Harry P.

I'm not sure exactly when the Pontiac brand "jumped the shark", but a definite low point was when the geniuses that run GM decided to call an Australian Holden a "GTO"... and then slapped a $40,000 price tag on it, to boot. Now, I'm sure a Holden is a fine car and all... but what were the suits thinking when they decided they could pass off a Holden as a beloved all-American icon? And at a price the average Joe could never afford, either? Well, the sales numbers spoke loud and clear on that one. Just one example of the less than stellar corporate decision-making that GM has become infamous for lately. BTW... hey, Chuck... glad to see you're awake now!

What is this? Some sort of car ad???

I guess you guys both missed the "Newsflash: GM to kill Pontiac" post from a few says ago...

Well, that's a really wiiiiiiiiiide-open question! Yes, there are HUNDREDS of well detailed kits out there... but what are you looking for? Stock? Drag? Hot rod or custom? Classic? Road racing? Truck? The best way to start is by spending some time at a well-stocked hobby shop, browsing around and asking questions. If you don't have a well-stocked hobby shop nearby, get online and check out all the different manufacturer sites, and all the online hobby shops. If you don't know any online hobby shops, here a few to get you started: http://www.internethobbies.com/inscalmodcar.html http://www.plastic-models.com/ http://www.ehobbies.com/models-vehicle-glue-kits.html

How about this one? The answer: MODEL!

My son used to own 2 Camaros... a 95 Z/28 and a 96 RS. Those cars are absolute nightmares for a DIY guy. They have the most user-unfriendly engine bay I've ever seen on a car. It's as if they purposely engineered things to be as hard to work on as possible. First of all, the engine itself is buried waaaaaay back there... only about half of it is in front of the firewall. Yet there's about 3 feet of empty between the front of the engine and the radiator. Huh??!!! A simple thing like changing plugs meant major engine disassembly. My poor son paid big bucks to have the plugs changed, only because it took the mechanic (yeah, you needed a mechanic to change the plugs) several hours to do all the dissasembly and reassembly of the various engine components that block access to the plugs. I told my son, I hope you learned a lesson. Don't ever buy a mid-90s Camaro again. He now owns an Acura RS and he's as happy as a clam...

I agree with Art. Those plastic covers are the automaker's not-so-subtle way of saying "stay away from the engine". Like Art says... modern engines have basically no user-serviceable parts apart from the fluid fillers (which these days are usually color-coded or marked in some other way to make it very obvious to the "do-it-yourselfers" as to what fluid goes in which hole. Apart from that, there's basically nothing your average car owner can do under the hood anymore, unless you have a lot of technical training, specialized tools and electronic equipment, which of course 99% of car owners don't have. These days, in fact, there are plenty of car owners who rely on the quick oil-change franchises to do even the most basic underhood maintenance, like refilling fluids. Many people own a car and never open the hood themselves at all! The days of the shade-tree mechanic are over.

I posted this in case any of you didn't hear the news that Pontiac is finished. It wasn't meant to be a "Unions are the best thing ever"/"Unions are evil incarnate" debate...

"Internal server error." They're broken down for the moment...

I really don't see any connection whatsoever between one's religion, or lack of, and model building. Those are two completely different and unrelated subjects.

Doesn't post much... but his work appears in the magazine all the time! Yet another good reason to subscribe...

I'll trade you my name for your house...

Peter, you make a lot of good points there, but I have to disagree a bit on the "corporate greed" part of your post. I don't think GM suffers from a higher level of corporate greed than does any other large (or small) company. Greed is a universal human trait, shared by the head honchos at GM as well as their counterparts in any other industry around the world. I'd like for anyone to show me a list of 10 large corporations that don't look first to their own bottom line before anything else. They all do... they all have to. I think GM's problems are not so much caused by greed, but by complacency, a hugely bloated management structure, and a bit of arrogance. After all, GM ruled the roost for years... long before most of the current suits there were born. And I think that GM management simply never seriously considered their reign would, or could, ever end. Shortsightedness and bad business decisions did them in more so than greed.

It's impossible to put a specific dollar value on that. It's worth whatever a buyer is willing to pay for it. Like anything else... the "value" is in the mind of the buyer, and how badly he wants it. Is it a good deal? Impossible to say. What number would make it a "good deal"? Also impossible to pinpoint.

What currently passes for "Pontiacs" are nothing more than other cars re-badged as "Pontiacs". Looks like Pontiac, as most of us knew it, was already dead anyway... might as well make it official. Oh well... move over Packard, Pierce-Arrow, and Plymouth... we got another one going into the "P" plot...

I'm just speculating here, this is totally my opinion only, but I wouldn't be surprised if a few Pontiac models survived as either Chevies or Buicks...

I agree with Rob. Whether you worship God, Satan, Allah, Buddha, a tree, the almighty dollar, or nothing at all, it's your own personal business, and it doesn't necessarily correspond to the next guy's beliefs. Since we are an "equal opportunity" website and welcome everyone here, it's best that we keep those issues that divide us off this site and concentrate on those issues that unite us; that is, cars and models of cars. I'm not "anti-religion" at all...I firmly believe in everyone's right to believe in whatever they want to believe in, and more power to 'em... but I also believe that promoting one's personal religious beliefs is best done in the appropriate place, and this isn't that place. No offense intended to anyone...

Just heard on the radio: GM will announce next week that it's killing off Pontiac, but keeping the GMC brand. I know...this isn't "model car related", bit it is car related, and it's pretty big news!

It does have a weird look... that's why I picked it! But you guys voted 40-12 "Real", and you're right, it's REAL! BTW...no Photoshopping involved, that's the photo exactly as I found it. Next ROM coming MONDAY!

AutoArt is known as one of the premier diecast makers. Here's a great site full of photos and reviews of all brands of diecasts, including AutoArt: http://www.diecast.org/diecast98/html/asp/...iews/review.asp

Amazing! How do you do that? Do you have 1/43 scale fingers???

Hard to believe we're looking at 1/43 scale models here. Amazing!

Well, if Jamaica can have a bobsled team...

Whether a car door opens with the door's leading edge swinging out past the fender or tucking inside the fender is a matter of geometry... that is, where the hinge pivot point is in relation to the door edge. The way it works on a real car is the same way it will work on a model, only 24 or 25 times smaller. Look at the real car, see how and where the hinges are placed, and you should be able to recreate it in scale. And checking out Bill's article on opening and hinging doors won't hurt, either. Like George said... why do we do it? Because we CAN!