Seibertron.com Energon Pub Forums

[GM_Designer]

Hi Guys,

My name is Stephen Gray and I am a designer at GM.

As you no doubt know already we are showing 5 vehicles at the Chicago Auto Show which are the actual props from the new Transformers Movie. There is also a full sized Bumblebee in robot form and an exclusive trailer.

If any of you who have questions for GM design, I will do my best to answer them!

There are some vids here (including the trailer):

http://gmtv.feedroom.com/?fr_chl=62fb04 ... 703d&rf=bm

If you get the chance you should go down to the show to check it out!

Stephen.

PS: Sideswipe is HOT.

[Firebird]

Thanks for coming by Stephen, I can't believe I missed this thread yesterday.

PS: Sideswipe is HOT.

Yes, the Centennial Corvette just oozes sex appeal. I want one bad. Were you part of the team that designed it? And if not what have you designed?

Thanks for the videos! (and please bring the Firebird back )

[zero-kaiser]

Welcome to Seibertron Stephen

As Firebird said, thank you very much for sharing this video with us. I cant wait to see more of these guys on the big screen

[T-Macksimus]

Welcome to Seibertron and thanks for the posting. Many of us here are humbled by your presence. What GM has done for the TF movie franchise is nothing short of pure awsome. The video of the was cool and I was glad to able to jump over to the other video of the Autobots "Rolling Out" and be able to see it in full-screen mode. Between the 2 videos this is going to make it even more difficult for me to wait until June to see the movie. (seeing them all on the IMAX screen is going to be even more astounding). Thanks again for all you guys have done!

[blitzwing_luca86]

When bumblebee was introduced and drove on the stage there was a red camero in the background............... They shud hav had cliffjumper in rotf ................................. maybe he still is

[blitzwing_luca86]

....... or is that just wishful thinking?????

[Ultra Magnus]

Cool. Looks like I'm going to the Auto Show now...

[DevastaTTor]

Welcome to Seibertron and thanks for the posting. Many of us here are humbled by your presence.

I don't know if were all necessarily humbled by the post but we all certainly appreciate it. I'll be humbled when the Pope blesses my collection and the Dalai Lama posts the full teaser trailer.

[Stupid869]

looks like Bumble was cut from the teaser. I wonder if they were using a clip from the full trailer. Isn't the teaser just a micro edit of the trailer?

[T-Macksimus]

Welcome to Seibertron and thanks for the posting. Many of us here are humbled by your presence.

I don't know if were all necessarily humbled by the post but we all certainly appreciate it. I'll be humbled when the Pope blesses my collection and the Dalai Lama posts the full teaser trailer.

It's not the post I was referring too, it was the man who posted it.
It was my mistake for speaking on anyones behalf but my own, but I happen to be damn proud to be part of a community where someone who's on the inside as far as design of the cool vehicles we'll be seeing on-screen get's to look at the input that us fans have. It doesn't mean that we have any more or less influence just that it takes the mystery out of whether or not we are actually being heard. This is, after all, one of the biggest TF Fan sites out there. Between us and the TFW crew, which some Seibertronians are also members of, I think that the powers that be would find our input helpful. After all, we should have some say in the cars that help get us to the toy stores, comic shops and movie theaters that give us our TF fix.

[Sherade]

I dunno, I honestly believe the Cent. "Corvette" is ugly.
But that's just me.
But Sideswipe looks good in robot mode.

And as for my own personal Q'n'A questions:
Any plans for a new Corvair?
Chevette?
Bringing back the wonderful GTO from a few years back?
Maybe joining with..dare I say..Ford to re-form AMC and hlep kick Toyota?
Am I going too far?

[T-Macksimus]

I poked aorund a bit over at jalopnik.com (and a few other sites) and I was amazed at how many folks did not like the new 'vette. I'm also surprised at how far our site is falling behind as far as keeping up with links to new footage and news reports about the appearance of the new Chevys in TF2. I got to see another breif clip with BB in his bot mode and the media is all over the new Corvette. The anticipation of this new film is going to make my head explode!

[GM_Designer]

Hey guys! Sorry about the delay!

Firebird: I was not part of the Stingray team, It would have been a sweet project to work on!! As a designer I work as part of a team that takes concepts and develops them from a visual standpoint. We do a lot of CGI work, animations, really showing and working on what concepts will look like as real cars. I have worked on the Camaro, G8, Cruze, Volt and a bunch of others that have not yet been seen.

T-Macksimus: Thanks for the welcome! Sorry it took so long to reply. Seeing the cars come to life on screen as characters is awesome. Lots of the designers here are big time Transformers fans. There are lots of toys on desks!

Blitzwing_Luca86: I can’t talk about stuff that may or may not be in the film.

Ultra Magnus: Sweet! I wish I could get down there too.

Stupid869: The trailer was cut by Michael Bay for the motor show. It is not from any other trailer.

Sherade: That is the cool thing about concept cars; we can get them out there and see what people think. Some love it, some people won’t. That’s the nature of design! While I would love to talk about upcoming product…Sorry!

T-Mackismus: The Stingray concept is an interesting car and very bold. So much of its design inspiration is taken from the early Corvettes. It looks like nothing else on the road and will generate a lot of passion! At the end of the day, I think it will be received very well, especially after people get a good look at it in the film.

[Sherade]

Sherade: That is the cool thing about concept cars; we can get them out there and see what people think. Some love it, some people won’t. That’s the nature of design! While I would love to talk about upcoming product…Sorry!

T-Mackismus: The Stingray concept is an interesting car and very bold. So much of its design inspiration is taken from the early Corvettes. It looks like nothing else on the road and will generate a lot of passion! At the end of the day, I think it will be received very well, especially after people get a good look at it in the film.

Well when there is a new Corvair I demand to know first.

And, I believe the Stingray is a good step, but the bodywork is too busy and almost trying too hard, I think in this case less is more.
But split window, yes, please.

But then again if you can't tell, I'm a Ford guy.
It's all love for you guys too, but everything's better in blue.

[T-Macksimus]

Unlike Sherade, I'm a Chevy guy at heart even though I have been "blessed"(and I use that term loosely) with Fords as my last 3 vehicles after the untimely death of my Cavalier Wagon (at least it got a Honda off the road in the process and it was the Hondas fault)
I do have to say that I was appaled at the negative posts on jalopnik.com. Those goes need a lesson in manners from Sherade because he has been very tasteful in his responses. Myself, I am enraptured with the design of the 'vette, and I'm excited to see the smaller Chevys making an appearance since I drove a Chevy Sprint for 9 years and always wanted to see a Transformer made of it. My biggest question is was there a particular reason for sticking with the Chevrolet line as opposed to incorporating a Pontiac or one of the others in the line-up? (I have a thing for the Crossfire. That would look so sweet given the TF treatment in my opinion)

[Sherade]

-Cut for size-

Was it an 80's or 90's Cavalier?
I have yet to find why, but the 90's wagon and examples of an 80's model have always been attractive.
Like I said, don't know why.
I'm 15 and supposed to hate them.
Oh, and I LOVE that last part. "I got a Honda off the road..it was the honda's fault."
I actually had to Google for picutres of the Sprint, I've never seen one..ever.
Was it the same platform of the Pontiac LeMans hatch?

I think that Chevy is more widely Recognized among GM's many brands.
I totally would love more Pontiacs, heck if I saw a Saturn Aura I'd be happy.

And, the reason for my politeness is because, well, there's really nothing "mean" to say.
I just don't like some of the body work.
I like the ideas of a split window (as I said before), the bulged up
wheel-wells, side sculpting, and the hood scoop is more defined than the current (C7?) 'Vette.
But the rest is a turn-off.
With the loss of the angular front/rear fascia work, and a less...well, a taller, roof, and lessen the 4-tip contiguous exhaust, we'll start talking.

As I said earlier, there are cars I'm supposed to hate. Here's a list of some I like, that most people my age don't:
-Pinto
-Gremlin
-Vega
-Corvair
-Crown Victoria (Police package, of course!)
-Ford C.V LTD (Especially '85 LTD IIs)
-'68 Cadddy El Dorado
And basically anything else made by ford/GM...

[Highbeam]

Check out the rims on the Twins!! I want those for my Jeep!! XD

[T-Macksimus]

-Cut for size-

Was it an 80's or 90's Cavalier?
I have yet to find why, but the 90's wagon and examples of an 80's model have always been attractive.
Like I said, don't know why.
I'm 15 and supposed to hate them.
Oh, and I LOVE that last part. "I got a Honda off the road..it was the honda's fault."
I actually had to Google for picutres of the Sprint, I've never seen one..ever.

Last question first: The Sprint was the predecessor of the Geo Metro.
Mine was a blue '88 Chev. Sprint 3 cyl. and I could have put up to a '92 Metro Turbo 4 Cyl. engine in it. Mine was "supposed" to top out at 86 MPH but I couldn't leave well enough alone and clocked it's second engine out at approx. 100. Needle was buried so that's just a guess

First question: It was a red 1986 Cavalier Station Wagon w/a 3 spd Manual Trans, european suspension and I outraced and outcornered brand new (at the time) crossovers and comparable size cars going over a mountain pass in Wash. State. (Also beat 2 competition "Street Racers" off the line in an unnoficial match on Hwy 99. Nothing kills an ego like getting smoked by a soccer mom car)
The wagon got killed by a girl yammering on her cell phone who blew a light at 45+ mph. The impact threw my car 2 lanes after/as the rear end snapped around and destroyed the back end of her car. She initially impacted square in the pass. front wheel and shoved the drive-axel up into the lower block. I had to look for a logo to see what kind of car she had been driving. The body practically explode on impact. From the drivers side of mine, you couldn't tell it had been hit so long as you didn't look at the puddle of mixed fluids pouring out on the ground. This was in April of '04 and I still miss that car.
I now have a 93 Taurus Wagon with a HO 3.8L V6 (same engine as the Windstar van but with 1/2 the body weight)...and a ticket from an Issaquah City Motorcycle Cop who clocked me doing 20 over...uphill!(65 in a 45 is a bad thing in Issaquah) I had just shifted into overdrive when I saw the flashing blues and had to back out of it. I gotta stop tinkering with my cars and just leave 'em stock.

[Sherade]

I know this would only add weight, but you should so put an SHO body kit on the Taurus Wagon.

[T-Macksimus]

Only if I can get the rims that Highbeam is fawning over for her Jeep.
And those are going to have to be bigger than the ones on the Chevys because I have Windstar rims on the wagon. Before my brother scrapped his van we stripped it of anything we could possibly attach in any way to my car, including his new tires and rims and considerable amount of the engine.

Hey Highbeam, what model and year Jeep do you have? I'm curious to see if it's anything close to Air Commander Starscreams rig.

Even though this is a supposed to be a GM Q & A, which is starting to morph the wrong direction so I'll attempt to start steering back, has anyone heard anything about our favorite crooked cop Barricade and is there any info on the Audi? I was wondering just because I was thinking of the size comparrison between them and our Chevy squad. I'm under the impression that the 'Vette and the Audi are pretty evenly matched and will go one-on-one in the movie but how do the other boys compare?

[Sherade]

Why will we even dignify that Audi with acknowledgeing it?
Not even worth it.
That's my only gripe with thism ovie character wsie.
Take a good character and ruin him...sigh...

[T-Macksimus]

How can it get slagged if we don't acknowledge that it exists?

[Sherade]

How can it get slagged if we don't acknowledge that it exists?

Interesting proposition..
I like it!

[T-Macksimus]

My first car was a Datsun 310 which I had from age 16 to 17 1/2 when I got my first Sprint. (Had 2 over the course of 9+ years) I'm thirty...something now and all I've owned since the Sprints were Fords and Chevys and even when I had my Datsun I tweaked it to do things the designers never intended (like go off-road, talk about watching some jaws drop).
For me, if it ain't a Chevy or Ford, it's a bullseye on wheels!
(Although I did get some impressive air with the Datsun and the rednecks at the gravel pits were amazed at how close I came to clearing the steepest hill. My buddies Toyota 4WD with 32" tires took 2 attempts to hit the top. Knowing what I know now, and if I hadn't overheated the engine, my 3rd attempt in my 310 would have succeeded and I could have done it 1st time out with my Sprint. Now that I'm a parent I have to mind my manners and set an example for my sons. Sucks cause I really want to see if the Taurus will do a "bootlegger"). In case you're wondering, I'm from a family with not quite enough siblings to make a baseball team but just enough to make a damn fine Pit Crew. My father raced with the Wash. Assoc. of Demolition Drivers. I was spending evenings stripping cars for races by age 7.

[Sherade]

....words....

You can't (or maybe you can..) feel it, but I'm hugging you right now....
And consecutively hoping you suffocate.