G. David Felt

Another UGLY reason to AVOID Tesla! Clearly Musk and the Management team has no Honor as they delay to next quarter and for some into next year that placed their orders early, paid their deposit and just cause now the Tesla S starts $10K higher, they are shipping to the newer reservation holders who are willing to pay the $10K more over early reservation holders who are not having to pay it. Tesla apologizes for new Model S delays, but some worrying things are going on - Electrek

I am liking this, as such I signed up to be a beta tester. Anyone else want to beta test with me? Wearable Air Purifier - Razer Zephyr

Seems while Rivian due to supply issues of parts had to delay delivery of R1T till September, has moved forward with a local buyers event to allow people who have an R1T on order to test drive the R1T at this local event.

Probably the only Lambo that I ever really liked, the Countach. It turned 50 years old this year and now according to a story in The Truth About Cars, seems it will come back for a modern limited run but as a 21st Century modern take on the Countach. Lamborghini Media Center : Lamborghini Countach LP 500 turns 50 years old on March 11, 2021 Lamborghini Countach Returning for Limited Run - The Truth About Cars

This is WAY TOO FUNNY! Small Block Chevy Station Wagon versus top of the line DOHC McLaren 765LT and some gets stomped pretty bad!

Awesome Car, AWESOME MOVIE!

@A Horse With No Name @ccap41 Seems the first pictures of Ranger Hybrids in what is being an assumed FX4 off road package due to hiding of the suspension was caught in Southern European Hot weather testing. Ford has clearly stated they will take their product line Hybrid and then pure EV to meet the stringent European emission requirements and so makes sense they would be testing a Hybrid first in Europe. I suspect it will come out here shortly after going on sale in Europe as I bet a high mileage Ranger especially if it can be had in 4x4/AWD form will be desirable. 2023 Ford Ranger PHEV Prototypes Spied Touring Southern Europe (motor1.com) Seems Old is New with a 21st century twist. Harley Davidson has brought back the bikes of the 70's but with electric assist propulsion. Harley-Davidson is now building incredible looking custom electric bicycles (electrek.co)

Seems the Truth is finally coming out and the fact that Tesla will be very late to the Truck segment. According to this writeup, seems Musk is saying that to build the Cyber truck now in Texas it would have a purchase price of $1,000,000 million dollars plus. $1,000,000 MILLION DOLLARS PLUS The cost of Stainless steel, the required 4680 battery cells, bullet/smash proof glass, the ability to tow and haul as he has stated, the over all cost would still make it a million dollar truck. As such, I suspect what will end up being the real CyberTruck if they stay with the name and design, will not have all the stuff they built it with. Musk Says Cybertruck Would Cost $1-Million A Piece If Built Now (insideevs.com) Also it is interesting that this story says the Cyber Truck now has over 1 million reservations and yet while Musk has implied they have 7 figures of reservations, there is no real facts on this. My gut tells me that Ford, GM and Rivian are going to eat Tesla lunch!

Very cool tech in regards to new trailers that assist with going the distant for BEVs. Towing with an EV: Are electric trailers the future? (greencarreports.com) Exciting to see that attitudes are changing in regards to BEV ownership as sales have still gone up even with chip shortages. US EV sales have been record-breaking so far in 2021, despite supply chain issues (greencarreports.com) Interesting is that what is driving this is not Tesla, but the Ford Mach-e, VW ID.4, and Chevrolet Bolt EUV.

Would be a lovely car with a new paintjob. If that was shiny with clear coat it would probably look amazing.

Totally agree that it sucks you can get a fully loaded Maverick Hybrid but it is FWD only and if you want AWD, you have to go backwards to ICE only. Really sucks as I think they could sell a ton of AWD Hybrids especially in the Lariat version. Sorry Chris, have to agree to disagree my friend. I think this is a solid 3 base hit. Home Run would be Hybrid with AWD and the Trailering package.

Kicking this off as I saw a brand new Cadillac Escalade sport edition all Matte Black. I suspect a custom paint job as I do not see Matte paint on the option list of the web site. New purchase from my local Cadillac dealership I go too. Plenty of blah appliance auto's today, but one consistent observation, so much body damage on 1 and 2 year old auto's from corners of the bumpers crushed in to side swipes. Very weird especially as I saw a number of subcompacts from Honda Fit to Mini with this kind of damage today as I ran to Costco.

Breaking news, Seems with the chip shortage, Ford is allowing people to delete the Auto Start-Stop feature so they can get their trucks sooner. 2021 Ford F-150 Can Be Built Without Start-Stop Under New Plan (fordauthority.com) F-150 Buyers Can Remove Start-Stop To Get Trucks Sooner - CarsDirect New Ford F-150s to be offered without start-stop feature to conserve chips - Page 1 - AR15.COM Seems trucks with reduced electronic tech is becoming a more common feature now that the plan is to allow the option to be removed. GM is also removing the Auto Start-Stop for the rest of the calendar year from their trucks and SUVs/CUVs to continue production as it helps reduce chip use and continues to get out built auto's. GM to build some pickups, SUVs without start-stop feature | Automotive News (autonews.com) GM Building Some Pickups And SUVs Without Start-Stop As Chip Shortage Continues | Carscoops GM removes start/stop from full-size trucks and SUVs with V8 engines (autoblog.com)

Ford month of July saw Mach-e sales grow 15.8 percent, second largest in the electric SUV segment and sales taking off for the F-150 Hybrid, Bronco and a 23 percent climb in accessory sales as Ford continues it's conquest rate over Tesla and others. Yet even as sales have climbed among a electric chip shortage, Ford has moved forward with offering employee buyouts to re-align the jobs and business model along a new path. First off Ford Motor Co. has started a voluntary buyout to employees in the U.S. as they plan to cut 1,000 positions as they reconfigure for growth. The Ford+ growth plan was released / divulged at its Capital Markets Day investor even in May. This is the start of the company diving into further digital services and electric vehicle development. This buyout includes 6 months of salary and 6 months of health care as ford focuses on delivering products that contribute profit to the bottom line and are desired by global customers. This comes as Ford raises 2021 profit outlook. Ford CEO Jim Farley stated in the Quarterly results that Ford has decided to move away from Dealerships stock piling 100's of auto's especially those that have less customer demand and requiring discounts to move them at the end of the year to make a sale. Ford is focusing on dealership inventories of no more than at most 50 to 60 days if not less as Ford wants demo units and will work with dealerships to move customers to an order-based system giving the customer truly what they want rather than what some purchasing manager creates for the lot inventory. Farley stated they are wasting money on incentives and with chip shortages, Ford like all other OEMs is focusing on higher-margin products as Q2 of 2021 has shown with an average revenue of $5,000 per vehicle which added $1.5 billion to the operating profits of Ford. Ford sees an easing of chips which will allow them to stock pile critical components and has moved to dual-sourcing along with design interchangeability for better ease of moving internal components between product lines. Ford is estimating a 30% increase in global sales at it's dealerships for the second half of the year contributing to an estimated increase in operating profits by $3.5 billion with full operating profits for the year to be between $9 and $10 billion. The chip shortage did cut production by about 700,000 units in Q2, yet Ford is very optimistic about the second half especially since the Ford Mach-e is on double digit growth with the bulk of the purchases custom orders. This along with Ford's six figures of F-150 Lighting Electric truck reservations now is showing that people would rather pick what they want on an auto and wait than just pull from a dealership inventory. This build-to-order is proving out with the large backlog of Bronco orders and the growing log of Maverick pickup orders. The increase in sales, profitability and an overall shift by consumers to build-to-order is allowing Ford to plan and focus company free cash flow which is estimated to be between $4 and $5 billion for 2021 directed towards acquisitions, battery production, connectivity software and accessories for life style use by Ford Customers. A very popular add on by Ford Ranger customers is the Tent / Canopy solution allowing people during this pandemic to get out and away from people to live life further embracing the build-to-order model. This profitable quarter along with a shift away from incentive and heavy stock on dealership lots has been taken very positively by the stock market as Ford stock had a 3% gain in after hours trading almost reaching $15 a share. The rest of this year is looking good as Ford continues to product the Bronco, Bronco Sport fulfilling pre-sales, the unibody compact pickup Maverick rumbles into the market as both a Hybrid and ICE with BEV on the horizon. Mach-e sales continue to conquest Tesla sales and continues to grow the backlog of orders and in the spring the F-150 Lightning comes to market already in high demand with over 120,000 reserved so far. This would imply that like Tesla and Rivian, Ford future lays in a build-to-order model moving forward as Ford transitions away from ICE to a BEV portfolio. Ford offers buyouts to salaried workers in effort to shed 1,000 jobs | Automotive News (autonews.com) Ford Mustang Mach-E Sales Grew 15.8 Percent in July, Second Largest In Electric SUV Segment; New Vehicle Launches of F-150 Hybrid, Bronco, Mustang Mach-E Expand Ford’s Competitive Conquest Rate; Ford Accessory Business Climbs 23 percent, On Track To Post New Record | Ford Media Center July Sales (ford.com) Ford raises 2021 profit outlook, eyes shift to build-to-order | Reuters Ford says reservations for F-150 Lightning electric pickup top 120,000 (cnbc.com) View full article

Still think if people want a convertible down the road of future BEV, they will get made on the 4 door auto's. I personally like the T top thing over the Convertible thing.

@surreal1272 Here on the west coast we have a chain called Car Toys. Car Audio & Video, GPS Navigation, Car Speakers/Amplifiers - Car Toys They carry lots of these types of OEM compatible head units. They did my Trailblazer making it look great. Yes, mine was easier than those with big screens now, but still very good assortment of 3rd party audio systems. @regfootball Here is what they carry for your auto as upgrades. 8 Head units, 2 with video and 26 types of speakers. Fitguide - Vehicle Selector (cartoys.com) @Drew Dowdell Here is what they had for your 2013 LTZ Avalanche. I would have to agree to disagree with you that the second one looks very modern 21st century and a nice upgrade over the OEM unit that was in that same space and looked dated. Car Toys has lots of options for your Lucerne. Since I did not know the year, I just plugged in the last year it was made.

Nope, wrong, I can see a market for a proper 4 door convertible since they were liked in the past. Being BEV, they will be roomy and far more useful than convertibles of the past. Not a convertible, but clearly a desirable open air auto!

I honestly do not see 2 door cars surviving past 2030 as young and old want to carry people and 4 doors make it much more comfortable and easy to get people in and out than 2 doors. The few 2 doors that MIGHT survive will be true high end special luxury cars I believe.

Sorry no Spanish or Cuban. 7 1/2 years of Japanese with 3 1/2 years of it being while I lived in Japan going to Kobe University. This king of slang is funny now that I understand it, but wow, to just read it or hear it would not make any sense at all. Kinda like saying GoChu which is Korean for little pepper or is slang for little penis in Korean. Learned slang from my wife.

@Robert Hall I only once considered a personal license plate. This was in College when I also was part of the PBA (professional Bowlers Association) and bowled to help pay my way through college. Thought XXX on a license plate would be cool and then it dawned on me that no one would get it in reference to Bowling, just Porn. Agree, with @Robert Hall and @oldshurst442 I like a clean auto and that includes no bumper stickers or any other type of marking except the OEMs badge. I also as I have on all my auto's darkened windows as I do not like people seeing inside my auto.

OK, so your saying if it flows with the dash, an aftermarket unit will not flow then. Seems the 2019 unit is a plug n play upgrade unit under the dash as you do not replace the screen in regards to what I posted. Very interesting as I have noticed that the screens tend to stay on the last few years auto's compared to my 2008 Trailblazer SS where they replaced everything including the screen.

@trinacriabob Gotta ask, guess my head is not where it needs to be to understand this but what does BREAD 8 Mean?

I have to totally disagree with you as the one in my Trailblazer looks great and fits right into the original place, but way better.

Auto enthusiast have since the dawn of the car had a desire to go faster and in this, the 2 door, 2 person auto was the focus of go fast compared to the 4 door, 4 or 5 person sedan and especially in comparison to CUVs, SUVs and Trucks. Yet in the last few decades we have seen performance Trucks and SUVs / CUVs that have gotten close to what some call Muscle Cars. Even some specialty sedans like the Chevrolet SS of recent decades has also introduced performance fun to the family. Tesla burst onto the scene in the early 2000's and had a Roadster that blew people away that could afford such a novelty with it's gut pounding acceleration. Later came the Tesla S with performance that rivaled many if not just about all of the industry made auto's while not yet beating the European Luxury brands such as Ferrari, Lamborghini or even the Chevrolet Corvette or the top of the line Mustang and Camaro. Continue to speed forward to this current decade and we now have the Tesla S Plaid sedan that truly makes one question how does an ICE Muscle car compete? Is the Answer in how Dodge has approached the electric auto? Dodge Announces Electric Muscle Car for 2024 – Robb Report While Dodge seems to imply that we will still have a 2 door muscle car, the rumor mill has been going crazy that both the Ford Mustang and Chevrolet Camaro will go to a 4 door performance sedan. The amount of Photoshopped versions have been crazy as we see Camaro's like this one done by X-TOMI Design. Then we also have the 4 door Mustang Design, not a warmed over version of the Mach-e but an actual photoshop of what a 4 door mustang would look like. On top of this change with Tesla currently leading the way with the fastest 4 door sedans is that even in the Top End Luxury market, we have companies like Lamborghini that has shown off a 4 door electric performance sedan. This has been followed up by Bugatti stating that they are exploring the change over to a 4 door performance electric sedan replacing their 2 door versions. In 2009 Bugatti showed off their Galibier 16C powered by the big W16 engine and now they are looking at this as the possible future for the brand as a BEV. We also have brands such as Audi who have decided to stick to the top end being luxury sedans with an electric A9 that will be built on the next generation platform that will also be used by Porsche. Originally planned to be released in 2020, it has been delayed a few years due to the Global pandemic. So we have the high end of luxury brands helping to pay for lower tier electric auto's and the global auto industry is now focused on converting over product lines by 2030, 3025 and 2040 depending on which brand you read about. It would be safe to say it is not if but when a product line will be changed over to electric and clearly Ford, Dodge and Chevrolet have been clear that they see their muscle cars will carry on to 2030 in various forms. Yet one cannot ignore the writing on the wall about electrification. As such, it brings the question for discussion here: Will the Traditional American Muscle Car stay 2 doors or go 4 doors? If we go by these stories, it would seem a sure bet that the Camaro electric replacement for the ICE version is 4 doors. There Will Be a New Camaro-But It's a 4-Door Sedan: No! (motorbiscuit.com) The Chevy Camaro Will Be Replaced by an All-Electric Sedan: Report – Robb Report The Chevrolet Camaro Will Be Replaced by 4-Door Electric Sedan - Maxim Chevy Camaro will reportedly be reborn as all-electric, four-door sedan | Tom's Guide (tomsguide.com) The Chevy Camaro Is Reportedly Being Replaced by a 4-Door Electric Sedan - BMW Autoelectrician (bmw-autoelectrician.com) Then we have the rumor mill at it about the Ford Mustang, will it move to 4 doors? Ford Mustang Mach-F Looks Like a Four-Door Electric Pony Car to Rival Tesla - autoevolution This brings us back to the reason for writing this editorial is to bring up the discussion among people: What is a future muscle car? Will the Traditional American Muscle Car stay 2 doors or go 4 doors? Will Chevrolet Camaro become a 4 door Muscle Car? Will Ford Mustang become a 4 door Muscle Car? Is the Dodge Challenger with 2 doors and electric still a muscle car? I encourage people to ask themselves these questions and sound off in the comment section on what they believe the future of Muscle cars will be and why. Bugatti might replace Chiron with a four-door with electric powertrain - Luxurylaunches Lamborghini electric four-door GT sedan in development for 2025, report says (autoweek.com) 2020 Audi A9 C E-Tron,The Four-Door Luxury Electric Car ! (autonews-mag.com) View full article