March 7-9, 1983
'82 F-body marketing research clinic in Pasadena, California.
June 2-7, 1983
Sporty Car clinic in Dallas, Texas. The clinic consisted of face-to-face interviews of import-intenders by GM engineers. "Quality Paradox"-broken power antenna; now referred to as the "Quality Perception Gap." "Size Paradox"-bigger rear seat. "Voice of the Customer Paradox"-customers should not be taken literally. This is what Bob Lutz meant when he said "the customer isn't always right." For me, this was a huge revelation fraught with both potential opportunity and danger. The opportunity was that GM could gain a huge business advantage if it could accurately understand and interpret the "voice of the customer." The danger was that we had to keep the "voice of the customer" and it's interpretation as pure as possible so it didn't become the "voice of the boss."
August 3, 1983
First official meeting of GM80 Program (formerly '88 F-body).
December 1, 1983
Presentation of Sporty Car marketing analysis at Design Staff. Detailed information indicating what Pontiac was not addressing in the sporty market, particularly with the growing segment of "import-intended" buyers.
February 26-March 1, 1984
Sporty car ride and drive in Phoenix, Arizona. Focus on FWD vs. RWD, High-Tech V-6 vs. V-8, import vs. domestic, etc.
May 27-June 12, 1984
Series of GM corporate market positioning clinics in New Jersey, Chicago, Dallas and Los Angeles. I was out of the office for an extended period when my mind started to clear. More evidence of the paradoxical nature of "Voice of the Customer" became apparent. I began to understand what was right for the Pontiac F-body within the context of what was possible. In other words, I started believing that "I'd know the answer when I saw it."
October 8, 1984
Promoted to Pontiac Sporty Car Manager.
November 9, 1984
Informal discussion with Chevrolet to add 5.7L Corvette engine to F-body and was given a laundry list of reasons why it couldn't happen. (Such discussions to add the 5.7L V-8 had gone on for years, but this is when I first started to press the issue.)
November 12, 1984
Luncheon meeting with Pontiac Division management to discuss generic F-body problems-quality, performance and pricing. We also touched on the sensitive issue of Chevrolet's lack of enthusiasm about adding the 5.7L V-8 Corvette engine to the F-body. This was around the same time that Chevrolet IROC was losing the 0-60 mph race with the Mustang GT. Somewhere during this time frame, my Design Staff visitation privileges were temporarily suspended, allegedly because I abused them by "arriving unannounced." It became ironic later in my career when, as Comptroller of GM Design Staff, I was granted full studio access at any time by Wayne Cherry and Jerry Palmer. I became Design Staff's most loyal supporter (at least, within GM Finance) and those designers, sculptors, engineers and managers became, and remain, my closest friends at General Motors.
January 17, 1985
Conceived appearance theme for top-of-the-line Trans Am while viewing USAF SR-71 Blackbird at Wright-Patterson AFB. (See May 27-June 12 comments. "I saw the answer and I knew it.")
January 26, 1985
Conceived proposal to drop Firebird SE and replace it with the Firebird Formula. (See May 27-June 12 comments. "I saw the answer and I knew it.")
January 28, 1985
Informal call to Design Staff with proposals for Formula and Trans Am "Blackbird." Black Trans Am with no nameplate or graphics ordered from Van Nuys assembly plant.
February 6, 1985
First work-group review of proposal to add Formula and Trans Am Blackbird to model lineup.
March 31, 1985
First review of Formula and Blackbird proposal with Pontiac management. (The day when El Schlesinger called it "Trans Am Brougham.")
April 3, 1985
Tire-kicking session with John Schinella and Jack Folden at Design Staff Ponderosa to finalize appearance themes for Formula and Trans Am Blackbird. (The day John Schinella named it GTA.)
July 31, 1985
Final approval of Formula and GTA appearance and content by Pontiac General Manager Mike Losh.
October 3, 1985
Final approval of exterior and interior trim colors at GM Desert Proving Grounds in Phoenix, Arizona.
November 22-24, 1985
Marketing research clinic in Chicago, Illinois. This is when I became convinced that the Formula and GTA were going to be successes. It was a cold, snowy Saturday night in Chicago as I celebrated on Rush Street.
January 26, 1986
Began attending Pontiac's California Marketing Task Force meetings each month in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Pontiac's West Coast sales team and select dealers wanted to improve market share in California through targeted product, pricing, advertising and merchandising programs. They wanted help even before the Formula and GTA were introduced.
February 26, 1986
First review of '87 F-body marketing plans and priorities including national advertising, dealer merchandising, media/public relations and pricing.
April 7, 1986
Presentation of '87 F-body marketing plans to GM Chairman, President and Chief Financial Officer.
July 21-26, 1986 [Approximate]
Formal Long-Lead Press Introduction of Formula and GTA in Pasadena, California.
August 4, 1986
Start of '87 Formula and GTA production at Norwood, Ohio, assembly plant.
August 18, 1986
Start of '87 Formula and GTA production at Van Nuys assembly plant.
November 12, 1986
Meeting with ERTL to define plastic model car requirements for Formula and GTA.
February 3, 1987
First formal meeting to discuss the possibility of using Buick 3.8L V-6 Turbo in the GTA.
February 4, 1987
Developed proposal to add five-speed manual transmission with 5.7L V-8 engine in Formula and GTA.
April 28-30, 1987
Advance media ride of '88 Formula and GTA in Ann Arbor.
September 3, 1987 (Approximately)
Developed proposal for "hand-built" GTA.
November 16-20, 1987
Series of formal meetings to discuss the proposal to use Buick 3.8L V-6 Turbo in GTA.
January 18, 1988
Transferred to GM Finance Staff.