In 3 days...the world will have the new Skyline GTR

[JustinG]

Honda Integra Type R

sorry i was speaking of the new integra (RSX)

[JustinG]

Ford Falcon Turbo? http://www.ford.com.au/range/falcon/mode...osedan.asp

daddy likes

[G.Irish]

Not a lot of cars really. The only ones that I think would really be worth having over here would be the TVR's and Type-R's. Another glaring absence is the all new 2nd gen Ford Focus. Kind of a stupid move by Ford but I guess they're trying to cut costs or something. As for the other cars?

Well the Noble is no doubt fast, and it would probably sell pretty well here. I'm still not terribly interested in it though because my impression of it from looking one over at Sebring is that it was a bit of a chincy British kit car. A very fast kit car, but it just didn't seem that well put together. I guess it to be expected for the low price.

The Ford Falcon weighs 3700+ lbs. We have a car much like that in the Pontiac GTO(Holden Monaro). As for the Commodore, its pretty much a 4 door Monaro, and we see how well the Monaro is selling here. The SS Ute? I'm pretty sure it'd meet the same fate as the El Camino.

The Vauxhall VX220 is basically a GM Elise.

The FQ340 costs $58000. It would probably be a little bit cheaper here just because the UK has some odd taxes and what not but still, I doubt many people would find it easy to justify a $40k+ Evo, especially when a stock Evo is so easy to modify.

The various sports-minded Opels, Vauxhalls, Seats, Alfas, and Renaults are all decent cars, but nothing that would turn our market on its ear. We've got better cars in every class. Style-wise the Alfas stand out but then again historically they've also stood out for poor reliability.

I think we're so used to the idea that we don't get the good stuff that we don't realize that now we do have the good stuff. As I said, there are a few cars we don't get but for the most part we've got all of the good ones that are significant. Most of the aforementioned sports/sporty cars that we don't get probably wouldn't sell well here anyway save for the TVR's, the Focus, maybe the Noble, and the Integra (RSX) Type-R.

[.RJ]

The Vauxhall VX220 is basically a GM Elise.

Elise doesnt have...... turrrboo

[CaptainHenreh]

Well, my point was that there was some cool shit out there that would sell in the US. The Falcon, it's true is a little big and it's also true the "Monaro" isn't selling.

But the GTO is the victim of terrible marketing, and I, personally would welcome a 4 door, assuming it was priced right. With even Hyundai coming out with a rear-drive platform, Detroit needs to re-establish themselves as kings of proper-drive. What Ford NEEDS is the Falcon. What we GOT was the Fusion. Thank you ford, but I didn't like the Taurus the first time.

And as far as the Ute, the El Camino was more a victim of the Death Of The Muscle Car than it was from "People hate it". I mean, the new Brat, I mean Baja, isn't doing too bad.

And the VX220 is more than a GM Elise. It's turbo, with an engine that doesn't have to be wound to oblivion just to get a lil horsepower. I know it would completely cannablize the Elise AND Solstice sales, but jeez it'd be awesome to have here.

As an Aside, even Lutz said that the Solstice was buiilt to accomodate a V8. MMmmm....

[Feersty]

You would be surprised, but everyone in Germany wants to get their hands on a Mustang. They are very rare over there and popular. But relatively sports cars cost a lot more over there than they do here. Driving is privilege not a right.

It costs nearly $1000 in Deutschland to get your license and you have to be 18. On the back of their licenses they have all these different vehicles that they need to be certified to drive. From a tractor to a 50cc scooter, every vehicle is on there. An additional certification if you drive a car or truck with a trailer. They drive little 100 hp diesel hatchbacks as daily drivers. We drive Yukons, Expeditions, Camrys.

The culture is very different. We are very lavish and waste energy while those in Germany are forced to conserve because their economy is not a good as ours. I wish we could move towards their type of thinking(I think we kinda or fwiw, SUV sales going down).

For the people complaining about us not getting cars over here. A lot of it is safety reasons and emissions. In Europe there are different greenhouse gases that they try and cut out such as CO2, where it is not as much of a concern to us.

[G.Irish]

But the GTO is the victim of terrible marketing, and I, personally would welcome a 4 door, assuming it was priced right. With even Hyundai coming out with a rear-drive platform, Detroit needs to re-establish themselves as kings of proper-drive. What Ford NEEDS is the Falcon. What we GOT was the Fusion. Thank you ford, but I didn't like the Taurus the first time.

Therein lies the problem, "if it was priced right". Had the GTO come in at $20-25k it would have sold like hotcakes. At the $30k+ mark its not such a hot deal.

For the Falcon to sell well here it would have to start in the high teens and not really get up past the mid 20's for the Turbo. For the bread-and-butter models they'd have to line up favorably against the Accord, Camry, Altima, 6, and 300C. In that company that car would have to come up very big on the goods to make it worth the expense of importing, especially considering the financial trouble Ford is in right now.

Of course, had Ford not wasted its money on the Fusion maybe they could've afforded to bring the Falcon and make it successful.

And as far as the Ute, the El Camino was more a victim of the Death Of The Muscle Car than it was from "People hate it". I mean, the new Brat, I mean Baja, isn't doing too bad.

The Baja has done terrible in sales. As of September Subaru has only sold 4900 of them. Word is, it'll be discontinued soon.

And the VX220 is more than a GM Elise. It's turbo, with an engine that doesn't have to be wound to oblivion just to get a lil horsepower. I know it would completely cannablize the Elise AND Solstice sales, but jeez it'd be awesome to have here.

Still, a GM Elise with a turbo. The powerplant makes the VX220 much easier to live with for sure, but I'm not sure the cost of crash testing the car, jumping through all of the emissions hoops, setting up either a Vauxhall dealer network or rebadging the car (as a Pontiac?) and doing all of the training and parts supply rollout would be worth it in sales. Who would buy it?

The Elise is pretty darned fast as is so there probably aren't a whole bunch of customers who didn't buy it because it was underpowered. A turbocharged car of course provides a lot of room to crank up the power for cheap but I doubt the typical buyer (or prospective buyer) of an Elise/VX220 is that type of enthusiast anyway. No, for the VX220 it would have to provide significant upside over the Elise (read: a lot more power in stock form or much lower price). More power would break the 1st Commandment of GM: Thou shalt not be faster than the Corvette. Lower price would make it difficult to turn a profit.

I think it has kind of snuck up on us, but this is one of the best times in the last 20 years to be a car enthusiast in the US.

[ViPER1313]

Therein lies the problem, "if it was priced right". Had the GTO come in at $20-25k it would have sold like hotcakes. At the $30k+ mark its not such a hot deal.

Name one other car that gives you a 6 speed manual and 400hp for an MSRP of under 34k dollars. BTW, they are discounted so heavily at dealerships that you can pick them up for mid 20 something.

I see the GTO as the next LT1 Impala SS - not appreciated now but will be a collectorÔÇÖs item in 10 years.

[.RJ]

I see the GTO as the next LT1 Impala SS - not appreciated now but will be a collectorÔÇÖs item in 10 years.

A bloated cop car land yacht with a heavy iron block engine is a collectors item?

There are few real collectors items cars that have been built lately - sure there are a lot of cars that are nice to have that have a lot of character and history, but they're not unobtainable in price and they wont make you rich in 20 years. And one that the dealership has to unload for $8+k under sticker price certainly isnt going in the right direction to be any sort of classic automobile.

[ViPER1313]

I see the GTO as the next LT1 Impala SS - not appreciated now but will be a collectorÔÇÖs item in 10 years.

A bloated cop car land yacht with a heavy iron block engine is a collectors item?

There are few real collectors items cars that have been built lately - sure there are a lot of cars that are nice to have that have a lot of character and history, but they're not unobtainable in price and they wont make you rich in 20 years. And one that the dealership has to unload for $8+k under sticker price certainly isnt going in the right direction to be any sort of classic automobile.

You can say the same thing about the SS. Low sales do nothing but help a cars status later, as there were fewer units produced.

No, its not going to be a car you can retire on in 20 years, but I think they won't dip much in value for the next 10 to 15 years either. An Impala SS still fetches 10g+ for one in decent condition - the same cannot be said for many 10 year old cars that sold for 20 something thousand, not even your precious Hondas :lol: .

[G.Irish]

Therein lies the problem, "if it was priced right". Had the GTO come in at $20-25k it would have sold like hotcakes. At the $30k+ mark its not such a hot deal.

Name one other car that gives you a 6 speed manual and 400hp for an MSRP of under 34k dollars. BTW, they are discounted so heavily at dealerships that you can pick them up for mid 20 something.

That's fine but its still not selling. It doesn't matter how much horsepower your car has, how light it is, or how well it handles if no one is buying it.

At $34k it just hasn't proven to be executed correctly for it to be popular. As Rex said, some of that is poor marketing, but the high price certainly doesn't help. I think the styling is a little bit too vanilla (some tacked on hood scoops is not going to fix that either) and I'm sure the weight plays a factor for some potential enthusiast buyers.

A shame really because its a pretty cool car IMO. I'm sure they'll get it right the next time though.

[Mike]

i want a cts-v while we're on the subject of awesome marketing. 5 years ago i never thought i'd ever utter the words "i want a cadillac," but here i am!

[.RJ]

the same cannot be said for many 10 year old cars that sold for 20 something thousand, not even your precious Hondas :lol: .

A '97-98 ITR will still fetch $17-18k with low miles in good condition

[Goodspeed]

Hmmm...lots of interesting discussion going on here, and from what people have been pointing out, I personally wouldn't mind the Vauxhall VX220 (But its a Vauxhall....ugghhh).

I want the BMW M3 CSL and MB CLK DTM AMG

[ScottyB]

I want the BMW M3 CSL and MB CLK DTM AMG

those are two cars i forgot about, that i would like to see over here. i wonder if BMW and Merc brought them over here if they would lose their super-rare collector car image....i would think so.

[CaptainHenreh]

i want a cts-v while we're on the subject of awesome marketing. 5 years ago i never thought i'd ever utter the words "i want a cadillac," but here i am!

See, and I think if GM put the same effort (or even similar effort) into the 'GTO' as they did into the CTS, it would have sold alot better.

Notice, G, that I wasn't disagreeing that America is experiencing a golden age of Horsepower. We are, and I love it. But it *could* be cooler.

[Mike]

i want a cts-v while we're on the subject of awesome marketing. 5 years ago i never thought i'd ever utter the words "i want a cadillac," but here i am!

See, and I think if GM put the same effort (or even similar effort) into the 'GTO' as they did into the CTS, it would have sold alot better.

Notice, G, that I wasn't disagreeing that America is experiencing a golden age of Horsepower. We are, and I love it. But it *could* be cooler.

the one thing the cts-v has going for it that the gto does not, is it looks f'ing hot. the gto looks like nothing more than a grand-prix on roids.

[CaptainHenreh]

the one thing the cts-v has going for it that the gto does not, is it looks f'ing hot. the gto looks like nothing more than a grand-prix on roids.

I agree. I freakin' love the CTS-V. I saw one at school the other day, and there's nothing I hate about it. Nothing. Big engine, big brakes, room for 5. Three cheers for the General!

[Mike]

so uhhh wanna go halfsies on one? you can have it on weekends.

[CaptainHenreh]

so uhhh wanna go halfsies on one? you can have it on weekends.

No track time in the CTS for you? Maybe we could split a lease?