OK, here are my thoughts on the NY Auto Show. Please keep in mind these are MY thoughts and I did not get to see all of the cars that were there. You also may not agree with everything I write, but these are my brutal honest thoughts about the cars and manufacturers I did see. The comments are from also a first glance, I have not driven any of them, but I can usually tell if I will like a car or not by sitting in it. Please don’t flame me, but read with an open mind. You should also know this is written by someone who is NOT brand loyal. I am a lover of cars in ways most people will never understand. Cars don’t have to be just about performance for me to like them.
Let me start with GM since it seems to be the favorite amongst the crowd.
2005 Corvette.
What can I say, I love and hate it all at once. I hate the headlights and the dinky black wing that has the 3rd break light in it. Other than that, I love the car. The looks and the STATED performance for the price outpace any other manufacturer in the world IMHO. Bang for the buck is amazing with 400 hp. The interior LOOKS (didn’t get to sit in it) great and I love the interior of the current Vette. I bet GM will make a ton off of this car. I know more people that like the front end (but wish they would improve the rear) of the car. GM has really managed to do what was really tough, improve their flagship car. (the downside is most people can’t afford their flagship car). Yes I know GM does not consider it their flagship, but that is how I see it.
SSR Also know as the SS type R.
OK, the first comment out of the group of people I went with was it looks like they used the old Camaro SS badges on the truck and added a Type R badge to it. Cheesy, really really cheesy. It needs a better name, a much better name. The truck is HUGE! It is so much bigger in real life than in pictures. It has grown on me (better than a bad fungus) since the real life appearance. The ingress & egress is somewhat difficult. You have to get in & out over the bottom seat bolsters. The seats are quite comfy though! The fit and finish seems to be excellent so far. The shifter seemed to be broken though, but it could be from the crowds abusing it. I would have to see an un-abused model to make a judgment. The tailgate seemed to weigh 100 lbs. It’s no wonder the truck weighs so much. I really think GM could have clipped 300 lbs easily without repercussions, maybe even more. The bed is small, very small in fact with the truck boxes installed it seems useless. I would hope they can be removed easily. All in all, I am more impressed than I thought I would be! I want to test drive one of these! GM might actually have something here.
Malibu Maxx.
GM has finally created the FAMILY car that will sell. Maybe. While the looks are mediocre the actual intent of use fits the 2 kid family IN A GREAT WAY! They even added a glass roof for the back seat. It’s a fairly comfortable car to sit in. The downside though really bugs me (and it rolls over to some other GM vehicles). They screwed with the friggin radio controls. WHY WHY WHY WHY? There was NOTHING wrong with the current generation save for the size of it in the dash. You take one look at the radio and it is NOT at all intuitive to use. Bad GM. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Bastards. The rear hatch area has a (perceivably nice shelf) that is adjustable to 3 levels and can even be a table off the back if desired. The downside is the shelf isn’t easy to use at all. The retractable covers for the rear glass roofs are tough for an adult to use let alone a kid. The metal clips will snap back hard and scratch the roof or hit the other passenger. Great ideas, poor execution and implementation. They really f’d up on this. They designed and all around good car with serious flaws. Shoot the engineers that did this. I love this car except for those 3 major flaws and I don’t know if the public will get by them either.
Cobalt.
Looks better in person than in picture. Should be a decent cavalier replacement. The SS version is over used though. They need to drop it and use SPORT or something other than SS. Just plain lazy marketing.
GTO.
Bland looks, but that I can handle. The interior is CHEAP. The window switches felt like they would break before long. The ingress/egress reminded me of the fbody and that’s a tough way to sell a car. I was not impressed at all. So far I would rather buy a Mustang. I should drive one to get a real idea though. The GTO was always an affordable car, this GTO is not. GM missed the mark. I doubt they will tap the market they were aiming for. (very typical of GM….) It’s also a big fat pig.
Solstice.
Ahh, new life. I love the looks in every way. I would like more HP but since the car has a low curb weight I should not complain. If they produce it, I will have to test drive it. That car just screams FUN! It’s a good competitor for the Mazda Miata. About friggin time I say. Bring it on GM! (but don’t mess it up)
They had a wagon concept (didn’t get the name) that was way cool! I can’t say more than that because I didn’t see any info. So far so good though, might be a winner.
Colorado.
Much nicer inside than the S10 ever thought of being. Still a bit sparse compared to the Ford Ranger, but better than the S10 ever wanted to be. I hate the tail lights, but if I were in the market, I would consider it. The odd thing is the inline 5 cylinder engine. WHY. They have so many decent engines, why and I5? Why even bother. Just plain dumb, what do they think, that they are Volvo?
GM needs to learn how to paint a car. I saw more orange peel in GM’s area than you could believe. Unreal. GM paint quality is the WORST I have ever seen.
Overall GM Impressions.
I think GM has missed the mark, while they have some great ideas, they couldn’t make one work (except for the Vette which I hate the headlights) if they wanted to. They are headed in the right direction, but not enough. They break the good things and can’t make the new ideas work like they should. I would love to spend a week with these people and SHOW them why I hate the new designs. Maybe it would help them out some. Seriously though, I don’t know why they do what they do. They could do so much better. I’m very disappointed overall with GM’s ideas and paint quality. They don’t have any concept of perceived quality even if that does not mean much in the lifetime of a car. If the perceived quality is low, you can’t sell cars unless it’s to loyal customers, and if that’s the case, how do you gain new ones? GM does have good over all quality though as far as I can see. I guess that is something to be happy about. (Let’s improve the dealers now)
On to Ford!
What can I say, if anyone was able to attract attention it was FORD!. They had up beat music, and excellent displays. They attracted people in droves. GM please take note and get rid of boring displays and learn how to attract people with something other than the Corvette.
2005 Mustang.
Yowsa! This thing has looks that are just PERFECT! Ford has really done it right now! I was amazed at the perfection for every line of that car except for the DOG GONE FIXED ANTENNA in the right fender. They have obviously learned NOTHING AT ALL from the other manufacturers. The least they could have done was given it a power antenna but better yet, integrate it in the rear window. That’s my only complaint looks wise. I can not wait to get behind the wheel of one of these machines. It attracted more attention than any other car. The interior LOOKS like a winner. They would not let you sit in it though, so I can’t comment on the feel and I don’t know what the final HP will be, but I can bet it will only be 300 hp and not higher like the 4th gen fbody which it should be equivalent to at the very least. Bad Ford.
Ford GT.
HOLY COW I LOVE THIS THING! I just can’t afford the price. I want one. Dayum it’s hot. (wife hates it) If I had to leave my wife for a car………oh don’t go there. (don’t tell her I said that or I will hunt you down with one of my guns, preferably the one that is NOT in my name) Enough said.
2005 Bronco Concept.
Ugly and cool all at the same time. Glass roof is neat but could have serious drawbacks. Interesting concept and it will be very interesting to see what they do with it.
Ok, that’s it. Ford has not created any other car worthy of mentioning…oh wait, the T-bird is cool but underpowered and way overpriced. Where is Ford? Do they know the consumer even exists? Lets face it, Ford Quality is some of the worst I have ever seen. My sisters Windstar has had 12 recalls on it. It spends a lot of time in the shop for warranty work and even more for deer hits (not Fords fault). POS. I told her not to get it, but she wanted the adjustable pedals because she’s short. The Freestar looks too much like the windstar and I will always associate them together. Nice try Ford, but they are the same vehicles with different names. Trying to get around the bad rep from the Windsatr are you? The Escape had 19 recalls before they made 10K of them, which I blame on union sabotage, and if you have ever read the problems and why they shut down the manufacturing line I think you would agree. Ford is so far behind I don’t even know how they sell cars (except the Mustang). What a pitiful statement. GM will kill Ford. (so I predict). Oh wait they already do. Ah well, such is life. If they make money, they don’t care. The general quality is good but Fords will nickel and dime you to death in the long run even if they run forever. Ford needs some serious improvement. (please note that Ford killed the stereo controls in the Taurus a long time ago which I hated). I love the Mustang but the Quality has yet to be proven.
Chrysler.
Oh the possibilities that I see. The question is, have they learned how to make a decent transmission and an engine that will go more than 80K miles? Only time will tell.
300C.
It’s high time RWD came back! AS much as I love FWD cars, a RWD family car is way overdue. AWESOME JOB! This could really hit Ford & GM where it hurts!!!! A must drive in my book since I could not sit in one. It also looks good.
Magnum!
See above! Questionable low V6 power on a heavy car. So far so good though. Chrysler has something going with these RWD offerings. I like the looks. Another Must Drive!
The biggest JOKE OF THE SHOW. They say the captains chairs fold into the floor and the rear seat does without the removal of headrests like the Honda Odyssey we have (ohhhh, big deal). The captains chairs WON’T FOLD into the floor unless the front seats are all the way forward and straight up. WTF? Talk about bad engineering! I was intrigued by the possibilities, so I made the others look. We had to actually ASK a rep to show us and he did, but on the model without the body and front seats. We figured out the rest on the real vehicle. How could you hype up something that works so poorly? Another engineer that needs to be fired. I’ll spend the few minutes to remove the seats from our Odyssey thank you very much.
Crossfire.
Oh baby! Oh baby! Oh the potential, especially since they had the optional 330 HP Supercharged V6 version there! Very comfy, and easy to get in and out of. Under 30K price tags helps but still seems steep. Odd wall thing behind the 2 front seats though, and I don’t know what’s up with that. I would prefer it if I could remove it and throw it in my shed. Interior is ok, but could be better. Controls were nice, but the dash material was very cheap. The clutch pedal SUCKED! Way to springy for 3 inches and then just hit the floor. I just can’t win can I. Almost home runs for 5 star. They need a little help from the Germans.
Volvo.
Cool Gull wing concept car. Gull wings were designed to open in a small parking lot. I doubt they will make it, but it could lead a way to the future.
Boxy, but good. Nothing new which seems to be very typical for Volvo. Lets just slowly evolve our cars without new offerings. How boring. They could do so much, but do so little. I’ve driven a bunch and you would never catch me in one. Yawn. They sell safety, not cars. Yawn.
Saab (for those that don’t know…. I own a 2003 Saab 9 3).
I loved the 9X that the rest of the world hated the looks of. That was the perfect car for me, but they went and stretched it to 4 doors. They did however keep the 330 HP and AWD! Neat modular roof rack system and they renamed it the 9 3 conecpt. Should be interesting to see what they do with it.
9 2 . It’s a Subaru WRX with a Saab front end and luxury. Whoop de doo.
Saab has so much potential now that GM owns them, the problem is the Sweeds don’t like change. Saabs sales are up a TON (twenty some percent I think) so they must be doing something right!
9 7. Envoy with a Saab front end. Whoop de doo. They could do better.
Big disappointment from my favorite manufacturer. GM has given them so much but they refuse to see it. Sales are up though, so I must be wrong about something. I doubt the 9 2 will attract the crowd they want though. They need something to resemble the old Saab Sonnet!
Mazda.
RX8!
Just from sitting in it, I WANT ONE! This car is comfortable 100%. They give you a half rear door that makes getting in & out really easy. I just had to jump in the back seat to test it out, and it works. Unfortunately, they decided they could engineer a better stero. I don’t know why manufacturers seem to think that they must try to re-engineer every part of a car. Let me fire this person along with the others. I love the exterior looks too. They gave it 238 HP in the 6 speed car and a low curb weight which is a recipe for FUN!
There were lots of other decent sedan offerings which I did not get a chance to see.
Mercedes Benz
SLR. One Word, COOL. Other than that you could not get close enough.
The rest of the cars were typical MB, aimed at people with big wallets (not that I have a problem with that though). My BIL (brother in law) had a 60K+ Benz sedan ( can’t remember which one though) that was awesome to drive 3 years ago. (he now has an expensive Porche on order. Note to self, convince him to let me drive it) You could drive that car forever and not get tired. An amazing feat in itself in my opinion.
Jeep.
If this display were on the main floor instead of in an attached building, nobody would have bothered even looking at the other manufacturers! 200 truckloads of dirt were brought in to create the display, not to mention logs and rocks. They had about 10 Jeeps (all models I must point out) on this “track” running up a steep hill, down the other side, through mud, over rocks and logs….Maybe it’s not a true display of a Jeeps capabilities, but if I needed an off road vehicle, you can bet any amount of money I would buy a Jeep. They had cheap ones, they had small ones, they had pretty ones, they had ugly ones, but I can say that in all honesty the Jeeps were better equipped than the drivers!!!!!!!!!!!!! We watched one get stuck on the rocks….just keep driving is my motto!
Summary:
Well, that is all we got to see which disappoints me to say the least. I would have loved to been able to spend time with every manufacturer there if I could have, that way I would have been able to properly abuse them all.
I t was a good time but I wished there were more concept cars there. I guess the lack of concepts is a reflection of the economy.
Please also cut me some slack with the pictures, I bought a Canon Digital rebel Camera and used the wrong lens for the show. It does take some getting used to but as you can see by this picture, the shots are incredible!
“Sneezy”
Posted by TimeLord (Member # 1389) on :
I can understand!!!
Thanks for the revue!
[ 14. April 2004, 04:10 PM: Message edited by: TimeLord ]
Posted by KurtK (Member # 1779) on :
Thanks for writing up your impressions!
BTW- I believe the GM wagon concept is the Nomad.
Posted by vyto2 (Member # 2265) on :
Was disappointed when I heard the solstice and the nomad were downgraded to 4 bangers. The previous nomad had an 8 in it and the solstice concept had more power than this 4 banger will give. They were even thinking of replacing the firebird with it for a while! Not crazy about the new vette, don't get me wrong, vette's are incredible machines, but I think they've been trying to please current owners with each change for a long time. The car deserves better, something breaking with tradition and moving on as much as it mechanicals have. The stingray III was an amazing looking car. Love the new mustang too, best looking stang since the 60's and 70 models. Dying to see what special versions they come out with... (SHELBY???)
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Not crazy about the new vette, don't get me wrong, vette's are incredible machines, but I think they've been trying to please current owners with each change for a long time. The car deserves better, something breaking with tradition and moving on as much as it mechanicals have. The stingray III was an amazing looking car. ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)