oldshurst442

I have been in an Italo-American crooner kinda mood for several days myself. The crooner style kinda being being jazz itself is what Im trying to say. And in particular this one always popping up. I was wanting to pair this one up with a car. But I couldnt feels the car that would go with this song. Not yet at least. Im still trying to figure it out though. RIP Mr. Bennett I did this one with a Detomaso but in the song's original format. Love this version more than the original though! Actually, Ive had this style in my head for almost all summer long. Its started out with this song with all the weird and sad stuff going on around me. And then the death of Tony Bennett really cemented my choices all sumer long. RIP Mr. Bennett

I forgot Fisker existed. Partly because Fisker will not be offered in Quebec. I just learned than right now when googling andn hence why up here, I dont get a lot of info on them. The Ocean ius set to start at 43 000 CDN in Canada. Vancouver and Toronto. Im guessing its 30 000 US dollars. I googled again and in the US, its MSRP is supposedly 37 000 US dollars. Deliveries start in September for both countires. But the prices spike up very high after the base model. Like very high. The base model has a 250 mile range. The next one up is 340 miles but at 50 000 US dollars. Yowza! That is not how market share will be taken away from Tesla. Sure the Ocean looks great, but Tesla has its market down pat. Last time Fisker and Tesla competed on on one, Tesla won! And Fisker doesnt even want to sell in Quebec, in which Quebecois are more easily convinced in buying EVs moreso than in Ontario. Sure Toronto is Canada's biggest city, but Toronto does not have an EV friendly mayor. Montreal not only has an EV friendly mayor, the Minister, Monsieur Legault is also a friendly EV type of guy. And THAT is also because Quebec has ALL the things going for it fior the adoption of EVs... Its a stupid miscalculation of Fisker to ignore Quebec... Costly mistake perhaps?

Does Toyota EVER create something in their OWN image when entering a new luxury segment? Or do they ALWAYS have to copy somebody else's style? This one looks like a Rolls Royce Cullinan Although I must say, the Toyota looks to be more refined as a design. But that aint sayin' much. This is yet another reason as to why I hate Toyota. They are afraid to use their own design languaga and would rather play it safe with someone else's hit and copy that. Toyota has been its best styling wise, when they have been PROUD of their OWN history and presented their OWN style behind the cars they design and sell.

Definetly its just eye candy and status (with the high price) of these kinds of watches. High end watches in history were always jewlery. Functioning jewelery like @Drew Dowdell said and prefers his watches. I must admit, I prefer my watches as functioning pieces as well. I am not a 1%er. Duh... Cars like a Cadillac NEVER fit my personality. Forget about Rolls Royce as that is old money and my family history is as poor as one gets. So extremely high end watches never fit my personality either. HOWEVER, sometimes I like obnoxiuos things to flash around. Exotic cars were really not my thing either. Muscle cars? Yes!!! Blue collar speed and performance. And this is where watches intersects with the automobile passions that I have. I like crazy styled Lamborghinis as much as I like the really high end crazy stuff like a Bugatti Parmesiani Fleurier or a Richard Mille. But it aint my personality. I oike looking at them behind a glass or on another man's RICH as phoque wrist. No jealousy. But admiration. And then there is the normally styled or slightly differently styled extremely expensive watches And those would look GREAT on my wrist. But that kind of thing goes against my life principles as well. I am not a commie, but I do NOT feel comfy in my skin knowing that we have such a huuuuge divide between the haves and have nots in the world. And if I was that filthy rich to be able to afford several things of that nature, maybe I wouldnt give a phoque, but as I am now. Yeah... Not my style. All to say, that Im willing to pass on function since time is kept and viewed anywhere and everywhere today, I still prefer a watch to perform its MAIN duty, and that is to tell time, but it does have to look good doing it, but not crazy priced either as a Casio or Timex do it perfectly and for peanuts. I like the history of Bulova. They have made, as an AMERICAN watch as well, they have made SEVERAL important horological breakthroughs in time keeping. And I like keeping that information close to my heart as many people do not realize how Bulova shaped the watch industy in the 1950s and 1960s. I respect them for that. And the fact that those breakthroughs do not break the bank.

Except today we have a MAJOR advantage over that time period. We not only have seen the car of tomorrow several times in our history through literature or movies that we could use that imagination to foretell the future of the automobile accurately, we literally have the future of the car...TODAY. PLUS, all the other technologies we use daily. Wifi and bluetooth and internet and all the crazy shyte we pull off with that when we combine them with the other gadgets and toys and appliances and cars we like to consume. And I think we could glimpse where the majority of the car hating illuminati want to push towards to: Driverless, autonomous pods. And we have seen that future too, in movies. But as concepts as well. But also in the airplane world. We see it NOW especially with the Ukraine war: DRONES. But we've also seen that too waaaaay before the Ukraine war. MOVIES. The Terminator comes to mind here. And we could take an educated guess where this battery technology will lead us to other than cars and war. In our commercial and residential buildings. And we have seen that too. Elon Musk has taekn the time to demostrate to us how the Powerwall system works. And we have that today. But I do agree with you, the future of an electric car seems exciting. I wonder though, those lament the loss of engine noises. Do they still feel like someone punched them to the gut? Like Jay Leno said on his last Audrain Museum podcast: Automakers could record sweet sweet engine noises on cassette and play it back in the cabin for those that still want to live by that experience.

Australia. Guten Tag, mate! I ALWAYS wanted to visit Vienna! Im in Montreal! Welcome back!!!

I dont mind the branding. The watch itsef is from the Detroit Watch Company. Shinolla. it is a Detroit company so it makes sense. Id rather Cadillac be associated with Bulova. But Bulova is from NYC. Aaaaand...Citizen group bought Bulova sometime in the 2000s. Citizen is Japanese.... Cadillac on a Bulova Precisionist mouvent. Yeah...that be awesome!!! My only gripe is that Cadillac is not associted with Bulova. Those Bugatti watches are too much in EVERY sense of the phrase too much. The price tags of those watches are astronomical. Like the Ferrari watches I posted. Money for nothing. But they are nice to look at.

I also think he was more pissed at the fact that his privacy was violated and got robbed more than anything else. Aint he a driver for Ferrari? Yeah...those are the little gifts Ferrari showers him with. I also find them meh. Im sure the mechanicals on thse are just as exotic as any other high end watch. I wouldnt wear one UNLESS Ferrari courted me as a driver for them and that is how they showed their appreciation towards me. With huge paychech as well of course. Yeah...too busy Id agree! The ONLY thing I like about them is that the mechanicals are shown. I sometimes like watches like that.

https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/carlos-sainz-chases-down-thieves-083403469.html Carlos Sainz chased down thieves and retrieved his watch worth £500,000 in a scary robbery incident in Milan just hours after Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix. Ferrari star Sainz, still in his team kit, was targeted near the Armani hotel in central Milan at around 8:30pm on Sunday evening, reports in Italy detail. Sainz, alongside members of his entourage and the public, then chased the thieves and successfully recovered his Richard Mille watch worth in the region of £500,000.

Ive had that kind of thought from one of the very first times I saw Shark Week (on Discovery channel) way back when. How adorable I thought. As long as your fingers stay intact I presume, would be the correct answer in longevity of said career choice. But I quickly learned the one thing about myself that I knew I couldnt be one of the lucky ones to have such a job. And it aint the fear of those teeth either. I saw the Tyson/Holyfield fight live... I have teeth of my own. I could always bite back. Imma not so much a religious guy, but an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth comes in handy in this line of work. Its this:

Yup... Reh-jy-nah! I had heard about this in the news, the whole tourist commercial Vagina/Regina thing and with Jimmy Fallon but I never thought anything of it. I guess in Quebec it wasnt such a big deal... I didnt know that the word is Italian. Awesome to know. Although now that I know...I could sees it and more to it than that, I could hears it too.

I had rented a Malibu a few years back when we went to Toronto and Niagara Falls as a family trip. I do not remember the mileage the Malibu had, but it was a pretty new vehicle so I seem to remember it didnt have that many miles on it. In and around 10 000 km (6000 miles). It was a pleasant and comfortable ride. A longish trip that the whole family didnt complain about. It did have the 1.5 turbo. I remember it performed well. I remember it being as good as my Fusion's 1.6 ecoboost. As far as the CVT transmission goes, I honestly didnt notice anything about it that the Malibu had a CVT transmission. I was driving safe and smooth because I had my family in the car so no 'jack rabbit' starts off the line and no racing the shytty kid with a hopped up ricer so the CVT did a fantabulous job...in my honest opinion. I did have to accelerate briskly plenty of times so I did mash the pedal to the floor and both the 1.5 liter and its transmission partner handled everything as asked and tasked with all I demanded from them. No hesitations to accelerate and the car accelerated with enough oomph so I could pass with ease whatever and whenever I needed to pass. I wasnt in a panic as to why the car was not moving because the car WAS moving fast enough for me to accomplish a passing manouever or to accelerate on a ramp to get to highway speeds. And that was with a loaded car with a traveling vacationing family and all their garbage. I have to say, it did so with the same confidence I have with my Fusion and its ecoboost 1.6 and 6 speed auto transmission. About cars getting more expensive and if GM will regret not offering a cheaper sedan in their line-up. Part of THAT problem lies with the North American consumer. I have to stop saying North American because that includes Mexico and a couple of other countries as well when I REALLY mean Canada and the US. In Mexico... VW sells its Polo and Nissan the Versa. Both start at about 20 000 US dollars. The Versa is sold in Canada and in the US, but NOT the Polo. How many of us Canadian and American spoiled brats buy the Versa and how many of us bought the Aveo so VW could actually offer the Polo here? Chevrolet offers cars like the Aveo, Nuevo Aveo (NEW Aveo...LOL), Onix and Cavalier RS. MSRPs are as follows: 14 000, 17 000, 18 000, 24 000 US dollars... Dodge has something called the Attitude. 16 000 US dollars. 2023 2019 Does THAT look like an interior that an American or Canadian would want to BE in???!! And yes, the Attitude is a small car. Bigger than the Aveo and on the same size as the Chevy Onix. Or the Polo for that matter. Just in case some of you were wonderin' the Polo is smaller than today's Golf but in reality, the Polo is as big as the 1980s Rabbit/Golf. Honda has something called the City. 21 000 US dollars. WE do NOT want to HUMBLE ourselves with these kinds of cars, yet the REST of the world actually GETS BY with THESE things!!!! Like honestly!!! Lets take a step back from ALL the bullshyte. From ALL the marketing and the lies and deception that our corporations shovel our way. Our politicians etc... At the END of the day...WE make our daily decisions to do what we do. What we buy. And we do NOT buy entry level A or B class cars with the bare minimum interiors. GONE are the days when we were content with those types of cars. We bitch and whine that GM does not offer anything like that yet...GM actually DOES. And everybody else in the REST of the world. WE just do NOT buy it here... WE...do NOT want that as a society... I guess we have prospered long enough that we think we dont need to compromize anymore. Maybe that is true but unless we hold accountable all the corruption...but more to it than that... UNLESS WE TAKE RESPONSIBILITY OF OVER CONSUMING AND DEBTING OUR FUTURE SELVES SEVERAL LIFETIMES OVER WITH CREDIT CARD DEBT AND THE LIKE... maybe WE SHOULD start driving shyeboxes again... Note: I am not directing that at you @daves87rs. Just general speak.

General Motors is not even in SMK's top 5. Vinfast is @ #3. Sold just 7000 units... Mercedes did generate 150 billion Euros. GM generated a tad more though. Not forgetting that GM generated 156 billion in American dough. American dough is worth more than the Euro... If anything...Vinfast may go away. Rivian. Lucid. Even Mercedes. Tesla. Probably not as they have the one thing that saves them. The supercharger superhighway. They got loads of them suckers and I have been saying this for a long time that Tesla might NOT be around making cars, but they got 3 things going for them that makes them survive. 1. Motors. Their motors are still the best in the business. 2. Electronic hardware and the software that goes with it. So much so that NHSTA just demanded Elon to fork over data that may suggest folk could override autopilot that forces drivers to keep hands on the wheel enabling drivers to have their hands free... 3. them superchargers. They got loads of those. They work and they got a monopoly on the connectors now. Plus with the amounts they have all over the world, Tesla has become THE defacto supercharger chain. Like Esso, Gulf, Exxon/Mobil, Shell etc... But make no mistake about it. Tesla needs to invest billions to get the folk 2nd generations of their 4 models. And none of that guarantees future success and/or survival in producing automobiles... Its funny though, Tesla generates just slightly more than half of GM's revenue, yet is more valuable? Sure, to Wallstreet snake oil salesmen, sure. Same with Vinfast. But that does not last long in this game. Kinda like the mafia restaurant owner. They squeeze all they can from the restaurant's credit and collateral and when they cant no more, up in smoke the restaurant goes. Unlike the insurance fraud cases though, white collar crime from Wallstreet is not as closely checked upon... Im done talking about this subject. back to the Escalade IQ... https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/gm-releases-2022-fourth-quarter-and-full-year-results-and-2023-guidance-301734091.html#:~:text=GM's full-year 2022 revenue,revised EBIT-adjusted guidance range. DETROIT, Jan. 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) today reported fourth-quarter 2022 revenue of $43.1 billion, net income attributable to stockholders of $2.0 billion and EBIT-adjusted of $3.8 billion. GM's full-year 2022 revenue was $156.7 billion, net income attributable to stockholders was $9.9 billion and EBIT-adjusted was a record $14.5 billion. Results were at the high-end of the company's revised EBIT-adjusted guidance range. https://arstechnica.com/cars/2023/01/tesla-made-an-annual-profit-of-12-6-billion-in-2022/ That means Tesla had an excellent 2022, despite missing its sales forecast. Automotive revenues grew by 51 percent compared to 2021, bringing in $71.5 billion. Total revenues were up by the same percentage year over year at $81.4 billion.

And I, not being the one NOT to stop beating a dead horse I did quick research. Like quick. VW and Toyota in the 2000s have emerged to be legit global car makers. Moreso than GM. I mentioned GM of 1965, but Toyota and VW have best sellers in EVERY region of the planet. Especially in the 2000s up until today. They got hits like Priuses and Corollas and Camrys and Rav4s and smnall pickup trucks and Jettas/Boras and Golfs/Rabits and all kinds of other stuff like Polos and shyte we simply dont get here in the US and Canada but are quite the buzz everywhere else in the world. And the MOST GLOBAL market share...REAL GLOBAL MARKET share unlike GM in 1965 that Toyota and VW could muster is 13%. Toyota's and VW's global market ranges between, it fluxes, 9%-13%. Toyota in 2022 sits at 11.7% That is with multiple brands. With again...a literal HUNDRED of models. Ditto for VW. Its good to be a dreamer. Elon is a celebrity of the highest order. And he has made things happen. Paypal, Tesla, Space X, buying twitter and literally become THE talk of the town worldwide... But there ARE limits to which dreams CAN come true if the proper and necessary steps are not taken. Tesla is not where it should be to be able to get 10% market share, let alone 33%. Shyte, GM has a 6% global marker share in 2022 and Elon is far from gaining on GM. Model & sells 1 million units. GM has the pick-up trucks. But GM has plenty of other units to be where its at... Tesla has not. GM invests billions on NEW platforms. Tesla has not entered that realm yet to offer 2nd gen models. The Roadster is MIA.

My math is worng 5% divided by 20% = 4% Elon wants 33% when GM at its height was a mere 20% with less world competition and car manufacturing competence... I aint sayin' its impossible. Anything can happen. But what a tall feat to accomplish on so little.

@Drew Dowdell has already explained how its virtually impossible for Tesla to produce 20 million cars in one year. And year after year after that. Actually sell 20 million in one year to customers is even MORE impossible. Especially for Tesla... In 1965. WORLD WIDE CAR PRODUCTION was aprox. 20 million units. GM had aprox. 50% US market share in 1965. JUST about the most it has ever had. GM touched just about 51% US market share in 1961. US car production was aprox 10 million units in 1965. Slightly less but all numbers rounded for my numbers to work nicer. GM had a GLOBAL market share of 5 million on 20 million = to aprox. 25% GLOBAL market share. Elon wants...does NOT mean Elon will get. Its a fairlytale. Elon says Tesla is capable of 20 million units sold? In the 2020s...aprox. global production slowed to 60 million units. It did hit a high of 70 some odd million. Anyway, keep numbers round for easy computation. Elon wants 20 million units out of 60 million. THAT is 33% GLOBAL market share... WTF???!!!! GM at its HIGHEST couldnt hit that much and GM in 1965 was a force that Elon could only DREAM of. And HE could dream big. VERY big. GM done those numbers with MANY brands and ALL brands were firing on ALL cylinders. EACH brand had models that were hotter than the next. Literally hundreds of models across 6 or 7 or 8 brands (6 of them in North America) with ALL kinds of trim levels and engine configs and when the WORLD didnt have as many car makers as it has today... Elon wants 28%-33% GLOBAL market share on the strength of 4 now ancient models, 1 useless pick-up truck, one vaporware Roadster and a phantom 30 000 dollar MSRP Model 2? The Semi production run is inly 50 000 units...Elon projected. So that wont be enough to include in the 20 million unit dream. Yes...many OEMs WILL go under. But the big ones wont. GM, Hyundai (which IS the biggest company in the world), Toyota, VW. Ford will not go under. Mercedes might go under. But 2-4 million units per year and some of those buyers will go to Tesla. But some will go to GM and Hyundai and VW etc... The pie will not magically split up and Tesla will swallow it up. NOT on 4 ancient models. Tesla will have to spend LOTS of BILLIONS to get NEW platforms. And THOSE future models do NOT guarantee success both engineering wise and market share wise. Especially when the world right now is producing EVs... 33%???!!! Stellantis might lose a brand. GM might lose Buick. VW might lose Audi. Toyota might lose Lexus. Hyundai might KIA. Ford might lose Lincoln. But all those OEMs will not lose market share to Tesla. Those OEMs have built-in customers that date back 120 years. It took GM 60 years to get that brand loyalty to dominate in 1965. Tesla has made a dent...in the EV world. Tesla is MINISCULE in the grand scheme of car making things. Tesla has a huuuuge competition problem and the EVs presented by the others are decent EVs. Tesla is not 1965 GM. Tesla is huuuuuge with brand recognition. But even if that, Tesla is not GM of 1965.

I LOVE Phil Kessel!!! The Toronto Maple Leafs, the fans and the media made fun of him, something or tother about hot dogs... ran him out of town but the man...WON 3 STANLEY CUPS!!! HE..is the NHL record holder AND leader for the ironman streak that is STILL going on today! The Bruins fans...in Boston, and me just a little admittedly, used to chant "Thank-You Kessel" whenever he stepped on the ice...because well...Boston got the #2 pick because of him leaving for Toronto. But that #2 pick aint in Boston. Hadnt been IN Boston for a damn while. Only helped us get 1 Cup. Never got another Cup and got chased out of Boston. Kessel...has TWO Cups with Pittsburgh and ONE with Vegas. I LOVE PHIL KESSEL!!! I would have LOVED to see a Boston Bruins team with these fellas on it at the same time: Phil Kessel Taylor Hall Marc Savard In addition to: Patrice Bergeron Brad Marchand David Krejci Milan Lucic David Pastrnak

If Im not mistaken, the Model 3 and Model Y are of the same platform, right? Same construction, right? More or less the same battery components and structure for the vehicles. Even the same structure hard points but the Model Y being just a tad longer, right? Why cant there be a less of everything Model 3 and Model Y to get to 30 000 dollars? Same hard points, but less of whatever less constitutes to bring the MSRP to 30 000 dollars? GM done it with the Bolt and Bolt EUV. They took the Bolt, made it a tad longer, etc and added just a bit more to the MSRP. Surely Tesla could do the same but in reverse manner. I thought the Model 3 platform was scalable in some form? hence the Model Y? But Elon is not doing that. He is content with blabbering on about Model 2, so he could get the investor thing going so the market shares of Tesla keep up so he could finance glass houses and Twitter purchases and go to the moon. I mean Mars.

EXACTLY!!! I wanted somebody to point that out so I could say this: Tesla does not need to produce a 30 000 dollar model BECAUSE the Model Y sells at a VERY high rate just BEING at the price that it is. There is NO incentive for Tesla to produce a 30 000 dollar model because they already HAVE a bread and butter, high volume HIT on their roster. Two models at that. To spend BILLIONS on a NEW platform does NOT make any sense either. The Model 2 would just goggle up sales from the Model 3 and Model Y JUST like how the Model 3 and model Y gobbled up sales from the Model S. And so they wont. Tesla is better off with spending those billions on a NEW Model 3 and Model Y. Keep the price tags as they are. Tesla has their niche and their fans. They do NOT need to go downmarket. Their MSRP market is doing JUST fine where they are. A little side note: Funny how the Model S is NEVER spoken about today when talking about Tesla and THAT is what Tesla was ALL about even just 3 years ago... (Minus the vaporware hooplah like the Cybertruck or roadster...) The Model S is just a speed comparo with the enthusiasts. The Model S is not on anybody else's radar...

Tesla be spendin' billions on a new Model 2 platform to ensure a 30 000 dollar MSRP? Tesla been producin' what is now to be an old platform on the Model 3 and STILL cant afford to drop the Model 3 is MSRP to 30 000 dollars. Surely, the Model 3/Model Y platform has been paid off right about now to undercut its current MSRP to sink and drown its competition, right? So the idears is to spend billions on a NEW platform, when Tesla STILL hasnt figured out HOW to economy of scale anything, sure Munroe likes to tell us that Tesla has an up and down integrated system...but yet Tesla STILL hasnt figured out to economy of scale all their cars, Tesla hasnt figured out to produce effeciently yet, but spending billions on another platform will garner a 30 000 dollar Model 2... When right now, they could offer Joe Public a 30 000 dollar Tesla. 2 in fact!!! Yeah...I said RIGHT NOW!!! These 2. Offer a bare bones software package on them, call them the classic Model 3 and Y when the refreshed Model 3 and Y go on sale later this year... This is a supposed new Model Y VW done that plenty of times when introducing new Golfs... They call them City. Just an idea. Maybe Elon will see this a send a royalty check my way...