LMAO! You hit the nail on the head.

The GT is exotic. GT 40 that is.

Looks a LOT like a PT Cruiser to me - which brings me to my next
blasphemous thought...

Anyone think the new Corvette looks very similar to the Viper? Now I've
only seen a couple on the street plus pics but that front end reminds me
of the Viper - maybe it's the exposed headlights or something.

These days GM reminds me of Microsoft - few original ideas, just
following the pack (Chrysler in this case, Apple and Mozilla in MS's
case) and glomming onto good products but reworking them without taking
the step to a higher level. Where's GM's innovation and styling
departments? I think, looking over the fence at the Chrysler design
studios.

Chrysler has done a FANTASTIC job of rising from the ashes of bankruptcy
and then the K-car. They've built mountains from the success of the
Dodge Ram trucks. They've not put all their energy into the trucks
though; they've pushed the styling and taken great risks in the Viper
(fer God's sake stuffy 'ol Chrysler put a V-10 in that thing!), PT
Cruiser, Prowler and Crossfire (that Bugatti-like styling just looks
great to me - must be the fastback look I've grown so attached to over
the last 26 years...), brought out the magnum sedan and wagon-looking
cars. Chrysler has really set themselves apart from the Big-3 pack. They
have new cars and great styling to appeal to all types of buyers.
However, when you look at GM, they're standing still. All they've done
is put out big, gas-guzzling SUVs, cut out the Camaro and Firebird, put
out ugly cars like that weird boxy Pontiac thingamajig that's not even
remotely quirky like the Scion line, and restyled the Corvette to look
like a Viper. Where's the out-on-a-limb restyles of the past Corvette
generations? '63 was a milestone of design as was '68 - radical.
Where're the Shinodas, Mitchells and Duntovs? Working at Chrysler. The
new Corvette should have been on the order of the Ferrari Enzo - at
least drop a V12 into the fiberglass.

On the other side of the coin, the Asian imports have stuck to much of
their strong suits in continuing to build quality cars that get very
respectable gas mileage - my wife's '03 Accord 4 door gets just shy of
30 mpg. They've started brand new companies (Accura and Lexus) to
attract those who started in the Civic and Corolla 20 years ago, the
Accord and Camry 10 years ago, and are now financially comfortable
enough to look to the luxury market - quite successfully I might add .
They've also invested quite a few bucks into the hybrids with
outstanding success - the waiting list for the Prius and Civic hybrids
are 6 months long. People can sell their used Prius for more than they
paid for it last year. Can anyone else say that of their mass-produced
vehicle? The Japanese have not been sitting on their a.ses milking a
good trend with no eye on the future of the oil situation. Toyota, is
it?, who plans a hybrid powerplant for a model in every single line?
Where is GM in this new market? Playing catch-up.

(Damn, I didn't plan on writing all that rant - just sort of came out on
its own.)

Here's waving to ya - \||||

Owen
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'67BB & '72BB

-- not affiliated with JLA forum in any way -- alt.autos.corvette is
original posting --
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"To know the world intimately is the beginning of caring."
    -- Ann Hayman Zwinger