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November 23, 2005

File This Under "Duh"

In an industry where 'product is king,' General Motors Corp. is in dire need of attractive new vehicles to rule the road, analysts say, mostly dismissing a move by the ailing auto giant to cut jobs and close plants to save billions of dollars a year.
We posted on that same thing here at the cutting edge Swilling months ago. Now repeat after me: GM, your stuff looks like sh*t and has for years. Get off your comfortable corporate a$$es and design something someone would actually give their right eyeball to have, 'cause livin' off your truck/SUV lines don't cut it no more. Like our reaction everytime we see an Aztec;
"Good God! What is that...thing?"

Posted by tree hugging sister at November 23, 2005 08:41 AM

Comments

And that effin Avalanche ... ugh!

Ford all the way, baby!

Posted by: Cullen at November 23, 2005 09:09 AM

You know, the last time I though they had a winner was the Cadillac Allante convertible with the Pina Ferrina styling. Until I looked inside and saw that ugly f*ckin' GM dash. Backed away in disgust. UUGGHHHH!!!!!

Posted by: tree hugging sister at November 23, 2005 09:30 AM

The newer Avalanche is one of the few GMs, other than the GTO, that I care for. Mother MOPAR for me if I suffered a serious head wound and bought a US car. Otherwise I'll stick with my paid-for Mitsu, Honda and BMW.

Posted by: Crusader at November 23, 2005 11:07 AM

I have owned two GM vehicles in my life.

One: A Pontiac Montana mini-van. Because they offered me an unbelievable deal. And it was too good to be true because they screwed me when it was all said and done. Live and learn (got rid of it quickly though).

Two: A 1978 Olds Cutless with the 305. Great car. But everybody was making good cars before 1980.

That's the last time I fall for any GM shennanigans. The next time I step away from Ford it'll be for a Toyota.

Posted by: Cullen at November 23, 2005 11:08 AM

One Ford was enough for me. Have had a bunch of Mopars and Pontiacs, with the worst still being leagues ahead of the Ford. But for bang for the buck, can't compete with our Hondas. They run forever as long as you remember to change the oil every decade or so. But other than a Mustang or older Torino/Cyclone, you'll see Satan in a parka before I buy another Ford product. As for your Pontiac, the problem wasn't that it was GM, just that it was a minivan, the scourge of the earth........

Posted by: Crusader at November 23, 2005 12:16 PM

THS, please don't pick the Aztec as the average GM styled vehicle. Everyone knows it's terrible.

Actually I am a GM fan. I don't know of any company today (or for the past 25 years) that has made consistently good looking vehicles (cars).

The great looking eras of autos has been on the backburner for years and who knows when anyone will make seriously good looking sedans.

Again, I'd take a GM over anything else.

Posted by: GALA at November 23, 2005 12:20 PM

Is one of those photos of Mr. Bingley after a makeover? If so, which one?

Posted by: The Real JeffS on Orcas Island at November 23, 2005 12:27 PM

Oh, well, I won't pick on you just before a holiday, GALA, lol!! But I did pick the Aztec for a reason ~ in my mind it represents the arrogance of the GM upper echelon; the picture perfect example of corporate disdain. To me that Aztec says "we can put any old crap out there that we want because they'll still buy it."

(JeffS ~ The orange one is the "before" pic.)

And in the interest of full disclosure, we're TOYOTA (Loyal 'yota lovers to the death!), Nissan, BMW and Audi types in the Major Dad household.

Posted by: tree hugging sister at November 23, 2005 01:35 PM

Actually, the Aztec was a Simpson-esque design, based on focus groups. It is what the soccer moms told them they wanted, just built from off the shelf parts. They needed a way to get rid of a crap-load of 3.1 V-6s, too.

Posted by: Crusader at November 23, 2005 02:38 PM

I think the Aztec looks like a Chevette on steroids. Right now I have a Chevy Impala, my first American vehicle, which is pretty reliable except that it goes through brake pads like nobody's business, leaks oil from a mysterious spot on top of the engine, the seat is stuck all the way back, and the drive-through window won't go down anymore, and hasn't since it was 2 years old.

I really miss my old Nissans, Toyotas and Hondas.

Posted by: Cindermutha at November 23, 2005 07:47 PM

We have nothing but old Toyotas, Nissans and Mazdas here (Okay, the Audi's an '87, but it just lies there, so doesn't count), so I empathize comPLETEly.

Posted by: tree hugging sister at November 23, 2005 10:43 PM

I've owned one of almost everything. Nothing's perfect but my current ride ('99 Toyota) hasn't given me a moment's trouble in 18 months. Got me from Jersey to Florida and back last winter and should do so again soon. Oddly, the Chevy was also a solid car ('90 Blazer) that passed 170,000 miles (albeit with lousy MPG). Got lucky on that one.

Posted by: Nightfly at November 23, 2005 11:26 PM

My GMs, mostly Chevys, have been good to me. The last Chevy truck I traded in on my current one was running fine with 375,000 miles on it but I simply wanted a new one and a deal came up. As for the Impalas and brake pads: If you drive a front wheel drive car, particularly larger models, in the city a lot, they'll eat front brake pads. All of the weight is in the front on those cars.

Posted by: Rob at November 25, 2005 12:45 PM