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There were no plans for the W body to be RWD in 2000. I remember when rumors started surfacing around 1995 about the revival of the Impala. There were rumors about it having a 4.3L or 4.8L V8, but it was always going to be FWD.

I don't consider any car that can provide its owner with 12 to 15 years, over 200,000 miles of reliable service at a low cost to be mediocre. The Town Car is a waste of money, but I certainly consider the Grand Marquis for around $20,000 or even less to be a great deal and by no means mediocre. The Grand Marquis and Crown Victoria are often the choice of buyers who try to be wise with their money.

The Panthers are old, but by no means are they mediocre.

I haven't heard of many examples of GM's 60 degree V6 family lasting over 200,000 miles as I have of the 3800, but I could be wrong.

Either stockpile enough 3800's or make the Northstar standard for a year or two until the Zeta Lucerne debuts.

Why does Nissan need more plants? Except for the Altima, the vehicles produced in the Canton, MS plant aren't selling well.

See Evok's comment here - http://www.cheersandgears.com/forums/index...97entry154097

At most, Toyota might try another NUMMI deal, with a Toyota platform being used for GM cars, like maybe using the Corolla platform for the next Cobalt and Ion. But I have a hard time seeing that happen.

You mean like, "Did you make her bleed last night?" or "Did you get that bate last night?"

Sorry, I'm not as sophisticated in the ways of the world as you are.

I don't understand what that means, unless it involves pedophilia.

Don't understand your question. Everyone knows that the LaCrosse moves to Epsilon II around 2010.

Only a tiny minority who are fans of large FWD sedans with swoopy styling consider the 300 overrated. For those who find the Charger's styling bizarre, the 300C is the only way to get a RWD sedan with a V8 with over 300 hp and indepedent rear suspension for under $40,000. Some of us prefer blocky styling to a lot of curves. But I wouldn't buy a 300C because I think gasoline will be $10/gallon in less than 10 years. I think all hybrid cars are overrated. There are better ways to get better gas mileage. There was an interesting opinion piece in last week's Automotive News about all the cars available in the early 1980's that easily got over 30 mpg in the city and over 40 mpg on the highway. It's incredible how much small cars have increased in size over the last 20 years.

Evok is probably the only person here who can answer that question.

Moving the Impala upscale a tad makes all the sense in the world. It creates room for a greatly improved, more upscale 2008 Malibu and gets things ready for the more expensive Zeta Impala, hopefully out for the 2010 model year.

I favor doing anything that will mean more profits for GM, including taking crossovers and minivans away from Buick and Pontiac and giving them to the more popular GMC brand.

Toyota is strong, getting stronger. Hoping for a decline is just wishful thinking at this time.

In 1968 and 1969, Ford's mid size lineup was the Fairlane, Fairlane 500, Fairlane Torino, and Fairlane Torino GT. The Cobra was added in 1969 as a stripped down Torino GT. 1970, it started out as the Fairlane 500, Cobra, Torino, Torino Brougham, and Torino GT. In 1970 1/2, the small Falcon was dropped, and the Falcon became a stripped down Fairlane 500, which itself was a stripped down Torino. For 1971, the Fairlane 500 and Falcon were gone, and the lineup was Torino, Torino 500, Torino Brougham, Torino GT. In 1972, the lineup became Torino, Gran Torino, and Gran Torino Sport. The Gran Torino Brougham was added in 1973; it was just an option package for 1972.

Automotive News had an article several months ago about dealerships where the land was more valuable than the business. This is common where real estate is valuable and scarce, like California and Florida, and some dealerships are being sold and the land is being converted to condos.

I agree with you, even though I am a big fan of the '97-'98 redesigns and the current Impala SS and Monte Carlo SS. The original W bodies failed against the Taurus, and GM held onto them too long before redesigning them. My understanding is that the '97-'98 redesigns were to have debuted around '93 or '94, but were cut because of GM's financial crisis in 1992. Even the redesigned W bodies stayed around too long. The failure of the 1988 Cutlass Supreme is one big reason why Oldsmobile is no longer around. I believe that the original W body program cost GM $5 billion, and I think it took a long time for GM to make money on the program.

But it's sad that the cars from this one platform did not sell as well as their predecessors (FWD A and RWD G bodies). Also, the W body is only slightly smaller than the C/FWD G/H bodies, that I wonder if it would have been more efficient to use one platform instead. I do agree that the second generation W bodies ('95 Lumina, '97 Grand Prix, Regal, and Century, and '98 Intrigue) were very attractive cars.

I agree entirely with Hudson. I can't think of one reason, unless Ghosn is a megalomaniac like some say, why Nissan & Renault would want to get involved with GM. There is no guarantee that the new Camaro and other Zeta projects, Lambda, Epislon II, etc. are going to be as successful as most of us hope, and I think it's going to be very difficult for GM to work through its image and legacy problems.

The seats in the DTS I rented in California in May made my back ache, but I loved the Northstar V8 and the handling and steering.

That little wagon is one car that deserves to sell much better than it does.I truly believe that gasoline will be $5.00/gallon within a few years, and that is the one car that would keep me in the Ford family. E-bay is the best place to find old station wagons for sale. If I were mechanically inclined, I would love to buy a big, relatively low mileage station wagon from the late 1960's or 1970's.