW M3 and designing a no-nonsense package that I think looks better than it's rivals - and at half the cost. I know people who buy kW grunt and rumbling noise won't understand - but the car's an absolute beast.

I'll stay out of the 'Love v Ado' debate as much as I can here...

I've always loved a holden v8, especially a wagon. But to me, good design should always show restraint. It's about knowing when to stop. I love the holden sport wagon and a few years ago very nearly bought one. I loved the kw/nm numbers of the SSV, then the Clubsport R8 was even more appealing, but what turned me off were the fkn ugly badges on the back of the R8 that completely detracted from an otherwise great looking car.

Same with the Holden ute. A total beast, but a pretty ugly rear end. I guess a muscle car needs to look beefy etc, but it also needs to look appealing from all angles for the money spent.

I'm more of a 'wolf in sheep's clothing' type, where I want great performance that does not attract unwanted attention, and doesn't make me look like a cashed up bogan too.

Select to expand quote

Aus06 said..

I'll stay out of the 'Love v Ado' debate as much as I can here...

I've always loved a holden v8, especially a wagon. But to me, good design should always show restraint. It's about knowing when to stop. I love the holden sport wagon and a few years ago very nearly bought one. I loved the kw/nm numbers of the SSV, then the Clubsport R8 was even more appealing, but what turned me off were the fkn ugly badges on the back of the R8 that completely detracted from an otherwise great looking car.

Same with the Holden ute. A total beast, but a pretty ugly rear end. I guess a muscle car needs to look beefy etc, but it also needs to look appealing from all angles for the money spent.

I'm more of a 'wolf in sheep's clothing' type, where I want great performance that does not attract unwanted attention, and doesn't make me look like a cashed up bogan too.

Audi RS6 Avant or RS4 Avant

Or maybe this one .............

Select to expand quote

Rupert said..

How about this for a "Concept" car........ the 1969 Holden "Hurricane", a product of GMH in Adelaide ...... Slap on a couple of "Chevy" Badges and every boy racer will want one!

Pretty sure I've got that in my old Hot Wheels collection.