The Lounge

Art Fitzpatrick is one of my favorite automotive artists. He was such a big part of Pontiac's success and their wide-track ad campaign from '59-'71. http://www.fitz-art.com/ http://www.fitz-art.com/gallery.htm http://www.petersen.org/default.cfm?docid=1046 http://www.motortrend.com/classic/features...rick/index.html http://www.motortrend.com/classic/features...rick/index.html

A cousin of mine who is like a sister to me called this evening and asked me to go lot hopping with her. She has almost 100k on her Liberty, and the air conditioning compressor has gone bye-bye to the tune of $700, and with gas prices the way they are, she's maybe looking to replace her vehicle. Here's a list of the vehicles we looked at at her behest: Dodge Journey Dodge Caliber Dodge Charger SXT Subaru Forester Toyota Rav4 Toyota Tacoma Toyota Matrix Mazda 3 Nissan Rogue Smrt Cabrio Saturn Astra 5 door Saturn VUE Saturn SKY VW Eos VW Tiguan VW Rabbit Honda CR-V Pontiac Vibe Suzuki SX4 Jeep Liberty Jeep Compass Jeep Patriot …

To all my friends in North America, don't forget to set your clocks back and hour tonight before you go to bed. Germany is already on Standard time. Yeah I know you thought this post would be about something else, now didn't you?

...to see how little "stuff" you could have? I'm wondering just how far I could take the concept.

Pep boys has 5qts of Kendall Full Snythetic and a Proline filter for 19.99. Not often does an oil change go for 20 bucks.....

Today I updated my spreadsheets and found that my Money portfolio has INCREASED by 12.37% since March of this year. That is fantastic, its not what it was a few years ago but its damn good.

There is an eyeball in a jar of formaldehyde sitting on my kitchen table. No, I dont know why.

Well... Since I can't find the "Old Auto Show Concepts" forum, I'll just post it here Could have made a great Alero replacement, looks ready for Epsilon. Lose the sliding doors and give it a formal trunk. Makes me want to weep every time I see that oval emblem :(

Okay, I need the help of someone more computer/windows XP savy then I am. Somehow my computer wigged out the other day and I've had to do "system restore"... the problem is ever since then I have not been able to save JPG files off the net. It will only let me save them in BMP format. Can someone let me know how to fix this? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Anyone else have trouble with people who place ads on CL not responding to e-mails and phone messages? I've found two great parts trucks for the Mothertruck project and got no response to my inquiries. Annoying.

What is the big deal about this cartoon? Are Muslims just a little too sensitive? Go to Iran or any Muslim country and you will see anti-American and anti-Christian depictions on walls and publicly funded murals desecrating the American flag. How is this any worse? Why is there so much outrage over this cartoon? Shouldn't the Muslim world be fixing their own behavior instead of trying to limit our freedom of expression? I say the Muslim outrage is nothing more than hypocrisy.

I have (my company has) this one client who is turning out to be a real ass hole. (I wrote about this once before). Unfortunately, I service his current project. I have never had a client I didn't like before (well, actually there was one). I figured it out. This guy, an exec "of sorts" at a construction company, thinks architects are necessary evils. (I'd like to see him get the degree and then the license). He is obviously some ex-jock who got into construction management - he may have a college education in construction, but, regardless, he is a little too classless. Since he probably lacks the technical skills, he has to use his over-the-top aggressiveness to g…

So, as most of you know, I have a best friend named Ray. Here's what I knew about him for the last 18-20 months until yesterday: 19 years old, black child living in a less black-than-white metro-Detroit community, grew up in Laguna Beach until he was 8, his dad died when Ray was 8, mom died when he was 12, and he's lived in MI since being 8 with his grandfather because of financial reasons. Well, yesterday at my graduation party, I asked Darren something (Ray's brother; I don't remember what I had asked) and he was confused. Now, this was something he would've known, but didn't. So I asked on: Your mom is alive? "Yes," was his answer.. with a questioned look on his face…

to love a Chrysler this was the one Chrysler I would have forsaken a GM for, growing up back in the day. It still looks good to me. 80's yes. Has the same qualities that all the late 70's / early to mid 80's GM cars had to me. Anyone else love the Mirada / Cordoba twins? I would still love to find one of these to drive.....

I did... I was applying for my parking pass next term in Waterloo, and I ran right into it on the UW Parking website... Good old days...

Well I'm in situation where I need to buy a new one soon. I have seen or shot almost any kind of gun you can think of so I have lost interest so I enlisted you guys to help me? Rules: Pistol Price limit no more than $2500 Black or "blued" NO desert Eagles or .22's. No Glocks Because they are pure and utter rubbish. any one want to suggest a gun for me?

Tim is special kind of stupid. http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/sports/16706242.htm http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/02/15/...in2482540.shtml I dont believe his apology for a second. I'm sure he doesn't regret it at all.

About time! After all kinds of issues with this computer (including the motherboard not being put in right-I needed another one) I can now check stuff on my own computer. Yay!

Just so you know!

Motor Trend: Infiniti G37 vs. BMW 335i The king is dead. NICO Forums

HERE are the results. chichen itza totally deserved that. other than the colosseum, there must've been lots of people that considered the "old world" wonders not on their radar.... kinda thing

To-may-to. To-mah-to. Po-tay-to. Po-tah-to. Auto Show. Car show. What’s the difference? You can pronounce the food in whatever way your linguistical leanings allow, but there’s a big difference between a car show and an auto show such as the 2007 Delaware Auto Show, scheduled for Oct. 5-7 at the Center on the Riverfront in Wilmington. Put simply, car shows are for classic, antique and tuner cars – vehicles you want to admire close up. At those look-but-don’t-touch events, owners don’t really like for you to touch the cars or get in them. Auto shows offer, however, the coolest, latest, sleekest, hottest rides available now and in the immediate future for the gearhead…

For more information and super slow-mo, hop over to this link.

A conversation with a fellow Monte Carlo enthusiast prompted this query. Ruffling feathers is NOT the intent ... just kinda curious if others have noticed this, too.... We were talking about how some events are well attended ... and others aren't. It seems that the well-attended ones are those that offer some type of trophy/award/reward for participation; the ones not-so-much-attended are the gatherings/drives/spur-of-the-moment plans that are "just for fun", with no awards/plaques/etc. Yet, many times, we hear/read people note that the gatherings really ARE about the people, the friendships, etc. ... the awards are secondary. Sssooo, if this IS the case, why is it s…

eBay posting Craigslist listing I'm not sure I'd call it a classic American muscle car, but its cheap and doesn't look horrible.

...and it's KC! Happy Birthday and I hope you have a great day!

America has turned yet another year older today! Let's just hope it's around to weather another year. :AH-HA_wink:

Lately on cable the movie "Demolition Man" (1993) has been playing a lot. I've alawys liked this movie, (1) because it's a movie based in the future, and (2) because all of the vehicles in it are from GM (what a future!). It's not the greatest movie of all time and some of it's plot is a little "too out there" for realism, but I find it to entertain me well enough. Anyway, I've always wondered where all of the GM Ultralites came from as featured in the movie. Many are police cars, but if you look close enough you'll see some "civilian" versions driving around. That and the fact that one civilian version is used in the "Bicentennial Man" (1999) and "A.I. - Artificial…

Just wanted to stop in and say hello to fellow C&G'ers. I'll get right to the point and say that it's Josh and I'm obviously under my username that I use on Solstice Forums. I've pretty much given up Internet blogging and GM sites as some readers of my site here may know. I'm just too busy. I recently went to work for GM at the Livonia Powertrain plant and it's been quite the experience. They hired me on July 14th after their 2 week shutdown ended. As most of you here know the Livonia Powertrain plant produces the Northstar V8. My first week saw a lot of orientation and plant tours then we got to work the second week. I learned 4 jobs in 2 days on "the line" and …

American luxury cars in 1961. Cadillac and Imperial still had the futuristic, jet finned look while Lincoln went completely minimalistic. That Lincoln design signalled the end of unique, dynamic, futuristic, in your face, American automotive design.

Anyone tried this? http://www.drcolorchip.com/ I'm curious how it works...

Agreed... I may come across as a merciless bean-counter (to an extent I am one, at heart and in training in the context of the Accounting and Finance weighted Commerce degree I'm currently going for) but I have feelings beyond the rational in this situation. My family has bought GM almost exclusively as long as they could afford cars. I have a special kinship to Pontiac and other GM brands, and have had for most of my life. I taught myself to read at three and a half on 1993 & 1994 Model Year Cadillac, Oldsmobile and Pontiac Brochures. As I grew up I learned to appreciate the 1990s and early 2000s GM fare that kids my age simply didn't aspire to. I lusted after…

Clicky

Hey there everyone... not sure if any of you noticed my disappearance the last 5/6 days or not, but life has been really crazy lately. Let's start with the good news - I've been recalled back to work. Last Monday afternoon I received a letter from the boss of the HR dept stating one of my co-workers decided to retire effective September 1, 2009 and I was being offered the first right of refusal for her job (which I quickly called to accept). So it looks like my unemployment will be short (June 24-August 30) and I'll be going back for year #8 at the high school I've been teaching at (and hopefully with this new position be around for a lot longer). Now for the bad ne…

I figured someone will eventually have an abbreviated term for this, much like DWI, etc. So I'll just go with TWD for now. Wow, how this one makes me shake my head at the completely pathetic drivers out there: "Texting driver doesn't notice police" The link: OH! You're pulling ME over! - Full story below: A young motorist had a simple answer when police asked why he didn't pull over earlier during a 28km pursuit. The 22-year-old said hadn't noticed the marked police cruiser following him because he was busy texting on his mobile phone, police say. Officers had first noticed the man when he shot past them on the Eastlink Freeway in southwest Melbourne at a s…

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Why aren't there any LED headlights being made yet? We have them in interiors, taillights, and turn signals; not as headlights, but they're in concepts. I don't get it.

Yahoo news link

Break through. Like a rock. Let's motor Successful tag lines help define brand for consumers and company By LILLIE GUYER | AUTOMOTIVE NEWS AutoWeek: http://autoweek.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?...E/60306014/1041 Break through. Like a rock. Let's motor. Drivers wanted. The ultimate driving machine. Zoom-zoom. Consumers know the vehicle brands these tag lines promote without being told. (For the record, they're Cadillac, Chevrolet trucks, Mini, Volkswagen, BMW and Mazda.) By contrast, some tag lines do little to speak to consumers, advertising critics say: Dream up. Moving forward. Inspiration comes standard. Designed for action. (In this order, they are: Buick, To…

Just name a quote and see who can guess it.. whoever guesses it right may choose the next quote. I'll start off with an easy one: "Hmm.. there was a beginning, a middle, and an end. Nice to meet you."

I think we might head over to Yellowstone park this summer...(like my aunt or soemthin (idk) was a partener in microsoft an dis loaded and i geuss she owns a home somehwere near yellowstone , and theyve invited us and thats where will stay) anyways...Here are the things i/we planned to do after i read this guide to national parks by the Sierra Club Mammoth Hot Springs Specimen Ridge Theres a few petrified trees up there i hear Yellowstone Falls Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and Possibly hiking and id figured wed drive the roads too including the Grand Loop road...basically i was wondering if anyone knows soem neat places to visit there..other that the o…

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As I said... the Laurel Festival car show was today. I went to it. Not alone, but with a cousin... *sigh* Anyways, I kept it mostly GM. If my camera could fit more pics and if I really felt like posting an insane amount of pics on C&G... I would have. So... only the ones that caught my attention were etched into my Camera's memory stick. Some, I gathered with others for pictures. Here they are...

One of my coworkers is buying a new car to replace his currently broken manual '03 Saab 9-3 that has 200,000 km. The clutch is not working. The car is currently sitting at a shop, not being worked on. The mechanic looked at it, and nothing obvious is wrong with it without going into major labour charges (opening clutch/transmission). The Subaru dealer that he's buying the new car from is not offering a trade, even without knowing that the clutch is dead. The mechanic at the shop wants the car for free, because he's inspected it, and it's been sitting on his lot for two weeks now. That strikes me as a bit of a cash grab. However, I'm wondering if it's going to be worth it …

http://jalopnik.com/5872514/

Yup so I got home just a while ago and checked my mailbox. Inside was a nice sized envelope from Chevrolet. "Cool!" I thought as I hurried into the house to open it. Sure enough, it is a foldout on the new Silverado. But... it only has pictures of the crewcab (well, there's one x-ray pic of an extended cab, but...) It strikes me as kind of cheesy. It feels like GM is cramming the super-expensive crewcab down our throats. What about those of us who would rather have a regular cab, or even extended? I am put off by this. I am trying to be patient, but dammit, I thought the other bodystyles would be out in November... and still no prices at Chevy.com, except for cr…

As one person put it to me: "Hot pink and sparklicious!"

Happy Birthday to Camino,Ted, and JamesBond! Enjoy the day guys!!!!

My black '98 Taurus SHO from GT4. I call her 'I'D HIT THAT!' Actually, its very 'go'-ish with 338hp now. Its definitely the queen of my 5-car fleet (including an '81 Civic hatch and a woeful 178hp Mazda6). I don't play all the time, but when I do have time, its fun.

DO YOU STICK YOUR TONGUE OUT WHEN YOU ARE CONCENTRATING ON SOMETHING?

Hey guys, I was just wondering if anyone could help me make an educated guess on how much per month it would cost top lease an 08 CTS that had an MSRP of about 45k. I'd be open to either 24 or 39 month leases though I would prefer the 24 month. my goal is to have the lease payment come out to around 500 a month with an absolute max of 600 a month. I would have 5000 to put down and I need 15k miles a year. Is the 500-600 a month possible. All my prior car shopping have been purchases so leasing is nwe and a little confusing to me.

I need a set of Chevy center caps for my wagon. They would have to fit into a 3" diameter hole in the wheels I have and be of the snap-in variety. They also need to give me at least 3/4" of clearance beyond the surface of the wheel. Can anyone think of a stock chevy application that fits the bill?

and the earth WAS flat at one time, too http://www.globalissues.org/EnvIssues/Glob...isglobaldimming something else for the elites to scare the crap out of you to add on to the global warming thing. note, cars are likely to blame for this also.

I had a friend whose house was foreclosed on a couple weeks ago and he has been crashing in my guest room since then. I would love to kick him out because he is really annoying, but he really doesn't have anywhere else to go. He's going to pay my utilities until he leaves, so thats nice, but I'd rather jsut pay it myself and be able to run across the house naked whenever I please.

Came across this interesting true story about an amazing Crime Spree involving NASCAR races and spanning years: http://sports.yahoo.com/news/the-rv-bandit-004524310.html (Click the "Read More" button for the whole article and a video of the criminal in action!) It's regrettable this low-life caused such grief and losses to so many people. Hope he gets the maximum penalties.

one shortcoming ive always disliked about the Nova is the lack of a third pedal.... i REALLY would love to row my own gears, ive been considering a Manual conversion. Ive considered 4 and 5 speeds, but i think go Big or go Home... T56 all the way! Right now i got a TH350, for those who dont know trannys, its a 3 speed auto, not the greatest for gas mileage, but its decently strong but mine is on its way out. its starting to slip pretty bad in first, so here are my options. If i stick with an Auto, im not keeping a 3 speed. im looking at a 200 4-R out of a G Body for the Overdrive, as its a very simple swap. I would have it built to handle alot more power then im putttin…

Thursday morning, as the sun was rising, you were setting. You never acted your age. You wrote the book on growing old gracefully. Though it was only your body that grew old. I don't think your mind was ever past 40. You were more modern and in-tune than people half your age. A gay grandson wasn't even remotely an issue for you. What a pleasant surprise it was to have an 80-something grandma ask about boyfriends. Pretty great for an old farm girl. Thursday morning, with a son and daughter at your side, your heart decided it was time to go. For the first time ever, you won't be in your chair watching those damn Reds or the godforsaken Bengals when I walk into your ho…

We've done this before, but there may be some new members wanting to share and heck I can't remember what you guys said last time. So here goes. Tell us about your area, population, attractions, industry, car culture etc and do you like living there, do you want to move, where? Maybe even a bit of history of your neck of the woods. Did you grow up there? I'd enjoy photos of the villages and hamlets in which you live.

I was talking to a guy the other day about a Caprice wagon and the SPID sticker said 1A2. The 1A2 RPO code was the special service code for fleet/police vehicles. However, this wagon was used for police service in Canada and was 1 of 8 imported that year. Only 70 were made for total production. The car still has the ticket reading light and everything but this was an unmarked car in its day. I am looking at this car for a friend who wants a sleeper car as his driver. Does anybody know what kind of fuel mileage it would get? 3rd seats are deleted, no speed limiter, still has the police spotlights and SEO wheels and center caps? The car is in decent shape with some rust but…

Just kidding. Well, sort of. I'll be needing it for a while yet, but the payments have to go one way or another. Depending on what I decide to do, the truck may be gone before you know it. If I decide that my contracting days are over, it will have to go.

In my random browsing of wikipedia, I found this production Toyota Crown pickup. Edit: It even came as a double cab!

So, nobody else brought this up!? Just chillin with my Pacifico and getting ready to eat some enchiladas. Anybody else celebrating?

in the olds section to recall what 88 cutlasses look like i found these gems. some have ended others are still up. 66 toronado 71 olds vista cruiser 70 olds 98 4dr 71 cutlass sedan 72 vista cruiser my fav 73 h/o cutlass a local car intriguing enough to almost investigate. 73 olds toronado 3900 BIN 74 toronado air restraint system? 75 cutlass 1984 olds 442 1984 old 88 hearse 75 olds 88 drop top 76 olds CS man that is sharp sharp 78 cutlass original owner 77 442 modded 77 442 looks mean... just shouldnt be green by far the best 77 442 out of the bunch. dig that waterfall 78 olds toronado brouhagm immaculate 76 cutlass another super …

I stumbled across this while looking for wallpapers. I thought it was a pretty decent take on what a C6 to Stingray bodykit could look like:

Flying out of Fargo on Friday and going to hopefully make it for the tail end of SEMA. I have a buddy who works for a company up here in North Dakota that mainly sells Semi Trailer and Farm equipment covers. They also sell ATV and Pickup snow plows as well as pickup truck bed covers. As long as I don't get delayed I should be able to make it for the last couple of hours. We are staying for the weekend to drink a few as well Anyone else going to make it down? Bryce

...for the Silverado later today. Wish me luck.

What the Sam Hill?....I actually like this oddball vehicle. Now showing, 'The Thing' by VW:

BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN or crash Philip Seymour Hoffman or Wakeem phoenix Amy Adams (i remember her when she was an actress at the diner theater my wife worked at so this is a homer pic, she was incredibly talented) Matt Dillon or William Hurt Felicity Huffman WHAT'S YOUR PICKS!?!?!

Wow...... pumpkin spit on new york if that makes sense to you then you have too much time on your hands.

stop the madness

The Picture thread. My chest hurts from all the insane laughter and my dog thinks I've lost it.

I'm preparing for this year's road trips, despite some new health issues ("mass" on liver, left arm/elbow pain, jaw pain, reoccurrence of irregular/too fast heart beat) and looking for a new job (etc).... Ironically, I haven't been to a cruise night in this area (Elgin, etc., IL) yet or gone to any dirt track races ... nor am I very organized at getting plans together for 2006 ... including a list of IL-IN-WI-IA-MI car shows/events, etc..... Hmmm...would also love to organize a gathering to see the movie "Cars" ... I've seen it, but would love to see it again, considering it features a '76/'77 MC as one of the announcers, has a great commentary on RT 66's "demise" after…

Thanks to Satty's thread about W-bodies, it's allowed me to start a thread on what kind of tires people prefer. I've never really figured out the right way to decide on and purchase new tires. I used Consumer Reports back in '97 and didn't like the tires they recommended!! The Malibu is in need of new rubber, and I'm thinking of going with Goodyear Assurance ComforTred (current tires are factory-installed Bridgestone Insignia SE P215/60R16 94S M+S <--- not great tires IMO). Whenever I've had Goodyear tires on a car, I've always liked the way they've performed. Now I'm actually holding off buying them because I was waiting to see if there would be any good summer in…

Hello, I noticed that there are a few Albertans on this board... My girlfriend and I are strongly considering on moving from this craphole we call Toronto to either Calgary or Edmonton... This, for the reason of the booming economy, plentiful jobs, and a more comfotable, slower-paced lifestyle... If there is anyone who lives in Alberta, break the ice and reveal if the rumours are true, that life is so great, that kids at Tim Horton's make 14/hr in Calgary and Edmonton, and if it is better for a young couple to head out there, and to where? Calgary or Edmonton? Thanks...