Calaber
Nil Bastardo Carborundum
- Joined
- Nov 29, 2007
- Messages
- 4,334
- Reaction score
- 1,357
- Points
- 113
- Location
- Lower Hunter Region NSW
- Members Ride
- CG Captiva 5 Series 2
I'm with you entirely but you should know the shitstorm people get into over a name. I'm sure you saw the crap over Pontiac using the GTO name plate and then when GM heeded their displeasure they called it a G8 only to have more people bitching. Just go look at the crap over the "SS" nameplate :bang:. Haters gonna hate.
The US buyers of muscle cars are pretty parochial, which was one reason the GTO didn't achieve the success expected of it. It wasn't American in origin and the design, which was so highly praised out here was too "soft" and "amorphous" (that means it blended into the crowd too easily and wasn't distinctive enough), plus it had the name of a true muscle car attached, without the loud exhaust and exterior embellishments it needed to work effectively. The G8 name fitted in with the then current Pontiac model line-up - they already had the G6 and maybe some others.
The SS name is just as sacred as the GTO. The Yanks simply don't like the fact that high performance rear wheel drive GM cars are no longer made in the US and that the "little brother" from Down-under does it so well and is so much better than the local FWD stuff they get over there.