Fritz Henderson to Autoblog: Chevy Caprice is being looked at as "police application"

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Filed under: Sedans/Saloons (http://www.autoblog.com/category/sedans/), Chevrolet (http://www.autoblog.com/category/chevrolet/), Pontiac (http://www.autoblog.com/category/pontiac/), Police/Emergency (http://www.autoblog.com/category/police-emergency/)

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Ever since General Motors announced this spring that it was killing the Pontiac brand as part of its restructuring, fans of the Holden-developed G8 sedan have been clamoring to save it as a Chevrolet. After company officials repeatedly said over the past two months that no such thing would happen, Bob Lutz re-lit the fire last week in one of his first pronouncements after un-retiring. Lutz proclaimed that the G8 would indeed become a new Chevrolet Caprice.

During our first drive of the new Buick LaCrosse this week, we had the opportunity on one of the legs to ride with GM CEO Fritz Henderson, and we pressed him for more details on the Caprice plan. Unfortunately it turns out Henderson brought his portable fire extinguisher with him, telling us:
We've been looking at it for police applications. As for whether or not it's broader than police applications, I am not a believer in re-branding and re-badging. We've been talking about in terms of potential police applications and we'll leave it at that."
Henderson also threw a soaking wet blanket on the idea of adding production to Oshawa alongside the Camaro, saying that the cars will continue to be sourced from Australia. So, for the moment, it looks like Zeta sedan fans will probably have to be content with taking a Blues Brothers approach to the problem: Buying their next car as a decommissioned black-and-white.

[Image: GoAuto (http://www.autoblog.com/tag/pontiac+g8+police/)]Fritz Henderson to Autoblog: Chevy Caprice is being looked at as "police application" (http://www.autoblog.com/2009/07/15/fritz-henderson-chevy-caprice-is-being-looked-at-as-police-app/) originally appeared on Autoblog (http://www.autoblog.com) on Wed, 15 Jul 2009 09:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds (http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/).



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[JST]

Fuck you, Fritz.

EDIT: You know what, let me elaborate on that a bit. The goddamn G8 is the best fucking car GM makes. If Henderson cannot see the wisdom of "rebadging" this world-class sedan for any purpose other than dumping it for FLEET SALES, he should be fired immediately. And if this decision stands, GM can kiss my ass.

Pardon my French.

[clyde]

Fuck you, Fritz.

EDIT: You know what, let me elaborate on that a bit. The goddamn G8 is the best fucking car GM makes. If Henderson cannot see the wisdom of "rebadging" this world-class sedan for any purpose other than dumping it for FLEET SALES, he should be fired immediately. And if this decision stands, GM can kiss my ass.

Pardon my French.

You are considering the source, yes? (strike that if the same info is being independently reported elsewhere...I haven't been checking)

I'm still stuck on the horns of my own G8 dilemma. Everything else being equal, the car I really *want* is the G8 GXP, but I am having an incredibly hard time coming to grips with spending about 33% (~$10k) extra for essentially 30hp and a stick over a GT. And then there's the whole thing about spending about $40k on a Pontiac when I can get a used C6 Z06 for that now.

FWIW, the Charger SRT-8 is now off my list due to interior ergonomic issues that became more and more annoying in the 300 (and are identical in the Charger) we drove to Florida and back this month. A used first gen CTS-V seems to be the only other 4 door worth considering (although the current gen STi and Evo X have been popping in my head the last couple days). Else it's a late C5 Z06, early C6, or wait for the '10 Mustang GT to be available with the Track Pack or Camaro prices and availability to achieve earthbound orbits.

[JST]

You are considering the source, yes? (strike that if the same info is being independently reported elsewhere...I haven't been checking)

I'm still stuck on the horns of my own G8 dilemma. Everything else being equal, the car I really *want* is the G8 GXP, but I am having an incredibly hard time coming to grips with spending about 33% (~$10k) extra for essentially 30hp and a stick over a GT. And then there's the whole thing about spending about $40k on a Pontiac when I can get a used C6 Z06 for that now.

FWIW, the Charger SRT-8 is now off my list due to interior ergonomic issues that became more and more annoying in the 300 (and are identical in the Charger) we drove to Florida and back this month. A used first gen CTS-V seems to be the only other 4 door worth considering (although the current gen STi and Evo X have been popping in my head the last couple days). Else it's a late C5 Z06, early C6, or wait for the '10 Mustang GT to be available with the Track Pack or Camaro prices and availability to achieve earthbound orbits.

Can you even find a GXP for sale anymore?

If you are thinking STi, the changes made this year to the WRX are supposed to make choosing the STi pretty difficult. I'm not sure why you'd choose any of those cars over a lightly used 335, though.

[clyde]

Can you even find a GXP for sale anymore?

There are still a few hundred left on the east coast.

If you are thinking STi, the changes made this year to the WRX are supposed to make choosing the STi pretty difficult. I'm not sure why you'd choose any of those cars over a lightly used 335, though.

Not new for any of them...and I really don't want any of them. They just keep popping into my head is all.