oldshurst442

JDM 1990s Nissan 300ZX. Non-turbo and no T-Top. Bummer for the no T-Top... Right in back of it was a newer 350Z. Maybe a 2018 model. What a contrast between the two. Id rather the older 300ZX than the newer 350Z.

Seinfeld reference? Todd Gack...

And this is another reason why I think all this car sharing shyte will never be a thing...even though you have areas like in Toronto as how you described it. Expensive to park...but... As much as habitual humans are, we are also equally impulsive, and the ownership of a car facilitate our impulsive nature. And this is THE #1 reason why cars are such an important and integral part of North American life and culture. And...why the automobile has won the hearts and is as equally important and an integral part of the rest of the world too. In European culture, in Asian culture...it took a longer time to get there because of economical reasons, but when their economy equaled that of North America's and was thriving like North America was in the 1950s, then the car for them became EXACTLY what the car was for us in the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s... Therefore... When you want to go somewhere, and you need wheels...NOW...to get to where you wanna go to do what you wanna do...NOW... and walking or biking, or public transit, or taxi just wont cut it, but a car is what it takes...but you cant get one...because well...trust me... All that that above that you experienced...you WILL find a way to afford it some how...you WILL make sacrifices on other luxuries just to own a car and its expensive parking because car ownership is just about the ultimate (materialistic)freedom we have...even though its expensive to upkeep a car, its downright frustrating to be stuck in traffic, but man-o-man is it ever worth it when you wanna go somewhere and well, you go because you own a car... You might take public transport to go to work. You might quit cigarettes and eating out all together. You might only use your car once a month... Just to save money to continue owning a car... But you will do it. I know I was in that situation in my life. I was young. I was in my early 20s and I did not have a ride. My parents took the(their) family car to Boston. I wasnt 21 years old to rent a car (I was 20) and I didnt have a credit card anyway so it didnt matter...so I was stuck. I had a really hot girl wanting to go out with me one night, had to turn her down because I had no wheels, never to get a chance to meet up with her again. The next night, I missed a really cool house party that nobody could drive me to. The following night...I did go out with my friends, went to a dance club...flirted with a cute girl dancing on an elevated dance floor while I was on the lower level. My friends thought it was a boring club, and before I knew what was going on with them dumb ass friends, we left the club. I didnt get a chance to get the girl's number or even stay and get a taxi to drive me home...maybe even get her to be driven with the same taxi as me so we could be together even longer... So...at 20 years old I learned very quickly, that I will NEVER EVER be left without wheels...I knew the importance of owning a car right then and there, even if my lesson was from a shallow perspective... That is my point of view at least. Im not saying Im right and you or anybody else is wrong. But for me....this is how I view it: One WILL find a way to afford it some how...one WILL make sacrifices on other luxuries just to own a car and its expensive parking because car ownership is just about the ultimate (materialistic) freedom we have...even though its expensive to upkeep a car, and its downright frustrating to be stuck in traffic, but man-o-man is it ever worth it when one wants to go somewhere and well, one goes because one owns a car... One might take public transport to go to work. One might quit cigarettes and eating out all together. One might only use his/her car once a month... Just to save money to continue owning a car... But one will do it.

Is that really a bad thing? It worked out for GM... You know...Tesla cars, in some cases, are MORE desirable than some GM cars at the moment. There was a time when GM cars...were not so desirable at all. The problem as I see it, is not with Tesla. One could say Elon. But that is still masking the problem, and maybe Elon is to blame 100%, but Tesla needs car guys to figure out the car building process. And not old school car guys either. Not the dinosaur old school car guys either. Kinda like in the NHL currently. Old school hockey people have old ideas that are no longer relevant in the sport anymore. See Don Cherry (and I LOVE Don Cherry or Brian Burke) But not far out...clueless new brains either...just using analytics to manage an NHL hockey team either. But some youngish guy, that has ties to old school but isnt afraid to innovate and get within the times. Elon Musk maybe too far removed from reality on how things actually work in the manufacturing business. Especially in the automobile manufacturing business. The Chinese seem to understand where the future of automobile manufacturing maybe heading.... Apple.... Steve Jobs had to get back to Apple to save it. He was fired from his own company because he was too much of a visionary, but the folk running Apple were simply too old fashioned to progress forward... Steve Jobs was that perfect modern visionary that Im talking about. He used old marketing ideas but modernized the context. That is what Tesla needs. A modern, hip, visionary to progress the company forward with manufacturing, but a guy that is grounded enough to understand that sometimes, the old way is perfect enough. Just to teak the old ways a tad...

Hasnt failed...yet... And besides...what constitutes failure nowadays, anyway? 1. Amazon has lost billions in the first 10 years(give or take 2-3 years) of its existance before it became the unstoppable (for now) force that it is. 2. Uber and Lyft are currently losing billions as I type this and for the last 2-3-4-5 years. Do you consider Uber and Lyft as failures...I do...but I dont see you bitchin' about them. I bitch about them. You dont. Irony is that, Uber and Lyft and Tesla, seem to fit in the same category as it seems enough people gravitate towards them for investors to continue to have faith in them to poor billions into them and it seems like Tesla, Uber and Lyft are now part of our modern landscape, yet...we bitch about Tesla being a failure...not Uber and Lyft, yet Uber and Lyft...REALLY have NOTHING concrete to offer us...they just manage an app on Android and Apple....but Tesla, you know....actually builds cars...real cars...not vapour ware...unlike...you know...Uber and Lyft... 3. Ford, Chrysler and GM lost billions. GM and Chrysler DID go bankrupt. Got bailed. Ford ALMOST went bankrupt. And its still paying the price for it because they did NOT go bankrupt...unlike GM... 4. Tesla cars, although Tesla the company is losing money and not generated profits, like just only 2-3 maybe 4 (and that is stretching it) quarters in their existence, Tesla cars are quite desirable all over the world. And Tesla has sold quite a few of them and continue to do so. I could go on...but I dont think any of you folk want to continue to read my rants...

And...repairs NEED to be made. Why? 1. cars on the road, by law, have to be safe. Have to be road worthy. If a car accident happens and especially death occcurs, if the investigation reveals that the car was not road worthy, especially if its a car that is used as a revenue generated car, then criminal charges WILL be applied to owner of car. 2. Its good for business to have a car that looks good, Same like any other service oriented business. Will you ever walk into a dilapidated restaurant, that reeks of shyte, to eat? yeah, I didnt think so...so why would this endeavor be any different? Ive done several costly renovations to my restaurant over the years. Decades. But in this case, costly renovations to the car, if not taken car of properly, need to be made almost on a weekly or monthly basis. OK...yearly. But like I said, wear and tear and stuff like that is expensive. Almost as expensive as renovating a restaurant... But my restaurant generates a lot of revenue. And my asset, the building, is an APPRECIATING asset...

I have a day off today. My wife does not work. We are both sitting home shooting the shyte. Both cars are sitting in our driveway. NOT EARNING REVENUE because we are NOT part of this car sharing business thing... So...our cars are not earning revenue... But...are cars are NOT incurring expenses either. Most importantly...NO WEAR AND TEAR... THAT is some costly shyte...this wear and tear phenomenon... Remember...a car sharing ride program, the cars are being driven ALL THE TIME... EVEN IF THERE IS A PASSENGER in the CAR AT ALL TIMES...the WEAR AND TEAR occurring will ALWAYS be GREATER than the revenue being generated. Other businesses, when their sales increase, businesses may be able to reduce their costs and expenses through this capitalistic phenomenon through economies of scale...meaning, businesses could get better deals on what causes their expenses... In this case, a taxi fleet could get good deals on oil changes and repairs at specific dealerships or car repair shops like Pep Boys or whatever. Uber and Lyft...have onbe fatal flaw to the detriment of their drivers. What seems like an excellent idea for UBER and LYFT NOT owning a taxi fleet, by that extension, the drivers are supposedly repairing their own cars on regular Joe car dealership prices... In this case here, when car sharing is concerned. If a driver of a car is NOT the owner, but is using it, well, this driver does not give a shyte about repairs, so he/she will run it to the ground. And where does this leave the owner of that car? With a broken ass car. And to put it back on the road for it to be a safe car...well...THAT LITERALLY costs thousands of dollars... Like I said, I aint no cost analyst expert getting paid millions to make a business case for General Motors, UBER, LYFT, Zip...Im just using LOGIC. Im using KNOWLEDGE that SHOULD be apparent to EVERYBODY as the automobile and automobile ownership is over 120 years already... THIS is the reason why cars are a DEPRECIATING ASSET. AND THEY DEPRECIATE AT AN ACCELERATED RATE. ESPECIALLY WHEN DRIVEN A LOT. I GUESS THE KEY WOULD BE FOR 1 CAR TO GENERATE REVENUE AND MOST IMPORTANTLY...PROFIT...THAT IS GREATER THAN THE EXPENSES AND DEPRECIATION IT OCCURS... Yeah...Good luck with that with an asset that has incredibly high...expenses.

Car repairs are expensive... Hit a pothole, because you just dont give a shyte, and possibly hundreds if not thousands of dollars in repairs might happen instantly as soon as the tire enters and exits that pothole... So yeah...again for the millionth time Im ranting about this... Who thought that ride sharing is a good idea? Car repairs and the cost of wear and tire have been on the minds of car owners as soon as the first automobile was sold to the first buyer in history. Over 120 years ago.... Uber and Lyft... Dont pay taxes, or dont declare ALL of their revenue to all three levels of government... They dont pay taxi licence fees. Dont own any taxi fleets per se. Because their drivers use their personal rides... Dont pay their drivers a fair salary. And STILL lose billions while while the onus for car repairs fall squarely on the shoulders of their drivers... because the drivers use their personal rides...and the recent report Uber and Lyft gave us is that ride sharing will NEVER be as cheap as car ownership EVEN if robots drive the cars... Why is all this shocking to people? Why isnt this common knowledge? Why is this even news? This type of news is a "duh" moment!!! I understand some of us use UBER...but let us not be biased by our personal choices because we use ride sharing programs but at least let us see the reality of this car sharing thing for what it truly is.... Its fraud... Its flawed. Its not sustainable. Its not reality. Its not even that convenient... (in some cases.) Its not even that much cheaper than regular taxi service. (in some cases) Uber and Lyft and all others will quietly go away as fast as they became a thing, they will disappear....

How big does the car need to be? Hyundai and/or Kia may be a good choice. Elantra. Kona. Sportage. Soul. Sorento. Then there is the the company Id never consider...Toyota. A Corolla is a good car. The Rav4. Honda Fit. Honda HRV. Honda Civic. A Civic looks like an enthusiast's car, but many non car people gravitate towards it. A Chevrolet Cruze is a great car too. Dare I say Trax? I think that is a good litte CUV. Nissan Sentra and Nissan Rogue and Quasqai all seem to be reliable. Cheap transportation.

Downsizing is an amicable and sensible idea. Assuming that GM wants to sell and move out of RenCen is for downsizing reasons and assuming that GM is still considering selling and moving out... There is no need for an ostentatious and lavish headquarters in today's world reality. However, a big corporation as big as GM or Mercedes does need sufficient real estate to house all the necessary offices required... Has GM outlived the need for a headquarters as imposing as RenCen? Whatever building they decide to move to if they sell RenCen, Im willing to bet the new place wont be as flamboyant nor quite as big either.

I learned about Led Zeppelin relatively late in my life. As compared to other music artists that I learned about and listened to before my time. I was in my mid 20s when I discovered them. As you could see, the Honeydrippers had come and gone a loooong time before I could make that connection. And I never saw the movie. Probably the only movie with Al Pacino in it that I did not see.(False Claim...Ive seen many of his films, but he made a lot of films) I remember the commercials for it on TV, but I never got the chance to rent it on VHS. Strangely enough, I dont ever recall seeing it at any video rental shelf that I was a member at. I would have rented it otherwise. I heard that Led Zeppelin gave awesome concerts back in the day. Yeah...he would as a solo artist too. I dont know Ship of Fools. 1st time I hear it. And I like it!!! His vocals are awesome. Love the guitar work in the song. Strong drums too. Good song! Im more familiar with the Stray Cats and The Brian Setzer Orchestra though. That would be during my time. Not popular with my circle of friends, but I was a fan.

Last I heard this version of this song was when this song was a hit. Whenever that was. If memory serves me well, 1984. I just knew of this group as the Honeydrippers. This song was everywhere. It played non stop. It was a cool song. Great song! Great vocals! The Stray Cats were popular then too. I knew that Sea of Love was a cover back then, and I knew that Rock This Town was a tribute to 1950s Rock, and this tune made me think of Bill Haley...thanks in part to Happy Days. And then, well, both tunes faded into memory as the 1980s marched on with more awesome music. So...Im in my car today, and the Honeydrippers Sea of Love is playing on the radio. So I listen to it with nostalgia. But then, that voice. Oh sure...I remembered that voice from 1984: "Do you remember, when we met...I want to tell you, how much I love you...come with me, to the sea..." I remembered just how awesome those vocals are. But THIS time, Im also identifying that voice with other stuff...I cant put my finger on it....I am positive that I know that voice. It escapes me and then the song is over. Honeydrippers rushes to the front of my memory banks. So I google. ROBERT PLANT???!!! "Waaaaaay down inside...Woooman! Yoouuuu need! Loooooove!" MIND PHOQUING BLOWN!!!!

Not in SUVs... Besides...those 1950s and 1960s Cadillacs... They go a long way with automotive historical prestige with people. Yes...rivaling Ferrari and Rolls. Id say SURPASSING Lamborghini, Bentley, and even Rolls Royce... Cadillac...Cadillac's past achievements still resonate strongly with people all over the world...Even in markets that have NEVER had a Cadillac sold in their country. But through music and movies... So yeah...stop being a douche...you know this to be true. Stop acting like you are a naive little 5 year old girl playing with your Barbie dolls... Not now...they need volume models... This is the only volume model they have that sells... How many 300 000 dollar cars do YOU think anybody could sell...month after month...year after year. Common man...stop being a douche. yes...EXACTLY! THIS is what Cadillac needs... As rich as Bentley's history is...Cadillac's is richer... Bentley stumbled too you know...and was just a less expensive Rolls Royce from years 1970s-1990s... All Cadillac needs is a similar kick in the ass. Which they havent done... But they are on the verge... Of course you think that.... Maybach has failed countless of times....this time wont be any different... Ironically...you think highly of Maybach, but wont give Cadillac its due...with the CT6 and the Escalade... Yes...THIS is what Im saying... Cadillac needs to overhaul its mission statement. Mercedes is doing it with Maybach... Yes...Cadillac WAS the Standard...THAT would be Rolls Royce terittory once upon a time ago...(let us not go why they are no longer that...we've done that...we understand the reasons....going forward is what we should be discussing here, you and I...) No...they dont execute any plan well the last 40-50 years...THIS they gotta change. The Corvette was ALWAYS GM's ultimate show for performance. Its Chevrolet that was lucky enough to get the car. Because reasons. I dont remember why...something to do with demographics of the time and the car wasnt the right car for cadillac at the time. But perfect for Chevrolet. But Corvette was supposed to be spread around the brands... Pontiac, Oldsmobile and Buick were also to get one. Or at least there were concepts of what Corvette could have been with those brands. And guess what? Cadillac did not get a Corvette version concept... I STRONGLY suggest you read up on your automotive history...I certainly wont waste my time googling links for you... That is the thing...having a mid-engined Corvette IS sticking to its roots... Never mind the idiotic argument that that is...sticking top its roots... But...Zora wanted a Mid-engineed Corvette as early as the late 1950s...again...I STRONGLY suggest you read up on your automotive history. I wont be wasting my time googling links for you... ROADSTER....Cadillac clientele dont necessarily want a roadster...I dont think... Stop misinterpreting what I said...

The Escalade's secret sauce? For it to be replicated to the other cars in the line-up? Simple! People really want big Cadillacs...Big Cadillacs is what Cadillac is. THAT is the secret sauce. It wasnt cool to own a big Cadillac at one time. Or any Cadillac for that matter. For reasons. But...THAT time has come and gone. Its time for Cadillac to embrace its lineage and heritage once more.

Cadillac needs to be on its own to have a BASE turbo V6. But I agree with that philosophy. But NO! Corvette was ALWAYS about high performance. Even when it was introduced in 1953 with the inline 6. Its just that it was rushed into production when it was shown at the Autorama show...or wherever it was shown. Chevrolet big wigs saw a buzz surrounding the Corvette, so they pitched the idea to GM and GM greenlit it...and they had less than 1 year to produce it...Chevrolet did not have time to really engineer it the way people saw it, the way the Corvette looked like it was a barn burner... People flocked to it, but WERE disappointed that the performance figures did not translate the way the Corvette looked. It was faster that the conventional American cars of the time, but the Corvette looked like it would be a rocket... Zora, 2-3 years later engineered it to be fast like a rocket and then the sales took off for it... And after that, the Corvette always stood for performance... The Corvette was ALWAYS the General Motors PERFORMANCE halo car...ALWAYS... Its only YOU that does not get it! Folk at Cadillac, dont want fast Cadillacs. They want disgustingly huge, excessive opulence. Cadillac folk want a fast car...they buy a Corvette! In the case below...they buy Cobras... That dude's Cobra was hitched to the back of his Cadillac... But there are no more Cobras to be bought...no more Vipers to be bought....no more Porsche 928s to be bought. No more Toyota Supras to be bought (its coming back...it aint a big deal for Corvette)...no more Mazda RX7 or 8s to be bought, That is right...the Corvette beat them all on the track and in the showroom. The Corvette has got a really good battle going on with the Porsche 911 and Ferrari 400 Series...(and it nearly made the 911 go away too...and Porsche did the 928, but purists realized that the 911 is truly special...so they flocked back top it...) But...a Corvette (any front engine RWD car actually) with excess of 500 horsepower and 500 ft.lbs torque cannot put the power down the way it should to compete with the current AWD RE 911s and ME Ferraris. Corvette NEEDS to go ME to EVOLVE to CONTINUE the performance battle... Or it could go AWD, but that would add weight...and Corvette has ALWAYS been about REDUCED weight....except when it was the smog equipped, low compression, CAFE Disco days... I really dont get it why YOU dont get it... Cadillac does NOT NEED a Tesla roadster competitor. Cadillac clientele are NOT ASKING for a Tesla roadster competitor. Cadillac clientele are asking for a Ciel convertible with a possible EV powertrain that has the power of a Tesla roadster....

So they do outsell the 'Gator. My remark was more tongue 'n cheek regarding the 'Gator... About the Escalade. There is NOTHING that Ferrari, M-B Maybach, Bentley, Lamborghini will do to dethrone the Escalade. The Maybach, Ferrari, Lambo will be priced higher, but as far as cache goes...the Escalade is THE one. Cry, whine, yell and complain. The Escalade is king of the fullsized SUVs. The others wills sell solely on the merit of a higher price tag. And THAT right there is what Im talking about with Cadillac... You mentioned that Mercedes sold out its million dollar F1 derived sports car... To that I say: YES!!! EXACTLY!!! THAT is what people are waiting for Cadillac to do! No...not a sports car, but a vehicle, any type of vehicle except a sports car that emphasizes stinkin' rich, give no shyte about nothing and nobody, excess to the point of increasing global climate change at an alarming rate, high priced HUGE CADILLAC! If Cadillac built a Ciel EXACTLY the way the Ciel was as a concept, not watered down, with all the technology available and the opulence necessary and Cadillac priced THAT Ciel at at extremely high price...they would sell every single one they build... Like I said...275 units on a souped up CT6 that detractors like yourself would not blink an eye at priced that no other Cadillac sedan has ever been priced before in the last 40 years... Not quite Eldorado Brougham Biarritz of the 1957 vintage...but...that is the thing... Cadillac finds itself into a price realm they havent seen since those 1950-1960-early 1970s glory days... If you dont want to see that...I cant help you. But like Balthy said... The Maybach failed for umpteenth time in the early 2000s. Now...Mercedes is reviving it again as a TRIM package. A far cry to what Maybach USED to mean to the luxury world in the past and from the last time Maybach was a thing... Cadillac...whether you want to admit to it or not...even Cadillac CEOs dont see it I bet...Cadillac has crept up in price and people are accepting of it...slowly...but surely... And it took the Escalade to get there. Not the Zig Zagging, ATS, CTS, STS...but what Cadillac was ALWAYS famous for... Arrogant, excessive, huge...vehicles... And THAT is why I still feel that the CT4 is a mistake. This is why I feel that the road to success is with high priced, arrogantly styled, mid to huge vehicles...

@smk4565 PS: In 2021, the new Escalade is to arrive. I know why you mentioned 2020, is because you think the old Escalade will be eclipsed by the new for 2019 0r 2020 GLC and X7... But even then, I dont see it happening. Like I said... No mojo, no style, no gotta have it factor. Very generic. Very Japanesee... Infiniti...YIKES!!! Double yikes...very Lexusey also... Not a very unique, gotta have it Mercedes there, buddy! To boot, those fullsized Japanese SUVs are both styled a decade ago...and they dont even remotely come close in outselling the 'Slade... The BMW X7? Yeah...I dont think it will outsell the Navigator let alone the Escalade... In fact, I dont think Mercedes outsells the Navigator either...

Corvette was, is and will forever BE GM's halo sports car...and it will forever BE a Chevrolet or tied to the Chevrolet brand. Chevrolet, especially when Pontiac and Oldsmobile are no longer around, Chevrolet IS GM's performance brand and THAT is where the Corvette belongs... The only other direction the Corvette could go, is on its own, but with strong ties to...Chevrolet. NO... Cadillac does NOT NEED a sports car. Their market does not even ask for a sports car. At most...maybe...a GT car. But even before a 2 door coupe GT car, like a Bentley GT, Cadillac would benefit more through a personal luxury vehicle, and it not even need be a coupe... The window for an El Miraj/El Dorado type of personal luxury car closed about two years ago. The market shifted greatly from that. They DO need a halo vehicle though that signifies narcissistic, arrogant, excess, wasteful opulence... But a Lamborghini, Ferrari, Corvette, Pagani sports car ride is not it. A Cadillac Ciel sedan hardtop and/or 4 door convertible is THAT vehicle. Proof: The longest car Cadillac has in its stable...a CT6 V Blackwing 550 horsepower/627 ft.lbs torque Twin Turbocharged V8 sold out all 275 units instantly as soon as it was available for sale....making Cadillac think twice in canceling the CT6...plus...raising the price tag for it for the second batch by 4000 or 5000 bucks and people still bought it to reach 275... Cadillac cars...people do NOT want small, eurocentric Cadillac cars. The Allante did not sell. The ELR did not sell. The ATS did not sell. The Escalde sells. The XTS sells. Low and behold, the CT6 is starting to sell... People want big Cadillacs that cost a lot of dough....

Yes...we've discussed this before...about product.... But 25-30 years ago...there was virtually no Cadillac with an equaivalent starting price of $75 000 and ending at $100 000 either like the Escalade, or CT6....or CTS V Yes...15 or so years ago, there was an attempt to do a roadster with a high price tag and it failed...but it failed because the product was not up to Cadillac standards. Cadillac has since corrected that. The Allante also failed, for the same reasons, but it didnt have a upper echelon price tag either...it was expensive, but it wasnt in the higher echelon. It was near it, but not at it... Cadillac has made some strides...in this price realm and has succeeded to a degree. The CTS-V has failed in the market place because of a lack of marketing vision. NOT because its a lackluster product like the ELR and the Allante were before it. The Blackwing V8 CT6...or CT6-V....STARTS at $89 000... The Blackwing V8 CT6...or CT6-V....STARTS at $89 000... To put THAT into perspective...the Escalade Premium Luxury which is the 3rd highest trim level...is at 86 000.] The top of the line Escalade, the Platinum is at 96 000. The CT6-V...is in uber luxury territory as Im assuming...all 275 examples that people gobbled up as soon as it came up to be ordered, Im assuming those owners, loaded up their rides to the nines with every possible option Cadillac has to offer for it...and Im assuming that the price tag for all 275 CT5-Vs reached and surpassed 100 000 EASILY...while NOT the 150 000 YOU are clamoring for...but pretty darned impressive as the CT6 is not even considered a halo car. Not by car magazines, not by Eurosnob detractors and even Cadillac CEOs themselves... So...for a CT6, that is supposedly not on par with Germany's best in terms of quality of luxury and technology and the like, that it could get 275 units sold, instantly, with a price tag north of 100 000. You could analyze this scenario in different ways...but in reality...a CT6 that was supposedly a failure in the market place because supposedly its a vehicle that is compromised by Cadillac's legacy of 2 steps forward and 1 step back...it manages to stick around because who knew that all folk really want from Cadillac is a big Cadillac car with a big V8 under the hood...that has a big price tag? No they wont... Those SUVs have no mojo. No style. No gotta have it factor. even if there is a 3 pointed star up front on one of them. The other one comes from a brand that is following in Cadillac's marketing footsteps of the 1980s and 1990s....

Ive had this stance now for the last year or so. And I think Cadillac has got the right engineering, quality, luxury to pull it off as of NOW! That was then...and the ONLY reason why the uber lux crowd aint buying stuff from Cadillac in that price range... well there are at least 2 reasons: 1. There are virtually NO products in this price range that Cadillac offers for the uber lux crowd to buy. The Escalade is the sole vehicle that uber lux folk are buying. 2. There is NO marketing to instill pride in the brand. No information to let people know why they should buy Cadillac. The V Series stuff. There is NO marketing for people to be excited about a V Series Cadillac. The reasons why I say that folk WILL flock to buy uber lux stuff from Cadillac: 1. The concepts Ciel, Cien, El Miraj, Escala all have garnered a fair amount of buzz and noise. But no such product was and is available for an eventual sale down the line. 2. The Blackwing V8 CT6 sold out. And THAT is with the CT6 supposedly not being on the same level, as some say, as a Bimmer or Audi or Mercedes. And the Blackwing V8 CT6 is in the uber luxury price world. Granted, not too many units were available for sale, but its not as if the Blackwing V8 CT6 was advertised...and was outsold as soon as it was made available for sale and if Im not mistaken, the Blackwing V8 CT6 is still not produced to be delivered... That kinda reminds me of a certain product zealousness on par with...Tesla... 3. The CT6 was on the chopping block for awhile. But...there is a strong demand for the CT6, so GM/Cadillac is finally NOT cancelling it... Not too bad for a halo car that is NOT a halo car and supposedly a real halo car is still in the works... 4. Despite all the times we heard Cadillac say that this is the generation to turn things around...and Cadillac does not...and they take 2 steps forward and 1 step back...despite all that...Cadillac HAS raised its prices and Cadillac is actually rolling metal out of their NORTH AMERICAN dealerships.... Yes...not ATS and CTS vehicles...but their SUVs...and the CT6 has got a strong following. 5. Going back to the El Miraj and Ciel and Escala... The ATS and CTS are not selling the way they should, but the ATS and the CTS are NOT even remotely close to what folk actually want from Cadillac...which is Ciel, El Miraj and Escala... The one vehicle that people envision Cadillac to be that Cadillac actually builds...is the Escalade, andTHAT Cadillac has no trouble finding clients... Sometimes...pricing yourself too low and putting yourself too low in the market place does NOT give you the volume you want and crave. Sometimes, the image people want from you, is to be exclusive, and sometimes pricing yourself high and out of range for most folk WILL get you the volume you want and crave...from the people that actually COULD afford your cars... Because...the people that WANT a Cadillac will NOT buy a Cadillac simply because Cadillac is NOT stuffy enough. Those people, want EXCLUSIVITY....and are probably bored with BMW, Mercedes, Lexus, Audi, Jag...and those people are waiting for Cadillac to actually really become exclusive... And yes...of course with the right engineered and quality worthy of the price, product. And Cadillac HAS that engineering and quality as of NOW...in 2019... What they do NOT have is the marketing...and product...to sell to those folk...

Peter DeLorenzo keeps on saying on his Autoextremist website that Mary Barra and Dan Ammann do NOT believe in hiring a marketing company to do the marketing campaigns on their automotive brands. And if I understood DeLorenzo correctly, its like Barra also limits GM's budget for marketing and its done in-house with Barra and Ammann in charge. Obviously Ammann is no longer a big wig with GM's automotive operations any more, but in charge of the autonomous driving section of GM's operations, but Barrra is still not into marketing her products properly.... But yeah... Cadillac needs some sort of identity marketing to get the excitement for the brand going... To get the message of pride for owning and driving a Cadillac...

I like your thinking all but for one thing. Im for a proper Caddy. Im for a badass Caddy. Im for a wagon Caddy. Maybe. (its that CUV/SUV thing that is going on in the market place that puts a damper on that idea) But I definitely DO NOT want an affordable Caddy...

^^^ That above I agree to 10000000000%

Or a 3rd gen Trans Am Come to think of it...a 2nd gen Trans Am too Those are not all nice and tucked in ... The CT5's area right in front of that front tire forward, now that Im looking at it more and more...looks kinda squished...with no personality to boot.... Yeah...I like me some front overhang....

I heard a rumour, that you have a broken heart. Now it seems they're telling me you've changed your wicked ways. Rumour has it. That she is half your age. But Im guessing that's the reason that you stayed. Ive heard, that youve been missing me.... Heard it from a friend, who heard it from a friend, who heard it from another, you've been messin around... I dont believe it. Not for a minute. I know you know we've had some good times. Now they have their own hiding place. Well, I can promise you tomorrow, but I cant buy back yesterday. Ill be there for you, these 5 words I swear to you. When you breathe, I want to be the air for you. Ill be there for you! This post was brought to you by Bananarama, Adele, REO Speedwagon and Bon Jovi. And if you frown upon it because it has nothing to do with the topic at hand, I tied it all up with the "rumour" connection and at least there is a very weak automotive connection to it...so...there!