LosAngeles

People may choose to dis it or ignore it because it's a Hyundai, but it looks to be rough and ready. Can't wait to hear how it drives.

::cue ocnblu innuendo in 5, 4, 3, 2....::

Forgot the gray SKY with the factory spoiler (never seen a Kappa with a spoiler of any kind).

Saw the new '08 Highlander on the 405. Toyota may be on its way to making things interesting looking again.

Only on C&G is there this weird movement that there SHOULD be frontie standards alongside rear-drive standards in the same company.If it never happened, certainly no one would be convinced it should be that way. The general public obviously doesn't care. Just get them a car they can feel for their convenience and enjoyment that can get out of its own way at the right price, and they're golden. If I was a bettin' man, good money says only we on message boards are really trippin' about drive wheels on these cars. Now, ENGINE? That's another story. BTW, of course, GM, Ford and Chrysler are here to stay. Just gotta make the right decisions so they can have more of those HITS we all want to see...and definitely shave down the oversize dealer networks...but none of them are leaving this planet anytime soon. And then.... Yeah, except one thing. We ain't bowing to no queen, speaking French (Spanish is bad enough), giving up the Glocks and Winchesters, or measuring metric....nor will we ever quit being racist or throwing around our regionalism (ever been to NYC, LA, the Bay Area, or the South?). We'd be a bigger problem than we're worth.

As far as what I can remember this month: Nash Metropolitan this week. A white NEW Saturn VUE earlier this month. Not very fresh in person IMO. Probably a couple of Ford Model A's parked next to one another one weekend. Vega wagon seemingly Car Crafted up. early 60's Ford Galaxie or Mercury Monterey (the kind where the back window rolls down) today (was far from it in the intersection) Not much out of the ordinary....past months packed much more, but there weren't the Car Spotting posts in sight to talk about them.

I'm here now. And that thing looks like a cartoon. Definitely not going to happen. If he wanted to be more realistic about bringing a new car into existence, it would use a Viper crate motor (or a forced induction Ford Triton V-10) and be a lot shorter.

What Allpar had to say about them: http://www.allpar.com/mopar/phoenix-engines.html Definitely interested in the camless design.

Somebody has jokes.

The Cobalt SS wheels are great wheels....if not that light looking.

I know this is two months old, but it's all good. I really was trying to figure out if you calling me out had a base in anything I said, because I know I don't agree with a lot of people here. Trolling, however? I'm too old for that and like my good reputation too much. Anyway, back to the topic.... Not late to the party so much as they should have never bowed out in the first place. Of course not. The streets love Camaro too much. And they're expecting it to hit the streets now, what with things like the Transformers appearance...it's a matter of when, not if, because GM painted themselves into a corner.

Aftermarket wheels should not be offered at dealerships....at least not without lowering springs installed to go with them. You could fit a grandfather clock inside those fender well gaps.And manufacturers should offer big wheels that look factory as opposed to looking aftermarket. Nah, that thing needs Recaros, because the stock seats are chintzy.

Care to post that three more times, GMTruckGuy? Yeah, that sounds like a hell of a coffee table piece....if I had a coffee table. Growing up seeing mostly 73-77s and 78-80s, spotting a '67 parked at the supermarket was a weird sight (because of how rare they are). The one I want is the '69 (70-72 will do). The sedan existed at the same time as the 6000. And you wouldn't front on the STE turbo, a very, quick, rare, and collectible car.

Dinner at Venice? Do you live in L.A. now?

If anything on the engine formula, I'd probably go with: -a 500cc per cylinder scale. This would make for 4-liter V-8s, 3-liter sixes, and 2.5-liter fives (allow two turbos or twincharging on the fives). -fuel injection obviously required with these being production cars Bodies: -Five-door fastbacks OK. Coupes MUST be notchback. -Maximum length 16'1" (193.0") Strict production intermediates, no more long, goofy rear overhangs. More road courses per season. And of course the series is all one class. Open to all brands who can provide a car that actually competes in this class, whether it's Honda or Hyundai, Volkswagen or Pontiac. I'd look forward to: -whether VW built a W-8 frontie Passat (for instance) or an AWD twin turbo fiver. -Subaru deciding to make a flat six Legacy. -Chevy fielding a REAL Malibu SS, with a small-displacement smallblock, or a nice HF....or even building a new Monte, CORT! -Chrysler finally delivering an SRT-6 Avenger or Sebring ....among other possibilites. What about you guys?

Tip to all, never text in response to any advertisement. You will get spam up the wazoo, and you can't get it to stop. All they're doing when you text "JOKE to 73737" or "SLUT to 304" or enter some contest thru texting is giving away your handle and permitting them to spam you forever until you change your number. So act like Bo Jackson after surgery and don't do it!

The point of the homologation and the formula is that you build something within the rules. We're tryna improve the breed.To those talking about five liters, do we really want to see a five-liter five- or six-cylinder? I personally think you open the floodgates to manufacturers just running anything. What I had in the original letter, but edited out at the last minute, was that a rule should be enacted similar to the British Touring Car Championship, where the front-drive cars will weigh less to compete with the rear-drive and all-wheel-drive cars on the same field. Took it out at the last minute, because I don't logically see the real necessity for the fronties to weigh that much less, when I figure that they already would without a drive shaft or rear transaxle. But then, I don't build race cars.These are just a few ideas, obviously subject to tweaks. My general interest is win on Sunday, sell on Monday....to get a series of intermediates on the street that are a lot less boring. And even if it is only racing, it could change a few minds, ya know. NASCAR obviously won't be the arena for this, because of their beloved Car of Tomorrow....but hey, maybe one day....

She and Ron Jeremy earned my further respect on that Surreal Life season they were on. Saw that recent Larry King clip, and she was a mess. She probably knew that was it.

This may or may not get printed over on that site, so I pasted it here to at least discuss. While I have stated for a long time what Dr. Bud [E. Bryan's Roadkill column] is saying about NASCAR going back to production-based cars, just wanted to tweak the suggestions a little, give it some direction. NASCAR is about bread-and-butter cars. Pony cars aren't bread and butter, leave those to IROC and Trans Am. While standards like the Charger and Impala would be good for this new-look NASCAR, racing is supposed to improve the breed, and the breed that needs improvement is the boring "Camcord"-dominated world of mid-size cars. So here's what should be done. -Go with homologation special models. Require production of 10,000 street-trim units for each brand. Must retail under US$35,000. All aerodynamic body mods for track must be exactly as sold in showrooms. -Slap a strict 3-liter displacement formula on the engines. Allow from five to eight cylinders, and forced induction on fives and sixes (maximum one turbo or one supecharger), as long as it is no bigger than 3000cc. Fuel injection, multivalve heads, overhead cams, and variable valve timing OK. -Car must be a strict five-place mid-sizer. Two-or-four-door sedan OK. That should definitely improve the breed there.

Can't believe you guys are feeling this car. I, for one, think it could stay in Europe and not have me crying in my beer. Fiat simply isn't ready for prime time right now. Yeah, the Versa KILLS the Aveo IMO...even the notchback.

Well, chalk me up as Mr. Different, because I am a fan of these G's....regardless of evolutionary styling. And how can one not expect Nissan cues when it's ALL-NISSAN currently?

What is he out to do with the car? Does he have kids or something? If he can get pretty close to today, an Impala would definitely be the move. Nice power, great on gas, and can already be had for a song. As far as Stratus or Sebring, just go with the four cylinder. Doesn't sound like he really cares about performance, as long as the fuel economy is there. Really is too bad he hates Chrysler. A Malibu or Alero isn't way too painful of a choice. Unless he's hell bent on sedans, how about a Vibe? Just make sure he avoids the disgusting 98-02 Accord sedan frumpmobile, as well as that bland wedge that is the 97-01 Camry.

All of you know I don't believe in companies not being in this market. Answering the original question: Exit/Fold (in order of extent): Scion-Toyota's exercise in d--k wagging. Also their exercise in trying to get hip, because they know that as conservative as the Toyota brand has always been, they've made their lineup the most boring of all time (barring FJ Cruiser). Scion wasn't the way to be hip (great free Hip-Hop shows, however, and I hope to eternally be on their list). Celica, Supra, Corolla coupe, and the WILL cars are (Toyota was a great brand to check out when the former three existed). The tC should be a Celica or Corolla coupe, plain and simple. Scion simply wasn't really necessary to me. Acura-each car could be recast as Honda-brand with a name change, plus Acura was US only, because of our perception issues. Honda as a brand could sell a proper standard car now that would get far better response than the Legend/RL ever did (and the KA-7 Legend was a VERY popular car here, so that's telling). Acura's luxury isn't as full-blown as it should be. Kia-hand the Spectra hatch to Hyundai as the Elantra's partner (think of a Korean Golf/Jetta). The Oval-H can stand alone. Kia is simply Hyundai with different styling. Not sportier or more luxurious, not even more inexpensive, just different. And it would be difficult to recast as not being the POSes the public at large think they are. Mercury-barring Cougar, has been 35 years of badge engineering. It's not Pontiac, Acura, or even the late Plymouth...no otherwise clear mission. Damn near the extreme of what I mentioned with Kia, jsut redundantly doing the same thing. and dare I say it.... Saturn-I think most companies can only really pull off four distinct personalities: the base bread and butter (Chevy), ballsy roughneck sportiness and performance (Pontiac), comfortable-shoes, business-casual luxury (Buick), and all out exotic "what dress is that actress wearing to the awards show?" luxury (Cadillac), When Olds died, Saturn should have probably gone with it, because just like the Olds-Saturn merger talk suggested, the personality was the same, but also could easily be found elsewhere in the corporate portfolio. As much as I loved the Cutlasses and Auroras of back in the days, Olds should have died when DeSoto did, to be perfectly honest. And Saturn should never have even existed. The Astra should be a Pontiac (my longtime stance here), Aura should be a Buick, and most of the Opel/Vauxhall cars Saturn is getting could easily be Chevys (Opel, Vauxhall, and Holden are basically Chevy, the bread and butter for the respective countries they exist in) Enter: Renault Peugeot Citroen Venturi (yes, I'm a big fan of what the French do, they add the funk we need, but one can only hope for reliability, problems with which got them running out with their tail between their legs) Skoda Alfa TVR MG Rover (with Land Rover joining the family reunion) Now for what the post turned into: Fix/Recast: Isuzu-should be bought by Honda 100% to be their GMC (so Honda can quit making their own SUVs). Isuzu for me died when they quit making cars. So let them stick to trucks while Honda sticks to cars and motorcycles. Infiniti-otherwise OK (the G and FX sell), but with the brand now worldwide, take the badge-engineered Nissan feel out. Add some Renault influence to the next Q. Chrysler-doing the differentiation right, for the most part, just needs more premium feel thrown in. Mitsubishi-less bonehead mistakes. Maybe add a compact hatch, and something funky? The boy-racer kids love the Lancer Evo, more sporty stuff like that would get 'em. Saab and Volvo-should both be spun off or sold by their respective owners, who have their own houses to worry about. Then the confusion goes away and the proper attention can be paid to them. Jaguar-like stated elsewhere, get from under Ford, and over to someone who can shoot them the cash they need to give the dating-back-to-1968 XJ a new chassis. They can be the competitor to Mercedes, Lexus, and BMW they deserve to be. More later, I need to move on to other matters....

I can get with the Roomster and, to an extent, the Octavia (with a sporting top-line model). Fabia's a little Down's Syndrome lookin'.I like the Superb, that could make waves here too. For it to work, they'd have to be advertised as simply "European"....I don't think the perception-clouded average American can stomach knowing Skodas are Czech.

What is on Chinese minds when they engineer cars?