Pontiac G8 To Return As A Chevy
Motor Trend gets three GM sources to confirm the return of the Pontiac G8 (Holden Commodore) to the North American market… only this time it’s coming as a Chevy. One exec even brags
We have a good name for it…
…and no, it’s not “Impala.” Nor is this simply a civilian version of the Caprice police model, which is based on the long-wheelbase version of the Zeta platform. This will be a limited-numbers affair and V8-only, reports MT, because currency fluctuations have made shipping cars from Australia more expensive. Should GM even be messing around importing the the Antipodean Driving Machine? The numbers might say no, but the fanboys are already screaming “hell yes” (or, more accurately “what about an El Camino ute version?”). Check out Michael Karesh’s reviews of all three versions of the Pontiac G8 (you can even read Liebermann’s Take Two on the GT if you must), and let us know what you think of the return of the G8.
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A little armchair quarterbacking here: 1. Chevy is balls deep in product mix. The Impala is getting produced through 2014. Why give them another large sedan? 2. If Buick is attempting to appeal to buyers with a pulse, the FWD Regal GS alone won't cut it. Give the Commodore to Buick, rename it (Wildcat, please), equip it with 450HP or so, leather everywhere, real wood on the dash and have a go at it.
I think this car should go to Buick as well under some iconic nameplate as well. Of course, if the morons at GM had canned Buick and kept Pontiac like they should have, this would be an irrelevant discussion, since this car was already the G8. That had be said, BTW. The AU Caprice should be sold to the public as a RWD Impala SS, top of the Chevrolet food chain. Instead GM thinks it needs ANOTHER FWD sedan so that's where the Impala name is going again instead, because you can't have too many FWD rental cars.
This car is not a Chevelle, Monte Carlo, Caprice, or any other iconic name from the past. I had a second generation Chevelle and Monte Carlo. And this car is neither. I test drove a G8 GT a few months before Pontiac folded and I liked it, although my test drive was pretty limited. Additionally, I had only recently found full time work after being laid off some months earlier so was not serious about buying anything. IF, this car comes back--Please GM if you are reading this, don't dilute the Chevelle name. A new Chevelle would need much softer styling cues, and probably four round headlamps upfront. Why not just name it the Chevy G8?
it might also be the next Bel Air?