My Encounter with a new Chevy Zeta in the Wild

[Joey D]

So me and the girlfriend were up at Great Lakes Crossing, a local mall not that far from my house so I could pick up a new sport coat for a party next weekend. I was cruising through the lot when I saw this which I thought looked a bit odd so I pulled over to investigate. When my headlight hit it I thought Woah! That's a new Zeta in the wild! Luckily I had my camera with me, although as you can see the darkness of night and it do not really get along, but grainy photos are better then.

I would have gotten more pictures but the mall security came and told me if I didn't leave right way and stop taking pictures I would be held on suspicion of breaking into cars. I explained to the mall security guard that I was in a public domain and therefore allowed to photograph the car. But he insisted and in order to not make the situation turn into a big mess I just let it be and left. He told me that I should delete the picture...as you can see by the following images that didn't happen.

 

[ND4SPD]

Now thats a Lumina! Great spot! Prefer this over the G8. Just noticed his front bumper looks like it's a little loose in those pictures.

 

[exigeracer]

Looks Australian...

Put those watermarks smack ontop of the car though!

 

[Joey D]

Looks Australian...

Put those watermarks smack ontop of the car though!

Agreed, I will fix that.

 

[Jim Prower]

NICE SPOT! the Mideast-market Chevy Lumina. Well done!

 

[High-Test]

Wow. That's quite a find! 👍

 

[YSSMAN]

Yay!

The first one should be showing up here in the next few weeks (that is, the Pontiac G8), and the official roll date should be in early January.

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Side note for a moment: Great Lakes Crossing? Were we shopping at Steve and Barry's?
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As most of you know, this is probably one of the most-anticipated product launches GM has had for me in quite some time. My guess is that the front end on that Lumina SS will find its way on quite a few Pontiac G8 STs as well...

 

[Rotary Junkie]

Wow.

All I can say is wow.

Awesome find, Joey!

 

[Philly]

Nice spot! What a great looking car. I wonder how long it will take for one to turn up in Holland.

Props for spotting it! Props to the girlfriend for putting up with it!

 

[Sage]

Wait, so this is a pre-production mule? (TBH, I didn’t even realize Chevy was doing a re-badge of this – I thought the only one being sold in America was going to be the Pontiac.)

Great find. 👍

 

[Casio]

Wait, so this is a pre-production mule? (TBH, I didn’t even realize Chevy was doing a re-badge of this – I thought the only one being sold in America was going to be the Pontiac.)

It looks to be as someone said earlier, a Middle-East variant. Holden has exported to Saudi and the like for quite a number of years now, under the Lumina SS badging, also the LWB models to China under the Buick Royaldom (Or something) name. I have pictures of both somewhere.

 

[YSSMAN]

This won't be Chevrolet USA's version of the Zeta sedan, but I wouldn't expect it to stray too far from that formula there. This one is the Chevrolet Lumina, directly related to the Holden Commodore for the past two generations (as I recall). This Lumina SS essentially is the same car as the Pontiac G8 GT that we'll bet getting here in the next few weeks, obvious badge differences and such.

...I believe this same Lumina SS has been seen before on GMI, or at least one similar to it. GM engineers pick up the import models quite frequently for testing and such, part of the reason why the Ute has been to our shores before as well...

The Chevrolet Impala won't be here for at least another year, but will probably debut in Detroit or Chicago soon enough. Expect our Zeta Chevrolet to look more like the Malibu than this, although, one can't rule out a distinctively retro-styled sedan.

 

[Joey D]

Thanks for the comments guys.

I submitted this to Autoblog but they didn't take notice.

Side note for a moment: Great Lakes Crossing? Were we shopping at Steve and Barry's?

Steve and Barry's closed here at the beginning part of the year, it's now an Urban Behavior whatever the hell that is.

Props for spotting it! Props to the girlfriend for putting up with it!

She's used to it, much like Doug's (ex?) girlfriend.

 

[Philly]

This won't be Chevrolet USA's version of the Zeta sedan, but I wouldn't expect it to stray too far from that formula there. This one is the Chevrolet Lumina, directly related to the Holden Commodore for the past two generations (as I recall). This Lumina SS essentially is the same car as the Pontiac G8 GT that we'll bet getting here in the next few weeks, obvious badge differences and such.

...I believe this same Lumina SS has been seen before on GMI, or at least one similar to it. GM engineers pick up the import models quite frequently for testing and such, part of the reason why the Ute has been to our shores before as well...

💡 They could just test it as a Holden in Australia. I'm not quite sold on why they are doing this....

 

[Joey D]

💡 They could just test it as a Holden in Australia. I'm not quite sold on why they are doing this....

They need to test the car on US roads to see how it will fair, I've never been to Australia so I have no idea how it is in comparison. Also here in Michigan the SOS looks down on RHD cars which is what GM would get if they imported one from Australia...yes it is on an M plate but still GM would be frowned upon for doing it. Also the Middle East version is closer to what the US version will be like with it's LHD.

Also by them driving it around they get people like me taking photos of it and posting it on the internet which generates interest. GM should be paying me for advertising .

 

[hemisport15]

congrats on the great find:tup:. there was an article in car and driver or motortrend on this car. it was very interesting, i will have to try and find it somewhere. oh yeah, what is up with the front right bumper? the spacing seems to be a bit off.

 

[Rotary Junkie]

GM's famous build quality?

 

[Philly]

They need to test the car on US roads to see how it will fair, I've never been to Australia so I have no idea how it is in comparison. Also here in Michigan the SOS looks down on RHD cars which is what GM would get if they imported one from Australia...yes it is on an M plate but still GM would be frowned upon for doing it. Also the Middle East version is closer to what the US version will be like with it's LHD.

OK. I see where you are coming from. Maybe US roads are that different from what the car usually has to go through. Also about the RHD thing. That would look a little awkward to see a RHD car coming down the road at you. Maybe they want to run it through a Michigan winter to see how the thing will put up with elements (salt) never seen in Australia? They probably should have one running around in the Northwest to see how it works in the rain and unplowed snow too:tup:.

Also by them driving it around they get people like me taking photos of it and posting it on the internet which generates interest. GM should be paying me for advertising .

I should get a job at the GM advertising branch driving around billboards like these for a living.

 

[YSSMAN]

Also by them driving it around they get people like me taking photos of it and posting it on the internet which generates interest. GM should be paying me for advertising .

GMI usually blows-up with photos like this. They caught what appears to be the same car in Detroit this summer and we all nearly crapped a brick. Then there was the catch in LA as well...

We're close, getting closer. Take the interior design out of the Malibu with a hint of classic design for the outside and you can get a good idea of what the Impala will look like...

 

[Giancarlo]

Looks neat, but does it come in stick? All those sporty mods just seem foolish to me otherwise.

 

[MustangSVT]

So is this basically a Pontiac G8 version with the rear wing re-badged as a Chevy?

 

[YSSMAN]

Looks neat, but does it come in stick? All those sporty mods just seem foolish to me otherwise.

The Pontiac G8 will have a stick, this does as well, but no word has been made official on the Chevrolet Impala that won't likely hit the streets until 2009.

So is this basically a Pontiac G8 version with the rear wing re-badged as a Chevy?

The Holden Commodore SS came first, then the Chevrolet Lumina SS (in the Middle-East), then the Pontiac G8 GT. They're all the same car, with the same 362 BHP L76 V8, but there are the obvious changes made for each car.

 

[Omnis]

I like the Pontiac version the best.

 

[Rotary Junkie]

I like the Lumina, but....

<------

 

[Turbo Lag]

Ive seen a few SS Utes around, they look spectacular

 

[Jay]

I've seen a few VE HSV utes around and they look..... ok.

 

[a6m5]

Nice one, Joey! 👍

Its face looks really outdated, like by a decade or so. Having said that, it still is an very cool looking car. I like it.

 

[Famine]

I would have gotten more pictures but the mall security came and told me if I didn't leave right way and stop taking pictures I would be held on suspicion of breaking into cars.

Ridiculous. Only police can hold you on suspicion of committing a crime. For a private citizen (or mall security) to hold you, a crime must have already been committed and you identified as the perpetrator.

If no cars had been broken into then there can be no suspicion of it.

 

[a6m5]

They could've still kicked him out though. Rent-A-Cops takes themselves so seriously, if they didn't carry those huge maglites, I'd laugh at them in their faces.

 

[Famine]

They could've still kicked him out though. Rent-A-Cops takes themselves so seriously, if they didn't carry those huge maglites, I'd laugh at them in their faces.

Yep, but that's all they're empowered to do.