oldshurst442

yup!!! I nix my comment about old school personal libraries and me forking over money to fund me one of these. Ill take a hint about what @Robert Hall said... and I too, could move on from paper and as long as digitally, there are reliable sources to info such as digital Britannica...then Im good.

I see similarities in this with my life during the same time frame as yours. Before I begin I would like to offer my condolences with the passing of your dad. The mid 1990s for me was just school and partying. Not taking life too seriously. But then in 1996-1997, never liking school because I couldnt do what I really wanted to do with my life, I too started my career in more or less in the same time frame as yours. I opened up my restaurant. I dropped university to do so, never finishing and getting my degree (in marketing)I decided to work long and hard hours (in my own business at least) to compensate for the lack of a bachelors or even a masters degree. Another similarity being that I too, had dreams about my career path that never panned out the way I wanted so I had to settle for something else. That ultimately did pan out. And Im assuming your career path is ultimately successful too from what Im understanding with our short conversations we have in these forums. I still partied hard when I first opened up my restaurant as I was still a young man. And single. Boy, I wasnt mature during that time. Mature enough to own and manage and work my restaurant with my partner, and responsible enough not to blow all my money on partying and girls, but definitely not marriage material. (this is where I may differ from you...and Im sorry your engagement to your fiance fell apart...but maybe for the better? ) Then the new millennium came and just like that, I was ready to settle down. And I met my now, wifey. My restaurant had established itself in the community as a great place for a quick bite to to eat and I was ready to be a man. And I had to learn fast that a wife...is NOT your mommy... I did have a hiccup along the way as I opened up a second restaurant. A Greek and Italian cuisine themed restaurant, as opposed to this one which ia a fast food joint, that...failed. This was a decade ago. Like you, I had a "start-up" that failed... My dad passed away in 2006, about a decade after your passing of your dad. Although my life may not have happened like yours exactly like yours, philosophically, its similar in a similar time frame. I too, am excited to see what the next decade will bring. As long as we have, what the French call, "La joie de vivre" and we will both be fine.

Same here. The Y2K scare seems to me like it was yesterday... I dont feel like Im 20 years older. But everything around me says otherwise. I got married a couple years after Y2K and now my beautiful, blushing bride is a mom of two teenagers. I understand Mr. DFelt though, because after the new millennium, its easy to forget that 2006 is in a different decade than 2016. We still think in terms of "new millennium" and the 2000s... We are 20 years removed, 2 decades removed, from the year 2000, but we are still in the "new millennium" of the 2000s. And still quite early in the 2000s. When we pass this current decade and enter the 2030s, maybe then we will stop seeing the Y2Ks as the "new millennium".

Im in both camps of in favour of Wiki and not in favour of Wiki. Wiki is NOT a reliable source of info. Especially when one wants to have 100% pure unadulterated proof of something being an event, historical or otherwise, or specifications of numbers of something. It is however, a valuable site for information that gets close enough to the truth to casually get you by. Like how @Robert Hall was saying. But like @balthazar is saying, Wiki is not the site you go to either. I use Wiki for fast info. I also use Wiki to confirm information that I already knew but forgot or I wasnt quite sure of. But when I do use Wiki for fast information, Im also conscience and cautious to realize and understand that the information I got may be erroneous somewhat. Close to the truth, but flawed in someway or other... I think its good that its free for us to use when we want to access it. I think its cool and understand the reasons behind the founder of the site does not want to go the advertising route (as that will most probably skew information even worse as it is now in its current state) but I certainly wont be giving MY money to a site that may contain false information either. I would prefer to pay thousands of dollars to my very own personalized home library containing all kinds of encyclopedias and magazines and then give lots and lots of money to my local neighborhood school and municipal library to maintain and acquire lots and lots of educational books, the old school way the way it used to be, than to give a measly dollar to Wikipedia... No...I aint a Boomer that does not like technology. I love the internet and what the internet means for humanity going forward. Instant communication and transfer of information. What took centuries and decades and years and months and days to transfer and share information now only takes seconds... The internet is humanity's latest and greatest invention that made us evolve and change the way we live for ever like how we invented tools and the wheel and fire.... But, sometimes, the internet and its information that it contains, and the way we use all that, is seriously flawed...and while Wiki is awesome...Wiki is like your know-it-all uncle or dad... you realize that your know-it-all uncle or your know-it-all dad maybe wrong more often than not...

Not doubting your love for these vehicles. Not discrediting you for your choices either, especially when you actually own them. But...those would belong in the decade preceding the one that just just left us. Happy New Year by the way!!! 2010-2019...

Modern designers designing cars dont seem to care about the rear as much as the old days. But maybe, I found the best example of a rear end that may have a "cove"? I know its one of the nicest rear ends by today's standards so all is not lost with this post if not a cove. Aston Martin Vanquish Zagato

Challengers of the early 1970s. Platform mate 'Cuda of the same years Pontiac GTO Mustang

About those Rivieras...the comparison of the interiors of the first generation 1963-1964 and the last generation 1995-1999. Its kinda cool that the last gen really emulated the look of the 1st generation. Its kinda cool that that the last generation book-ended the end of the Riviera by imitating the 1st gen interior. It kinda ended up that way. That would be a bummer though that Buick never again gave us a Riviera. Another bummer would be: Its a damned shame that even though the last gen imitated the 1st gen's interior, its a huge shame that Buick gave us a very cheap plasticky interior for it... The original is a zillion times more luxurious... What is Buick? One look at the original and you immediately understand what is Buick. One look at the 1995 interior and you understand why Buick is where its at in the market place in 2019...

Do Corvettes qualify? Maybe the concave is not concave enough and its not flanked by enough closure at the sides?

Several years, Cougar had a "cove" rear, but I not only do I prefer the 1969 version, but I think the 1969 rear exemplifies it the best. 1961 Continental Balthy, you already posted a version of it, but I want to post it again as a Galaxie 500 XL 1963 Impala SS.

These are my personal best cars of the last decade. "Best" in my case means different things. It may mean forever game changing in the car world or it may mean the bestest of the bestest in the quest for speed or it may mean simply the best and better than all the rest or it may mean what I like the best. 1. Tesla Model S. It truly changed the way the world views electric cars and it very well be the one and only electric car that ever existed in the history of EVs that all EVs are judged by and produced and manufactured and sold as. The absolute standard for EV cars going forward into the future and the only EV car ever that single handedly made the ICE world change to ITS standard. 2. Dodge Challenger Hellcat. For me, the bestest of the bestest of all muscle cars ever to grace our streets. The end all, be all of the muscle cars. It made the modern horsepower wars fun like it was back in the good 'ole days (so Ive heard as I wasnt alive during that time). It made exotic supercars cars question themselves and the ONLY ICE car that keeps rabid EV and Tesla fanbois sleepless at night. The Hellcat can keep up and actually surpass the "ludicrously" crazy fast acceleration that Teslas are known for and the Hellcats (Demon) can do that non-stop with trick A/C cooling but that poor Tesla goes into limp mode and Viagara cant help it. When driving a Hellcat, Viagara is not needed as that V8 sound is seduction times a trillion. 3. Chevrolet SS The closest an American car got to have the feels of the coveted BMW sport sedan persona. And not only did it achieve it, it out-BMWed it in this modern era as BMW themselves have lost it. Although Cadillac also achieved this, I am more of a blue collar guy than a snooty 1%er. Its too bad that Oldsmobile wasnt around to get a version of this as Olds would be more me than Chevy, however, the interior of the SS is more akin to a REAL Oldsmobile interior than it is to Chevys, so there is that. And, more importantly...its still a muscle car. A very usably 4 door sedan muscle car. It retains that big cubed, high HP and high torque at low RPMs that muscle car V8s are known for under the hood. 4. Ford F-150 Raptor Surprisingly, Ive started changing my mind with fullsized pick-up trucks. Not that I hated them, but I was more of a car guy. I dont like CUVs,, but fullsized BOF SUVs or the Jeeps like Wrangler and Grand Cherokee is at my limits. But those fullsized pick-up trucks. They rock when I start to look at them without my biased car eyes. Ive ALWAYS loved the muscle trucks and I always loved Big Foot. So...with Big Foot in mind, the Raptor would be my best 2010-2019 vehicle. Seeing that this last decade, no real muscle truck existed, but Ford did introduce a beast of an offroader fullsized pick-up WITH muscle car power under the hood. OK...the last gen got a turbo V6, but...its got the torque and HP numbers to make muscle cars shake in fear in their shoes tires. Dont forget though...GM's midsized muscle trucks of the early 1990s were turbo V6s too... 5. Ferrari 812 Superfast It took me a loooong time to decide upon this one. I wanted a Corvette. Or maybe the last Viper ever. But then I realized. The 812 Supefast IS a Corvette AND a Viper all in one while retaining its Ferrari greatness. 6.5 liters. 396 or so cubic inches of 12 cylinder, 789 naturally aspirated HP madness. What it lacks in torque, "only" 553 ft/lbs, it gains in outstanding acceleration runs, in crazy, muscle car like prowess in ride as its a GT car and not a track car which translates to what I love about muscle cars. In other words, Ferrari created, IN MY EYES, an Italian version of a 1969 aluminum block 427 Corvette ZL-1, a 1996 Viper GTS coupe, with the finest Ferrari Italian leather in the interior with their latest and greatest V12. The Viper is not with us anymore, the Corvette has gone down the European road of mid-engined , RWD engineering but...Ferrari has EMBRACED the "no replacement for displacement" muscle car mantra and upped its V12 to 396 cubic inches and retained the awesome long hood,/short deck, front engine/rear wheel drive layout.

So that is how the rumour started? From a stupid Motor Trend article? Motor Trend was never a highly reliable source of facts on automobiles and the like, but it has become quite the tabloid media as of late... The dyno test of the C8 last month should gives us a clue as to what drivel comes out of that rag tag mag.

I more inclined to take this approach. @smk4565 mentioned loss leaders. Those are traditionally the entry level cars. The Corvette is NOT by ANY means an entry level loss leader type of car. More often than not, companies lose money on specialty cars like Lexus and its LFA. But that was more of a mismanaged project. Too many engineering changes. And when companies lose money on specialty projects its often because their business model was flawed from the get-go... Corvette has been well thought of for the last 20 years, since the C5 on how to make money on it. A STRONG business case was made to keep it after the C5 AND after the bankruptcy and a strong business plan to make money on its low volume was surely and undoubtedly been implemented.

PS: About the Corvette C8... The rumour is that GM makes money on an 80 000 C8 Vette. They lose money below that. Ok...there is another rumour that the C8 is sold out already... Or the allocation for the year is sold out... Who is to say that the folk that saw the C8 and put a deposit on one went all nuts with the options and most if not all C8s sold will be over 80 000? YOU make it sound like the Vette will be a money loser... I say it will be a MASSIVE money maker right from the get go on its 1st year introduction... Many people want this car... The C8 no matter what price you pay for it, is a steal of a bargain for what you get for a supercar...

VW will lose their shirts in this EV thing...especially when Audi's EV intro is a dud. Porsche wont fair to good either. Dude, its Porsche. The Model S hands its ass to it in performance, and in range. And the Model S is 8 years old now. Tesla's new battery and motor is soon to come. The Roadster will be Tesla sports car and nothing in Porsche's ICE aresenl, never you mind EV will touch the Roadster. The Model S also is going track racing. The Model 3 track pack handles better than the Model S at a track, but now Tesla race engineers are working to get the Model S some track cred....and it looks like it will spank the Taycan's ass in that area too. Porsche....will lose to Tesla in track racing... How phoquing embarssing is that for Porsche???!!! Luxury...give it some time...Tesla will do that too in-house. Tesla Model S owners that are bazillionnaires go aftermarket on the interior. Like some do with Corvettes and restomodded muscle cars... So that is a moot point... The luxury here is the tech. And Tesla wins hands down over the Germans... The Corvette C8... GM is a big big company. The tech they use in Vettes will filter on down to the rest of GM's line-up. The stuff that makes Corvettes lose money BELOW 80 thousand, in time, through economies of scale, will start making money for Corvette... This is the first year for mid-engine tooling and bespoked Corvette mid-engined parts... Let the C8 sell a few thousand on this platform...and then the tooling will be paid off... The C9 and C10 wont have the tooling costs be factored in. The composite materials used in the C8 will be used in the Evs for Cadillac. The electrification of some sensors...communication stuff for internet up-grades a la Tesla starts with the Corvette...and that costs the C8 a ton of money...but...the Tahoe and the Yukon and Suburban and the Escalade will all have that as well...bringing that cost down on the Corvette C8... Not too mention every other GM car going forward... and so forth and so forth... GM has lost money on Corvettes in the past. GM has made money on Corvettes in the past... And most importantly, GM has LEARNED HOW to make money on the Corvette and hence whay the Corvette is with us with a brand new, expensive as hell, loaded up to the gills with tech C8... GM has a zero-zero-zero program by 2030... test mules mean nothing.... test mules are vapour ware I already answered all that in my long post...with the exception of off roading capable EVs... The thing is...Mercedes does not have an off-roading EV either...

Tesla outsells Mercedes in the electrics vehicles department. And THAT is what counts in this topic in this thread. Tesla has better tech than Mercedes. Tesla has better public perception in EVs than Mercedes. Tesla even has MORE profits than Mercedes in EVs... And THAT is saying something, isnt it???!!! And as you put it and if Mercedes does not have what it takes to compete with Tesla, or even Cadillac in the EVs department...no matter when that change happens...that it ABSOLUTELY matters because as you put it...eventually everything will be electric...and if Mercedes fails...and Porsche...than Mercedes and Porsche will join Oldsmobile...and THAT is the bottom line. You could laugh at that...but GM is already selling a BEV. GM already has experienced what real world problems that BEVs face... GM has already learned what to do and what NOT to do with BEVs in the market place. That is a leg up on Mercedes, isnt it? GM has already learned how to compete DIRECTLY with Tesla. Albeit with a product that does not compete with the Model 3, it does as an EV sharing somewhat the same price point... Mercedes is not only behind Tesla, Mercedes is behind GM too... NOT a good place to be in....

Not exactly. IF Cadillac matches at the very least, Tesla in all specs...Cadillac has a fighting chance. Tesla fanbois and EV rabid fanbois, view other EVs, if they dont match Tesla in specs...as COMPLIANCE cars. THAT is the difference. its not all about the Tesla brand. Some of it is also about Tesla technology being what it is. Musk has shown to be a fool. SANE folk dont follow this guy like a God... Tesla fanbois will always buy Tesla...it dont matter what Mercedes or Cadillac do. This is true... But there are Tesla buyers that are NOT fanatics and just want an EV to be at the very least something resembling Tesla specs. Why would a current Tesla owner trade-in his Tesla for a lesser product from Porsh-uh or Mercedes or Audi or Jaguar? He/She WONT! He/She will coninue to buy a Tesla as long as Tesla is on top of that technology. Yes...Mercedes retracted because they KNOW they will fall short in the specs and will take a MAJOR hit in sales BECAUSE of it. They see the Audi and Jaguar sales failures. And its not only about them losing money because of the sales failure...BUT with the public perception of Mercedes FAILING at EVs and that is no bueno for their EV future...like I said...EV fanbois do NOT like EV compliance cars. Maybe they are thinking that that failure might also affect their ICE perception too...who knows??? /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Bottom line is this. Tesla has the technology that out-performs the current state of EVs. REAL competiton for Tesla will happen when all others AT LEAST comes close to what specs Tesla has... Another is product. The right product has to be available for sale. The right sized CUV, nicely styled CUV, etc... If the right product IS available for sale, but the specs fall short of Tesla specs, Tesla will continue to dominate. My last sentence is more like a "duh" statement more than anything else.

LOL I AINT DENYING THAT!!!

I honestly do not know what I want to own next. There is literally NOTHING out there that excites me. Especially when my current car...*sigh*...I hate mentioning it...a 2012 Acura TL SH-AWD is still a pretty good ride for me. Nothing entices me in any brand to part ways with my car. I do not want a CUV. I want a sedan. Sedans are leaving us. I HATE my car's successor from Acura, the TLX. I do like the Buick Regal sportsback or whatever its called. It too will die. But like I said, the Regal does not entice me enough to trade in my current car. I LOVE being car payment free. A Tesla Model 3? Nah...Ill wait out the EV trend until later. When more choices are out there. Although the Mach-E seems cool. But no thanx. A Cadillac CT5? I like. I like a lot. But Id have to buy a CT5 that is fits my mental budget allowance for a car. I dont want to spend MORE that 50 000 CDN including taxes on a car. I think a CT5 could fit that budget. But it also depends what powertrain that includes at that price... But then again, its a Cadillac. I do not see myself as a Cadillac type of a guy. But there is no more Oldsmobile, so Cadillac should do...but...I like being car payment free... Im keeping my car for another 5 years at least. And in 5 years, who knows what will be offered? Unless of course my car suffers from catastrophic failure, and I hope that does NOT happen as Im not really excited by anything as of now.

I will...in due time. I promise.

You contradicted yourself... in the same post...trying to say something negative about EVs... Which is it? Are fanbois and fanatics and the thing they desire emotional? Or Cult-like behaviour is lacking in emotion especially when EVs are concerned and their cult following Tesla and Elon their saviour Musk and having those cult followers drag race their Teslas? PS: I see Dodge fanbois and Dodge Motor Company not giving a shyte about ludicrous mode....its mostly rabid Tesla fanbois that foam around the mouth when it comes to the Hellcat, (these Tesla fanbois ARE excited about their EVs)... The thing is, I see Porsche the Motor Company though, trying to measure up their Taycan to the Model S... That in itself speaks VOLUMES about emotion...negating this part of your post...

Ummmm...NO THEY WONT! Why? Porsche fell very flat on the range part... Only the Porshefiles will buy that the first year and possibly the second year. After that...the Taycan, if Porsche does NOT fix the range part...Tesla will eat its lunch, even with a car that will be approaching a DECADE old...because Tesla has battery packs coming soon that will out perform their old ones... Audi...that EV SUV they got...sold zilch as compared to what Tesla sells as their Model X... and Audi just unlocked some of their battery's capacity JUST to be a tad more competitive in the range department because Tesla is just that much better... https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a30199684/porsche-taycan-ev-range/ The Taycan is the LEAST efficient EV... and of course...the Germans never admit fault nor incompetence... But seeing as their sister company Audi also has shyte EV tech...and still only getting 220 miles on their E-Tron...(yeah...battery safety...my ass), it shoudnt surprise us...that VW is nowhere NEAR being on top of the EV world... There is NO cachet for Porsche and Audi in the EV world... And about EV sales... And about that...like I said about Porsche...only the Porschefiles will buy that, but when a Taycan driver comes up to a 1st generation Model S and gets his ass handed to him in range and in speed....yes...the one from 2012, the Taycan driver will no longer be proud of his "Porsh-uh" As for Cadillac, lets see what GM does in the EV world and what Cadillac does with it BEFORE we have an opinion. The Mustang Mach-E is said to rival Tesla in performance and in range. Just like what Porsche said....we will see what the Mach-E will really do. About Cadillac, we do not know what Cadillac has up its sleeve. GM and Cadillac is REALLY REALLY secretive about that. YOU had doubts on what the Vette C8 would do...well the C8 is here and YOU were surprised yet I...told you ONE YEAR PRIOR what the C8 would be alll about... That Mercedes Formula One road car you were proud... The C8 Z06 will be on sale, the Zora hybrid 900 plus HP C8 will be sold, and that M-B Foprmula One thing will still be a pipe dream... The C8 and ALL of its trims will be making everybody drool, including Tesla fanboys, (The Hybrid C8) and YOU will still be waiting on the Mercedes... Mercedes Benz and its EVs... They are being conservative with their announcements, because THEY KNOW they WONT be able to beat Tesla... They saw how Audi and Jaguar has failed in specs and in sales and now Porsche with specs... Mercedes RETRACTED their launch for 2021... I wouldnt be bashing Cadillac if I were you... But...Im not up-selling Cadillac EVs to you... Im being cautious about what Cadillac EV tech is all about. I know one thing, TESLA has EVERYBODY beat... I know another thing though...I also KNOW that Cadillac and GM will NOT drop the ball on their EVs and especially Cadillac's EVs. They KNOW what is at stake. How I know this... I listened to Autoline Detroit After Hours last Thursday and they had Tadge on speaking for the C8... He is own focused GM engineer. The C8 was one focused sports car. I KNOW Cadillac and GM are FOCUSED for EVs... I KNOW these GM/Cadillac EV engineers are gonna hit it!!!

I know what you are saying. And I feel your pain. Im a car guy too after all. And an American car guy on top of that. But...lets be honest about this whole car culture thing. In reality, cars are meant to be driven (hard). Cars are meant to be used and abused until that car can no longer give anymore and it ends up in the scrap heap. We as enthusiasts dont like the term appliance and we as enthusiasts are able to sense which cars are really engineered as appliances and which cars are "special" but in reality, ALL cars are appliances. Even Corvettes and Porsches. And Ferraris. On the opposite spectrum of this. When people buy "non-appliance" cars, such as Ferraris and that 1 of 704 Eldorado Broughams, and store them to be garage queens never to see the road ever is not a good thing either. Like I said, cars are meant to be driven. (Not that you are saying otherwise...) It takes (a lot of) money and/or time to restore these things. Time is money even if you are a mechanic and a machinist... so I could understand why cars like these end up being barn finds... (and Im not saying that you dont understand this either...Im just stating the obvious and just doing my part in communicating and enjoying the conversations we have in here) If I had a second chance at another career choice (I own a very successful hot dog and hamburger restaurant), Id wanna live in the US in one of those sunny and warm States...and Id learn to be a mechanic and machinist and yeah, Id restore old relics like that (on my own time and them sell them at auctions and stuff). But first, to move to the States, Id join the US Air Force and fly around....make Uncle Sam give me my wings, Make Uncle Sam teach me mechanics and machinery, then maybe possibly be a commercial airline pilot and hot rodder...

Agreed. About Cadillac not spending billions trying to convert a close minded shopper. Product should be enough to convert. Agreed. Those concepts are great as is. And yes, they should have been built. And it aint too later to still build them as is as those concepts are still great and look relevant in 2020. Agreed. Prices SHOULD climb to reflect "The Standard of the World" but the little XT4 and CT4 stuff has got to go. Cadillac dealerships SHOULD UNDERSTAND that Cadillac is NOT about volume. But about STATUS.

I get what you are saying. And I agree with. But in order for old names to resonate again, without haters hating, would be to produce a vehicle worthy of the Cadillac brand, and then it does NOT matter what the name of it will be. Even Cimarron , OK...not THAT name, but the name Allante could do just fine as well if and only if, the product is a good one WORTHY of a Cadillac. Now...I aint saying that Cadillac is not producing great products, because they are...I just saying that Cadillac should NOT take ANY steps back going forward regarding style, quality, luxury and all that and ANY name will do. But...also...yes, that picture on top, Fleetwood or even Brougham would be just fine, just as long as it meets and beats the Cadillac criteria of being "The Standard of the World". Because if a car like that has a name like Fleetwood or Brougham, if its just a lazy attempt, then its no bueno and therefore haters will have their voices heard... But at the same time, there may not be a need to use ALL of Cadillac's past names. Id prefer if they go with new names. Those names of those concepts from the 2000s show that Cadillac guys still have the brains to invent new awesome names for Cadillac cars. THIS is what Id prefer. Other than DeVille and Eldorado. Ive explained why I like those names for new Cadillacs.