The 6th Gen Monte is the equivalent of a woman who can please you but only if she's wearing a bag over her head. I enjoyed my '03 but I had to imagine it was a 80s or 90s Monte. It had a nice big American car ride, it was comfortable.
Now when I look at this aftermarket grill I see so much improvement. But damn, those headlights need help.

 

I agree wols, but the whole car needs help, Need to do like Dodge and go Retro, I hate the FWD.

 

The Monte"s of the 80"s are smaller cars than the gen 6 cars the wheelbase is shorter and cars aren't as wide in the stance.

 

yeah but they were RWD and looked Cool, I really don't get "Cool" from anything newer.

 

I am not 100% sure what made GM switch cars like the Monte/Grand Prix/Regal/etc to FWD. My guess has to do with the perspective of safer for winter driving, again, a guess.
I'll be honest, when I was shopping for my Monte, I *really* wanted a modern GTO (the car rebadged and imported from GM's Australian factories). The reasons I did not seek out the GTO (which I've driven a couple and LOVED them), was that I I wanted a car for a daily driver (which the Monte never became), I already have a fun RWD car I hope to someday get back on the road ('84 Camaro), back to the daily driver thing I felt FWD was a bit better for a car that would ride our winter roadways (everyone has a different view on this, this happened to be mine).


I had fallen in love with the '97-'03 Grand Prix when my dad got his '98 Grand Prix SE with the 3800. I felt they had good size, comfortable, that 3800 felt like it had some power (not fast, not slow, but felt good). When I could look for a Grand Prix, they were not worth hunting for, as the lower rocker panels all rotted BAD.


Even though the Monte is on the same platform as the Grand Prix, it did not seem like I saw as many rotted Montes in my area (perhaps GM changed/improved something on them). Also, I felt ever since the 2000 Monte hit the streets, it had some retro style in it's appearance to the 4th gens of the 80's.
GM did a lot of rounding or bubbling of the exterior due to trends around that time. But the rear tail lights, despite the curvy/rounded look, reminded me of 4th gen tails (wider on bottom, narrow towards the top). The body panels have the "swoops" pressed into them (something all gens of Monte have except the 5th gen). Admittedly, I do look at the headlights and often I see the shape punched out for products that hang on a hook in stores, but I also felt it the angling of them and size was somewhat a reminder to the 4th gen dual bulb setup (back when you did not have a big plastic housing and used REAL headlight bulbs).
The SS gauges, had two big gauges and 4 small ones, again much like the 4th gens.


Those are my highlights, but again, a trend, much of the style I believe was to retro/modernize the look of a 4th gen Monte. From the appearance, I feel GM did well. Unlike Dodge and the return of the Charger, the Monte stayed 2 door and I feel looking at it, the 6th gen Monte says "I'm a Monte Carlo".

 

The g body cars will always be one of my favorite generations. I even had a diesel cutlas when I was young.

 

My 77 Cutlass Salon 5 Speed was one I'll never find again!

 

Going back to the car, I believe the 2000+ was a modern interpretation of past Monte Carlo bodies - the vertical taillights, fender flares and the size and shape of the back seat side windows being the most recognizable. Also, if you stand at the right angle, the way the rear window slopes down looks very reminiscent of the 1986-87 Aerocoupes. If you ask me, GM did a pretty good job with the Monte Carlo when comparing to their other cars of the same time period (think Malibu, Impala). If anything, the 1995-99 was the Monte with no Monte styling whatsoever - still a nice looking car for its time period.

 

We need a like button at the bottom of posts..

 

that's funny cuz I read thru comments and by habit look for a like button then realize im on a forum...lmao