Random Thoughts Thread

[balthazar]

It’s a ‘G’...

[Robert Hall]

3 hours ago, ocnblu said:

Well I was studying the grille and fender shape and coming up short.  It doesn't look like a GM product.  It seems like there may have been some identifier on the vertical center molding, but it's rubbed off.  And for the ornament itself, I did something I rarely do, I cheated and googled it to no avail so far.  I can't tell if that is supposed to be a "G" or an "O" or not a letter at all in the round portion of the ornament.  I tried.

Graham is about the only 30s brand with a G name I can think of, but it is pretty obscure. 

Edited March 9, 2020 by Robert Hall

[balthazar]

Ahh; a stumper!

It's a GMC. They built taxi sedans for Yellow Cab in the '30s.
So there is a precedent for cars at GMC. Interesting...
 

[Robert Hall]

WOW...never knew GMC had cars other than the Sprint/Caballero utes.   

I wonder what it was...a Chevy with a different grille? 

[balthazar]

7 minutes ago, Robert Hall said:

WOW...never knew GMC had cars other than the Sprint/Caballero utes.   

I wonder what it was...a Chevy with a different grille? 

Uhhh, that's not the way things were done back then.

It's a Wonderful Life ~

Edited March 9, 2020 by balthazar

[David]

22 hours ago, balthazar said:

This is a factory hood ornament, and you all know the brand. What original car is this?

I know I have seen this before. Is it a Graham Auto?

Thinking on this, reminds me of the Dodge Graham hood ornament.

[balthazar]

26 minutes ago, dfelt said:

I know I have seen this before. Is it a Graham Auto?

Read a few posts up.

[ocnblu]

Wow, all the Bronco news today has me stoked!  I love the senior version, but the Sport would make much more sense as a daily.  Both look great, imo.

 

And Ford showed their new mini truck to dealers today, positive reviews on that as well, but no photos of course.  A regular cab Ford mini truck with AWD would be awesome!

[Robert Hall]

53 minutes ago, ocnblu said:

Wow, all the Bronco news today has me stoked!  I love the senior version, but the Sport would make much more sense as a daily.  Both look great, imo. 

Yes, they both look good from the pics so far...

[David]

Bronco looks good, yet I have to wonder about quality as Ford has not been hitting that lately.

https://www.thedrive.com/news/32517/this-is-the-2021-ford-bronco-sport-completely-uncovered

https://www.thedrive.com/news/32493/here-are-the-2021-bronco-photos-ford-doesnt-want-you-to-see

https://www.thedrive.com/news/32523/this-might-be-a-photo-of-the-real-2021-ford-bronco

https://jalopnik.com/2021-ford-bronco-sport-this-is-it-1842211520

https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/2021-ford-bronco-revealed-leaked/

Mini Pickups I believe have always had a spot in society especially in the inner city.

https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/ford-ranger-pickup-truck-dealers/

Will be interesting that is for sure especially if gas hits $1 a gallon due to the global economy and the oil war between Russia, Saudi Arabia and the US.

[balthazar]

Shouldn't they dub it 'Bronco' and 'Bronco Connect'?

[trinacriabob]

2 hours ago, dfelt said:

Bronco looks good, yet I have to wonder about quality as Ford has not been hitting that lately.

https://www.thedrive.com/news/32517/this-is-the-2021-ford-bronco-sport-completely-uncovered

https://www.thedrive.com/news/32493/here-are-the-2021-bronco-photos-ford-doesnt-want-you-to-see

https://www.thedrive.com/news/32523/this-might-be-a-photo-of-the-real-2021-ford-bronco

https://jalopnik.com/2021-ford-bronco-sport-this-is-it-1842211520

https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/2021-ford-bronco-revealed-leaked/

Mini Pickups I believe have always had a spot in society especially in the inner city.

https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/ford-ranger-pickup-truck-dealers/

Will be interesting that is for sure especially if gas hits $1 a gallon due to the global economy and the oil war between Russia, Saudi Arabia and the US.

Not sure how I feel about this Bronco.  It looks too much like Ford's more enclosed version of a Jeep (Wrangler, maybe).

I don't like most SUVs and CUVs.  I'm not there yet.  The only one I might have a bit of a soft spot for is the Acadia.  One can keep the price low by getting one with a 2.5 L4 and only FWD.  But does that defeat the purpose of getting something like an Acadia?  The 2.5 might be fine ... but only FWD to deliver power to the wheels?

People might be a little enthused about the lower gas prices, but it's not a good thing.  The trend toward electrification might lower oil prices over the long run but no one can be sure about that.  Even if assured that gas was to continue being cheap, I don't need a lot of displacement under my hood ...  you can get in trouble real easily with a powerful 4 banger or a plain old V6 (I'm talking about speed traps).  Why push it?

As for things environmental, how much milder winters have become is a little perplexing.  Maybe there's hope.  I know that L.A. used to be held up as the poster child for pollution, being showcased on its worst days for the media to snack on.  The truth is, with much cleaner running cars, the air there has become quite a bit cleaner and the yellow-gray skies of yesteryear, which would make your eyes water, seem to be in the city's rear view mirror.

[ocnblu]

At first sight, the Bronco Sport has my attention diverted from the Trailblazer.  I love the minimalism of it, and if a CUV can be called "pure", the Bronco Sport is pure.  Clearly the original 1966-1977 Bronco's great grandson.  I've gotta see more!

[ccap41]

13 hours ago, ocnblu said:

Wow, all the Bronco news today has me stoked!  I love the senior version, but the Sport would make much more sense as a daily.  Both look great, imo.

 

And Ford showed their new mini truck to dealers today, positive reviews on that as well, but no photos of course.  A regular cab Ford mini truck with AWD would be awesome!

Mini truck?  Like an old Ranger-sized vehicle? 

[Robert Hall]

27 minutes ago, ccap41 said:

Mini truck?  Like an old Ranger-sized vehicle? 

Smaller, I think...kind of a replacement for the Fiesta-based Courier that was sold in various markets in South America.   I think the new one is going to be something FWD/AWD/unibody based off the Escape.

Edited March 10, 2020 by Robert Hall

[ccap41]

3 hours ago, ocnblu said:

At first sight, the Bronco Sport has my attention diverted from the Trailblazer.  I love the minimalism of it, and if a CUV can be called "pure", the Bronco Sport is pure.  Clearly the original 1966-1977 Bronco's great grandson.  I've gotta see more!

What seems more "pure" about that then say a Wrangler or upcoming Bronco? 

16 minutes ago, Robert Hall said:

Smaller, I think...kind of a replacement for the Fiesta-based Courier that was sold in various markets in South America.   I think the new one is going to be something FWD/AWD/unibody based off the Escape.

Wouldn't that be about the same size? Or maybe I'm thinking 1st gen Ranger. I forgot it got "decent" sized before it was killed. 

[Robert Hall]

15 minutes ago, ccap41 said:

 

Wouldn't that be about the same size? Or maybe I'm thinking 1st gen Ranger. I forgot it got "decent" sized before it was killed. 

Yeah, similar size.  The Brazilian Fiesta-based Courier that was built through 2013 had dimensions of 2,830 mm (111.4 in) wheelbase, 4,457 mm (175.5 in) length, 1,793 mm (70.6 in) width and 1,477 mm (58.1 in) height.

It will be interesting to see what comes of this, I can't imagine a unibody regular cab integral bed FWD/AWD pickup for the US market, but who knows... just seems too basic and minimalist.

 

Edited March 10, 2020 by Robert Hall

[David]

2 hours ago, Robert Hall said:

Yeah, similar size.  The Brazilian Fiesta-based Courier that was built through 2013 had dimensions of 2,830 mm (111.4 in) wheelbase, 4,457 mm (175.5 in) length, 1,793 mm (70.6 in) width and 1,477 mm (58.1 in) height.

It will be interesting to see what comes of this, I can't imagine a unibody regular cab integral bed FWD/AWD pickup for the US market, but who knows... just seems too basic and minimalist.

 

I can honestly say there is a market for a 2 person mini pickup like this. So many coworkers have bought old used Toyota, Datsuns, Chevy Luv trucks as space is tight and they want a small truck like this.

Not everyone or everything needs a full size or mid size pickup.

[riviera74]

Maybe Honda should take the hint and build a small pickup similar to the Ridgeline.  Ideally, Ford and GM would build one of each too.

[Robert Hall]

17 minutes ago, riviera74 said:

Maybe Honda should take the hint and build a small pickup similar to the Ridgeline.  Ideally, Ford and GM would build one of each too.

GM could do an EV pickup version of the Bolt. 

[ccap41]

39 minutes ago, riviera74 said:

Maybe Honda should take the hint and build a small pickup similar to the Ridgeline.  Ideally, Ford and GM would build one of each too.

Well it sounds like Ford already is building one... Honda could heavily modify the Civic platform to accommodate a small bed and weight with a bit of towing capacity.  

[trinacriabob]

6 hours ago, Robert Hall said:

Yeah, similar size.  The Brazilian Fiesta-based Courier that was built through 2013 had dimensions of 2,830 mm (111.4 in) wheelbase, 4,457 mm (175.5 in) length, 1,793 mm (70.6 in) width and 1,477 mm (58.1 in) height.

It will be interesting to see what comes of this, I can't imagine a unibody regular cab integral bed FWD/AWD pickup for the US market, but who knows... just seems too basic and minimalist.

 

Then, how about another go at the Subaru Brat?

[Robert Hall]

Subaru tried the Baja a decade ago or so, didn't last long.   On target for this discussion about mini pickups Jalopnik did an article today on the Chevy Montana in Brazil...based on an old Opel Corsa.

https://jalopnik.com/heres-the-12-000-chevy-pickup-truck-we-dont-get-in-ame-1842244435

[David]

Maybe FCA will bring this here then?

Course, I could not find my post from 6 years ago about the Nissan Leaf Pickup project, but this could have a use case I believe for inner city use.

https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1094509_worlds-first-nissan-leaf-electric-pickup-truck-for-shop-use-only

[David]

Gotta Say Lexus has this commercial Nailed for the LS500.

Course the original was also good.

 

[ocnblu]

8 hours ago, ccap41 said:

What seems more "pure" about that then say a Wrangler or upcoming Bronco?

Oh I wasn't saying it is MORE pure than those two icons, I was pitting it against other miniature FWD/AWD CUVs.  The Renegade is also pure, imo.

[David]

@Robert Hall Thought you would enjoy this Green Machine.

https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2020/03/rare-rides-a-stunning-1978-pontiac-bonneville-coupe/

 

Amazing pictures of the Geneva auto show that never happened.

https://www.thedrive.com/news/32414/see-what-the-abandoned-geneva-motor-show-looks-like-thanks-to-coronavirus

 

Uglies when you have too much tongue load compared to having the weight over the axle of the trailer your towing.

https://www.thedrive.com/news/32511/this-is-what-couldve-gone-wrong-with-this-jeep-gladiators-bent-frame

 

$200,000 and you can be the new owner of the Cheetah auto company. All molds, tools, etc. are included.

https://www.thedrive.com/news/32502/nows-your-chance-to-keep-the-iconic-cheetah-muscle-car-alive

Just have to sell some of these customer sports cars.

[David]

NEWS ALERT - NY Auto Show Originally scheduled for April 8th is now going to happen August 28th.

https://jalopnik.com/coronavirus-pushes-new-york-auto-show-back-to-august-1842248799

Ford Raptor has Competition in the form of a Ram Rebel TRX with the 700hp Hellcat motor.

https://jalopnik.com/new-ram-rebel-trx-get-glorious-700-hp-hellcat-engine-r-1842248106

 

[balthazar]

Those lil teeny mini pick-ups are pointless - it's a compact car missing a trunk lid.
Just put a frickin trunk lid on it already; give the 5-lb bag of potting soil some weather protection and security. Why cheap out??

[balthazar]

- - - - -
 

[riviera74]

28 minutes ago, balthazar said:

Those lil teeny mini pick-ups are pointless - it's a compact car missing a trunk lid.
Just put a frickin trunk lid on it already; give the 5-lb bag of potting soil some weather protection and security. Why cheap out??

Not everybody lives in a place where an F150 can be easily parked.  Some of us live in cities where auto real estate is limited and expensive.

[David]

35 minutes ago, balthazar said:

Those lil teeny mini pick-ups are pointless - it's a compact car missing a trunk lid.
Just put a frickin trunk lid on it already; give the 5-lb bag of potting soil some weather protection and security. Why cheap out??

Chevy Luv truck Series 5 that I was given by my dad when he got a new truck was able to handle 1000 lbs and was a decent 2 person truck. A car or Hatchback cannot do what that mini Truck did and how well those size trucks serve many families and city dwellers. Not everyone want to live in the suburbs or rural thank goodness for that. let them have their mini trucks and cities.

[balthazar]

OK, but I'll bet you still see F-150s everyplace in the U.S. you've been.
But there are still size classes between an F-150 and a Geo Metro with no trunklid.

Edited March 11, 2020 by balthazar

[balthazar]

1 minute ago, dfelt said:

Chevy Luv truck Series 5 that I was given by my dad when he got a new truck was able to handle 1000 lbs and was a decent 2 person truck.

1000 lbs is 12 bags of concrete mix. Put a driver in the vehicle and drop that to 10.
Oh; you don't need to buy 10 bags of Sakrete? Fine, make it 10 cases of Coronavirus supplies/water.
Just put a trunklid on it. God- even SUVs with steel roofs & tinted rear glass get cargo covers - and you're not carrying lumber in either one. I mean- just buy an SUV/CUV and have some versatility.

[balthazar]

'Old car values are starting to drop, and America's love affair with cars is dying.'

Oh yeah?? Look at this frickin' madness :

Edited March 11, 2020 by balthazar

[balthazar]

[ykX]

10 hours ago, balthazar said:

1000 lbs is 12 bags of concrete mix. Put a driver in the vehicle and drop that to 10.
Oh; you don't need to buy 10 bags of Sakrete? Fine, make it 10 cases of Coronavirus supplies/water.
Just put a trunklid on it. God- even SUVs with steel roofs & tinted rear glass get cargo covers - and you're not carrying lumber in either one. I mean- just buy an SUV/CUV and have some versatility.

I agree,

A little truck is pretty much a wagon without the roof, but wagon 100 times m ore useful.  But people want to be "cool"

I would rather have this

Over this

Edited March 11, 2020 by ykX

[daves87rs]

On 3/10/2020 at 12:37 AM, trinacriabob said:

Not sure how I feel about this Bronco.  It looks too much like Ford's more enclosed version of a Jeep (Wrangler, maybe).

I don't like most SUVs and CUVs.  I'm not there yet.  The only one I might have a bit of a soft spot for is the Acadia.  One can keep the price low by getting one with a 2.5 L4 and only FWD.  But does that defeat the purpose of getting something like an Acadia?  The 2.5 might be fine ... but only FWD to deliver power to the wheels?

People might be a little enthused about the lower gas prices, but it's not a good thing.  The trend toward electrification might lower oil prices over the long run but no one can be sure about that.  Even if assured that gas was to continue being cheap, I don't need a lot of displacement under my hood ...  you can get in trouble real easily with a powerful 4 banger or a plain old V6 (I'm talking about speed traps).  Why push it?

As for things environmental, how much milder winters have become is a little perplexing.  Maybe there's hope.  I know that L.A. used to be held up as the poster child for pollution, being showcased on its worst days for the media to snack on.  The truth is, with much cleaner running cars, the air there has become quite a bit cleaner and the yellow-gray skies of yesteryear, which would make your eyes water, seem to be in the city's rear view mirror.

Well, the good news there is that the automakers are going to keep building the upcoming EVs as they planned.

As long as the cost to charge are quite affordable-  I think they will continue to grow- just a little slower than planned.

Think there will be a good mix of both EV and ICE for a while....

[riviera74]

1 hour ago, ykX said:

I agree,

A little truck is pretty much a wagon without the roof, but wagon 100 times m ore useful.  But people want to be "cool"

I would rather have this

Over this

You would, but a lot of Americans disagree.  Unfortunately, the market has spoken a great deal about sales of new wagons.

[frogger]

I also dont see the value of a two seat unibody mini truck here other than potentially a very bargain price.  If you don't have room to park a midsize truxk, wouldn't you be better served by something that can hold some passengers too on occasion?  Pretty easy to rent a BOF truck on those days or hours you might need one.

 

[ykX]

6 minutes ago, riviera74 said:

You would, but a lot of Americans disagree.  Unfortunately, the market has spoken a great deal about sales of new wagons.

People stopped buying wagons and sedans and switched to crossovers, but reality is 99% of crossovers are pretty much slightly lifted wagons and hatchbacks with awd.  I doubt that right now people will sacrifice utility of Escape to buy a mini pickup truck.

[ccap41]

11 hours ago, balthazar said:

1000 lbs is 12 bags of concrete mix. Put a driver in the vehicle and drop that to 10.
Oh; you don't need to buy 10 bags of Sakrete? Fine, make it 10 cases of Coronavirus supplies/water.
Just put a trunklid on it. God- even SUVs with steel roofs & tinted rear glass get cargo covers - and you're not carrying lumber in either one. I mean- just buy an SUV/CUV and have some versatility.

If SUV still had the rear opening glass as a common feature, I don't think there would be any need for these but virtually none of them do and you can still throw lumber in the bed of a min truck that you can't really do in most SUVs. 

[Robert Hall]

The Bronco is looking good.

https://www.roadandtrack.com/new-cars/future-cars/a31399894/2021-ford-bronco-spy-shots-leaked/?utm_medium=social-media&utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=socialflowR%26T&fbclid=IwAR3iaYg9EnR9brW7RBWQyznLI1BCCQeuh831WAFkDUjWOCbj4H3deyrzTIw

 

[David]

12 hours ago, balthazar said:

1000 lbs is 12 bags of concrete mix. Put a driver in the vehicle and drop that to 10.
Oh; you don't need to buy 10 bags of Sakrete? Fine, make it 10 cases of Coronavirus supplies/water.
Just put a trunklid on it. God- even SUVs with steel roofs & tinted rear glass get cargo covers - and you're not carrying lumber in either one. I mean- just buy an SUV/CUV and have some versatility.

People want their nice warm cab, not a dusty mess of a car from having cement bags thrown in. Most that want a mini truck want that ease of just tossing anything / everything into the bed and hose it out. You cannot do that with a station wagon, suburban, suv/cuv/hatchback car.

Plenty of valid reasons to have a mini truck.

This does not take away that you can do much with a Hatchback car, but most hatchbacks are dead and cars have limited pass through access. CUVs/SUVs can do the truck job, but not all.

Try going to your local dealer in mulch, bark, top soil etc. where you want a load and you cannot get that in any auto other than a truck and a mini truck does it just fine.

[balthazar]

You can buy bagged material all day long. Just like concrete mix is bagged.

[David]

41 minutes ago, Robert Hall said:

The Bronco is looking good.

https://www.roadandtrack.com/new-cars/future-cars/a31399894/2021-ford-bronco-spy-shots-leaked/?utm_medium=social-media&utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=socialflowR%26T&fbclid=IwAR3iaYg9EnR9brW7RBWQyznLI1BCCQeuh831WAFkDUjWOCbj4H3deyrzTIw

 

Very interesting that they, the various web sites constantly call it a truck.

Just now, balthazar said:

You can buy bagged material all day long. Just like concrete mix is bagged.

Still makes a mess that has to be cleaned up carefully if inside a CUV/SUV/Hatchback and is more expensive and then there is the waste of plastic bagging except for cement where they use paper bags. Easier and faster in a mini truck I think.

[Robert Hall]

20 minutes ago, dfelt said:

Very interesting that they, the various web sites constantly call it a truck.

 

Well, since it is BOF, it has truck DNA.. definitely not a CUV.   People still refer to truck-based SUVs like Tahoes, etc as trucks. 

21 minutes ago, balthazar said:

You can buy bagged material all day long. Just like concrete mix is bagged.

Yes, and those bags often leak.  But I have a Weathertech mat and a liner in the back of my Jeep.  I haul many bags of molch, grass seed, pottering soil, small trees, shrubs, etc during planting season. 

Edited March 11, 2020 by Robert Hall

[Robert Hall]

24 minutes ago, dfelt said:

 

Still makes a mess that has to be cleaned up carefully if inside a CUV/SUV/Hatchback and is more expensive and then there is the waste of plastic bagging except for cement where they use paper bags. Easier and faster in a mini truck I think.

It depends on the individual use case...I wouldn't want a truck for hauling stuff that I haul maybe a dozen or so times a year.  And anything large I'll get delivered.    In my adventures in suburbia, my SUV is fine for my needs. 

[David]

Good read for those interested in the covad19, my local hospital is leading the efforts. Not a single patient to patient transfer nor has a single employee gotten sick. Very good practices at this outstanding hospital.

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/health/how-a-team-of-seattle-area-doctors-discovered-the-nations-first-major-outbreak-of-coronavirus/

For those that like Engineering projects, the worlds longest pedestrain bridge is being built at SeaTac airport to connect the international arrival terminal to the main airport rather than have everything under ground. Pretty impressive on the web site.

https://www.portseattle.org/blog/five-fast-facts-about-iaf-pedestrian-walkway

The pictures and video are very cool to see the big planes taxing underneath it. To be completed and opened this coming fall.

Interesting note is that Covad19 is not slowing down international travel as much as I would have thought here.

[David]

Interesting, one local burger chain, yes their burgers are very yummy is asking for people to use plastic rather than cash over concerns that covad19 could be on the money.

https://www.seattletimes.com/business/local-business/dicks-drive-in-urges-customers-to-avoid-paying-with-cash-to-slow-spread-of-coronavirus/

This does make me think we could see a bigger push to go digital currency like Sweden has done with less than 5% of transactions cash now compared to plastic. Canada just surpassed Sweden in the use of cashless transactions.

https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/which-are-the-world-s-most-cashless-countries.html