Random Thoughts Thread

[ocnblu]

36 minutes ago, riviera74 said:

Who would SELL a small pickup truck?  Not even Nissan or Honda or Toyota will sell one here.

Ford is doing it.  And Ford knows trucks.  It's not a replacement for a Fiesta or Focus, but it is a welcome addition to their lineup.  It is rumored to start under $20k.  My Colorado was $37k.

I owned 5 S-10 pickups, they were plenty big enough.  I am on my 4th Colorado, and one thing I miss about those old S-10s is the smaller size, and all the advantages of that tidiness.

[David]

52 minutes ago, riviera74 said:

Who would SELL a small pickup truck?  Not even Nissan or Honda or Toyota will sell one here.

Chevrolet sold the Compact Pick S10 from 1982 to 2004 for 22 years and before that they sold the compact Chevrolet Luv truck from 1972 to 1982. 32 Years of compact or mini pickups being millions made and sold.

I think the US can support mini pickups especially for the inner city markets.

[balthazar]

I understand PREFERRING to own a mini truck vs. a mid-size truck, but it's nonsensical to pitch it as 'a mid-size truck is too big for city use'. Simply not true.

[balthazar]

Newport RI 1940 :

Edited May 3, 2020 by balthazar

[daves87rs]

9 hours ago, ocnblu said:

Keen interest in the Maverick here.  Colorado/Ranger have grown too much over the years, imo.  A minitruck is needed in the US.  I've always admired from afar the minitrucks available south of the border.

Hoping it is the same size as my old S 10 was....miss that truck!

[ocnblu]

Early Volkswagen Golf Mk 1 prototypes, circa 1966!  Clearly rear-engined.

[ocnblu]

Thankful to have a job.

[oldshurst442]

 

Edited May 3, 2020 by oldshurst442

[David]

14 hours ago, balthazar said:

I understand PREFERRING to own a mini truck vs. a mid-size truck, but it's nonsensical to pitch it as 'a mid-size truck is too big for city use'. Simply not true.

Not for you where you live, but someone living in the inner city especially in an old neighborhood that had garages / driveways for Model A Fords or horse and buggy will find anything bigger than a mini pickup to be too big. That is what I hear from my coworkers.

[frogger]

Yep there are areas not too far from me where you are lucky to get a spot less than 10 houses away down the street, trying to find a spot that will fit a full size truck won't be easy.  These are urban row houses, 15 foot lots.  My new neighbours are a young couple, they moved from such an area and had a Mini Cooper with a 2 year old kid, now they have a second child on the way and a Cayenne, now they can always street park in front of their house.

 

 

[trinacriabob]

12 hours ago, oldshurst442 said:

 

It's amazing how the eye instantly gravitates toward the Air France 747-400.  That variant first flew 31 years ago!  Qu'est-ce que c'est l'autre grand avion hideuse?

On 5/2/2020 at 11:01 PM, balthazar said:

Newport RI 1940 :

Have you ever been?  It's an incredible place on that bluff overlooking the ocean, but the Breakers takes the cake among the mansions there.  I would love to take the tour of the Breakers but my timing while there has always been off.

[Robert Hall]

8 hours ago, trinacriabob said:

 

Have you ever been?  It's an incredible place on that bluff overlooking the ocean, but the Breakers takes the cake among the mansions there.  I would love to take the tour of the Breakers but my timing while there has always been off.

Beautiful place...took a tour 25 years ago, was up in Boston visiting my sister for her birthday, and we drove down to Newport for the day.   I recall Newport being quite nice...had dinner at a great seafood restaurant called the Mooring, which is still there. 

8 hours ago, trinacriabob said:

It's amazing how the eye instantly gravitates toward the Air France 747-400.  That variant first flew 31 years ago!  Qu'est-ce que c'est l'autre grand avion hideuse?

 

Notice in the first pic the big Antonov AN225 w/ the three engines per side..one of those sat for quite a while at Denver International about 15 years ago. 

[A Horse With No Name]

On 5/2/2020 at 8:14 PM, ocnblu said:

Ford is doing it.  And Ford knows trucks.  It's not a replacement for a Fiesta or Focus, but it is a welcome addition to their lineup.  It is rumored to start under $20k.  My Colorado was $37k.

I owned 5 S-10 pickups, they were plenty big enough.  I am on my 4th Colorado, and one thing I miss about those old S-10s is the smaller size, and all the advantages of that tidiness.

I love small pick ups, right there with you bud. 

Post WW 2 outside of Spandau prison, where war criminals were kept after WW 2. Torn down after Rudolf Hess died in 1987. Neat old Mercury in back ground...

On 5/2/2020 at 11:01 PM, balthazar said:

Newport RI 1940 :

Love the Iron work!

22 hours ago, oldshurst442 said:

 

And tons of Jumbos, including A380s going down as a result of current crisis. 

[A Horse With No Name]

 

She has a lot of fight in her.   Unreal what people will do when they are caught...

[David]

45 minutes ago, A Horse With No Name said:

 

She has a lot of fight in her.   Unreal what people will do when they are caught...

Crazy how skinny woman can go bat crazy when caught on something like this. Such a stupid choice she made.

[trinacriabob]

Don Shula passed away today.  No, it was not "the" virus.  

I couldn't believe he was already 90 ?!?  How time flies.

R.I.P. - I'm sure South Florida is mourning. 

[Robert Hall]

1 minute ago, trinacriabob said:

Don Shula passed away today.  No, it was not "the" virus.  

I couldn't believe he was already 90 ?!?  How time flies.

R.I.P. - I'm sure South Florida is mourning. 

And NE Ohio..he was from Grand River.   Neat little town on Lake Erie, there are a couple seafood restaurants I like there...

[daves87rs]

2 hours ago, trinacriabob said:

Don Shula passed away today.  No, it was not "the" virus.  

I couldn't believe he was already 90 ?!?  How time flies.

R.I.P. - I'm sure South Florida is mourning. 

That is a bummer.....

[riviera74]

6 hours ago, trinacriabob said:

Don Shula passed away today.  No, it was not "the" virus.  

I couldn't believe he was already 90 ?!?  How time flies.

R.I.P. - I'm sure South Florida is mourning. 

Best coach they ever had.  Arguably the best coach period.  Definitely the winningest coach ever.  After him, the Dolphins' slide towards mediocrity and worse for the next 25 years. . . . .

[trinacriabob]

Most of us like facts and figures, knowing all the numerical data about so many cars and trucks ... and spouting a lot of statistics about the current pandemic.  Changing the subject:

California's population has recently hit the 40 million mark.

Los Angeles County has been at the 10 million mark for a good while - the city of L.A. has 4 million people.

That means ~ 1 in 4 Californians lives in Los Angeles County.

The state has about 166,000 square miles.  Los Angeles County has about 4,000 to 5,000 square miles.  

That's about 2.4% of California's total area.  And big chunks of Los Angeles County are not habitable or just not that sought after (state parks and national forests, really steep mountains, and the "High Desert")

I never distilled it down to these kinds of numbers.  Ouch.

[David]

Seems if you are in the market for a new auto, you might just get a hell of a deal this year due to the pandemic.

Seems a Nissan boat with 2,000 Nissan's and Infiniti's floated off the coast of LA due to the overload of new auto's sitting at the docks and no dealer or fleet company is taking delivery of any auto's even if they were already purchased.

https://www.thedrive.com/news/33290/why-a-cargo-ship-full-of-2000-nissans-floated-offshore-for-days

News seems to indicate that every auto company is going to be giving steep discounts to get folks to buy.

[balthazar]

^ Give me a Silverado 1500 crew cab / standard bed 3.0L DuraMax for $15K off sticker and I'll sign!

[David]

13 hours ago, balthazar said:

^ Give me a Silverado 1500 crew cab / standard bed 3.0L DuraMax for $15K off sticker and I'll sign!

I did the base LT with diesel crew cab / standard bed. Seems 688 matches found in my area. Looking at $48,160. Now just need to get GM to throw you another $8,500 and you got a deal.

LOVE The Havana Brown Metallic.

[daves87rs]

3 hours ago, dfelt said:

Seems if you are in the market for a new auto, you might just get a hell of a deal this year due to the pandemic.

Seems a Nissan boat with 2,000 Nissan's and Infiniti's floated off the coast of LA due to the overload of new auto's sitting at the docks and no dealer or fleet company is taking delivery of any auto's even if they were already purchased.

https://www.thedrive.com/news/33290/why-a-cargo-ship-full-of-2000-nissans-floated-offshore-for-days

News seems to indicate that every auto company is going to be giving steep discounts to get folks to buy.

And I thought the Korean twins were going to have issues...

Nissan had quite a bit coming....going to be fire sales on sedans coming soon.....

[ykX]

6 hours ago, balthazar said:

^ Give me a Silverado 1500 crew cab / standard bed 3.0L DuraMax for $15K off sticker and I'll sign!

I saw an article saying that there is actually a shortage of pickup trucks.  Stop in production due to pandemic and low gas prices I think will prevent really big discounts on trucks.  Cars though will be a different story.

[David]

The Auto Alliance did a review of the Auto Industry for 2019. Some pretty cool stat's. I will say that based on this info, it will be very interesting to see how this all changes over the next 10 years compared to what was projected. Click the link if you want to look at the full report of info.

https://autoalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/CAFE_101-02June2019.pdf

[A Horse With No Name]

 

Could I just get a nice 421 Pontiac instead.....maybe at the deep Cornoavirus discount?

[trinacriabob]

I am doing a lot of cleaning and purging.  Among all the coaxial, cords, and whatnot that I'm going through, I find this thing!

What is it?  What type of hardware did it most likely plug into? I couldn't read a brand or other information on the item.  The other junk I'm finding is more identifiable.  Help.  Thanks.

 

Edited May 5, 2020 by trinacriabob

[riviera74]

53 minutes ago, trinacriabob said:

I am doing a lot of cleaning and purging.  Among all the coaxial, cords, and whatnot that I'm going through, I find this thing!

What is it?  What type of hardware did it most likely plug into? I couldn't read a brand or other information on the item.  The other junk I'm finding is more identifiable.  Help.  Thanks.

 

Looks like a AC adapter from an HDTV.  Could be a lot of brands.

[frogger]

Yeah I have an old sharp lcd it has that kind of power cable, IEC C7 polarized I think.

 

 

 

 

 

[Robert Hall]

22 minutes ago, riviera74 said:

Looks like a AC adapter from an HDTV.  Could be a lot of brands.

I have a few of those cords with the asymmetric plug, have them with portable CD boomboxes (I have one of those for my patio), TVs, etc..

[daves87rs]

6 hours ago, ykX said:

I saw an article saying that there is actually a shortage of pickup trucks.  Stop in production due to pandemic and low gas prices I think will prevent really big discounts on trucks.  Cars though will be a different story.

Part of the issue though (really true with GM trucks) is that they built quite a few high end models first- not the usual varieties that they normally build. My local dealerships usually offer more 
“base” trucks toward the end of the model year, as many local cities/businesses replace them around then. So I wonder who many folks plan on getting 50k + trucks.....

I’m more of a base truck person myself.....

[trinacriabob]

39 minutes ago, Robert Hall said:

I have a few of those cords with the asymmetric plug, have them with portable CD boomboxes (I have one of those for my patio), TVs, etc..

Bingo.  I wouldn't have thought to look there.  The key word is old.  I found a boombox I have, lightly faded, and it plugs right in.

I was going to throw the darn cord away.  Thank you.

41 minutes ago, frogger said:

Yeah I have an old sharp lcd it has that kind of power cable, IEC C7 polarized I think.

Right, this boombox is not young.

Edited May 5, 2020 by trinacriabob

[David]

6 hours ago, ykX said:

I saw an article saying that there is actually a shortage of pickup trucks.  Stop in production due to pandemic and low gas prices I think will prevent really big discounts on trucks.  Cars though will be a different story.

That is very weird as I found 688 variations of what @balthazar is looking for in my 50 mile circle search area.

[Robert Hall]

1 minute ago, trinacriabob said:

Bingo.  I wouldn't have thought to look there.  The key word is old.  I found a boombox I have, lightly faded, and it plugs right in.

I was going to throw the darn things away.  Thank you.

Right, this boombox is not young.

Yeah, this little Sony boombox has a CD player and cassette deck...got it new only a couple years ago, keep it outside during patio season when I want to play CDs (sounds better than streaming from my phone)...a bit old school, but I have hundreds of CDs...

[balthazar]

24 minutes ago, daves87rs said:

So I wonder who many folks plan on getting 50k + trucks.....

At Chevy, the vast majority are extended cab/short bed, 4WD V8s, which puts you at $46K as it is.

[David]

2 hours ago, trinacriabob said:

I am doing a lot of cleaning and purging.  Among all the coaxial, cords, and whatnot that I'm going through, I find this thing!

What is it?  What type of hardware did it most likely plug into? I couldn't read a brand or other information on the item.  The other junk I'm finding is more identifiable.  Help.  Thanks.

 

Easy, those are the common cord used for DVD/Blue ray players. I have them on multiple home electronics in both the living room and family room.

3 minutes ago, Robert Hall said:

Yeah, this little Sony boombox has a CD player and cassette deck...got it new only a couple years ago, keep it outside during patio season when I want to play CDs (sounds better than streaming from my phone)...a bit old school, but I have hundreds of CDs...

Ya need to Rip those babies and put them on a NAS for the house with Bluetooth/WiFi connectivity and then have a Bose Wifi/Bluetooth speaker out there. Then ya get some really sweet sounds.

[balthazar]

9 minutes ago, dfelt said:

That is very weird as I found 688 variations of what @balthazar is looking for in my 50 mile circle search area.

Are you sure those were only 3.0Ls? That motor doesn't seem to be that commonplace yet.
A 100 mile radius of me -looking only at '20 CC/standard box 3.0L's- returns only 28 matches.

If I deselect the 3.0L, that only rises to 285.

Edited May 5, 2020 by balthazar

[David]

4 minutes ago, balthazar said:

Are you sure those were only 3.0Ls? That motor doesn't seem to be that commonplace yet.
A 100 mile radius of me -looking only at '20 CC/standard box 3.0L's- returns only 28 matches.

Yes, that is what came up when I built on the web site. Clearly had it marked as a diesel and it came back with that many. Posted 12hrs ago on page 585.

Love the Havana Brown Metallic

[Robert Hall]

Cinco de Mayo on Taco Tuesday.   Tacos ordered, going to make Margaritas now...

[balthazar]

I just search zip code 98115 (seattle) in a 50 mile radius and a CC/SB with the 3.0L shows 28 exact matches. This is thru the chevrolet.com vehicle locator.

[David]

6 minutes ago, balthazar said:

I just search zip code 98115 (seattle) in a 50 mile radius and a CC/SB with the 3.0L shows 28 exact matches. This is thru the chevrolet.com vehicle locator.

Weird as the chevy web site says 690 trucks, but then I clicked down into it and for a 100 mile radius around me it says actually 86 available.

Removed everything except the true base level and came up with 24 matches. wow.

[balthazar]

Now we're on the same page. I think the 'build' number plays loose with the defining terms to pump up the number.
3.0L is uncommon. But if I could get it basically 'free', I would.

[daves87rs]

4 hours ago, balthazar said:

At Chevy, the vast majority are extended cab/short bed, 4WD V8s, which puts you at $46K as it is.

Think you mean crew cab, but I agree, 🙂 

For giggles I priced out a base truck for myself. Extended cab, Custom (basically the LS trim level) 2WD V6, added towing and black trim packages- came out to $35.5.

Just have to throw on some good all season  off road tires and I’ll be good to go!

[balthazar]

I know what I was thinking: the majority of crew cabs are SHORT beds; whats hard to find is crew cab STANDARD beds. The ‘double cab’/STANDARD bed and the crew can SHORT bed are on the same wheelbase, so it’s ‘easier’ to crank them out I guess.

[ocnblu]

5 hours ago, dfelt said:

Yes, that is what came up when I built on the web site

You know that's 688 Crewcab 4WD standard beds, not necessarily diesels, right?  That is matches for the body config, not powertrain.

[David]

4 hours ago, ocnblu said:

You know that's 688 Crewcab 4WD standard beds, not necessarily diesels, right?  That is matches for the body config, not powertrain.

Yes, I realized that as I dialed down into the local details by powertrain and saw 86 in my area that are diesel and 24 of them with standard bed.

[daves87rs]

5 hours ago, balthazar said:

I know what I was thinking: the majority of crew cabs are SHORT beds; whats hard to find is crew cab STANDARD beds. The ‘double cab’/STANDARD bed and the crew can SHORT bed are on the same wheelbase, so it’s ‘easier’ to crank them out I guess.

Maybe I misread what you meant 😞 

But I do notice quite a few short bed trucks, though i do see a long bed once in a while in a crew cab....

[balthazar]

Not sure how closely you follow the big trucks, dfelt. Chevy/GMC have a SHORT bed (5.5 ft), a STANDARD bed (6.5 ft), and the LONG bed (8).

I’d like to go back to a 8-ft bed, but no way with a crew cab. 5.5-ft is just too short w 8-ft material. 

[ocnblu]

4 hours ago, balthazar said:

Not sure how closely you follow the big trucks, dfelt. Chevy/GMC have a SHORT bed (5.5 ft), a STANDARD bed (6.5 ft), and the LONG bed (8).

I’d like to go back to a 8-ft bed, but no way with a crew cab. 5.5-ft is just too short w 8-ft material. 

You can get a crewcab with 8 ft bed, but only in the bad-ass HD.