oldshurst442

Talking about cars, engines and the crap that cars spew. Not about humans. Point being... More humans on the planet...especially in the industrialized areas having jobs and therefore money to consume. To consume cars. Point being, more areas of our planet are being "developed". Developped to consume. From being 3rd world and no industry to speak of, to becoming 1st world and therefore "civilized" to be able to become consumers in buying that brand new shiny red car. And we capitalists ( in the automotive context) are making sure every bloody one of us has a job and credit to buy or lease a brand new shiny red vehicle to get us from point A to point B and since our population is growing, especially in these new industrialized worlds, (yes, I understand that in the US and Canada we are experiencing low birth rates, but we are accepting more and more immigrants from Trump's own words, the shythole countries, and those countries seem to be the ones growing the most, anyways, you get the idea because I just know someone will try to deflect...from the fact that there are more and more humans all across the planet that have the resources to buy brand new shiny red cars... Point being, the population is growing at a very high rate, as now, we are at a stage of our population growth rate that multiplies in compound numbers just BECAUSE of the sheer size of our population... Point being, BECAUSE of the sheer size of our population, the ownership of vehicles will also grow comparably,...relatively speaking...and THAT is where my point is being made...

@ ANYBODY that wants to discuss this. But it is directed towards @ocnblu if he feels like discussing this. Yeah...it was either a downvote or a laughy thingy... MAYBE YOU THINK THIS POST WILL BE LONG... BUT LETS DISCUSS... IT IS AN AUTOMOTIVE FORUM AFTER ALL... UNLESS OF COURSE YOU WANNA TREAT THIS FORUM LIKE THE SUNDAY FUNNIES... But I wanna know why you feel like laughing when in fact...air pollution is a real phoquing problem on our planet... We are 7 billion plus humans and by 2050...its projected we will be 10 billion. I mean...in 1985 there was 4.5 billion or so souls around. In 1960 3 billion and in 1970 3.7 billion. We have doubled our population from the height of the muscle car era. Serious talk now... Dont laugh. Because you are so against EVs and the government forcing us to buy them...but you NEVER seem to wanna discuss it. This is real serious shyte... Los Angeles air was unbreathable several times a year then and it got worse and then CAFE came about and I KNOW you are against that too...but Los Angeles air is better today? Maybe? Because I really dont how you feels about Los Angeles air pollution then and now. Are you in denial it was bad for LA then but its better now? What is it that bothers you about this whole thing? You laugh at us for it or you downvote, but you never seem to discuss it. Cars then were huge and got huge-ier. Engines in 1970 in the North America were just about at the peak of horsepower and torque and got the shyttiest of gas mileage coupled with even shyttier exhaust pollution. Do you deny that also? Where Im going with this. Beijing today is where Los Angeles was. The 3rd world that was then is starting to become the 1st world today. Do you deny that Europe was not economically sound in the 1970s? Asia? Do you deny that these places today enjoy the same economic success that we had in North America in the 1970s? Imagine what shape the planet would be in today if the whole damned planet drove the behemoths that we had during the 1960s and early 1970s (BEFORE the government took our fun away)? Do you deny that the planet would be in a very shytty place today had it NOT been for all that catalytic converter stuff and downsizng of our engines and cars? Yes the party was over and the fun continues to be sucked right out... But you deny that we need to change? What is YOUR solution? Because quite honestly...in a short while...we will be 8 billion people. And yes...we will continue using gasoline and oil for other stuff...but...at least...can we NOT use it for our daily needs for transportation? I mean...is it soooooo phoquing horrible to wean off of gasoline for our daily driven vehicles? Old car batteries could be recycled in usage for powering our commercial industries when they are no longer viable for cars. That kind of thinking could ease off the power grid. Yes. Yes. Recharging the cars will obviously put pressure on the power grid. Ill ask you this.... Aint America about INNOVATION? When Trump says Make America Great Again, in what way did he mean it as and how did his voters interpret it? Because if you tell me that batteries are not gonna work or batteries are pollutants as well... Well... STOP WITH THE BULSHYTE ARGUMENTS and START INNOVATING? (yes question mark because some Americans have become too phoquing complacent in their big fat ass (literally|) ways and just whine and bitch but do NOTHING about it...but also bitch about how good the good 'ole days were) The thing is...this is the way the PLANET wants it to be. There are some that DONT want change but others want change. PHOQUE IT!!! FIND PHOQUING SOLUTIONS!!! Because the internal combustion engine is NOT the solution for the next 100 years!!! Whether you want to believe it or not!!! Whether you like it or not, It WAS the solution 100 years ago. The planet is no longer where it was a decade ago, let alone 100 years ago...

However...the guvment DOES tell homosexuals that they cant marry. Forget about a religious marriage...that is a different discussion... Im talking about a legal government document that does not recognize same sex unions... The thing is...Blu.. and you could downvote because that is what you will do... POLLUTION You could try to make a case for batteries being bad for the environment... BUT... Ive said this before...keep an internal combustion engine car running without proper ventilation and see how long you will live. Now...with proper ventilation...where does that shyte go? In the atmosphere, right? Well....BECAUSE of DENIAL with the internal combustion engine being bad for the air that we breath...and every other living thing on this planet...governments are FORCING us to change our habits because WE will NOT do it WILLFULLY. If you give me the money argument... Ill just tell you there is NO amount of money in ANY universe, real or imagined, that puts a value on the damned planet we ALL live in!!! If you cant see that...Im sorry.

That '57 Chevy pic. Just Mother Nature reclaiming what is rightfully hers. Sad for the Chevy. Great for the tree! That FWD truck and chapel pic. Somehow, Dean Martin came to my mind.

I saw a similar Nissan today. White with a similar stripe. It didnt say Micra on it, just a solid black stripe with a smaller red one alongside it. It even had the same red side mirrors. It looked good that I took two glances to see it well. _________________________________________________________________________________________________ I dont mind clone versions of top level muscle cars or any model car for that matter. Sometimes, the top trim level of a model looks better than the lesser model so he/she who wants to put all his/her time and money on HIS/HER build, its HIS/HER money and HIS/HER time and effort so they could do the hell they want with THEIR project car. Especially as more and more numbers matching classics are becoming more and more rarer, and when one restores a classic with new vintage parts as the old original parts are so far gone with rust or impossible to repair dents and when the old big block is tired and rebuilding may not be a viable economical answer and engine swapping is necessary. I got a problem with a clone version being sold to someone on the premise that its an original. THAT would be FRAUD. If the seller states that its a clone, then Im all good. Sometimes though, to be more different, the lesser trim model looks to be more unique as most project cars all go fopr that same cloned look. I absolutely LOVE the 1969 GTO especially in The Judge clothing...but...BECAUSE there are SOOOOOO many The Judge clones out there, that burgundy LeMans is truly the most interesting between the two.

The one on top reminds me of this tune I love classic rock-n-roll and rockabilly!!!

Meant to write regular Charger Hellcat... Im planning something similar for the wife and I for when we both reach that age as well.

I did the Montreal autoshow sooooo quickly this year. In and out in a record 40 minutes. Saw the new C8 Vette. There were three. A coupe on a rotating thing center stage showcased for Chevrolet. A roadster and a Targa coupe on the floor. We couldnt get to sit inside them. We couldnt even touch them as there were ropes around each. I did stay there a few minutes gawking... Went to Cadillac. Saw the CT4-V and CT5-V. sat inside those. I loved both. Ferrari. There was a Superfast 812, a 458 Pista of some sort and the other Ferrari I forgot what model it was. Like I dont remember what it was. Anyway. I stayed there a few minutes as well as I was mesmerized by all three. All three with that fiery Ferrari red colour. Lamborghini had several models. Nothing that caught my eye as Ive seen them before with previous shows I have attended. McLaren had several models too. Including the new GT thingy. Saw the GT one quickly. It was OK. I prefer the Vette and Ferraris over the GT McLaren. Ove ANY McLaren really. Awesome machines. Boring exteriors. The Ford GT500 was there. Like the Vette C8, there was a rope around it. I was surprised that I like it. In pictures, I dont like the front fascia. In person its GORGEOUS!!! Both Hellcats were there. One Challenger Red Eye wide body and one Challenger regular Hellcat. sat in the Red Eye for a few minutes. I took my time looking at the NSX. Love the NSX too. And...that was it! By passed BMW. By passed Mercedes, Audi, Buick...every other car maker seemed like a waste of time for me... Even Aston Martin I by passed. THAT was a shocker to me as I ALWAYS stare at those for a few minutes...

Exactly THAT myself!!!

I got a bipolar relationship with both sand and snow. I dont dislike sand, but I dont like it either. Yes. It IS course and rough and irritating and it DOES get everywhere. But I could live with it EASILY on a beach. I prefer a pebbly beach but you dont have to twist my arms for me to enjoy a nice sandy beach. I may not like blowing sand in Arizona. Especially sandblasting it on my car. I HATE snow. I HATE the freezing weather even more. I LOVE a good 1 foot plus snow storm from time to time. I HATE shoveling it. I LOVE a good snowball fight. I LOVE skiing. I HATE brushing it off my car. I LOVE maple syrup on snow when we go to la cabane a sucre. . I HATE slush in the springtime.

Late 1980s and 1990s beer commercials always inspired me. But then again, I was of that certain age when partying and skirt chasin' was in my almost daily itinerary. However, every beer bottle I ever opened up, I never seemed to be transported immediately to a BBQ pool party with bikini clad girls partying around me. Methinks I got hosed...

In the age of streaming AND internet usage as a whole. Social media with platforms like Facebook and Twitter. Which lends itself to personalized ads through controversial privacy shenanigans.

Cadillac did not have to make an Escalade V with gi-normous horsepower upgrades. Even with the horsepower wars STILL going on. As an enthusiast, I think they should myself. As a business owner, Ill say: Hold on a minute! Easy profit YOU say... Ill say maybe? Maybe not. The small R&D money needed to engineer room to package the supercharged V8 in the Escalade engine bay. The small R&D money needed to create new body panels to differentiate it from the other lesser models. The small R&D money needed to safety crash it and approve it. All that creativity and energy and money spent may not have been enough and worthwhile to recuperate even with a higher price tag for a market that simple may NOT be there... The Escalade always sold well. Especially towards its competition. There was NO NEED to invent a new niche for it. Simply put, monies and energies were needed elsewhere...especially when the market deems 400 some odd horsepower ENOUGH for the Escalade... Like the independant suspension thing. It took long enough, right???!!! Well, there was no need to fix that aspect. But finally, for the next gen Escalade in 2021, Cadillac saw that the time is now for independent suspension. Maybe a hi-po V version is what Cadillac people are seeing for 2022? Maybe not... Like I said before, the Escalade engineers and marketers KNOW what the Escalade is and what its not. And if they deem that the time is right for a V version, then the market will see a V version... You could shyte on GM all you want for whatever reason you want...and you will probably have a good argument on your side, for your side. BUT...there are 2 models at GM that GM gets right each and every time. And nobody should question what they are doing with them. Those 2 models are the Corvette and the Escalade. Both the Corvette and Escalade engineering and marketing teams are really really dialed into their products.

^^^ I stand corrected!

I, once again, never thought downsizing of engine size was a problem during the 1980s. Gas prices were still high. But I see that complaint often enough. I thought more of a problem was going all in with FWD. Not that was a problem, but maybe GM could have eased up on that for Cadilllac. I thought that some of those models resembling too much like the other lesser GM brands with the badge engineered Cimarron being front and center was another big issue. Example: the 1986 Eldo resembling too much like an Oldsmobile Cutlass Calais and the 1988 Seville looking like a Delta 88 . I would have thought that was more the issue rather than the engines that powered them. It was the 1980s and most engines of that time were small in displacement with low HP numbers after all. But I could see as to how that was a problem with your examples. There was nothing wrong with the 1990s STS. It was a solid car. Solid quality. Solid luxury. I did put the blame on the gasket problems of the Northstar and that was just another huge step backwards for Cadillac as the 1990s progressed. The Catera had its own issues that did not help Cadillac either.

Yes we are. And now you have intrigued me. Although I do know Cadillac's downward spiral started in the 1970s, I didnt realize interior quality was an issue then. I thought it was a product issue as not the right product for the changing times rather than a quality interior problem. Unless of course the heavy velour, was deemed a problem then. I honestly dont think it was. Tacky? SURE! But I thought that was the definition of luxury then. Mercedes' interiors were cheap then. And if they had leather, it was thin leather. It was an interior that always seemed to be lacking in substance. I dont think it was a problem then. I think that was a problem. Yes. The CTS made inwards as sports sedans was the flavour de jour regarding econobox luxury. At that time though, the 1st gen CTS was also another case of too little too late, but more realistically, not enough. The interior of the 1st gen CTS was horrid. The BMW 3 Series was at that point in time, at its height of greatness on all levels. Had the 1st gen CTS' interior been more of a Cadillac's rather than a mid level Chevy, and Cadillac continued on that trend, then we wouldnt be having this conversation today about missed opportunities and market share and Cadillac image problems. I guess I answered this part opposite of your point of view. I think it was a problem and continues to be in the grand scheme of things. But I guess the bigger problem at Cadillac during the last 2 decades would be a lack of the right product to sell to the right people for the sign of the times. They got the idea of the sports sedan right with the Catera, except it was the wrong execution with the wrong car. The 1st and 2nd gen CTS was the right product but aimed at the wrong niche. It was marketed properly though. But the interiors were not worthy of a Cadillac. The German luxury triplet brands just capitalized on the shame and hatred that Americans had for the American automobile with marketing... The Ultimate Driving Machine Engineered Like No Other Both tag lines aimed squarely at the emotions of Americans towards their own automobile industry. There was no longer a party in the back of a Cadillac.

Yeah. I see what I said. I see what you did there also. Let me rephrase what I said. Its too damned bad that the 1st gen CTS, the RWD STS and the 2nd gen CTS did not have quality and refinement deemed worthy of the Cadillac nameplate that was made famous back in the golden era of Cadillac. The CT5 V and CT4 V possess this forgotten trait, and its about time Cadillac got its shyt together. Its just that with ICE sports sedans, it maybe too little too late. The XT6's interior should have had the same treatment as those new sports sedans though. The 2021 Escalade's interior looks like the trend continues like the new sports sedans... PS: This aint about BMW. I dont care for BMW. I care for Cadillac. Cadillac in the year 1997, 2001, 2005...1986...should have NEVER sunk that low with its image and interior quality and luxury to begin with...

Ill agree with you there... A BIGGER problem for Cadillac is NOT punching above their weight class. But Cadillac BEING the weight class. Its the "the Cadillac of" meme that has to return to Cadillac products in quality and in luxury that needs to return to Cadillac. Like you said...the XT6 is not that kind of Cadillac. It aint bad. Its just OK, par for the course for the market standard in its class. But THAT is NOT what Cadillac stands for. I sat in the new CT5 V at the Montreal auto show... Now THAT is what a Cadillac should look like on the inside and the outside (minus that C Pillar blunder). But for a sports sedan...an ICE one at that...its too little too late! Its too damned bad this level of car was NOT the 1st gen or even the 2nd gen CTS or 1st gen RWD STS... The CT5 V interior was sublime. Notice I said CT5 V. I dont know about the lower trim CT5 as Cadillac only had the CT4 V and CT5 V present. The CT4 Vs interior was also great. Too damned bad that the XT6 could not be that good either... But Cadillac shouldnt be playing in that small car sandbox either. People for the last part of the last decade and into a new decade want BIG Cadillacs again. I could feel that vibe in crappy Quebec. Im shocked the Cadillac folk over at New York (former new Cadillac HQ?) and Detroit dont feel it...

Holden... I miss Pontiac, Oldsmobile. I will miss Holden just as much as I do Plymouth. Which is not much. Before I get hate from MOPAR folk...my reality of Plymouth is crappier versions of really, really...REALLY crappy badge engineered Chrysler FWD cars of the 1980s and 1990s. The ONLY Plymouth that I really cared for during that time would be the Prowler. And that car even became a Chrysler for a year or two... Holden...I got to be greatful because of the new GTO(which Canada never got), the Pontiac G8, the Camaro (which I actually hate), and the Chevy SS (which Canada also never got) so basically...like Plymouth, its only 1 model that really touched me in MY time. There are classic Plymouths that I love, but those are so far removed from my reality, those Plymouths just as well be cars from a different market all together....like Holden for instance. But yeah...folk Down Under must feel great pain today. I do have feels for them.

What are the costs related to reprocessing nuclear waste? Is it worth it? How dangerous is it? Nuclear power plants, no matter how we want to downplay the dangers, nuclear power plants are risky AF. Recycling and reprocessing the waste, is it just as risky? I know storing the waste is risky AF... I also know by reprocessing nuclear waste, the recuperated uranium, thorium could be re-used...but...like I said, no matter how we want to downplay the dangers, nuclear power plants are risky AF... There is no simple solution. It seems no matter what kind of energy source we want to use to power our lives with, it screws with the environment and our welfare either way. Therefore, instead of trying to make one side of any argument look ridiculous, we should try to fix the damned problem. But that is impossible to do as in any case for or against any solution, many ass40les in all cases have hidden monetary agendas...including that Forbes article on top.

Well...the other reality and truth to all of this is that Cadillac screwed itself with not being the best of the best. 1. 8-6-4 V8 2. Cimarron badge engineering BS 3. Northstar V8 gasket fiasco In that period of time, those 3 events caused the lack of faith in the brand. Then Cadillac did not favours to itself by going down that same rabbit hole with the Opel Omega badge engineered Catera. Although people did not know what an Opel Omega was, that car was not a Cadillac. At best, it was a Pontiac or even a Chevrolet. Then half baked products like the 1st gen CTS, XLR. Then no balls to actually produce awe inspiring concepts they wooed the world with. The one they actually did, was half baked... XLR Every since the 1st gen CTS...Cadillac has taken the right steps for people to forget about those 3 cataclysmic events from the 1980s and 1990s. They just fail to build upon that momentum. They fail to recognize the oomph they got from Cien, Ciel, ElMiraj. In 2020, maybe those products are not right for Cadillac as times have changed again. But, they need to recognize that in 2020 going forward, people want a Cadillac what Cadillac always represented as an emotion and as a physical object itself. Cadillac product planners and marketing people need to acknowledge that formula and tell the engineers what that is so the engineers could build it and marketing people could sell it. Its as simple as that. What is that formula? Its 115 years of excellence. Its the Dewar Trophy. Its the V16. Its the Coupe DeVille and Eldorado. Its the Escalade. Its the countless images of stretched limousines. Its "the Cadillac of " memes 100 years BEFORE memes were ever a thing. They know they got it. They just dont use it...

Is that Forbes article for real? I did not read it fully aas I stopped because I saw some pretty ridiculous stuff in it. Greta and Sanders may or may not be nuts, fake alarmists or just plain naive. Or they could even be correct...I aint debating that part of that article. I am dumbfounded though on the downplaying of nuclear... I saw that it defends hydro-electric power and questions those who oppose it, but I aint here to debate that either...again...its the nuclear part that caught my eye...) 1. WW3 is said to have be avoided by the slimmest of margins back in '62. If not WW3, then a nuclear war between the US and the USSR for sure... The cold war ended sometime in the 1980s or even the 1990s, but nuclear war is always at high alert as the US is NOT the sole owner of nuclear warheads. It be cool had it only been between the US and the USSR. But as we all know, from the 1970s all through to 2020...and beyond, more and more nations have discovered the power of splitting atoms to use as a weapon against fellow humanity... And that threat today does not end with rogue nations as we in the West like to call them like maybe North Korea or Iran...but by a gang of freedom fighters fighting for whatever cause they want to fight for against anybody or nation or innocent people they deem necessary for revenge... But war has NOTHING to do with renewable energy sources... BUT IT DOES EVENTUALLY...and hence why people maybe afraid of nuclear powerplants... Those two quotes CASUALLY IGNORE the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster. It COMPLETELY FORGETS past Nuclear reactor meltdowns, (3 Mile Island and Chernobyl) but those 3 events CLEARLY spook us humans. And those were human and natural disaster ERRORS... In a time of war...nuclear power plants could be used against a people in a region by PURPOSEFULLY destroying these power plants and nuclear waste and radiation would leak destroying EVERYTHING around that powerplant for many many years...THAT would be the SAME as a nuclear war, but the result would NOT be by nuclear war heads being dropped, but by a nuclear power plant being destroyed... ALSO... NUCLEAR WASTE... The article does NOT mention NUCLEAR WASTE. It talks about the environment and goes into hydro-electric stuff by defending it where as some greenies oppose the flooding etc...but again...in the same breath...the article does NOT mention what are we to do with all that NUCLEAR WASTE... If real estate is a focal point in defending and attacking various tree huggers trying to defend nuclear power plants... Maybe defending nuclear power plants may NOT be the way to go.... I get what the article is trying to do....trying to make Greta and Sanders look like hypocrites...but the article attacking all those greenies like Greta and Sanders is hypocritical itself... It aint doing the author any favours. The author looks just as hypocritical and foolish... Just My Humble Opinion Though... which may or may NOT be that humble...

How does one calculate love? I never thought one could quantify love. A dog will kill any threats to protect its master. THAT is a fact. Another fact: A cat will kill prey and present it to its master (care giver) as a token of appreciation. I know that has psycho applications...that aside, that says a lot about how much love a cat has for its master/care giver. I think the difference is this: A cat, although domesticated, I dont think a cat could fully be tamed. I dont think its in a cat's DNA to have a master. But a cat is quite happy to have a care giver. And if a human takes good care of his/her cat, then that love and respect is reciprocated. There is a reason why the saying goes: A dog is man's (as in mankind's in today's PC world) best friend. A dog needs a master, and a master needs a dog. Its a symbiotic relationship. And that defines the differences between cats and dogs and humans. Im a dog person myself. If I were to have a pet, a dog it would be. The bigger dogs. The bigger, guard dog type. German Sheppards, Dobermans, Huskies, Labradors (not that LAbs are pure guard dogs...) But you get the picture... With that being said. I love cats too. I love the way cats are felines and they behave EXACTLY like a lion or tiger or cougar... They hunt they same way. They are stealthy the same way. They are agile and fast in the same way. Yet, they see a human as a friend (or foe), but not as possible food source. You got to respect that. A hungry, rabid dog, will ALWAYS go back to its ancestor'a DNA...wolf, coyote... and quite possibly see a human as a food source. That would be another difference...

I present to you the BMW 1 Series Hatch, 2 Series Grand Coupé (4 doors) and 2 Series Coupe. Based on a certain MINI...dont know which one. Dont really care either. All these years...all those shytty American car magazines....all these asshat American car buyers swearing off GM, Ford forever because of downsizing and FWD architecture and them switching to the German brands.. All that commotion, bitching about wrong wheel drive and torque steer... ALL THOSE BMW CUVs...ALL THOSE BMW 3 SERIES and 5 SERIES WITH AWD SOLD SINCE THE 2000s... ( AWD...adding weight for nothing!!!) THE ULTIMATE DRIVING MACHINE ? I NOW HAVE THE LAST LAUGH!!! AND A BIG MIDDLE FINGER TO ALL THOSE BMW DOUCHE BAGS AND AMERICAN AUTOMOBILE JOURNALISTS IN THE 1980s AND 1990s THAT SHYTTED ON FWD PONTIACS AND CADILLACS ALL THESE YEARS!!!