A field guide to the North American International Auto Show: a sampling of some of the new products that will be--or may be--coming to a driveway near you.

Name: 2005 Chevrolet Corvette (C6)

Vehicle Type: Two-door hatchback coupe; rear-drive, front engine

Reason for Being: The last Corvette, the C5, had its run starting in 1997. Although there is not necessarily a clockwork-like introduction of new models, it is fairly clear that with competition from the refreshed Dodge Viper, the forthcoming Ford GT, and even things like the Mazda RX-8 at the lower end of the price/horsepower range, Chevrolet was in need of an updated Corvette. The fact that it shares the same backbone structure (i.e., hydroformed steel frame rails, cored composite floors, enclosed center tunnel, rear-mounted transmission, and aluminum cockpit structure) as the Cadillac XLR undoubtedly makes the C6 program somewhat more affordable.

Engineering Aspects: The C6 is 85% new. Yet primarily, the vehicle is one that is improved--at least under the composite skin. That is, the standard manual (six-speed Tremec T56) and optional automatic (Hydra-Matic 4L65-E four speed) transmissions have undergone "major revisions." The new LS2 6-liter Gen IV small-block V8 (estimated 400 hp and 400 lb.-ft. torque) is based on the LS1 5.7-liter Gen III of the C5 (changes include a new aluminum block casting, larger bore diameters, flat-top piston design, and thinner walled exhaust manifolds). The configuration of the suspension is the same, but the components are redesigned.

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Also Know This: The most obvious change to the "look" of the C6 is in the front: the exposed headlamps, which is something that the Corvette design hasn't had since the 1962 model. The C6 is 174.6 in. long and 72.6 in. wide, which means that it is 5.1 in. shorter and 1.1 in. narrower than the C5 (although its 105.7-in. wheelbase is 1.1 in. longer than that of the C5). Shortening the front was accomplished by reducing the front sections of the hydroformed rails by 2.4 in. and by reducing the fore/aft dimension of the bumper beam by 0.63 in. (the beam consists of two seam welded steel C-channels; the previous beam was roll formed). The rear fascia and bumper structure were also shortened. These changes help contribute to a 0.28 Cd, which is said to make this "the most aerodynamically efficient Corvette ever."

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Name: 2005 Pontiac G6

Vehicle type: Sport sedan

Reason for Being: The vehicle formerly known as the "Grand Am" has undergone such a startling transformation that it was thought to be only sensible to provide a new name for the vehicle. The sedan will be followed by both a 2 + 2 sports coupe and a convertible.

Engineering Aspects: The G6 is based on the Epsilon platform. This makes it kin to the recently introduced Chevy Malibu and Malibu Maxx (as well as the Saab 93 and Opel Vectra). One key benefit of the architecture is a solid structure: thanks, in part, to a magnesium cross-car beam and the use of ultra-high strength steel components, the bending frequency is 27 Hz. The vehicle has a 112.3-in. wheelbase, which makes the G6 on the long end of the Epsilon platform (i.e., it is the same as the Malibu Maxx; the Malibu sedan has a 106.3-in. wheelbase). Contributing to ride and handling is a perimeter-type chassis cradle assembly that is based on a U-shaped hydroformed steel tube that has a rear cross member welded to it; the cradle is isolated from the chassis by four rubber mounts. The G6 uses variable effort electric power steering. Engine options include a 170-hp 2.4-liter four and a 240-hp 3.9-liter V6.

Also Know This: This is another vehicle in Pontiac's new design approach: cladding has given way to sharp creases and flowing surfaces. The wheels are out at the corners, with little overhang. Like the '04 Grand Prix, the G6 sedan is a four-door that's designed with a diving belt line that helps bring a coupe to mind on the exterior while giving nothing away on the inside in terms of the space that's provided by a sedan. Since Pontiac is GM's "performance" division, there will be a G6 GTP coming in that will have the aforementioned 240-hp and an available six-speed manual transmission. What's more, a coupe and a convertible version of the G6 are coming. There is an available sliding roof from Webasto with four glass panels, three of which slide rearward so that there is a massive sunroof when opened.

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Name: 2006 Pontiac Solstice 

Vehicle Type: Rear-wheel drive roadster

Reason for Being: When Bob Lutz drove the Solstice concept out on the stage at the GM press conference during the 2002 NAIAS, his visibility coupled with the vehicle indicated that something had to happen. Like the production version being announced.

Engineering Aspects: The Solstice is based on GM's new Kappa architecture. Kappa was developed in 27 months as a direct result of the concept Solstice. The fundamental of Kappa is a solid foundation that's based on longitudinal hydroformed frame rails and a center tunnel that houses the transmission and drive shaft. Stiffness is key because the vehicle was originally conceived as a convertible. It is a rear-wheel-drive architecture. Weight distribution is nearly 50/50. The chassis was designed to accommodate the Ecotec four-cylinder engine. In the case of the Solstice, it is a 2.4-liter unit that provides 170 hp @ 6,400 rpm and 170 lb.-ft. of torque @ 4,400 rpm; there is an Aisin five-speed manual gearbox.

Also Know This: One of the most interesting aspects is the reverse-hinge clamshell hood. This hood has a deep, deep draw, so GM engineers have determined that the only way to form the steel sheet will be through the use of panel hydroforming. Arguably, GM led the way in terms of using hydroforming for frame rails. Perhaps this approach to forming panels will be a low-volume method that will also catch on.

Name: Ford Five Hundred

Vehicle Type: Front-drive/All-wheel-drive four-door sedan

Reason for Being: The Five Hundred is Ford's flagship premium mid-size sedan. It is aimed at younger, more affluent buyers who might rent a Taurus, but see the Crown Victoria as a prelude to AARP membership. The Five Hundred will be supported by the smaller, but still mid-size, Futura, but looks a lot like an over inflated VW Passat with Mercedes C-Class taillights and a Ford Mondeo grille. (Mercury's Montego is a near-clone, but with a waterfall grille, LED taillights, and minor trim changes.)

Engineering Aspects: Unless you look underneath the skin, you'll be hard-pressed to tell this vehicle is based on Volvo's P2 architecture. The octagonal front rails tie into a "tripod" structure that distributes crash loads between the rocker panel and tailor-welded tunnel. A "shotgun" structure above the front wheel redistributes forces to the A-pillar and A-post. Laser welded high-strength steel B-pillar, internally reinforced rocker panels, and rear frame rails tie into rear cross-car beam are other features of note. Front-drive versions get a six-speed Aisin automatic, while AWD versions get a Ford/ZF CVT. There's also a double-wall steering shaft boot (for lower NVH), upper strut tower brace, multi-wall box section front crossmember along the lower dash panel, one-piece door module (for a reduction in the number of pass-through holes), direct-drive water pump with integrated thermostat, two-piece dual-mass damper on the front of the crankshaft, and multi-link independent rear suspension. The 12.4-in. front discs have twin-piston aluminum calipers that are 10.8 lb lighter than comparable cast iron single-piston units. (Rear discs are 13.0-in.)

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Also Know This: High seating position, tons of rear leg room (40.9-in.), and a 21 [ft.sup.3] trunk in a 200.7-in. long car on a 112.9-in. wheelbase. The 3.0 L Duratec 30 V6 has 200 hp and 200 lb-ft of torque, which places it well behind competitors like the 260-hp Nissan Maxima. Ford claims the six-speed automatic and CVT transmissions have been tuned to give competitive performance with better fuel economy, despite the Five Hundred's 3,643-lb (front-drive) and 3,815-lb (AWD) weight.

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Name: Ford Freestyle

Vehicle Type: Front-drive/All-wheel-drive crossover

Reason for Being: Not content to have the best selling SUV, the Explorer, Ford wants a hefty slice of the growing crossover market.

Engineering Aspects: The basic architecture is borrowed from Volvo's XC90, but modified slightly behind the C-pillar. Sachs Nivomat self-leveling rear dampers are used on all AWD models, and the rear suspension is mounted to a welded-steel subframe rather than Volvo's more expensive cast-aluminum piece. The rear suspension arrives at Ford's Chicago plant fully assembled. Lower control arms on AWD models are hydroformed steel units. Surprisingly, Ford discovered that mounting the front bumper beam to the outer face promoted a more-even collapse of the octagonal front frame rails in a collision.

Also Know This: Second row seats have 15.7-in. between the H-point and heel point for greater comfort, and are easily folded for third row access. The third row has excellent headroom.

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Name: Ford Mustang

Vehicle Type: Two-door sports coupe

Reason for Being: Once a youth vehicle and a "secretary special," the Mustang has become an affordable rear-drive performance vehicle for aging Baby Boomers.

Engineering Aspects: This is the first new platform for the Mustang since the 1979 model was introduced. Based on a modified Lincoln LS floorpan, the Mustang has MacPherson struts in front and a three-link live axle with a Panhard rod in the rear. (Ford surprisingly claims Mustang buyers overwhelmingly preferred a standard live axle to an independent rear suspension.) The front lower L-arms are made up of two C-section stampings, which places the bulk of the material on the edge of the part and allows the center section to be thinner and lighter. Structurally, the Mustang's body shell has a torsional rigidity of 15,500 lb-ft/degree, 31% more than the car it replaces.

Also Know This: Pricing for base V6 and V8 models is under $20,000, with the V6 putting out 202 hp and the three-valve aluminum V8 an even 300 hp.

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Name: Chrysler ME Four-Twelve 

Vehicle Type: Mid-engined supercar 

Reason for Being: Though it has a name like a Messerschmitt jet fighter, Chrysler says it's the ultimate engineering and design statement for the Chrysler brand. Developed for production from the start, it's a declaration of capability meant to allay jitters as the Chrysler brand moves upmarket.

Engineering Aspects: The powerplant is a quad-turbo aluminum Mercedes V12 developed by AMG that is mated to a seven-speed Ricardo double-clutch gearbox. It produces 850 hp @ 5,750 rpm, and 850 lb-ft of torque between 2,500 and 4,500 rpm. With a curb weight of 2,880 lb, the ME Four-Twelve carries just 3.4 lb/hp, and should be capable of traveling from 0-60 mph in 2.9 seconds, and covering the quarter mile in 10.6 seconds at 142 mph. The monocoque tub is a combination of carbon fiber and aluminum honeycomb with aluminum crush structures and chrome-moly subframes. The suspension consists of double wishbones, aluminum control arms, horizontally-opposed coil-over dampers with electronically controlled tuning, and adjustable anti-roll bars. Ceramic brake discs measuring 15-in. front and rear use six-piston mono block calipers are found front and rear. The drag coefficient is just 0.358, and the rear spoiler moves 100 mm rearward to increase rear down-force to 925 lb at 186 mph. Theoretical top speed is 248 mph.

Also Know This: Chrysler refers to the ME Four Twelve as a "prototype" and not a "concept." It has been designed to meet or exceed all safety standards, hold full-size adults (with 37.2-in. of headroom and 42.7-in. of leg room), and meet DaimlerChrysler development targets for durability, cooling and other everyday needs. It moved from idea to vehicle in 12 months.

Name: 2004.5 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited

Vehicle Type: Two-door 4 X 4

Reason for Being: The Wrangler was initially introduced in model year 1987. Ten years later, it was revised. In the subsequent years, there have been some modifications, such as the addition of the limited-edition Rubicon model for '03. But while the Wrangler has been a favorite go-anywhere vehicle, there has been a limitation--one in terms of carrying stuff. So, the Wrangler Unlimited was developed to accommodate that. It provides an additional 13 in. of space behind the second row, which effectively doubles the cargo capacity. And second-row passengers also get 2 in. of additional legroom.

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Engineering Aspects: One of the concerns was how long the Wrangler could be stretched. This is a concern because there was the need to maintain the 20[degrees] breakover angle that off-road drivers depend on. So, they were able to add 15 in. to the overall length of the standard Wrangler (which has a length to the bumper of 150.1 in.), and to bump up the wheelbase from 93.4 in. to 103 in. Towing capacity is also increased: from 2,000 lb. to 3,000 lb. (The standard powertrain setup is a 190-hp, 4.0-liter 1-6 engine and a four-speed automatic transmission.)

Also Know This: There is the optional "Sunrider" soft top, which not only folds all the way down, but which has a fold-back function that provides a 45 X 23-in. sunroof-like opening over the front row of seats.

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Name: Ferrari 612 Scaglietti 

Vehicle Type: Two-door 2+2 front engine sports car

Reason for Being: When you need to create a new Grand Tourer, you might as well pull out most all of the stops and create a technological tour de force.

Engineering Aspects: The structure is all aluminum. It has a space-frame design. Of the elements creating the chassis, there are straight aluminum extrusions, cast aluminum pieces, and sheet. The castings are used as joints; the sheet is used for reinforcement. The castings where the suspension and steering mounting points are located are CNC machined to assure accuracy. Two other large castings are used for the A-pillar. The components are selectively heat treated so that they have specific mechanical properties (e.g., stiff in some areas, more ductile in others). The body panels are also aluminum. The body is assembled using a variety of techniques, including arc welding (MIG), spot welding, and self-piercing rivets. Alcoa Advanced Transportation Systems is the source of the aluminum space frame (it is also the supplier of the space-frame for the 360 Modena; it has produced more than 12,000 frames for that model). Alcoa produces the frame elements at various facilities in Europe, then ships them to an Alcoa facility within Ferrari's Scaglietti Works. Aluminum is also used for interior elements, as well, such as on the instrument panels and for the brake and accelerator pedals. Under the hood, the 540-hp V12 is also all-aluminum, the first aluminum V12 that Ferrari has produced. The engine is located behind the front axle and the transmission and the transmission and differential are in the rear. Consequently, there is a 46:54 weight ratio (total weight: 4,056 lb.). The wheels (18-in. front, 19-in. rear)? Cast aluminum. O to 62 mph? 4.2 seconds.

Also Know This: The name breaks down like this. "6" refers to the car's displacement: approx. 6,000 cc (actually 5,748 cc). "12" is for the number of cylinders. "Scaglietti" is the family name of a stylist and coach-builder who worked on some of the Ferraris of the 1950s and '60s, Sergio Scaglietti of Modena, a man who has profound knowledge of working with aluminum.

Name: 2005 Scion tC

Vehicle Type: Coupe

Reason for Being: Toyota's Gen-Y brand will complete its rollout throughout the U.S. in June '04. So to complement the five-door xA hatch and the box-like xB, the tC coupe was devised.

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Engineering Aspects: Height: 55.7 in.; width: 69.1 in.; length: 173.2 in.; wheelbase: 106.3 in. This is based on Toyota's European Avensis platform. Next, the engine: a 2.4-liter featuring 16 valves with variable valve timing and double overhead cams. It's rating at 160-hp. Consider some other attributes. Like power-assisted four-wheel disc brakes with ABS. A standard panorama moon roof that essentially makes the entire roof area glass. Rear seats fold flat for cargo (up to 8.5-ft in length), or can be reclined 45[degrees] in 10 steps for passenger comfort. On the IP, which is covered with a specially developed plastic that is said to have the texture of handcrafted Japanese paper, there's a cast aluminum temperature control dial. Power locks, windows and mirrors. Air conditioning. 17-in. alloy wheels are standard.

Also Know This: The price is said to be south of $20K. The tC will be built in Toyota's Tsutsumi Plant--which, incidentally, is where the new Prius is being built.

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FROM KOREA VIA CALIFORNIA

Hyundai's HCD8 Sports Tourer is the First effort from the Hyundai Kia Design and Technical Center in Irvine, California. The front-drive car is powered by a supercharged 2.7-liter V6 mated to a six-speed manual gearbox, and has a fully independent suspension. Michelin Sport Pilot tires, size P255/R40-19 are used at each corner. Though the nickel-plated trim, wood flooring, and other luxury items are unlikely to reach production, the HCD8 points the way for the next generation Hyundai Tiburon. With an overall length of 170.3-in. on a 103.6-in. wheelbase, the 52.7-in. tall hatchback is about the size one would expect for the Hyundai's next sports coupe.

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SPECTRA SWELLS

Kia has a new Spectra for the '04 model year, with a longer wheelbase, wider track, and more horsepower. With 97 [ft.sup.3] of passenger area and six airbags, Kia claims the Spectra has class-leading interior room, and will be the lowest priced vehicle for sale in the U.S. with standard side curtain airbags. Trunk room is up by nearly 2 [ft.sup.3] to 12.2 [ft.sup.3], and the 2.0-liter engine produces 138 hp, a gain of 14 hp over the previous model. Four-wheel disc brakes are standard, though ABS is available as an option only on the EX trim level.

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MAYBE THE CUSTOMERS WON'T KNOW

There is something to be said for platform engineering. But the '05 Saturn Relay and Buick Terazza (to be followed by the Chevy Uplander and Pontiac Montana] aren't it. These are based on the existing GM minivan platform. Given the popularity of crossover--that is, car-based--SUVs, the product development wizards at GM have decided that in order to get crossovers out pronto they had to transform their minivans into what they're calling "crossover sport utility vans." So the Doraville Assembly Plant, which has heretofore been building minivans--products which, incidentally, haven't been selling as well as many others--is now building these vehicles. The primary visual differences are the addition of a hood and an SUV-like C-pillar. These are steel-bodied vehicles. So not only is this the first minivan for Saturn, it is also the first nonpolymer-intensive vehicle for the brand. The Buick, Saturn, Chevy, and Pontiac will all have the same 200-hp, 3.5-liter V6. The fascias and body trim panels are different between the brands, as are the interiors. Buick will offer an exclusive standard independent long-and-short-arm rear suspension with automatic load leveling and a ride and handling package. But otherwise.... "This time, we have a fully competitive mid-van," remarked Robert A. Lutz, GM North America chairman and vice chairman of Product Development. And that's because ...?

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HONDA ALMOST BUILDS A PICKUP TRUCK

Honda's SUT (Sport Utility Truck) concept is based on the Odyssey/Pilot Global Light Truck Platform, and takes Honda into the pickup segment--sort of. Though not a pickup in the traditional sense of a body-on-frame vehicle with a sizeable bed in back, the SUT concept follows the trail first blazed by Ford's Explorer SportTrac a number of years ago by adding a five-foot bed to an SUV. Designed for the active young father (Honda refers to this mythical buyer as the "cool dad"), the unibody SUT has a four-panel skylight, integrated lights and speakers in the cargo bed, storage bins made with climbing rope, and Mag-Lite flashlights integrated into the front door bins. Less ridiculous are the high-torque VTEC V6, vehicle stability control, four-wheel ABS, side curtain airbags, and front side airbags with an occupant detection system. When the SUT gets a name and reaches production in 2005, it will be built in Honda's Alliston, Ontario, plant

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CHEVY'S "PREMIUM" SMALL CAR

When it rolled out in the mid-90s, competitors for the Chevy Cavalier included the Ford Escort, Toyota Corolla, Honda Civic, Plymouth/Dodge Neon, Eagle Talon, Ford Probe. Hmm ... No more Escort, Plymouth, Eagle Talon, or Probe. But the Cavalier endured. Until now. It will be replaced by the '05 Cobalt, which is to go into production at the Lordstown Plant in the fourth quarter of '04. In announcing the Cobalt at the L.A. Auto Show, GM North America president Gary Cowger described it as "one of the most important product introductions we've ever made here at the L.A. show" and as a "critical next step" for Chevy. He said it was "engineered from the ground up to compete in the premium end of the small car market." Which GM defines as including the now-stalwart Civic and Corolla, as well as the VW Golf and Jetta. No more mention of Neon.

There are a few ways that Cobalt plays in the premium end. For one thing, the metal fits. The tolerances between the fenders and the doors are to be held to 3.5 mm. The tolerances on the hood and decklid are 3 mm. For another, there is the use of one-piece stamped tailor welded blanks for the inner and outer frame, which contributes to a rigid structure. A composite steel (plastic sandwiched between steel) is used to produce a plenum behind the dash, one that attenuates engine noise entering the cabin.

The Cobalt is based on the Delta architecture. That is also used for the Saturn Ion. Delta will be used for the Chevy HHR, the crossover that is planned for production in the summer of '05 as an '06 model.

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One interesting aspect of the Cobalt is that it is available as either a sedan or coupe--and the two body styles are completely different from the A-pillar back. There will be eight trim levels. Evidently, there will be some build complexity at Lordstown with this new vehicle.

The standard engine in the Cobalt is the Ecotec 2.2-liter that's currently used in the Cavalier. A supercharged 2-liter engine will be fitted under the hood at a future date. The Cobalt is meant to appeal to the tuner crowd, and clearly this engine is meant to be particularly attractive.

MAZDA GOES MICRO

Mazda's MX-Micro Sport Concept will be toned down slightly before it reaches production in 2004. Though uncertain whether the car will be sold in the U.S., Mazda officials are keen to gauge North American reaction for the vehicle that will replace its successful Demio small car that's sold in Japan. Based on the Mazda2 (Ford Fiesta) platform, the MX-Micro Sport is 156.7-in. long, and 19.9-in. shorter and 3.3-in. taller than its Mazda3 big brother. It sits on a 98-in. wheelbase and sports 17-in wheels. The 2.0-liter inline four-cylinder engine produces 148 hp @ 6,500 rpm, 135 lb-ft of torque @ 4,500 rpm, and drives through a six-speed manual gearbox. Ford is known to be looking for vehicles to fill the Brazilian plant that builds the Fiesta Fusion, and the MX-Micro Sport might be just the ticket to help the Fusion and the planned Ford Bronco small SUV fill that plant's assembly lines.

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KAPPA KONCEPTS

GM is claiming that the Kappa rear-drive architecture is "flexible," and the Saturn Curve coupe concept and the Chevy Nomad (sedan/wagon/crossover--take your pick) are evidence of that fact. (Kappa is also being used for the forthcoming production Pontiac Solstice.

The Saturn Curve is the most un-Saturn-like vehicle that can be imagined. That is, a brand that has long smacked of a certain pragmatism or at least no-nonsense approach is now showing a curvaceous coupe with 20-in. milled billet aluminum wheels. The roof pillars of the fiberglass-bodied car are essentially disguised by the glass roof, such that the entire roof appears to be floating. The hood--like that on the Solstice--is front hinged. As an interesting approach, the trunk is opposite opening, which may be symmetrical if not particularly practical.

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Inside, there is what is undoubtedly one of the nicest interiors introduced at the Detroit show and one that actually uses materials in a proper way, or, as Anne Asensio, GM executive director of Design, puts it, "Materials are used for what they should be." For example, there is actual wood, blonde wood, used in the interior. This is more like furniture than accents; for example, the console is a nice tongue-and-groove joined armrest. The inner door pulls are wood. In other words, the wood is used as a tactile material, something that the vehicle occupants actually interact with, not gaze at below a veneer of plastic as is typically the case. Leather accents are used on the IP, as well as to wrap all of the bucket seats. Arguably, the only Saturn-like aspect of the Curve is the use of materials in such a straightforward manner.

In 1999 GM showed a Nomad concept. Here, just five years later, there is another. Simon Cox, design director, GM Advanced Design, United Kingdom, admitted that he was a bit hesitant as he approached the design of this new concept, which has the fundamental two-box design of the predecessor, but which is an entirely different vehicle. He says that as he worked on the Nomad, he thought in the context of "heritage, but not in a retro way." The heritage in question is not that of the '99 Nomad. Rather, it is of the 1954 Nomad concept. That one was based on the Corvette platform. While the Kappa is no Corvette, it is still rather sporty. Which explains the 2+2 seating of this vehicle, as well as the round headlamps and forward-sloping B-pillar. The leather-wrapped steering wheel fronts an IP that has a large, central gauge cluster that has an anodized aluminum background. Blue lighting is used in the cabin. The environment evoked by the lighting is described in GM released text as "like the atmosphere of a hip martini bar."

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Somewhat like the GMC Envoy XUV, the Nomad concept provides plenty of open space at the backlight. But unlike the Envoy, it has a rear roof panel that can be manually removed to accommodate large items, not a power slider like the XUV. In addition to which, the Nomad has a sliding cargo floor that moves out over the tailgate so that objects can be readily moved into the cargo area. Because the Nomad is more cargo-oriented than either the Saturn Curve or the Pontiac Solstice, it is actually two-inches longer than the others.

THE GTO LIVES AGAIN

It's hard to compete with the hallowed dead. But that's the gruesome position General Motors finds itself in with the latest incarnation of the Pontiac GTO. "We're fighting against a memory bank," laments Jerry L. Gillespie, the GM vehicle line executive charged with transforming the Australian-made Holden Monaro into a modern day American muscle car. That memory bank includes every stop light peel-out, real or imagined, of the 60s original, so when GM decided to resurrect the GTO you might think it would be cowed into creating a retro re-hash to please hardcore enthusiasts. Instead it went back to the original GTO concept: take an existing rear-wheel-drive car and cram it full of horsepower. This decision gave GM the freedom to pick and choose what aspects of the original it thought of as essential to any modern successor without being tied to outdated styling. And it was a lot cheaper than tooling up a whole new design.

According to Gillespie, the watchwords for the GTO development were, "As few changes as possible, and as fast as possible." As it turned out the fewest changes possible encompassed 450 parts, or about 20% of the car's total parts count. Most, like new knee bolsters, are necessary to meet the U.S.'s stricter crash test standards, but some, like sturdier door seals, are there to winterize a car designed for balmy Australia not frigid Michigan. Federalizing the fuel tank posed a particularly vexing problem, and the vehicle's biggest compromise. To meet U.S. regulations the tank was moved up from below the trunk floor into the trunk itself, decreasing a respectable 14 [ft.sup.3] space to a 7 [ft.sup.3] (glove) box. Not only did the move necessitate new versions of parts like the fuel filler neck and the fuel door, but it drove GM to spring for an encapsulated tank that would prevent fuel pump or sloshing noises from being transmitted into the cabin. However, even with this setback GM managed to allow only 18 months to elapse from when the Monaro was sized-up in March 2002 to when the first ship full of GTOs made their way up from the Antipodes.

Given that they had to work with an existing car, the GTO team could only change so much, so they focused on tweaking the powertrain to give it the sound and launch feel of a muscle car. The exhaust note of the 5.7 L [LS.sub.1] V-8 that powers both the base version Corvette and the Monaro had been quieted to meet Australian noise laws, but the GTO had to sound more imposing. So, the Americans shipped a Corvette and an old Firebird Down Under along with recordings of vintage GTOs to give the Aussies an auditory education. From that beginning, the exhaust system supplier Tenneco mathematically modeled dozens of variations until it came up with the proper growl, part of which involved achieving a true dual exhaust note from an engine with only one outlet.

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The "brute straight line power" of the original GTO was replicated by boosting horsepower from 305 hp. to 350 hp. and supplying over 300 ft.-lbs. of torque through better engine breathing and cam modifications. With the result that this new creation bests its namesake in every category from horsepower to 0-60 mph times (7.3 sec. vs. 5.3 sec.). Which should help re-program some memory banks.

FILLING UP WITH [H.sub.2]

Think about this the next time you read of overcapacity in automotive production: only 12% of the world's population own cars, and a sizable chunk of the remaining 88% want to. It gets better. "When you extrapolate to the year 2020, then about 15% of the world's population, which would be about eight billion by then, will own automobiles. Which means well over a billion vehicles on the planet," says Larry Burns, GM vice president of research & development and planning, who presented his projections at the Tokyo International Automotive Conference last fall. Burns' point is not that automakers need to start a crash program in factory building, but that petroleum-burning internal combustion engines will have to give way to hydrogen fuel cells to make a one-billion-car world environmentally sustainable. He thinks that will happen and that GM will be at the forefront of the fuel cell revolution with a commercially viable vehicle on the road by 2010. His concern is less with the fuel cells themselves than with the fueling infrastructure that must develop to make them anything more than a curiosity. He says, "The real question is how fast will the infrastructure materialize? We believe there is a tipping point beyond which the market will sustain future growth." To help clarify the position of that tipping point Burns has done some calculations. He reckons that building a nationwide network of 12,000 hydrogen filling stations would get the ball rolling. That number of stations could service one million fuel cell vehicles and make [H.sub.2] available within two miles of 70% of the American population, for something less than $15-billion. And if the hydrogen is produced at a centralized refinery, liquefied and trucked to each station, Burns' model suggests that the final fuel cost would only be about 1.3 times as costly as gasoline. As for that one million vehicle figure, it's probably not coincidental that Burns chose it for his projection since he says, "GM intends to be the first company to sell one million fuel cell vehicles profitably." And they have to have some place to fuel up.--KEW

By Gary S. Vasilash, Editor-In-Chief and Christopher A. Sawyer, Executive Editor