We’re Calling It: Recent Spy Photos Of Cloaked Sedan Are Of A RWD Zeta
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Okay, so what if it is Friday night? We’re onto something. If the title wasn’t enough to give you a clue, here’s our short but sweet bold-ass prediction of what we’re noticing that the rest of the automotive media seems to be missing:
The latest spy photos of an extremely cloaked sedan roaming outside the safety of GM’s Milford Proving Grounds has been speculated to be the full-sized Epsilon II-based Cadillac XTS. While we would all like to see what GM has been doing with the next addition to the Caddy lineup, the car in the photographs posted on Autoblog simply does not match up to the proportions of the XTS we saw at the 2010 North American International Auto Show, which essentially was a show car, in the same way the Chevrolet Cruze Hatch on display in Paris was a show car.
Secondly, when observing General Motors vehicles from all over the World for hints on just what in tarnation this mystery machine could be, the proportions and shape that seem to match the vehicle best is the Holden VE Series II Statesman — the Zeta platform-based, rear-wheel-drive sport sedan that its smaller brother, the Commodore, branched off into North America as the late Pontiac G8.
Couple that with what Motor Trend reported last November — confirming that a Zeta-based sedan will re-emerge in the U.S. market as a Chevrolet — and what we’ve got here is some seriously hard evidence that a Zeta sedan will indeed show up within the Chevrolet lineup, probably one or two years from today, considering that the vehicle is currently in its Integration Vehicle Engineering Release (IVER) stage. Long live the G8.
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Let’s just leave the Statesman badges on the thing and replace the red lions with gold bowties and have it here as soon as posible.
At this point in time with gas prices rising…I’m losing interest in this product..If I want a rwd V8 powered sedan? i’d just buy the new charger or 300C.
I don’t see the market segment having enough room for chevy to make sense out of this.
I look forward to the much smaller ATS coupe, sedan, convertible, wagon and 6 th generation camaro..
With gas prices rising towards 4 dollars or 5 dollars a gallon in the USA….These 360hp rwd family sedans are history sooner rather than later..
Too heavy…too big….too long in gestation periods to even bother.
JMO
Though I’d love for this car to be a Chevrolet G8/Zeta, I’m still somewhat skeptical for a few reason.
1. The rear door window frame profile is totally different than the G8, and would cost too much re-engineering of the roof structure for just a re-badged import.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5051/5398306504_4149793433_b.jpg
http://www.desktopwallpaperspace.com/pics/pic-9299-1280×800.jpg
2. The rear does seem to be somewhat of a conundrum. The point at the third brake light imply a styling influence from the CTS coupe. While the outer taillights appear to be round – a Chevrolet styling cue.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5298/5397705451_86c29ac1d5_b.jpg
Though that could have been done by the engineers to throw us off (duck taped on). It’s been done before.
The one thing I was able to zoom in as somewhat confirm. There appears to be rear seat entertainment screens in the leather headrest.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5134/5397802023_768c08b26b_b.jpg
@EJD1984: Two things to remember about this story. First, the car is wearing a lot of camouflage, so it may distort its appearance. It could be that the C pillar is actually the same as the G8’s, it’s just that the padding on the trunk and the tape on the roof line make it hard to tell. Secondly, the post acknowledges that it might actually be a Statesman/Caprice. That would make a lot of sense, as the Caprice is being brought to the US as a police vehicle this year. The Statesman/Caprice uses the long-wheelbase version of the Zeta platform, and has a much longer slope to the C pillar and rear window.
Marc, those are some great points. I think that what we see here is the short wheel base Zeta… I think if it were the long wheel base variant, we would see a much bigger (longer) rear door. Although it may be that the camo is playing tricks on me. Any thoughts?
I’m not entirely sure… the one thing I notice is that the window seems to slope straight down toward the rear wheel along the same line as the C pillar, meeting the top of the door at a sharp acute angle. On the G8/Commodore, it curls back toward the front of the car, leaving a rounded edge pointing to the tail of the car, and meeting the top of the door with an obtuse angle. That may be where the added door length actually comes in.
Just the same, that’s precisely the type of stuff they’d be trying to hide with the cammo. I don’t think we’ll know for sure until someone spots an uncovered version making the testing rounds.
Personally, I’m hoping for the short wheelbase version, so I hope you’re right. I think it’s a better looking car, and I’d guess it would handle better/feel less hefty.
I wager it’s the camo playing tricks on the car’s overall length, as both the mirrors and rear windows completely match those of the long wheelbase Statesman.
@JB: What if this car was to replace the stodgy Chevy Impala?
Adding to what EJD pointed out, being there are definitely RSE systems behind the headrests… could this could be the Zeta-based Buick we’ve been hearing whispers of?
http://gmauthority.com/blog/2010/08/buick-working-on-zeta-based-lexus-ls-competitor-cadillac-rwd-flagship-on-track/#more-7005
Tantalizing, no?
Looking more closely at the Caprice vs. the Commodore, I only have one concern: the Caprice isn’t available with a manual transmission Down Under. That would be a complete dealbreaker for me. I hope that GM understands why Americans want this car available for retail. It’s not necessarily because we loved the G8, it’s because we loved the G8 GXP. (Surely I can’t be alone in thinking this.)
The Caprice is a bit larger than I had hoped… Hell, it’s almost as big as the last-generation A8 long-wheelbase edition! But an LS3 and a TR-6060 would make that relatively unimportant.
marc, what if this model is a cloaked U.S.-spec. Buick Park Avenue that is currently sold in China and not a Chevrolet at all?
Definitely a possibility, but the rumors of a Zeta-based Chevy seem more prevalent right now, at least from what I’ve read. So many *wink* *wink* *nudge* *nudge* quotes from GM execs about “bringing back the G8 as a Chevrolet.” Not out of the question that GM could throw a curve ball though. I just hope it would be in addition to, and not at the expense of, some kind of Zeta-based Chevy. The Chinese Park Avenue would be a great addition to the US Buick lineup, as would a G8-style car for the Chevrolet stable.
Yeah, the Caprice/Statesman is definitely a full-sizer. That said, I think a Zeta-based Chevy sedan would be more along the lines of a Camaro sedan (not necessarily with that name) than a straight G8/Commodore rebadge. That’s the way I would make it happen anyway!
LS9? LS7?
(sorry guys I’m just passing the time buy replying to old posts)
It would be awfully disappointing if Chevy introduces the sedan as a fleet vehicle before a sophisticated sport sedan that can offer serious competition to the imports. What person that makes a good living and drives to work everyday wants to drive a fleet vehicle?
Perhaps a detuned Caddy CTS V fits the bill..
That is not a Zeta or a Cadillac at all that is the next malibu compare the shots with less cloaked malibu shots they all match up
No it doesn’t. The front wheel isn’t close enough to the door. The slope of the rear window isn’t quite right. The B-pillar is narrower. The tail lights are taller. The side mirrors don’t quite match.