Retractable Hardtop planned for the Grand Am

[grandGTR]

Retractable Hardtop planned for the Grand Am

Well I read that in the wheels section of the paper this morning and thought it was interesting. Man h man wouldn’t that be nice. :)

GM plans a retractable hard top version of the 2006 Grand Am. GM plans to build 40,000 of the cars annually. The Grand Am now be built on the redesigned Epsilon midsized front-wheel-drive architecture. A sedan is to come out in the third quarter of 2004 and the coupe in 2005.

Well I can not wait tosee the concepts of this one. :) Guess they are keeping up with that Chevy SSR

[grandGTR]

Has anyone else heard more about this. I am kicking myself for not chatting with the GM reps today at nopi. oh well. Still think it will be a neat concept.

[JWeavis]

Yes, the idea was pitched to GM by a company in Howell. My father-in-law works there and, if approved, will be working on the project for the '05 GA.

[MikeSilverGT]

Not much of a suprise, they've been driving that SC/T show car around with a targa-top for a while now.. I would like to see it; not many convertable choices out there today. I think the current design ('99-'03) looks pretty nice as a convertable too, but we'll probably never see that with the redesign coming up so soon.

[waffler]

im gonna be trying to put a ttop setup into my 99 some how! wish me luck

[Filter]

Some of you guys may have heard this from inside sources, but I don't think they can do it. It would make the car cost too much. Look, the only other cars to have it on the market right now are the Lexus SC430 and Mercedes Benz SLK. Those cars are both worth around $85000 CAN a piece. Granted they have alot moree options than a Grand Am would, but still. If GM would make it and cut the cost, I would worry about reliability. Let's face facts, GM does not build the most solid cars on the road. Adding options like that would guaratee you trouble.

[grandGTR]

Originally posted by Filter
Some of you guys may have heard this from inside sources, but I don't think they can do it. It would make the car cost too much. Look, the only other cars to have it on the market right now are the Lexus SC430 and Mercedes Benz SLK. Those cars are both worth around $85000 CAN a piece. Granted they have alot moree options than a Grand Am would, but still. If GM would make it and cut the cost, I would worry about reliability. Let's face facts, GM does not build the most solid cars on the road. Adding options like that would guaratee you trouble.

Do not forget about the SSR, but then again it cost a lot too. I am sure it wil remain an economic car, but hopefuly that will not mean cutting corners.. Who knows in a few years we may find out. lol.

[Filter]

I left the SSR out on purpose because I hate it so much. But using that as an example, manufacturers put high profile options on flagship models, not mid-priced family cars. We might see it on a concept, like the convertible SC/T, but not on production cars.

[qwik99gt]

I doubted the hardtop convertible GA at first, too. But every magazine and GM Inside News article seems to support the claim. Perhaps it will be a pseudo-convertible like the Corvettes with a one piece removable hardtop? (Like one giant T-top) We will see it, but it is the last model being released.
Sedan==>Coupe==>Convertible
As for "that company in Howell", you mean Ogihara? I heard they made a pitch to GM recently....

[Macleod52]

Don't forget the Sebring Converts!

[VTECSiGAH8R]

Originally posted by Macleod52
Don't forget the Sebring Converts!

I don't think sebrings were ever convertible hardtops...Maybe I'm wrong?

[Macleod52]

Originally posted by VTECSiGAH8R


I don't think sebrings were ever convertible hardtops...Maybe I'm wrong?


Oh, not Convert hardtops... Haha I thought we were talking about Converts in general. Though the Hardtop Convert will never happen on a Grand am! Why? Because it'd be too big, they'd need two pieces, therefore costing a lot more $$$. Convertables usually run between $3-5,000 more than a standard coupe. It would just be too weird. The front piece would look like the vette's hard top shell. Then the back piece would resemble the older 70's vettes that was all one piece. It was the top covering your head then the back part of the window. Those things were frickin heavy and a PITA to move around since they were so awkwards plus if you wanted them to stay in good condition you would need a cover for them and a stand to save space and easy movablitiy!

[Xride]

Originally posted by waffler
im gonna be trying to put a ttop setup into my 99 some how! wish me luck

do not and i repete do not put t tops onto your grand am, need i remind you that the door glass does not meet with the roof, but rather with the door first, you would have to redo your doors and get custom glass for it. not to mention the unibody would be comprimised (SP??) but doing so. but hey it is up to you.

and about the convertable, i'd much rather have 5 grand in other options befor i would go for the convertable, but i've never really liked onvertables, t tops or targa would be nice to see.

[GreenGT3]

I would like to see a convertable version like the sc/t convertable concept that GM was taking to the auto shows. Or even T-Tops would be nice. I guess we will just have to wait and see what happens.

Green

[Hurricane]

The new T-bird has comes in a hardtop convertible version as well. But again it's pretty damn expensive. I would questions the proposed sales nmbers for a GA hardtop. 40,000 units per year is pretty ambitious. That's nearly a quarter of total sales considering most convertibles only sell a couple thousand per year.