oldshurst442

@Drew Dowdell @trinacriabob Last new model from Oldsmobile? Bravada came out in 2002. Produced until 2004. The Aurora came out in 2001 until 2003. The Alero in 1999 up until 2004 and the Intrigue in 1997 as a 1998 model until 2002. (The Silhouette in 1997) So Oldsmobile's last new model was in fact the Bravada. And none got a refresh of any kind. Intrigue got a Shortstar V6 after the 1st year run with a Buick 3800. The Aurora dumped the Shortstar V6 in its final year run. I do not know if the Bravada got something axed but I do know that the last 2 years of the Alero's production run, the Alero lost its 4 wheel disc brakes that it had for drums in the back. But...last off the line, the last Oldsmobile ever built was an Alero. April 29, 2004. And if talking about nameplates...well, the Alero is in fact the last new name plate ever introduced by Oldsmobile. The Bravada came out in 1990 as a 1991, the Aurora in 1995, the Intrigue in 1997.The Silhouette in 1989. The Alero in 1999. And all the workers that built it, signed it. 7 I believe its in a museum honoring other Oldsmobiles currently.

I just googled Susanna Hoffs and this GIF appeared. Its amazing...how just this moment in time... has been etched in my memory. And right here as a GIF...as it seems, has etched many male's memories. And to think, how sexy she is in that one moment...without her sexualizing herself to the point of sleeziness, but because she is a very naturally sexy woman. Just giving us guy fantasies with only the movement of her eyes!!! INCREDIBLE!

I googled and learned that the engine is a 3.8 liter Buick V6 reworked by McLaren. No surprise there. One could clearly see its Buick's 3800 and no surprise that McLaren was the builder of the engine when one figures out that the concept was showcased in 1985. What surprised me was that this concept was showcased in 1985...as a Buick mid-engined affair. Before The Corvette Indy ME and the Oldsmobile Aerotech. Sure there was a couple of mid-engined Corvette concepts in the 1970s, Buick got into that game too ahead of Oldsmobile. Impressive. Another thing that surprised me was this Buick was not a fast concept like the Aerotech was. I thought maybe that numbers would rival and beat the Buick GNX numbers. But no. Below the GNX numbers and a tad higher than the Grand National numbers making this concept pretty boring for stats comparisons... It was supposedly high tech inside though... Im glad to have read about it. Again, thanx Balthy for always giving me something new to see!

I like this Buick Wildcat. I never knew this concept existed. Thank-you Balthy, this is a nice Birthday present you gave me. Now I will google and learn!

And to see if muhricans that are not Tesla fanatics to adopt EVs... Tesla fans will and did pony up for the top trimmed Model 3. Waited and waited and waited for it to arrive. All kinds of quality problems and Tesla fans bought the Model 3... Now that the 35 000 dollar one has finally arrived, of course there will be more Tesla fanatics buying it... But now, we will see for realz how many EV buying muhricans there really are. EV haterz had all kinds of excuses using the Bolt sales as evidence that there are no EV buyes in 'muhrica. EV defenders say that the Bolt is just not a real competitor to the Model 3 and is just a compromised vehicle...and that the Bolt is just not the right tyoe and sized EV... Well, the 35 000 dollar Model 3 is upon us. The Model Y soon will be open to reservations... NOW is the time to see if the future really is with EVs...

Looks like I get to have my convertible after all. I copy Casa once again, with the same coloured Cascada he chose...

\Screw the Cadillac CT6 V At 52...Im going all out on a 1970 Oldsmobile 442

In 1985, I was 12 years old. There were Porsche 911s on my radar. The A-Team GMC van, the 3rd gen Pontiac Trans Am and KITT that I loved, but like every teen aged boy during this time.... I saw both movies at the cinema... A red Countach is what I wanted then as a 12 year old and going back into time for 1985, a red Countach for a dream garage for when I was 12 years odls is what I would want now... At 22 years old, in 1995, A 1995 Pontiac Firebird Firehawk or 1995 Trans Am is what I wanted then...and now. I was 32 in 2005, and although I bought a 2005 Impala SS in 2005, but I really wanted a Chrysler 300C, the car I truly lusted over was a 2005 M-B CLS 55 AMG. The CLS 63 AMG is want I really want but that came out in 2006. So Ill stick to the CLS 55 AMG of 2005 I was 42 in 2015...and I was and still am tempted by the Devil with the Hellcat! The Demon is in the Motley Crew video, but its ther Hellcat that was available in 2015 and its the Hellcat that I still want! And although Im not 52 yet, tomorrow I get to be 46...God willing. So we do 2019 as 2025 is still a ways away... Cadillac CT6-V So much for the EV movement in this dream garage!!!

The other advice I give you is: Online purchases...well, get yourself some prepaid credit cards and use those for online purchases. At least if your online shopping accounts get jacked, the pre-paid credit cards get used and you only lose the balance of those cards therefore minimizing your losses to just that.

This also may be the 1st time I do a Dream Garage Thread without circumventing the rules and still, I find myself outside the rules... Thanx Casa. I did not realize the Impala will not be discontinued just yet. Although great news in real life, it kinda sucks for this thread for me... Balthy also suggested that the Model S 75D might not qualify... So...Im copying you Casa. Ill be taking the Buick Lacrosse as well... Again, in black. And Ill be replacing the Model S with an ATS V sedan

I realized that this is the first dream garage I did with no convertible or roadster. I came close with the California T. ?

Sorry to hear about that. The first thing that you should do, and if you havent done so already,THEN WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU WAITING FOR???!!!, is call your credit card company to explain your situation and maybe even cancel your credit card!!! Like lets go...do it now!!! PRONTO!

Hello Frisky! Long time we didnt communicate ensemble. OK...enough with the chit chat, lets get back to business... Dodge Demon Alpha Romeo 4C Coupe Aston Martin Vanquish S I originally had a Ferrari California T, but I realized that this car was gone in 2017 plus I do not have enough family haulers so Impala LTZ midnight edition replaces it. Tesla Model S 75D

Desktop Computers They have evolved into lap tops and tablets and smart phones. I dont see them going away per se. Just evolve into something else. Keys Nah. They will be in existence. Maybe we wont be using them daily because keyless systems will take over...but as a back-up, physical keys will continue on. Electronics have a habit of shorting out and failing, therefore we will be needing a physical back-up. Physical college text books Im surprised it hasnt happened already. I guess charging students every year for new bogus editions is toooo much of a cash cow to do away with them...it may happen, but when they figure out how to fleece students in other ways it will happen. Televisions They aint going away. EVER. They will evolve. Buit they aint going away. We as humans will always default to a bigger viewing medium when we want to watch the next blockbuster movie, sporting event or youtube video. Yes, Millennials use their smart phones to do all that nowadays, but they too, succumb eventually, to the allure of a big screen TV. Virtual Reality in holographic viewing is the only way to spell the end for TVs, but the way we have it now, wearing glasses, it wont do anything to end TV viewership. Manual Transmissions Its happening already. And in the not so distant future, if EVs take over ICE, then for sure. The autonomous driving thing will not be a reality, ever, but EVs might just be. Analog watches Ive got many customers that pay with their smart phone watches. Smart phones are apart of life. But analog watches will continue to exist, not as a reliable source of time keeping, but as jewelry. Just like ties are a part of a suit, no matter how outdated and stupid looking ties may look in today's world, so will analog watches continue to be a fashion statement. Car Insurance Cars are to be driven/used on the road whether called upon on a Taxi service or Lyft/Uber autonomously or driven by a human, accidents are bound to happen and therefore insurance will exist for the companies that own those services. And seeing that private ownership of automobiles WILL always exist...but it does not matter if private ownership will exist or not, autonomous pods will exist, according to this, right? Well insurance will be offered to the company that owns the autonomous pods and those insurance policy fees will be paid by someone and those fees will be transferred back to the user. Car insurance will even add a few other protective measures that will be paid...such as road sickness protection and protection against forgetting a briefcase or scarf in the autonomous pod... So yeah...car insurance will not only exist but grow exponentially... 7. Remote controls Voice recognition technology is truly amazing nowadays...yeah, I see this going away soon enough. DVDs Just like any other media, DVDs will eventually have their moment when they too, will disappear. Paper is the only one that has existed for this long without any real danger of going extinct anytime soon. Incandescent lightbulbs In Canada, these are already off the shelf. Its been 5 years at least that no Canadian could buy an incandescent light bulb.

I did not know how to answer the reliability factor because my answer would have been anecdotal, just like the accusers, but I wanted a more concrete rebuttal. I was gong on pure hearsay on what I heard when I was in Greece this past summer regarding French cars in general and then I was going to post some European links regarding Peugeot's reliability record the last decade, and I did find some links to support my stance...but since I dont live in Europe and I wouldnt know how reliable those links really are...anyway... Thanks Drew for the post above!

Yes on the aspirational part. Besides the Escalade, what other Cadillac vehicles aspire people to own them? The V Series stuff? On a performance level, sure. But on a marketing level...nada. And there are many factors for that. Which I feel may not be necessary to start mentioning them in this thread. I am not going to start mentioning past aspirational projects that came to fruition but failed miserably in execution, but I will mention stuff like the Ciel, El Miraj where Cadillac should have built for production, and built to a Standard of the World standard, unlike the Evoq to XLR...and that would have almost been enough to get Cadillac back on top. Escala? This nice modern concept is nowhere to been seen...and by the time it gets here, if it gets here, it may be too late to capture our hearts... Its an SUV world...where are the jaw dropping Cadillac brashness SUVs? In the pipeline? These should not be in the pipeline, these should be in the showroom floor NOW! No XT4 and no XT5. REAL Cadillacs. Although the XT6 is par for the course for SUVs in this price range from ALL manufactures...boring as phoque SUVs, the XT6 should have felt more like a baby 'Slade in presence, stance and interior quality. Ive heard that the next generation 'Slade will have a worthy interior that blows away even the Navigator...well, THAT should have started with the XT6. Cadillac should have at least shown us aspiration with this new XT6. Instead, its par for the course. I defended the XT6, but maybe now, in hindsight to what Im ranting now with my diatribe, maybe I should be blasting it instead... As far as position in the market place goes... Yeah...I do not want Cadillac to go tooooo far down in affordability and mediocrity. I do not want Cadillac to be a full line brand. But if it must it must. Ill break it down what I expect from Cadillac. Ill be using Porsche as my reference. Porsche was a boutique sports car maker. They tried to be affordable in the 1970s and 1980s using VW parts cars and they failed miserably. Cadillac paralleled that in every way that I mentioned. Porsche today though, is kinda like a full line brand and they did that somewhat successfully now. But we do not know at what cost further down in the future as the Macan is a VW underneath...and is sold in mainstream numbers. Will that have detriment to the 911? Marketing comes in handy in these situations. Cadillac lacks desperately here... Anyway...I want Cadillac to be where Porsche resides in the pricing of vehicles and in the prestige and aspiration in the minds of people. The Macan starts at 50 000 dollars. (next gen Macan and Porsche says it will be a 100% EV) The Boxtster starts at 60 000 dollars. The Cayenne starts at 66 000 dollars. The Panamera starts at 86 000 dollars. The Taycan will probably be above 86 000 dollars The 911 starts at 91 000 and goes up very quickly to 150 000/160 000 And the Porsche 918 is astronomical in price... I do not think Porsche goes below 50 000. I said that about Cadillac in that I do not want Cadillacs below that price. I believe I said that if Cadillac is going to do an ATS, I want the ATS to start at the ATS V level of performance with a starting price of 55 000 or 60 000. I want the CTS to start where the CTS V sport is in price and performance. But more on the CTS later... If Cadillac is to do an XT4 or XT5...I want those to be BMW X4M and X6M competitors from the get go with a starting price tag of 55 000 for the XT4 and 60-65 000 dollar range and above. No XT4 and no XT5 to be sold to anybody to be Lexus and Acura RDX and Chevy Blazer competitors. From the get go, aim high with those small CUVs. The Macan and the Cayenne aims high. Yeah...XT4 and XT5 to be in competition to the Macan, Cayenne, BMW X4M and X5M/X6M...no less than that is acceptable for Cadillac. The CT6 could stay as is. The XT6 and CT5 (I could have a change of heart for the former CTS here)...those could be bread and butter models. Sure. 50 000 dollars. OK...but they better be engineered and produced and manufactured like Standard of the World vehicles. No compromises. But as you see, the way Im thinking, the ATS, XT4, XT5 are no longer for the broken ass, over spending moron that goes from dealership to dealership, trying to get an extra 20 dollars off a month of his lease payment and if he scores at BMW with the X3 or Mercedes with the CLA or at Lincoln or Genesis...then he is a happy camper showing off his entry level luxury bullshyte vehicle to other badge snob morons... Cadillac starts at a higher aspirational level... And then we get to the nitty gritty things of where Cadillac was THE Standard of the World. Where it should reside it. Where it always resided in. The 80 000 dollar threshold of luxury... Where the Escalade happily kicks the shyte out of any fullsized SUV selling company... And then we go from there offering all kinds of aspirational sedans, coupes, convertibles, SUVs. You know, El Mirajs, Ciels, SUVs higher than the Escalade. Escalas that could reach price tags of 150 000 dollars. Isnt THAT what Cadillac was once upon a time ago? Porsche did it, non? Cadillac is struggling to do it...after 20 years of trying. In the same time frame, Porsche is doing it... Then once we do that, we can go for the occasional astronomical priced vehicle to compete with Rolls and Bentley. The Ciens, the Evoqs, the Eldorado Broughams and anything else...

What Balthy said... But what Im gonnna say for myself... Top line Camaro...as in ZL-1? If yes, not a volume trim. Top line Camaro is a halo car for the brand and for the model that is Chevrolet and Camaro respectively to showcase what Chevrolet can do and what the Camaro brand is all about to get butts in the showroom to buy other Chevrolet cars. Base level Escalade...may possibly be a volume model, for the brand and for Escalade to sell. But...volume for a vehicle of that magnitude is not the same amount of volume sales like an Equinox. Obviously volume in this regard is relative to the respective brand we are talking about. Cadillac is supposed to be CADILLAC. Not BMW. Not Mercedes. Not Rolls Royce nor Bentley. Cadillac need not be chasing sales and filling out price gaps that may be in order to chase down niches that dont necessarily belong to Cadillac's image. And WHAT is this Cadillac image we are talking about? Well...you tell me... What do we want Cadillac to be? What do Cadillac and GM CEOs want Cadillac to be? And most importantly, the potential Cadillac owner/driver, what does HE/SHE want his/her Cadillac to be? If its just a badge that signified past glory or a badge that means a higher sticker price than mainstream cars such as Ford or Chevrolet or Hyundai, then OK...all is well in Cadillac land. Ditto for BMW and Mercedes Benz selling us golden dreams and we buy by the boatload these pseudo luxury pods that makes us feel better about ourselves because a Cadillac XYZ123 and a BMW 123XYZ Series costs slightly more to acquire than a Ford Skywalker and a Chevrolet Sunnylane. But if we are to create vehicle with a real brand image based on real performance and/or luxury to sell to those people that could actually afford a house in Malibu and a condo in Paris while vacationing in Monte Carlo and we were to actually produce a vehicle that only the very few could afford and the little people could only dream of owning one day, then...THAT is a whole different ball game, dont you think? And THIS is EXACTLY what Im talking about... Cadillac need not be chasing the same broken cigar customer base that everybody else is chasing. Those people that think they are rich by leasing 'luxury' badged vehicles over then mainstream ones...and in reality, Whether Cadillac or BMW or Honda, is still chasing that poor over-spending moron that has 3-4 maxed out credit cards but has the latest smart phone and the most recent year leased vehicle and begging the sales person of whatever dealership to cut him another 5-10-15-20 dollars off his monthly lease payment...