Chevy Volt a Failure - GM to Layoff 1,300

That's it! The Pontiac version was the Grand Prix.

Last NASCAR story ... A couple of months after Daytona I was at Atlanta, and at the ARCA race that Saturday the racing version of the Chevrolet Beretta made its debut (there was only one in the field; all the other Chevrolets were Monte Carlos). It had a funky narrow-and-high rear bumper/deck, and early on they had a helluva time getting it set up. Once they did, however, in about 30 laps it gained something like 20 spots. I was in the pits, because I'd come to loathe covering races from the press box, and was startled to find myself standing right next to the King. He, thinking he'd be getting a Pontiac version of it the next year, was watching that car intently. Couple of times he looked over at me and winked. "Next year," he'd say.

 

Grand Prix, duh. Faster than Pre but not as dependable.

 

Grand Prix. Chevy then came out with the Monte Carlo Aerocoupe for NASCAR; Pontiac got the Grand Prix 2+2, while Olds and Buick switched to front-while-drive coupes starting in 1986 (Delta 88 and LeSabre). Then all GM teams went to the GM10 mid-size coupes for the 1988 season except Chevy, since the Lumina didn't debut until 1990.
/nerd who has memorized way too much useless car data over the years.

 

Bite your tongue!

 

Cool story.
The Beretta was pretty successful in IMSA road racing. Not a bad looking car. Would have been nice if the ragtop version had been made (was supposed to come out in 1990 and was even the Indy 500 pace car that year) but it never happened. Believe it was quality issues, funny since the coupe wasn't exactly the highest quality.
In the summer of 1992 we went car shopping, since my dad's Cavalier was on its last legs. Chevy dealer in town had a Corsica (sedan version of the Beretta) on the lot, rare hatchback model with a stick shift. I had seen that same car sitting there 18 months earlier. We ended up test driving a Corsica at a different dealership. Salesman had us follow a set course for the road test. It was literally a block around the dealership. I guess he figured if we actually drove it more than that we'd realize what a POS it really was. We ended up buying a Saturn.

 

Customers have reserved 198,000 units of the Model 3 already. The entire auto industry sold 115,000 plug-in vehicles in 2015. Musk says the average Model 3 will retail for $42,000 once customers add options, and it could go as high as $55k to $60k. Consumers do receive a $7,500 tax credit for purchasing an electric vehicle, but that credit expires after the automaker sells 200,000 units.

As much as Ragu trashes the company and its business model, if nothing else, the Model 3 is showing that a mass market for plug-in vehicles may actually exist. American car buyers are excited about this car.

 

Always thought those were sweet looking cars, especially the Aerocoupe models. To me, the best looking stock car ever was Earnhardt's 1988 Goodwrench Aerocoupe with the silver No. 3s.

 

My only concern buying an electric car vs. a gasoline-fueled car would be:

Can I go far enough on a charge?
Are there enough convenient places for me to charge it?

 

I find it highly amusing that the people lining up to save the left's favorite car company are the same "evil rich" the left always hates.

 

How about:

1. We wait until the car actually comes out and Tesla shows it can produce cars in the numbers you suggest?

2. We see how many of the people who put down a grand actually buy the car whenever it comes out?

3. We see how much the car actually costs?

4. We understand that the cost to a consumer is affected by the tax credits and true demand is distorted?

 

I think they'd probably be more like "evil upper middle class."