It couldn’t compete with the Excel and Yugo as those two cars didn’t come to the US until 10 or 12 years later. Even Car and Driver claimed it was the “most significant” car to ever come out of Detroit,[or something equally heavy handed].

The Monza was based on the VEGA and was meant to use the Mazda rotary built under license by GM. When that fell through, it was decided to shoehorn a v8 into the thing. So badly was it done the engine had to be dropped just to change the rear plugs. There is no way the Cavalier was worse. With a choice of bulky front heavy V8 or the Vega 4 or the Iron Duke ??? Buick and Pontiac versions got the V6.Olds could have the V8 or the Vega 4. L

Later in the run [1983?] there was also the option of a Brazilian OHC 1.8 in the 2000 and later the Skyhawk and Firenza that was better suited to the J bodies.

The Cavalier was shorter, had better interior room and gas mileage as well as a larger trunk [Monza trunk was about 6 cubic feet in the notch back] and, yes, better build quality.

And though there were five J Body clones, at the least they were better differentiated than the H body [Monza] clones.

The Monza was Motor Trend’s Car of the Year for 1975 for what that was worth.But then so was the Vega for 1971.

The Citation was Motor Trend’s car of The Year for 1980. The Xs were an immense hit as they put full size room in a compact [Monza size] body.

The Citation still holds the record for 1st year model sales at nearly 800,000 units. And as you mentioned held the record in recalls [until the Focus came along]. Had they been right from the beginning, those X’s might have set the course for GM’s future in a positive way instead of costing them untold #s of repeat customers.

Vauxhall & Opel used the J Body and helped in it’s development. They parted ways when GM wanted to develop an OHV engine for the US versions and IIRC the semi independent rear end. All well documented in Brock Yates book: “The Rise & And Fall Of The American Automobile”.

Say what you will about GM’s misfires, you don’t have to stray into exaggeration to find examples of poor product decision making over the past 30 years. They’re low hanging fruit.

As a side note, I don’t think we should be paying for the travel expenses of any of our elected officials and certainly not for private jets. What ever happened to the idea of service to your country out of gratitude for what it provides you and out of a sense of responsibility towards your fellow man. I can only imagine how thick the slime trails were leading from the congressional hearings between the politicians and the car executives.

If your reasoning is representitive of many others (and I think it is) then GM is doomed. Even if the cars they make now are very reliable (and indications are that they are – at least the newer models). But why would one experience with one model of one year of one brand of a car turn you off to the whole corporation, including the trucks? Is it revenge? Were your feelings hurt that bad? I’m not being sarcastic, I really want to know and understand this angst among previous D3 consumers in general and GM consumer in particular.

Is it possible your car was a lemon? Were all 1994 Grand Am’s that bad? 1993’s? 1995’s? Was it not the car so much but the treatment by the dealer? Was it the lack of warranty coverage? Was the warranty expired?

What do you drive now? Has anything ever broke on it? How were you treated by the new(er) dealer/warranty claims? Have you overlooked any problems with your current car because the dealership service/repair experience was so much better? These are the questions that Detroit should be asking.

Somebody help me out here. What does this mean? I don’t know if it’s the phrasing, or if I really am in that much need of my morning coffee (distinct possibility).

Whaaa?

Pre-1970, maybe. Recall (pun intended) the Citation. Or the Chevette, designed to compete with the Excel and Yugo. Or the Cavalier, which replaced the Monza, yet actually managed–and this wasn’t easy–to be worse.

And believe me, the hits kept coming.

But face it, Big 2.5 have no one but themselves to blame.

Think back to every GM dealer experience, repair experience, you have ever had and now you know why most people would crawl through a mile of broken glass to buy a Honda after having owned a GM.

For a period of time there, pre-1990 basically, GM was making solid cars. But then one experience with a 1994 Grand Am did me in.

There are 24 daily nonstop flights from Detroit to the Washington area. Richard Wagoner, Alan Mulally and Robert Nardelli probably should have taken one of them.
Instead, the chief executives of the Big Three automakers opted to fly their company jets to the capital for their hearings this week before the Senate and House — an ill-timed display of corporate excess for a trio of executives begging for an additional $25 billion from the public trough this week.

“There’s a delicious irony in seeing private luxury jets flying into Washington, D.C., and people coming off of them with tin cups in their hands,” Rep. Gary L. Ackerman (D-N.Y.) advised the pampered executives at a hearing yesterday. “It’s almost like seeing a guy show up at the soup kitchen in high-hat and tuxedo. . . . I mean, couldn’t you all have downgraded to first class or jet-pooled or something to get here?”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/19/AR2008111903669.html?hpid=topnews

Perception is everything.

That was Congressional Security, not the Pelosi-woman, which demanded a larger jet. Just to keep things straight.
The fact was used to attack her, but she needed the larger jet for cross-country hauls to SF. Earlier speakers made do with smaller jets, while still retaining a safety margin of fuel in their tanks, when going to their home states.

That said – I actually recognize the need for corporate jets at the level of GM, etc. Particularly in this instance, as they will have flown with a bevy of lawyers and will have conducted sensitive discussions.
But image is everything, and the saying is that richly dressed beggars do not get as much in their bowl.

http://i415.photobucket.com/albums/pp236/Bear0013/Phun/say-what2.jpg

..so is that line. Poor Rick, indeed.

I am astounded at the myopia. No bailout will produce the Big 0. The costs to the economy will be devastating if the Big 3 are denied assistance.

Congress: Go ahead, save a dime to spend a dollar. Brilliant.

I believe nothing Brian Ross reports and neither should you.

Take a look at this ABC news article:
http://www.abcnews.go.com/Blotter/WallStreet/story?id=6285739&page=1

The gem is right here:

Wagoner’s private jet trip to Washington cost his ailing company an estimated $20,000 roundtrip.

I also saw this stat on CNBC this morning.

20 large to fly to washington! How many coach tickets can you buy for $20,000?

If Washington decides to bail these guys out, they better require that they fly coach as long as they have OUR money.

-ted

“That’s a cheap shot. It’s much more effective, from a financial and work point of view, for us to fly in our corporate jets for such meetings. Particularly as we also have to carry out a lot of sensitive discussions during such journeys, etc …”

But because these guys are just treading water, they didn’t have the guts to say so — and that’s the trouble here. They didn’t say anything.

You make a logical argument. However, most corporations have risk management rules that don’t permit more than a couple of top execs from flying together on the same aircraft… wouldn’t want to lose more than two empty suits in an accident. Therefore, they probably each used two of the corporate jets to fly their posse to Washington.

Plus, if my time at GM under Jack Smith is any indication, they probably had the advance team there the day before making sure they had the right bottled water in the committee room. But those are only VPs, so they flew first class commercial.

Seriously, though, I realize that there is added cost to having someone of this level wasting time waiting at the airport, having flights cancelled or delayed, or other indignities that normal people have to endure.

It’s more RW’s stubborn refusal to make any personal concessions that are earning no brownie points with Congress. Class envy or no, it’s untoward to lay off thousands of people give oneself a bonus for having to make such difficult decisions, and then come begging for handouts.

I’m taking a guess here, but this guess is based upon my experiences in and around their executive-level circles. Stop assuming that these CEOs travel alone-they don’t unless it’s a personal affair (paging Mark Fields and Steve Wilson!!) They always take their posse’ with them and their posse’ is usually their top 4-6 guys and gals who are experts in certain aspects of their business-think of the posse’ like a Presidential Cabinet; it’s kind of like that. Now each of the top 4-6 will have their own bodyguard, and each of the 4-6 will also bring along at least 2 of their support staff, RH-people, their management teams etc…So for their little trip to DC, they probably had 5 Executives, 5+ Bodyguards, 10 or more support staff and sycophants for a real rough estimate of about 20 people…Now assuming a $400 coach seat on a major airline RT DC/Detroit flight, you get an airfare price of somewhere around $8000…and that is just for one CEO and the posse’.

Now I don’t know what it costs to fly their corporate jets, but the owner of my wife’s company told me his jet runs him about $7000 per day…which is a touch less than the estimated $8000 to fly coach and we ALL know the CEOs and their posses ain’t flyin’ coach…so if you pay for them to fly first class, you can make that $16,000…Not cheap.

According to AirGroup out of LAX that leases corporate jets, HECK a big-old 737 can be leased for just $2311/hour…A mid-size jet such as a Cessna Citation V11 can be leased for ‘just’ $976/hour-Not bad …now since GM probably owns their own planes (they have 8 worldwide) or leases them from some company they created, the cost per hour could be even less…so flying the posse’ ain’t so cheap no matter how you do it, but flying commercial is not necessarily cheaper, especially when you bring ‘The Posse’!!

Now I could have guessed wrong-maybe they flew their corporate jets alone to DC, but I seriously doubt it, they probably brought the posse’ with them and if so, flying commercial might not have saved them a penny, but yes…allowing themselves to be filmed getting on and off their corporate jets was a baaaaaaaaad PR move, one just juicy enough to make the Bill O’Reilly’s of the world salivate…Please.