The F-88 vs Vette vs Thunderbird, and what was missed...
December 26th, 2014, 09:32 AM
#1
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The F-88 vs Vette vs Thunderbird, and what was missed...
Interesting article at WAC.com
http://wildaboutcarsonline.com/cgi-b...=9960418058810
I wonder where that house is in the street photo of the F88 in Lansing?
"In the old GM, that would have been moot - Durant's concept did not favor any brand in the marketplace. If the car could not survive on it's own merits, well then, sayonara - like Oakland and LaSalle. But in the new "spoiled child" GM, Chevy caught all the breaks and could go to Corporate mama and have a tantrum and all was made right."
http://wildaboutcarsonline.com/cgi-b...=9960418058810
I wonder where that house is in the street photo of the F88 in Lansing?
"In the old GM, that would have been moot - Durant's concept did not favor any brand in the marketplace. If the car could not survive on it's own merits, well then, sayonara - like Oakland and LaSalle. But in the new "spoiled child" GM, Chevy caught all the breaks and could go to Corporate mama and have a tantrum and all was made right."
December 27th, 2014, 06:01 AM
#3
'87 Delta 88 Royale
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Margate, England
Posts: 2,514
Great read, thanks for posting.
Just suppose the F88 gone into production, directly challenging the 'Bird as a luxury sporty car what might have become of Pontiac?. John Delorean reinvented Pontiac as a performance brand, if Oldsmobile had stolen their thunder who knows what would be the outcome. Almost certainly no F Body Pontiacs, maybe a similar car with Olds power and badges?.
If Oldsmobile was busy making F88s would Toronado's ever seen the light of day?., Maybe another GM brand would step up with GM's fwd debut?.
We can play "What if?" all day, however GM was a business that had to return profits for its investors. To most people at the top level it might as well have built washing machines or televisions. The company had to try to forecast future markets, investing in R&D, market research and building new plants and production facilities, but acutely aware that getting it wrong could cost $millions and the new products had to amortise their costs and show a profit. Chrysler's airflow range had hurt the Pentastar brand badly in the recent memory of a lot of decision makers, and a lot of auto makers were going to the wall in the '50s.
If the car makers had the benefit of hindsight at the time Edsel would never have existed, and the big three would have offered a range of economy cars for the '58 model year.
Roger.
Just suppose the F88 gone into production, directly challenging the 'Bird as a luxury sporty car what might have become of Pontiac?. John Delorean reinvented Pontiac as a performance brand, if Oldsmobile had stolen their thunder who knows what would be the outcome. Almost certainly no F Body Pontiacs, maybe a similar car with Olds power and badges?.
If Oldsmobile was busy making F88s would Toronado's ever seen the light of day?., Maybe another GM brand would step up with GM's fwd debut?.
We can play "What if?" all day, however GM was a business that had to return profits for its investors. To most people at the top level it might as well have built washing machines or televisions. The company had to try to forecast future markets, investing in R&D, market research and building new plants and production facilities, but acutely aware that getting it wrong could cost $millions and the new products had to amortise their costs and show a profit. Chrysler's airflow range had hurt the Pentastar brand badly in the recent memory of a lot of decision makers, and a lot of auto makers were going to the wall in the '50s.
If the car makers had the benefit of hindsight at the time Edsel would never have existed, and the big three would have offered a range of economy cars for the '58 model year.
Roger.
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