Random Thoughts Thread

[David]

4 hours ago, trinacriabob said:

Yes.  It's great.  Have you seen it?  Or has anyone else seen it?

Have not seen it yet, on the movie watch list. I see what you posted so far on the movie. Does sound interesting. Do you feel it was period accurate on all the messaging?

[trinacriabob]

43 minutes ago, dfelt said:

Have not seen it yet, on the movie watch list. I see what you posted so far on the movie. Does sound interesting. Do you feel it was period accurate on all the messaging?

Mostly accurate, though Dr. Shirley's family disputes some of it.  We know the color of the Cadillac was off.  The events in the South were more disturbing than in the Midwest.  The one event in the Midwest that was really bad took place at Hanover College in Indiana.  If that is in the Ohio River Valley part of Indiana, then that would be more Southern and the mentality would have been more hick in 1962.  As you can imagine, a new Cadillac with New York plates and a black man in the back being chauffeured around also saw its share of being pulled over by cops.  However, without giving it away, the last time one of these that occurs on the way back up North has a positive spin on it and really shows the loyalties and mindset of the people who wrote and backed this movie.

Edited March 15, 2019 by trinacriabob

[trinacriabob]

4 hours ago, Robert Hall said:

I like both lead actors...Viggo Mortensen was great in 'History of Violence' and many other films, and like Mahershala Ali from his recent turn in season 3 of 'True Detective'... 

Fantastic performances.  Incredible talent.  I will say that the little Italian that was spoken, even if it was a dialect such as Sicilian, wasn't as accurate as it should have been.  They should have paid a little more attention to that.

[Robert Hall]

Came across this RHD '90s Opel Blazer from Indonesia in the context of a thread on FB about the '90s Holden Suburban--which used a RHD Blazer dash.  Interesting..I knew about the Holden Suburban but wasn't familiar with the Opel Blazer..

http://www.modifikasi.com/showthread.php/303933-Opel-Blazer-DOHC-Biru-Metalik-1996?fbclid=IwAR0sfxdIH25QxeXzmpH5Oqko8mgjyu-rwNEZoSY1y-N7Ecsfzk-ScrdmMTw

 

Edited March 15, 2019 by Robert Hall

[daves87rs]

20 hours ago, dfelt said:

WOW Pictures from a 100 auto crash on Highway 25 due to the Bomb Cyclone winter storm.

http://www.thedrive.com/news/26957/bomb-cyclone-blizzard-causes-disastrous-100-car-pileup-in-colorado

Amazed no one is dead, just a few serious injuries.

Oops, VW Leadership makes an error in using a slogan that was heavily used by the 3rd Reich in addressing company management. Work will set you free.

OUCH 😮

http://www.thedrive.com/news/26956/volkswagen-ceo-sorry-for-invoking-nazi-slogan-during-company-meeting

Wow that was a big accident......

5 hours ago, Robert Hall said:

Came across this RHD '90s Opel Blazer from Indonesia in the context of a thread on FB about the '90s Holden Suburban--which used a RHD Blazer dash.  Interesting..I knew about the Holden Suburban but wasn't familiar with the Opel Blazer..

http://www.modifikasi.com/showthread.php/303933-Opel-Blazer-DOHC-Biru-Metalik-1996?fbclid=IwAR0sfxdIH25QxeXzmpH5Oqko8mgjyu-rwNEZoSY1y-N7Ecsfzk-ScrdmMTw

 

I actually miss those...

[balthazar]

 

Edited March 16, 2019 by balthazar

[balthazar]

[ocnblu]

[daves87rs]

3 hours ago, ocnblu said:

Love the color 

[riviera74]

On 3/17/2019 at 6:58 PM, ocnblu said:

What year is that Eldorado Biarritz? 1955?

[oldshurst442]

4 minutes ago, riviera74 said:

What year is that Eldorado Biarritz? 1955?

1957

[balthazar]

OMG that's so gorgeous.

[balthazar]

The first luxury SUV; the Kaiser-Jeep Wagoneer. This, I believe, is the '66 Super Wagoneer ~

[Robert Hall]

Nice, that one is a resto mod looks like (modern seats and stereo)..

[David]

Cool stuff found while eating lunch.

Colorado ZR2 Bison details at GM Tech Link web site:https://gm-techlink.com/?p=11181

Toyota upping investments in US to $13 Billion.

 

 

[Robert Hall]

The Bison looks like a fun truck..will be interesting to see an off-road comparison between it and the Gladiator.

[balthazar]

Aluminum body panels at Pontiac... in late '40s (and again in the early '60s). Look, Blu! ~

[ocnblu]

Low demand = low prices there, Chief. 

[balthazar]

[David]

Sweet ride.

No Reserve: 38k-Mile 1973 Ford LTD Coupe

http://flip.it/3RzB7S

 

 

[balthazar]

Got a text from my brother- he's having a new engine built for his '68 Firebird and they ran it on the dyno. First pull it had restricted oil flow & ate an intake pushrod. On the 2nd pull it ate an exhaust pushrod, so it was only running on 7 cylinders.

Made 1,055 HP at "only" 7000 RPMs.

[daves87rs]

23 minutes ago, balthazar said:

Got a text from my brother- he's having a new engine built for his '68 Firebird and they ran it on the dyno. First pull it had restricted oil flow & ate an intake pushrod. On the 2nd pull it ate an exhaust pushrod, so it was only running on 7 cylinders.

Made 1,055 HP at "only" 7000 RPMs.

Only... 😮 

[balthazar]

Pontiac power!
 

[oldshurst442]

 

 

 

Edited March 21, 2019 by oldshurst442

[balthazar]

On 3/20/2019 at 9:16 PM, dfelt said:

No Reserve: 38k-Mile 1973 Ford LTD Coupe

Would make a great demo derby car.
- - - - -
 

[David]

@oldshurst442 Seems EV tax breaks are in fashion. Your country just announced today a new $5,000 tax break that can be used immediately for your first tax year of ownership for everyone who wants to buy an EV that costs $45,000 or less. 

https://chargedevs.com/newswire/canada-announces-new-5000-ev-incentive-but-no-teslas-need-apply/

Tesla need not apply  

[David]

Seems Tesla after crunching their Big Data has announced the end of their service schedule and moved to a service as needed when parts wear out.

They will still honor their yearly service contracts but no new ones will be sold.

https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/tesla-eliminates-service-schedules/

[David]

Cool to see the details of each plant GM runs on their website.

https://media.gm.com/media/us/en/gm/plants-facilities.html

[balthazar]

'57 Bonneville ~

[Robert Hall]

Maybe we need a 'what are you watching' thread like the 'what are you listening to' thread.     I stream a variety of shows, most recently the Miami mob/hotel drama 'Magic City' (set in 1959-1960) on Starz, the British crime dramas 'London Kills' and 'Manhunt' (both on Acorn), and the latest season of Swedish crime drama 'The Sandhamn Murders' on Mhz.   Waiting on the new seasons of British crime dramas 'Grantchester', 'Endeavour' and 'Luther' to appear for US streaming..  one of things I enjoy about the British/European dramas is the seasons/series are usually only 5-8 episodes, so they can be binged over a couple of evenings. 

[ocnblu]

Haha... kinda sad, really.  Motor Trend pans the Silverado WT as uncomfortable and not good to drive, with a non-height adjustable driver's seat that is too low to the floor.  I was thinking of getting one, a regular cab, but I haven't driven one yet.  At 5'5", I don't want to be pulling myself up on the steering wheel to see to drive.  The trusty 4.3 is plenty quick in the crewcab 4X4 they tested though, with a 7.6 second 0-60 time, and 24 real MPG on the highway.  Should be a screamer with the 5.3 and get mileage close to the 6.  I did sit in a couple that were left unlocked at dealerships, but they were mid-level trims with power seats.  I could see over the dash in those.

Edited March 22, 2019 by ocnblu

[Robert Hall]

[balthazar]

^ Wonder if that was a runner or a 'parker'.
- - - - -

[balthazar]

Final numbers from my bother's Pontiac-spec engined '68 Firebird : 1,119 HP @ 7900 RPM.
At 6900 RPM, it made 1,079 HP & 810 TRQ. This is out of 541 CI.
And people claim pushrod V8s don't like to rev.

It should be good for 7.9-8.1 secs in the quarter. Or about 2.5 secs quicker than the quickest modified Tesla Model S P100 D in Ludicrious Mode. ;)
- - - - -

[David]

8 minutes ago, balthazar said:

Final numbers from my bother's Pontiac-spec engined '68 Firebird : 1,119 HP @ 7900 RPM.
At 6900 RPM, it made 1,079 HP & 810 TRQ. This is out of 541 CI.
And people claim pushrod V8s don't like to rev.

It should be good for 7.9-8.1 secs in the quarter. Or about 2.5 secs quicker than the quickest modified Tesla Model S P100 D in Ludicrious Mode.
- - - - -

That is very cool for a custom engine compared to production line power trains. It would be cool if they did build a limited run on a corvette or Camaro as I think you could find a few 100 customers that would be happy with a blown GM 8.0L V8

[balthazar]

8.0L is out of production, yes? But I agree.
- - - - -

[ocnblu]

[trinacriabob]

Life is too short for cheap gas.

[daves87rs]

1 hour ago, trinacriabob said:

Life is too short for cheap gas.

Yep, my Nox has yet to see anything but top tier gas so far......

[balthazar]

[balthazar]

Heard a fascinating commercial on the radio today, about how the (93-yr old) Mercedes-Benz company "invented" the "work van" over "100 years ago". 😆 😆 😆  Daimler keeps using that word 'invented', but I don't think it means what they think it means.

The Freightliner / Dodge / Mercedes sprinter triplets used to own the US Euro van segment, now they're a niche player, having conceded huge swathes of the segment to Ford and others. This Ford work van is 118 years old by 2019 :

Edited March 25, 2019 by balthazar

[David]

8 hours ago, balthazar said:

Heard a fascinating commercial on the radio today, about how the (93-yr old) Mercedes-Benz company "invented" the "work van" over "100 years ago". 😆 😆 😆  Daimler keeps using that word 'invented', but I don't think it means what they think it means.

The Freightliner / Dodge / Mercedes sprinter triplets used to own the US Euro van segment, now they're a niche player, having conceded huge swathes of the segment to Ford and others. This Ford work van is 118 years old by 2019 :

Invented is clearly a mental state of mind to Mercedes-Benz

[balthazar]

[David]

Seems many Analyst are seeing a bear market and saying that Tesla is heading to a 52 week low and as such are cutting forecast for Tesla 3 car.

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/01/teslas-stock-is-tanking-cramer-and-other-experts-react.html

https://www.investing.com/equities/tesla-motors-news

Seems from Fortune, Blomberg, investors news, cramer and more that we are headed for a bear market.

[David]

www.motor1.com has published that Ford has shown at the recent dealer meeting a 2 door Ford Bronco and stated a 4 door will also be available. Story states that the bronco is a body on frame solution that will be positioned to compete against Jeep Wrangler.

https://www.motor1.com/news/315237/four-door-ford-bronco-rumor/

Story also states that the dealers got to see the new Mustang inspired EV CUV.

Very cool if true:

[ccap41]

I don't use premium but I seek out a Top Tier station every single time. The only times I don't is if they're an unreasonable distance out of my way which I think only happened once with the Focus. 

[Drew Dowdell]

On 3/24/2019 at 9:59 AM, trinacriabob said:

Life is too short for cheap gas.

yeah, I only use Top tier... and that usually means Costco. 

I'm rolling in an Escalade rental this week.... making it tough not to want one. 

[ykX]

Highly recommend to watch "Formula 1" series on Netflix if you have it.  I have never been a huge fan of Formula 1 but it is fascinating to see what is going on behind the curtain and the series is very well made.

[ccap41]

3 hours ago, ykX said:

Highly recommend to watch "Formula 1" series on Netflix if you have it.  I have never been a huge fan of Formula 1 but it is fascinating to see what is going on behind the curtain and the series is very well made.

I haven't watched it yet but a good buddy of mine said almost the same exact thing.It's definitely on the to-watch list.

[Robert Hall]

I need to watch it...I've been a long time off and on F1 fan..I really enjoyed the documentary '1' from a few years ago, along with 'Senna' and 'Rush'...