Looks like a A4 from the a pillar to the back.

So uncool it comes with factory-option headgear.

Looks like somebody went wild with the paintless dent repair and green electrical tape.

Well at least they didn't try and make an extra large Aveo. I'm not really big into things that are wearing kitchen appliance white, except for maybe Danica Patrick.

This is the first small car from Chevy that doesn't look like they designed a 2 door then as an after thought added 2 more doors and extended the roof line another foot.

Not sure if I like it but it's better than the current model and all the 4 door Cavs.

why would anyone buy a car held together with tape,MG went tits up for building cars like that.

@boosted-lego-wagon:

I gotta say, Chevy is giving it a real effort to make a decent looking line of cars. They're still innocuous, but much better.

Avis and Hertz should approve.

Doesn't look much like a 2008 Malibu to me.....more European looking than most Chebbies. I rented a 2006 Cobalt for a week of driving on vacation--wow, what a loser. Hope this new one is better.

Looks like they shrunk together an Accord and a Mazda 6 and fitted the teeniest wheels they could find. Were it not for the diminished gas mileage and the lawsuits waiting to happen if I get in a crash, I would love to cover my car in weirdo test gear, if only for the attention.

WOW this is incredable. They managed to make the new car look like EVERY OTHER car in it class. Way to get inspired guys.

@boosted-lego-wagon: You're too fast today! That's the second time today that you've said what I thought out loud as I was reading the post. Now I bet that Ford is going to see this and make a Headgear version of the Mustang.

I wouldn't even glance at it as I walk past, so that means I would never consider owning one. No matter how practical a car is supposed to be, it has to elicit something from me as far as looks. As Speeddm pointed out, nothing differentiates this car from its competitors. Bland engineering FTL.

Bland. Uninspiring. I guess that means it should sell really well.

The Cobalt (or, at least this Cobalt) is a car that if it didn't have cammo or testing gear on it, no one would take pictures of it, because they wouldn't know that it's new.

If it was beige instead of white, it could blend in completely with other vehicles. It could be its own cammo.

@RalphieDC: Amen to that. The current 4-door CavBalt is unbelievably nasty; the C-pillar/window line is an abortion of metalworking. The coupe isn't much better.

The last semi-attractive Cavalier I can remember was the second-gen (88-94) Z24. I think you could get it with those waffle iron wheels.

I'm so ashamed that I'm sentimental for a Z24. Even as a 10-year-old I knew it was lame.

Are we sure this is for the US? The grille looks like the Euro/Pacific interpretation of the Chevy grille.

@Impalamino: I saw one last week. My 25 year old GF (i'm 37) said "what the hell are those"? I told her they were stock for that model and she bust out laughing.

I could've sworn I saw this same picture somewhere recently being called a prototype for the new Suzuki Forenza (and it's clones). Which is it? Has the Cobalt gone Korean (i.e. Aveo)? I thought it was going to be a twin of the new Astra.

Another, "Hey that sorta worked let's do it again...more, sorta different-like...or something."

Looks a Malibu made to look like a Nissan Sentra, for whatever reason.

Everyone is apparently using the "5-year-old European Car Cookbook" in their design houses.

Reference: [www.theautochannel.com]

despite the looks, it would have to be better. the current Cobalt pretty much needs a front rail or both in most front end accidents.
if they want a bland affordable family schlepper, i think they have one. blah. it won't manage many yea! votes on this site though.

Is GM trying a new type of photographic camoflage?

...that, or the test driver grabbed a little of the scenery during the durability trial?

I can't judge by seeing a sedan. I'll have to see the coupe. And I don't care if it's plain vanilla as long as they bring back the SS. They are a hell of a lot more fun to drive than they are to look at though.

Black plastic window extensions are getting REALLY tacky...

I see Mazda3, Audi A4, and with that tape arrangement, the half-Klingon Genesis.

Still, given the evolution of the Malibu over the past ten years (meh to bland to very competitive), this should be a pretty nice little car (given how the Cavalier was meh and the current car is bland, excepting the forced induction models)..

@smsolo1: That's been the history of Chevy's small cars. The Cavalier was the worst rated car in a front-end collision.

is this a new Delta platform or a redux on the old one?

HOLY CRAP! Is that finally a pop-up image on Jalop?

I mean, the car is bland if attractive, but not having to load a whole page every time I want to look at a pic, that's a damn revelation.

I'm pretty sure that this is just the Forenza which is a global project like the all new Cobalt, if you compare this with the SX4, they have styling similarities

Are these things ever going to have an independent rear suspension?

They really need it in order to get the ride up to the Civic/Mazda 3 level of refinement.

Sure, the Corolla still has the old twist-beam, but GM really should aim higher with these. There would be nothing wrong with having a class-leading C-car come from Detroit (or Lordstown, OH, as the case may be).

@MagicalTrevor: I heartily agree. Those black window extensions are nearly as bad as the ones on Chrysler Sebrings and Dodge Avengers.

GM: Do not take styling inspiration from those cars!

@nicjasno: That was my first thought, too. It's not bad, really.

@Impalamino: Yeah, the first, last, and only good looking one. I still like it, though I'm sorta ashamed:

@Joetimek: Only when wet, Joe, only when wet.

Let's try that image again.

Why would you have to send a sedan to the orthodontist?

So?

Is it just me or is that a Sebring?

@FuzzyPlushroom: That's a classic right there.

When I see a Cobalt I always mistake it for a 3rd-generation Cavalier. It just turns out that the Cavaliers suck even more than I remember.

In 35 years. when Murilee Martin III cruises the streets of Alameda, documenting the old cars just like his granddaddy did, he'll look at this Cobalt and pass on by.

The Cobalt will never be fondly remembered by anybody.

The net value of the comments posted far exceeds that of the car itself. Leave it to wither, continue marching, there's nothing to see here.

Looks like the new Ford Focus.

put a LS9 in it and sell it for 45k I would buy it.

Are the new Nubira, Optra and Cobalt all the same car?

[www.carspyshots.net]

I saw this...

[thecarblogger.blogspot.com]

Better looking than the current sedan, anyway.

@mytdawg: According to chevy.com, the SS is back. It's a turbo instead of a super.

Still looks way too Japanese for an American car.

The Camaro and Corvette are pretty much the only distinctly American looking Chevrolets left anymore, sad.

@TriShield:

Americans don't buy "American looking" small cars. Seeing as how the Civic and Corolla are the best selling cars in this class, there are far worse things to do than emulate the Japanese.

Looks way better than the current car, which in sedan form, just looks wrong, esp. the body-color b-pillar.

Unfortunately, looks bigger, too. Bigger not good.

This is so boring to look at. The A6 roofline is so derivative.

A simple clean attractive profile. I can't see the front and rear, but from what I can see the only issue I have is the Sebring-like black plastic window extension.

Body by Fisher
Styling by Frigidaire

looks a tad big. I kind of like the old one more.

YOU TURDTH!!

I hope they change the name to Kobold.

@Spekkio: I know they get no respect but I really can't bitch about a little car with these specs...

This Turbocharged, direct-injected, dual overhead cam, ECOTEC 260-hp 2.0L I-4 engine with Variable Valve Timing (VVT) - standard on SS Turbocharged (available spring 2008) - is the most powerful in its class.(1) It has an estimated MPG 22 city and 30 hwy.(2) The Cobalt SS can go 0 to 60 in 5.7 seconds and is over 160 mph fast, covering the quarter mile in 14.1 seconds.

The SC model was rated at a conservative 205 (most dyno tested over that at the wheel) and stage 2 took it to roughly 250. I'm going to guess it won't be real hard to get 300 out of these.

I'm guessing at least a couple people WILL remember these fondly. The ones I've spoken with have been quite happy with them. The downside is everyone so far has been much older than the target audience.

I have to admit that My 1989 Subaru DL had independent rear suspension. Although, every car I have owned since has been equipped with a live rear axle, I have to say that the the old Cavalier handled like crap when compared to a all other small cars on the market.

@mytdawg:
Maybe you can't bitch about it but I will be more than happy to take up the slack for you.

1. It's a driving appliance for those who just want a "car" and don't care what they're buying. These people also buy refrigerator white Toyota Avalons.

2. The "SS" may be powerful but it is still wrong wheel drive. They understeer like pigs and I believe that the rear suspension was modeled off of a Matchbox car in complexity and functionality.

@pres: I'm pretty happy with the way it drives, don't really notice the understeer, can dust most anything on interchange ramps and as long as the rear axle stays on I'm not too concerned about what it's made of. It seems to work just fine.

But I'm used to Trans Ams and Cutlass's so I'm comfortable with somewhat heavy steering.

I've also been obsessed with cars since the age of four, have owned 40+ and none have been Avalons.

But it's okay if you don't like it. Last I checked, I was still paying for it. You're just wrong about the other generalizations.

@stu-rock:

Actually, if I'm not mistaken, the Civic dropped independent rear suspension...and suffered for it.

Thankfully, the next-gen Focus will be on the C1 (Mazda3) platform, which is vastly superior. Why buy one of these when you can get a real car?

Also, torque steer is going to be lethal when the turbo kicks in. I suppose you only need to turn left in NASCAR anyway.