2011 Automotive Hot List: The Departed : (
#1
10-03-2010, 08:02 AM
2011 Automotive Hot List: The Departed : (
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2011 Automotive Hot List: The Departed...
For better or for worse, these American brands have left the building.
MCF Member's, Which ones will you miss ? Post & let us know `ok...
2007 Chevrolet Monte Carlo
Who says sport coupes can't be technologically savvy? 2007 Chevrolet Monte Carlo comes with OnStar, a six-speaker sound system, and an input jack for an MP3 player.
Chevrolet Monte Carlo The Chevrolet Monte Carlo first emerged during the height of the muscle car era in 1970. A combination of luxurious features and the coupe design was extraordinarily popular with those who wanted the handling and speed of a larger engine combined with convenient and lavish features that made driving the Monte Carlo a pleasurable, comfortable and often thrilling experience.
In addition to being a huge success representing General Motors on the Nascar circuit, the Monte Carlo was Motor Trends "Car of the Year" in 1973. Throughout the years, the Chevrolet Monte Carlo received both cosmetic and mechanical updates and enhancements that strived to continued to live up to the marvel of the Monte Carlo big block motors, rear wheel drive, performance based handling packages and sporty exteriors with plush interiors.
Unfortunately, in 1988, large, powerful 2 door sedans like the Monte Carlo lost popularity with most cost conscious Americans due to their thirst for gasoline and its ever increasing cost and the implied reliance on foreign fuel. Chevrolet responded to consumer demand and introduced the Lumina as the successor to the Monte Carlo.
However, in 1995 the fond name of the Monte Carlo emerged again-but this time the only similarity to its former generations was its name. With a fuel efficient V6 engine, a smaller frame and front wheel drive, the 1995 through 2000 Monte Carlo's bore a vague-if any-resemblance to the legendary muscle car of past generations.
The last generation of the Monte Carlo was the sixth/seventh generation, sold from 2000 until 2007. The final generation of the Monte Carlo is available engine selections and in available as both a 6 cylinder and 8 cylinder models with front wheel drive. The 2007 Monte Carlo marked the end of an era - a time remembered as when safety and security and the amount of gasoline consumed could not compare to the performance and power of your ride proudly announcing your identity whilst you enjoyed the thrill of driving around twists and turns that the Monte Carlo could handle with ease and have proven to be one of the best performance/touring coupe for the dollar 4-Sure
By the R&T Staff
If there’s one constant in this world, it’s this: We live in a world of constant flux. In the automotive world, however, we’ve all grown accustomed to seeing the same group of manufacturers introduce new models each year. You know the names. But for the 2011 model year—thanks largely to the huge economic downturn that began in late 2008—four well-known American nameplates have gone the way of the Edsel, so to speak.
Of these four, the Hummer brand was the most short-lived. The original Hummer H1 (or Hum-Vee) was a celebrity of the Persian Gulf War. In 2002 came a smaller and (slightly) more manageable version, the Hummer H2. Exactly what made suburbanites decide they needed a four-wheeled facsimile of a machine-gun toting, troop-hauling war machine parked in their driveway is best left to future generations to explain. Perhaps the supersized and fuel-guzzling excess of the Hummer brand will someday look as quaint as towering tailfins from the late-1950s? Or perhaps not.
Pontiac and Mercury always maintained a far more balanced product portfolio during their much longer life-spans. Founded in 1939, Pontiac was introduced as a companion make to prop up sales at GM’s Oakland division. Pontiac immediately outsold, and eventually far outlived, its parent brand. Oakland faded away in 1931. Pontiac’s historical highlights include the 1964 Pontiac GTO (the car that defined the muscle-car era) and the Firebird sports coupe.
Mercury was introduced in 1939, not to boost another brand’s sales, but to fill the price gap that had emerged between Ford and its upscale sibling, Lincoln. Cars like the 1949 Mercury Coupe driven by James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause all but guarantees the brand immortality – even if the nameplate itself has finally driven into the sunset. Years of badge engineering eventually dissolved Mercury’s identity, squeezing the brand out of the Ford Motor Company family tree.
Perhaps the biggest surprise – at least in terms of positive automotive karma – is the loss of Saturn. Created by GM to take the fight to imports, Saturn was marketed as “a different kind of car company,” thanks to a lineup of fuel-sipping small cars and no-haggle pricing policy. If only the cars lived up to the feel good dealership experience. A lack of development and new models left Saturn spinning out of orbit. A list ditch effort to market vehicles built by GM’s German-based Opel division as Saturns proved too little too late.
1. Pontiac
In theory, it was GM’s performance brand. We’ll miss cars like the G8, GTO and Solstice GXP; we wish we could erase the Aztek from our memory (as did Pontiac, no doubt).
2. Mercury
Founded in 1939 by Henry Ford’s son, Edsel, Mercury most recently served as an example of poor badge engineering.
3. Saturn
Originally known for its plastic-bodied cars and “no-haggle” dealer model; severely held back by a lack of new and unique product.
4. Hummer
Thrust into pop culture by a muscle-bound Austrian-born actor/governor, these off-road-biased trucks proved far too bulky and inefficient for the times.
"All good things come 2 an `End ~> ~> or do they ?
It's `up 2 U reading this 2 keep the Monte Carlo alive
LOL 4-Sure
More at Road & Track
Happening Now - 2010 Paris Auto Show Coverage
New Cars for 2011 - The Expert Guide to the Most Exciting Cars
Recent Articles
America's Most Expensive Trucks
Hybrid: Perception
Carmakers cover up sexy models to win over women
True Stories Behind Car Company Logos
The Price of Saving Fuel
Advanced Steps to Better Gas Mileage
2011 Automotive Hot List: The Departed...
For better or for worse, these American brands have left the building.
MCF Member's, Which ones will you miss ? Post & let us know `ok...
2007 Chevrolet Monte Carlo
Who says sport coupes can't be technologically savvy? 2007 Chevrolet Monte Carlo comes with OnStar, a six-speaker sound system, and an input jack for an MP3 player.
Chevrolet Monte Carlo The Chevrolet Monte Carlo first emerged during the height of the muscle car era in 1970. A combination of luxurious features and the coupe design was extraordinarily popular with those who wanted the handling and speed of a larger engine combined with convenient and lavish features that made driving the Monte Carlo a pleasurable, comfortable and often thrilling experience.
In addition to being a huge success representing General Motors on the Nascar circuit, the Monte Carlo was Motor Trends "Car of the Year" in 1973. Throughout the years, the Chevrolet Monte Carlo received both cosmetic and mechanical updates and enhancements that strived to continued to live up to the marvel of the Monte Carlo big block motors, rear wheel drive, performance based handling packages and sporty exteriors with plush interiors.
Unfortunately, in 1988, large, powerful 2 door sedans like the Monte Carlo lost popularity with most cost conscious Americans due to their thirst for gasoline and its ever increasing cost and the implied reliance on foreign fuel. Chevrolet responded to consumer demand and introduced the Lumina as the successor to the Monte Carlo.
However, in 1995 the fond name of the Monte Carlo emerged again-but this time the only similarity to its former generations was its name. With a fuel efficient V6 engine, a smaller frame and front wheel drive, the 1995 through 2000 Monte Carlo's bore a vague-if any-resemblance to the legendary muscle car of past generations.
The last generation of the Monte Carlo was the sixth/seventh generation, sold from 2000 until 2007. The final generation of the Monte Carlo is available engine selections and in available as both a 6 cylinder and 8 cylinder models with front wheel drive. The 2007 Monte Carlo marked the end of an era - a time remembered as when safety and security and the amount of gasoline consumed could not compare to the performance and power of your ride proudly announcing your identity whilst you enjoyed the thrill of driving around twists and turns that the Monte Carlo could handle with ease and have proven to be one of the best performance/touring coupe for the dollar 4-Sure
By the R&T Staff
If there’s one constant in this world, it’s this: We live in a world of constant flux. In the automotive world, however, we’ve all grown accustomed to seeing the same group of manufacturers introduce new models each year. You know the names. But for the 2011 model year—thanks largely to the huge economic downturn that began in late 2008—four well-known American nameplates have gone the way of the Edsel, so to speak.
Of these four, the Hummer brand was the most short-lived. The original Hummer H1 (or Hum-Vee) was a celebrity of the Persian Gulf War. In 2002 came a smaller and (slightly) more manageable version, the Hummer H2. Exactly what made suburbanites decide they needed a four-wheeled facsimile of a machine-gun toting, troop-hauling war machine parked in their driveway is best left to future generations to explain. Perhaps the supersized and fuel-guzzling excess of the Hummer brand will someday look as quaint as towering tailfins from the late-1950s? Or perhaps not.
Pontiac and Mercury always maintained a far more balanced product portfolio during their much longer life-spans. Founded in 1939, Pontiac was introduced as a companion make to prop up sales at GM’s Oakland division. Pontiac immediately outsold, and eventually far outlived, its parent brand. Oakland faded away in 1931. Pontiac’s historical highlights include the 1964 Pontiac GTO (the car that defined the muscle-car era) and the Firebird sports coupe.
Mercury was introduced in 1939, not to boost another brand’s sales, but to fill the price gap that had emerged between Ford and its upscale sibling, Lincoln. Cars like the 1949 Mercury Coupe driven by James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause all but guarantees the brand immortality – even if the nameplate itself has finally driven into the sunset. Years of badge engineering eventually dissolved Mercury’s identity, squeezing the brand out of the Ford Motor Company family tree.
Perhaps the biggest surprise – at least in terms of positive automotive karma – is the loss of Saturn. Created by GM to take the fight to imports, Saturn was marketed as “a different kind of car company,” thanks to a lineup of fuel-sipping small cars and no-haggle pricing policy. If only the cars lived up to the feel good dealership experience. A lack of development and new models left Saturn spinning out of orbit. A list ditch effort to market vehicles built by GM’s German-based Opel division as Saturns proved too little too late.
1. PontiacIn theory, it was GM’s performance brand. We’ll miss cars like the G8, GTO and Solstice GXP; we wish we could erase the Aztek from our memory (as did Pontiac, no doubt).
2. MercuryFounded in 1939 by Henry Ford’s son, Edsel, Mercury most recently served as an example of poor badge engineering.
3. SaturnOriginally known for its plastic-bodied cars and “no-haggle” dealer model; severely held back by a lack of new and unique product.
4. HummerThrust into pop culture by a muscle-bound Austrian-born actor/governor, these off-road-biased trucks proved far too bulky and inefficient for the times.
"All good things come 2 an `End ~> ~> or do they ?
It's `up 2 U reading this 2 keep the Monte Carlo alive
LOL 4-SureMore at Road & Track
Happening Now - 2010 Paris Auto Show Coverage
New Cars for 2011 - The Expert Guide to the Most Exciting Cars
Recent Articles
America's Most Expensive Trucks
Hybrid: Perception
Carmakers cover up sexy models to win over women
True Stories Behind Car Company Logos
The Price of Saving Fuel
Advanced Steps to Better Gas Mileage
Last edited by Space; 10-03-2010 at 11:55 AM.
#3
10-03-2010, 09:40 AM
..Hi `Jon,I just don't understand why everyone isn't a Auto Addict
It's great to read that you keep your Monte in Top condition and get compliments on your ride..
I think the Monte Carlo Designs are eternal, and will always be admired by those in the know : )
Bum about the Gator's loss : ( Peace/Happy/Out
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