Saturday, February 26, 2011

Shades of the Pacer and Citation?

2012 Chevrolet Cruze Z11 3-door pillarless hatchback—Um, that would be the AMC Pacer and the Chevy Citation, not the Edsel Pacer and Citation! Not readily apparent in this view is the fact that the passenger door on my 3-door Cruze would be 4-inches wider than the driver's door, just like the AMC Pacer. This would be a marketing decision to help counteract Hyundai's new Veloster, which has two doors on the passenger side and only one on the driver's side. The Chevy Citation reference is in the name, Z11 for the sports model illustrated. Chevy's first foray into front-wheel drive, the 1980 X-body Citation came in an X11 sport configuration, but since Chevy now has the Corvette ZR1 and the soon-to-be-released Camaro ZL1, I thought the "Z" precursor was more relevant to Chevy's 21st century than "X." Also note Chevy's now-traditional twin grille has been eliminated for a smoother appearance, slightly lowering the hood in the process. Original photo was the concept car of the upcoming Cruze 5-door hatchback.

4 comments:

  1. Ferrari failed terribly with their latest experimental FF by trying to mesh two totally different deign elements: Z3 Coupe/hatch and old Italian sports car design into one. Whereas your critical thinking, knowledge of a variety of cars designs, both past and present, had formulate these elements into one amazing small car Chevy designers really need to see.

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  2. I'm going to give the new FF a shot one of these days and see what I can do with it. It needs a lot of work, lol.

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  3. As it looks right now, it looks like a bad chop, hhaha.

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  4. not for long! I think i'll make it #1 on my list.

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