Random Thoughts Thread

[regfootball]

13 hours ago, David said:

Is that him Smoking?

LOL, I hadn’t noticed that. 
 

yup, that’d be him

coffee and heaters 

 

[daves87rs]

6 hours ago, trinacriabob said:

The market took quite a dip today - hopefully transitory - but there is some good news today:  Canada will be opening its border to FULLY VACCINATED Americans on August 9th of this year.  (I knew I did something right.)  

Sadly I think we need more of a market correction right now. Still think it is too high with everything going on right now……

[David]

Way too funny all the comparisons of Jeff Bezo's Blue Origin Rocket ship to Dr. Evil's Penis Rocket.

Jeff Bezos' Penis-Shaped Rocket Launches Dr. Evil Comparisons (msn.com)

[A Horse With No Name]

14 hours ago, daves87rs said:

Sadly I think we need more of a market correction right now. Still think it is too high with everything going on right now……

You would be sadly correct. I think of you and your son every day and send good vibes to the great white north from Ohio...

 

Still shocked at what happened. 

I loved this...

 

Can't help stupid...

 

[A Horse With No Name]

My buddy Tony checking out the new Bronco...

New Zealand...

 

Hello Kitty...

 

Amsterdam...

 

Switzerland...

 

[A Horse With No Name]

Truth here also...

 

[A Horse With No Name]

Nothing wrong with a little mud...

 

I see a Ford woodie with someone standing in front of it...what do you see?

 

[A Horse With No Name]

This is a GM forum after all....

Okay, enough girl pics before I draw the ire of Drew...a cool dog picture, love this one!

Canada...

 

[A Horse With No Name]

Interesting streat art...

Portugal. In a travel mood.

 

Another Dog pic...I am actually thinking about getting a dog some day. 

[A Horse With No Name]

I just found this funny....

 

 

[A Horse With No Name]

This is a cool picture!

 

[oldshurst442]

21 minutes ago, A Horse With No Name said:

I just found this funny....

 

 

Yes...of course.  It makes sense. For the women that got vaccinated...

 

[trinacriabob]

On 7/19/2021 at 11:51 AM, A Horse With No Name said:

It's actually in Kansas, but aI always liked these as a kid...

I, too, liked these very much, but only with the formal opera window and more upright coupe roof line.  I will never tire of these:

1976 Cutlass Supreme Brougham

1977 Cutlass Salon (badged as such, but you can barely see any bucket seats popping up)

On 7/19/2021 at 2:31 PM, A Horse With No Name said:

 

 

 

Jokes about the South and Appalachia are usually good.  I wonder if they find them funny.  In "My Cousin Vinny," not so much ...

Saw this on ... drum roll ... the Redneck Riviera (the FL panhandle)

Edited July 21, 2021 by trinacriabob

[balthazar]

[A Horse With No Name]

[trinacriabob]

17 hours ago, A Horse With No Name said:

Canada...

I always drool when I see photos like this.  I feel fortunate to have visited Banff National Park in the province of Alberta.  Breathtaking scenery.

[A Horse With No Name]

4 minutes ago, trinacriabob said:

I always drool when I see photos like this.  I feel fortunate to have visited Banff National Park in the province of Alberta.  Breathtaking scenery.

It's on my bucket list. 

[A Horse With No Name]

Then again...

 

[A Horse With No Name]

One more for this morning...

 

[David]

21 hours ago, A Horse With No Name said:

Canada...

 

On 6-29-2015 my wife and I were at this same spot in the Banf National Park. Lovely, but was not like this photoshopped picture.

We started with Breakfast in Banf and then drove up to Jasper and back to our time share in Fairmount Hotsprings.

We also hiked Lake Louise

[A Horse With No Name]

1 hour ago, David said:

On 6-29-2015 my wife and I were at this same spot in the Banf National Park. Lovely, but was not like this photoshopped picture.

We started with Breakfast in Banf and then drove up to Jasper and back to our time share in Fairmount Hotsprings.

We also hiked Lake Louise

Looks fantastic. 

 

For Balthazar...

More...

 

For Drew...

One more car pic...

[David]

Have to say the Jeep Wagoner is looking Awesome! 

https://www.jeep.com/wagoneer.html

[A Horse With No Name]

I should post these in the Music thread, but Ohhh well...

 

 

Neat...

 

 

[David]

WOW, This is freaky close for the person following the jeep GC that got struck. Hope everyone was OK inside.

Then found this on The Drive of a lighting strike on a Ford Pickup and how it melted the interior. WOW

Lightning Strike Melted This Ford Super Duty’s Interior | The Drive

@balthazar should really enjoy this and the fact that it is now on the National Register as a historical place and has a dedicated museum now and money to maintain this living advertisement.

8,000 trees were used by Studebaker to make an advertisement to people who fly into the airport.

80 years later, it is still advertising the now dead company.

Studebaker Still Advertises Its Defunct Company with 8,000-Tree Monument (thedrive.com)

Lovely Car

I would say today, it needs a bit of pruning.

To quote the story: Fans of the brand are keeping the Studebaker name alive. In 2004, the monument was placed on the National Register of Historic Places, and after an ice storm damaged several trees that year, a grant was awarded for its long-term management and preservation. In 2005, the Studebaker National Museum opened its doors (don't miss its Concours d'Elegance each July). And in 2015, new saplings were planted in the monument after dead and diseased trees were removed. 

[David]

13 hours ago, David said:

Have to say the Jeep Wagoner is looking Awesome! 

https://www.jeep.com/wagoneer.html

Man the more I spend time on this web site, the more this will make a hit in luxury SUV sales in the US and I honestly do not see it taking them from GM or Ford.

Will have to say interesting that like Lincoln, they are offering 4 select color combo's with multiple interior color combo options. The Red Velvet sadly only gets black interior where the Black, Silver and White exterior color options get all 3 interior color options.

This truly plays in the luxury segment.

 

[David]

Interesting to see the 2022 Buick Enclave and how much LED lighting is changing the look of Auto's.

Introducing the New 2022 Buick Enclave & Enclave Avenir | SUV

[A Horse With No Name]

1 hour ago, David said:

WOW, This is freaky close for the person following the jeep GC that got struck. Hope everyone was OK inside.

Then found this on The Drive of a lighting strike on a Ford Pickup and how it melted the interior. WOW

Lightning Strike Melted This Ford Super Duty’s Interior | The Drive

@balthazar should really enjoy this and the fact that it is now on the National Register as a historical place and has a dedicated museum now and money to maintain this living advertisement.

8,000 trees were used by Studebaker to make an advertisement to people who fly into the airport.

80 years later, it is still advertising the now dead company.

Studebaker Still Advertises Its Defunct Company with 8,000-Tree Monument (thedrive.com)

Lovely Car

I would say today, it needs a bit of pruning.

To quote the story: Fans of the brand are keeping the Studebaker name alive. In 2004, the monument was placed on the National Register of Historic Places, and after an ice storm damaged several trees that year, a grant was awarded for its long-term management and preservation. In 2005, the Studebaker National Museum opened its doors (don't miss its Concours d'Elegance each July). And in 2015, new saplings were planted in the monument after dead and diseased trees were removed. 

My dad's first car was a near identical twin to the red one...hell...it might even be the same car. 

 

[A Horse With No Name]

Today's Bronco picture..

[trinacriabob]

5 hours ago, David said:

Interesting to see the 2022 Buick Enclave and how much LED lighting is changing the look of Auto's.

I don't know how I feel about this vehicle, since I'm having trouble with the change in the Envision's dash ... and removal of the NA engine as a base engine.

I will say that the new fascia is a little nicer.

These are way too expensive.

4 hours ago, A Horse With No Name said:

Very interesting image above.  As for the photo above, that's just marketing.  And it would imply it's either departing from Newark or flying into LaGuardia.  These units used JFK, way out at the edge of Queens by the Atlantic, so never near Manhattan.

What few people realize is how incredibly cool the layout of NYC is.  That's just Manhattan, and it's a tiny part of the whole scheme.  Four of the five boroughs of NYC are on islands and single family homes are more common than people would think.

New Yorkers don't need to toot their horn.  They know they're the Big Apple.  But I sure met of a lot of Chicago folks at U of I who were pretty full of themselves as far as their city went.  Does your city look anything like this?  No.  And, when your city thins out, is it pancake flat corn fields for miles and miles?  Yes.

Pan Am was the launch customer for the 747.  

Their latest 747 livery is up front.  Their traditional livery is shown beyond, taking off.

Don't get me started on 747s.

[David]

I have to say that I have always loved the GM Answer to the Successful Ford Thunderbird, the 1962 4 person Concept Corvette.

I especially like the side profile of this car.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CRo1ZWApxIl/ 

GM Design Studio post for today on Instagram.

[balthazar]

The '62 Grand Prix was the answer to the Thunderbird.
I'd say the '61 Starfire, but it doesn't quite feel 'special' enough IMO.

[Robert Hall]

The ‘63 Riviera was GM’s real response to the Thunderbird by being a unique model like the Thunderbird, IMO.  The Starfire and GP were based on existing models (88, Catalina). 
 

The Starfire and GP were GMs entrants into the sporty full size bucket seat coupe niche, like the Ford Galaxie XL and Mercury S-55.  

 A non-GM competitor to the Thunderbird was the Studebaker  Hawk.    Chrysler Corp didn’t really have a unique Thunderbirdish PLC until the Cordoba 

Edited July 23, 2021 by Robert Hall

[trinacriabob]

2 hours ago, balthazar said:

The '62 Grand Prix was the answer to the Thunderbird.

Interesting take.

1 hour ago, Robert Hall said:

The ‘63 Riviera was GM’s real response to the Thunderbird by being a unique model like the Thunderbird, IMO.  

Another interesting take.

Riviera over Thunderbird.   Any day of the week ... and twice on Sundays. 

Much nicer and more interesting silhouette and interior. The front might be a little potent (probably better than being im-potent) but the side silhouette may have inspired the late '67-ish Skylark, LeMans, and Cutlass coupes with this sort of proportioning, although these newer cars had "finned" rear windows. 

While most consumers can't verbalize what it is specifically that they like about a car's design, they still zero in on good or interesting design and vote with their dollars - examples:  this, the pony cars, the colonnade coupes, Olds' last hurrah in its Intrigue, etc.

[balthazar]

Yea, I would concur and go with the Riviera. It's just that the Riviera and the GP occupied the same marketing space and the GP is a year older (and the Starfire; 2). But fair point on the unique body.

Galaxie XL and Merc S-55 were minor trim/equipment packages, not different enough to even warrant a new model name. I had a Park Lane Marauder fastback years ago- other than buckets/console it didn't get anything special. GPs had a ton of little details that made then relatively unique within the brand.

[Robert Hall]

I seem to recall reading the Riviera was originally intended to be a Cadillac.  (Named LaSalle II?).  

Edited July 23, 2021 by Robert Hall

[daves87rs]

1 hour ago, trinacriabob said:

Interesting take.

Another interesting take.

Riviera over Thunderbird.   Any day of the week ... and twice on Sundays. 

Much nicer and more interesting silhouette and interior. The front might be a little potent (probably better than being im-potent) but the side silhouette may have inspired the late '67-ish Skylark, LeMans, and Cutlass coupes with this sort of proportioning, although these newer cars had "finned" rear windows. 

While most consumers can't verbalize what it is specifically that they like about a car's design, they still zero in on good or interesting design and vote with their dollars - examples:  this, the pony cars, the colonnade coupes, Olds' last hurrah in its Intrigue, etc.

Love that color….

[David]

Tonight was a steak night using some of my home grown garlic with clarified butter in caste iron skillet grilled steak.

Cheesy broccoli and baked potato. 

[A Horse With No Name]

18 hours ago, trinacriabob said:

I don't know how I feel about this vehicle, since I'm having trouble with the change in the Envision's dash ... and removal of the NA engine as a base engine.

I will say that the new fascia is a little nicer.

These are way too expensive.

Very interesting image above.  As for the photo above, that's just marketing.  And it would imply it's either departing from Newark or flying into LaGuardia.  These units used JFK, way out at the edge of Queens by the Atlantic, so never near Manhattan.

What few people realize is how incredibly cool the layout of NYC is.  That's just Manhattan, and it's a tiny part of the whole scheme.  Four of the five boroughs of NYC are on islands and single family homes are more common than people would think.

New Yorkers don't need to toot their horn.  They know they're the Big Apple.  But I sure met of a lot of Chicago folks at U of I who were pretty full of themselves as far as their city went.  Does your city look anything like this?  No.  And, when your city thins out, is it pancake flat corn fields for miles and miles?  Yes.

Pan Am was the launch customer for the 747.  

Their latest 747 livery is up front.  Their traditional livery is shown beyond, taking off.

Don't get me started on 747s.

Look again, taht wasn't a concorde...

[A Horse With No Name]

8 hours ago, David said:

Tonight was a steak night using some of my home grown garlic with clarified butter in caste iron skillet grilled steak.

Cheesy broccoli and baked potato. 

That looks fantastic. 

18 hours ago, David said:

I have to say that I have always loved the GM Answer to the Successful Ford Thunderbird, the 1962 4 person Concept Corvette.

I especially like the side profile of this car.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CRo1ZWApxIl/ 

GM Design Studio post for today on Instagram.

It looses the classic proportion of the design. that being said, back in the 70's when I was a kid...friend of my dads had a 73 Corvette. His son and I would ride around in that thing with our sisters wedged in behind the front two seats....it was an astonishingly tight fit...but good times cruising. 

[trinacriabob]

5 minutes ago, A Horse With No Name said:

It looses the classic proportion of the design. that being said, back in the 70's when I was a kid...friend of my dads had a 73 Corvette. His son and I would ride around in that thing with our sisters wedged in behind the front two seats....it was an astonishingly tight fit...but good times cruising. 

I agree with this

The bubbling up of the rear glass is unbecoming when looked at from the side.

The idea hearkens to the creation of the Datsun 280ZX 2+2 from the 2 seater.  It looked a little weird, though not too, too bad, but the 4 seater Corvette looks worse.  A college friend's mom, a tiny Mexican lady from the San Fernando Valley, bought a burgundy on burgundy 2+2.

I also remember when the 280ZX (2+2) was available in a metallic bronze-salmon color with burgundy cloth bucket seats.  Man, was that time stamped.  I will say that the 280ZX was fun to drive.  I just don't know how well they held up.

[A Horse With No Name]

Vintage drag pic, 2 seater T bird. 

[balthazar]

21 hours ago, Robert Hall said:

I seem to recall reading the Riviera was originally intended to be a Cadillac.  (Named LaSalle II?).  

Correct. It was pitched to Cadillac (thusly badged LaSalle), but Cadillac didn't have the production capacity (only 1 plant). It was then opened up to the other divisions, but Buick was the only one who agreed not to alter the design. Buick also had recently seen a fairly drastic fall in sales, from #3 in '56 to #10 in '60. They really wanted it. 

[trinacriabob]

@balthazar There was a window of time when Cadillac was thinking of naming what was released as the Seville as the Cadillac LaSalle.  Spanish versus French.  A historic city in Spain versus an important financial street in Chicago.  I wonder how the naming plan for the car changed.

Mostly, I liked everything about the Seville as initially released.  I felt the roofline could have been a little less boxy - it become more so with a padded vinyl roof and how they trimmed it out around the rear back lite - and that the rear lamp treatment was a little less boring compared to the much better handling of the front grille.  I believe there was either an entry-level version (or a credit option) for plaid cloth seats!

I was pleased that they dialed in the mechanics in terms of the powertrain and the chassis.  And that's why you are likely to see '70s Sevilles around instead of '80s Sevilles.

They blew it later on with the Seville on numerous levels ... with what was nicknamed the "bustle back" model, with some engines that were embarrassing flops, etc. ...  That Cadillac successfully reinvented itself borders on miraculous.

Edited July 24, 2021 by trinacriabob

[balthazar]

Correct on the LaSalle proposal for the '76 Seville. There was strong support for the name, but eventually they turned away from it because the initial incarnation ('27-40) was discontinued... and some felt there may have been a negative association with that discontinuance. Read; 'failed'.

I love the 'Seville' name. Of course, it was also used earlier on the Eldorado hardtops ('56-60). The '76-79 Seviles are truly an excellent, well-balanced design. But I also like the '80-84s.

[balthazar]

[daves87rs]

7 hours ago, balthazar said:

I’ll take it!

[balthazar]

 

Edited July 25, 2021 by balthazar

[trinacriabob]

Today marks 65 years since the sinking of the "Andrea Doria" after the "Stockholm" plowed into her the night before she was due to arrive at her New York pier.

https://www.history.com/news/the-sinking-of-andrea-doria

Most of the survivors are probably not around anymore, but some who were children and teens who were rescued from the sinking ship still might be.  What a life changing experience.

The Swedes sank Italy's first post-war passenger flagship.  Remind me not to ever consider buying a Volvo.

Edited July 25, 2021 by trinacriabob

[balthazar]

[balthazar]

Rare '32 Pontiac V-8 badge :