GM Closes High-Performance Division, and Some Muscle Car and Racing History
In yet another sign of these perilous automotive times, General Motors has closed its High Performance Vehicle Operations unit (HPVO), which created such products as the V-Series Cadillacs, the Chevrolet Cobalt SS and the HHR SS small panel truck.
Now, I don't mind these kinds of high-po street cars; relatively few are sold and their environmental impact is negligible.
Ferrari, for instance, sold just over 5,300 cars in 2008, and sister make Maserati, which I insultingly refer to as "the poor man's Ferrari" (insulting mostly to people who work for Maserati; they're helluva cars in their own right) moved 8,286 of their street-legal luxury performance cars in 2008. BMW's Rolls-Royce sold 1,212 models in 2008; VW's Bentley shipped 7,604 units out the door last year.
Domestically, just under 27,000 Corvettes were sold last year, Dodge moved 1,272 Vipers and 91,000 Mustangs were sold - George Pipas, Ford's long-time and near-legendary Manager of Sales Analysis and Reporting (every business and auto writer in the world has for many years participated in the Gospel According to Pipas, aka, his monthly sales report teleconferences), told me the Mustang mix is usually 60%/30%, with V6 sales the larger number (this original post had some errant figures; I updated them today, 2-24).
All the hot cars in the world just don't add up to a hill of beans when it comes to global warming and pollution, but their mpg figures are uniformly bad. Not very politically-correct, or smart, these days. And in fact, performance and race cars are the way they are because they are efficient; but that's another posting entirely, having to do with "improving the breed" and developing appropriate muffling, catalytic converters and engine emissions controls for those engines to make them right for the street.
According to the EPA, Lamborghini has held the world's worst-mpg rating for several years.
But maybe not all these cool GM cars are going away.
(This Cadillac CTS concept car, rolled-out at the 2008 Detroit Auto Show, gives a glimpse of GM's future design direction - If they can remain in business).
"The Cadillac CTS-V is a regular part of the CTS lineup, and that will stay for the foreseeable future," says GM spokes-squid Vince Muniga, according to Inside Line.
"The CTS-V will continue through the life cycle of the product. If they are regular production cars, they will continue through the model run, whether it's an SS Cobalt or an SS HHR."
He would not give a timetable for when such vehicles would be eliminated or when the regular production run is scheduled to end.
HPVO was made up of approximately 60 engineers working out of GM's Warren (MI) Tech Center, a place with security rivaling CIA headquarters. Muniga said none of them have been laid off. Instead, they have been placed "in other areas of the organization."
That's not great news. In the mid-1970s, Detroit was hit by a double-whammy. First was the creation of the Environmental Protection Administration, when for the first time in history car makers were being told what mileage and emissions figures their cars and trucks must achieve. Second was the first of the oil embargos, which killed new car sales. In answer to all this, many of the best tech people in Detroit were pulled-off all sorts of future projects and put to work developing the computers we now find in every car.
(Top, a 1964 Pontiac GTO, the car which inspired the two other Detroit car makers to build their own muscle cars, like Ford using Carroll Shelby's name on high-performance versions of the Mustang and Chrysler coming up with cars like Dodge's Barracuda and Plymouth's Road Runner; bottom, a V8 displacing 389 cubic inches and three two-barrel carburetors in a '64 GTO's engine bay - John Z. DeLorean, who headed Pontiac at the time, and his right-hand man at Pontiac's ad agency, Jim Wangers, dubbed the engine "Tri-Power").
Those computers didn't come easy; one major reason Detroit cars of the 1970s and '80s were almost uniformly lousy. Because so many Detroit execs were taken off their usual jobs and put to work on making these computers work with the engines, that helped open the door to Euro and Asian imports.
A cross-town rival to GM's HPVO, Ford's Special Vehicle Operations, was created in 1981 and developed the 1984 to 1986 2.3 liter turbo-charged 4 cylinder Mustang SVO, of which fewer than 10,000 were sold (car collectors not having unlimited cash, take note), as well as marketed performance parts through dealer networks, which is called Ford Racing Performance Parts, or FRPP.
In 1991, Ford morphed the group into something new, the Special Vehicle Team, SVT.
Some SVT-made vehicles include the $150,000 Ford GT (built along with Saleen Performance) sold from 2004 through 2007; 4,028 cars were produced, with just 3,596 sold, so there are some unsold GTs floating around out there. Those approximately 420 GTs are probably covered, drained of gasoline and some other fluids, wheels removed and on blocks and being kept in storage by some wily Ford dealers and a few company executives, many hoping to get big money for their GTs at auto auctions some years from now.
Also from SVT, the 1999 through 2004 380-horsepower supercharged SVT Lightning F-series street truck, and the 2010 SVT Raptor F-series off-road race-oriented truck and the race track-oriented 500-horsepower Shelby Cobra GT500 and GT500KR "King of the Road" with 540-horsepower, both seriously-upgraded versions of the Mustang.
In the early 1960s, Ford tried to buy Ferrari but Enzo Ferrari turned down Henry Ford II. Instead, Ford gave Shelby a budget of $40 million, an astronomical sum at the time (still is) to build a car and team which could win the 24 Hours of LeMans.
Shelby and company came through in a big way. Shelby's GT40 won the 24 Hours of Lemans four times for Ford, from 1966 through 1969. The Shelby name eventually became a brand and is still with us. Shelby , after heart and liver transplants, is still going strong as he approaches the age of 80.
(Top, a magazine ad for Ford's 1968 Shelby GT500KR "King of the Road" Mustang; below, a young Carroll Shelby at the wheel of one of his 1960-era street-legal Cobras, equipped with 427-cubic inch Ford V8s; trivia time - Shelby's personal Cobra has an automatic transmission).
They're basically race cars top to bottom, front to rear, engine power dialed down a bit to make them street legal. They're throwbacks to a time when people drove their race cars to the track, and raced that same car, then drove it home.
Beginning in the 1950s, GM marketed performance parts, like their Super Duty Pontiac parts operations for NASCAR teams, through the factory and dealers. After Detroit car makers made a gentleman's agreement, in response to government pressure, to ban factory participation in racing, they sold consumers and race teams products through some of their dealers, like the famous Royal Pontiac dealership in Royal Oak, MI, and the CPO cars from Yenko Chevrolet in Pennsylvania.
Across town in Highland Park, MI, Chrysler's MOPAR performance division remains alive and, we hope, well. MOPAR (which stands for MOtor PARts - and didn't you always wonder about that?) currently supports professional race teams in NHRA drag racing, World of Outlaws sprint cars, SCORE off-road racing, USAC sprint cars and midgets and SCCA's sports car road racing and Formula Drift. Their consumer parts operation is also still open and more eager than ever for your business.
(The 1970 Plymouth Road Runner "Superbird" was Chrysler's answer to Pontiac's GTO Judge edition).
MOPAR is one of Chrysler's most valuable brand names, on the level of Jeep and the Dodge Viper; don't be surprised if MOPAR is sold in the coming months.
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On Friday General Motors (GM) hit a low of $1.60/share, taking its market cap below $1 billion. CEO Rick Wagoner says he “doesn’t know” if the company will need additional bail out money at the end of March if its $18 billion February request gets funded. The lowest market cap the company saw during the Great Depression was $4 billion. This company is toast.
the old Muscle Cars were easily able to smoke the tires from the 60's. Hard rubber and limited tire contact patch made it easy. (175MM contact patch).
My 3.0L Toyota Supra makes almost 1000HP. I didn't need 454 cubic inches (7.4L) to make monster power. there is a replacement for displacement, it's called engineering.
My Supra also has cold AC, a stereo, independant front and rear suspension, sound deadening mats and is a daily driver. It also corners like it's on rails. Muscle cars can't turn.
My car also passes emissions with flying colors, has a catalytic converter, and has 250K miles on it, is reliable and not to mention every corvette, viper and ferrari's worst nightmare.
Big Dumb Musclecars for the limited cranium displacement crowd.
Yeah, well you must be turbocharged to the gills. Funny how Toyota gave in to the V8 to race NASCAR. Here's the thing, like those GT40's sitting in storage, a 454 cid auto, Chevelle or Corvette, gets some pretty damn good prices at auction. That Toyota will never have the cachet of a Hemi 'Cuda or a ZR1, even. Oh, and engineering? Muscle cars can turn now.
It's an exercise, I build engines for a hobby. 1000HP is almost unusable on the street, unless you stay off the boost. I prefer to run 700 to 750HP when I drive it (which is rarely these days)..
As far as the Toyota V8 - they have no real history with pushrod V-8s, yet they were able to build one and have it be successful. I could not care less about NASCAR.
I was raised on musclecars. My first car was a 68 camaro. Wish I still had that car.
Yeah, I know that muscle cars can turn now, but my Supra came from the factory with that ability. The Supra Turbo was a detuned 550HP sports car. It takes very very little to go from the stock 320HP to 500+ on those cars. 550HP in the NEW measurement.
As far as cachet, the 2JZ-GTE 3.0L I6 is a legend in that community, as is the RB25DETT and RB28DETT (Skyline gt-r). The Hemi is considered to be crude and poorly engineered in tath community. Perspective.
The real thing here is, that regardless of what you PREFER, we are all car guys, and LOVE what we are rolling in.
The ZR1 is nothing great, the engine was done poorly,the "valet" key is a gimmick, and the reliability is a joke. I am speaking of the 89 ZR-1, which I own.
We now what I drive, and what Hdaryl01 drives, what do you drive?
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In what Toyota showroom can I buy a street car with that Toyota pushrod V8?
Just asking (sarcastically, but you know how we writers are).
Steve
Would you like to road race ANY 1960s riceburner engineering against my 1960s 302 Camaro, Shelby GT 350R, Javelin, or AAR Cuda? You pick whichever japanese engineered masterpiece from the 1960s you want to run, and you can even TELL me which of mine I can run..............how many laps would you need? In a 5 lap race?
You'e comparing apples to oranges.
And, to get back to reality, my 2006 Z06 Corvette (contemporary (40 years later) American made) would absolutely piss pound your Supra, regardless of whether you were able to chip it, program it, or tweak the Dyno to hit 1000 hp. You pick the track.................let me guess...........a drag strip?............how about that handling..........
1000 ultra-turbocharged hp is stupid, akin to a circus side show freak show. Unless you're running slicks, you can't put this power to the ground......it goes right out your trumpets......my Z06 is only 505 hp..........and, furthermore it's torque that moves the car anyway......
I should preface by saying that I have owned numerous Shelby's, 2 Yenko Camaros, and currently have 4 corvettes in the stable. 63 conv, 67 coupe, 89 ZR-1, 07 ZO6
As far as apples to oranges - very true.
the Supra used to be road raced, that's how the suspension is configured. I only recently started to go big boost. I build high perf engines as a hobby, so this was nothing more than buying parts. I do all the work on my cars, except for interior.
Normally I run with a med turbo at a max 15 to 20# boost, which gets me a very responsive 700HP, and plenty of traction and suspension to handle it.
The Vette is very fast, but the Supra runs 10's on the strip when I install the "drag" turbo - haven't dyno'd that, I'd imagine around 1300+. I have made less than 10 passes on a drag strip in my entire life.
Even in the milder trim the Vette has no chance against the Supra, straight line or road racing course. I have been road racing for the last 20+ years, I know what's what. I have had both my Supra and the ZO6 on the track, Unless you are Michael Schumacher, I can guarantee you a great race.
I admit that a big V8 thumping under the hood is great, and I have owned quite a few, but there is something about getting over 300HP per liter (61 cubic inches).
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Pontiac chose the "redline" tires for the original GTO because they were known for their poor reliability and would "smoke" easier than any other tire of the same size on the market at the time.
Steve
Who cares? GM is dead. We are keeping a corpse on life support.
GM is slowly becoming Toyota, and I'm not liking it one bit.
GM becoming a TOYOTA would be a GREAT THING !! if only they had the ability to understand the market that well
Um, I like to lust after cars that give me a pulse, thanks.
Toyota had the Supra, killed it in 1998, and I stopped caring about them.
It was the Le Mans victory in '67 where Dan Gurney started what became the tradition of spraying Champagne to celebrate victory. If I remember correctly, he said that he was nervous and stood there shaking the bottle until it erupted. Like most traditions, it began as kind of an accident.
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As Ed McMahon would tell Carnac the Magnificent: You are correct, sir!
And his co-driver in the GT40? AJ Foyt. Foyt and Gurney are archetypes of American race car drivers, from opposite sides of the track. Gurney was privileged, Foyt wasn't. Gurney was known for his smooth driving style, Foyt for his sheer determination, seemingly always looking for trouble. Gurney's one of only three racers to win in F1, IndyCar and NASCAR. The others are Mario Andretti and Juan Pablo Montoya.
About 20 years ago I was thrilled to be at a table with Dan Gurney through a long dinner at the Pebble Beach Concours. He was as enthusiastic, fun and smart as you might imagine.
Gurney's All-American Racers shop is still in Santa Ana, CA, where I lived from 1970 through about 1982, so even before I was interested in working in this business, I was aware of Dan. I have to find out if he, too, went to Santa Ana High, like Bill Medley of the Righteous Brothers and the "Flyin' Hawaiian" Danny "on the gas" Ongais. And me (Class of '72).
He remains the only person to win an F1 race (Belgium, 1967) in a car he built, the Eagle Mk1.
And to think Dan is the son of an Metropolitan Opera star!
Now he's building a motorcycle for us old guys called the Alligator - check it out.!
I do go on sometimes, don't I? Gurney's worth it, though - One of a few.
Steve
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Gurney was truly one of a kind, and they don't make 'em like that anymore. The sport, like most, suffers from specialization issues. Open wheel racing is a most unfortunate joke on these shores, seems to me. I was a huge fan of "on the gas", The "Grump" and certainly appreciate AJ and those fellas as reps of an era long gone. Racing now seems to be the province of the engineer. Funny that GM would close the division that they just about got right.
I read about the Alligator, it might save me from my Huyabusa dreams!
Those carbs were 2 barrel carbs. Where would you have room for 3 four barrels?
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Of course you're right! How goes the song? "Three deuces and a four-speed and a 389..."
And to think I ghosted Jim Wangers book!
Dumb mistakes happen to the best of us ...
Steve
Hey Steve,
Talk to Corvette owners. A co-worker has one and routinely gets 30-32mpg HWY when driving at about 75mph.
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Well, yeah - At what rpm in that top gear?
If he has enough self-control to lug that engine and short-shift (if and) when he's passing someone, he's a better man than I!
Steve
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