oldshurst442

You double talk... In the first paragraph...you make it seem like its a privilege to out Mercedes, Mercedes. In the second paragraph...you wanna insult Chevy and Ford... The truth of the matter is that Lexus and Acura and Infiniti and the still born Amati from Mazda was to out do Lincoln and Cadillac... Why else do you think that Acura, Lexus and Infiniti are brands ONLY SOLD IN NORTH AMERICA... In the rest of the world...Mercedes Benz cars are taxis and mainstream sedans...The Japanese want to sell LUXURY CARS...its in the USA that luxury cars are bought... This is the 1980s and 1990s...globalization has JUST started...the money transfer and jobs are not yet at a world level...the money is still in the USA... Lexus copied M-B's look ONLY to be more accepted in the North American market in a design language that would seem accepted in North America...nothing to do with M-B and its image... Not the first time Toyota does this for North America... Looks like a Mustang to sell to Americans that would consider a sporty car from Japan... The formula worked so they did the same thing with their flagship luxury car... Remember that this is a 1976 Celica The Mustang had its Mustang II suit on...the Trans Am was the big pony car... The looks of the cars had nothing to do with who was on top...only pure marketing design in which design language would be more attractive to the North American buyer. Acura did the NSX which INSTANTLY got them accepted Infiniti is STILL struggling to get wide acceptance in their VISUAL design language. SMK...The Lexus LS would be top dog in North America...along with the Fleetwood and Town Car through out the 1990s... NOT MERCEDES BENZ... I dont know why you are so forgetful....you choose to wear rose coloured glasses...I suggest you take them off!

I have a personal vendetta against this car...any E36 3 Series. When it first came out, I liked it! In fact...I was soooooo into this shyte movie BECAUSE of the E36 (I will always be a HUUUUGE Charlie Sheen fan though..regardless if he is a tiger-HIV infested blood "winner"! ) But my Eurosnob friends soured me big time regarding Bimmers! To this day....Im still struggling in accepting BMW in my heart!

Same here. I have been like this for about a decade now. There have been many models I have lusted over by most of these brands...but later offerings or other models in their respective stables have left me cold.

Also... When the Japanese got serious on conquering the North American market...the shyte got real...really fast. Exterior body panel tolerances and interior tolerances were perfected by them and were usually extremely tight. Please...I hope you dont think Mercedes Benz manufacturing in the 1980s and the 1990s was as tight as the Japanese was... And when we ( @balthazar , @Drew Dowdell, @Cmicasa the Great, @surreal1272) say that MercedesBenz was NOT a luxury car maker, its because we know that since their cars over in Europe were Taxis and mainstream sedans and over here were just slabbed with leather and priced sky high...we know that everything regarding luxury was just skimped on by M-B JUST BECAUSE those "luxury cars" were NOT really luxury cars... Cheap ass interior plastics and shoddy fit and finish.... Why? mainstream market vehicle in Europe. Eurosnob-self hating Americans were bamboozled with a high price tag. Wide gaps in body panels. Why? mainstream market vehicle in Europe therefore the need to improve upon that was not necessary. It was more necessary and cheaper to bamboozle Eurosnob-self hating Americans with a high price tag. Why do you think the Japanese saw a need to go upscale for? Hint: It aint because Mercedes-Benz was highly regarded as a luxury car maker in the 1980s... Result: Try getting people off of their Toyotas and Lexus cars in 2017... These people wont buy American...but wont buy German either! In fact...these people will buy American WAAAAAY before they buy German!

More like the NSΧ V6 became the basis for the future V6 for the Accord as when the NSX came out, the Accord only came in 4 cylinder flavour. The Legend only came with a V6...although shared some features with the NSΧ, it wasnt exactly a direct relationship... Later 4 cylinder engines from Honda/Acura shared many NSX V6 traits. The NSX V6 had a lot of "firsts" going for it. The car itself also. The list is long. If you care enough to learn...maybe you should take the time to read up on the NSX...it will surprise you how advanced the engine and the car itself was... And if you dont want to know and If you havent already understood by now why the 1st generation NSΧ is a highly regarded car, then you will never understand...therefore it is hopeless for me to continue... PS: There is a reason why Acura and Lexus were highly regarded then and why Lexus is still ranked high today.... And while you shyte on Cadillac, PLEASE BE HONEST (WITH YOURSELF) AND REALIZE THAT BMW, AUDI AND MERCEDES WERE JUST AS LAUGHED AT AS CADILLAC WAS! Only EUROSNOBS DID NOT LAUGH AT GERMAN CARS...BUT OTHERS IN THE KNOW OF WHAT WAS GOING ON...WERENT GONNA TOUCH A GERMAN CAR WITH A 10 FT. POLE! FOR THE LAST TIME There is a reason why these Japanese cars are legendary today and why the Japanese have a foot in the luxury market today... Hint: It aint because Mercedes-Benz was a powerful luxury car maker...

@smk4565 You are confusing the success of these cars and causing a ruckus in North America with M-B.... M-B had NO such success in the 1990s...

Dude...M-B in the 1990s wasnt all that great either... Technically..Cadillac was still above M-B in the 1990s in the lux department and in sales... You are confusing the surge of Lexus in the 1990s with that with M-B...

And NO.... M-B in the 1950s and 1960s certainly was no luxury car maker! And...its YOU that keeps harping on a hyper car from M-B... And again NO! That Pullman was a special order... Cadillac had few of those going on too. And Cadillac had a legit Rolls Royce competitor in the 1950s...not M-B...

But that is what YOU said...you made fun of Cadillac for having one V8 sedan... Remember...even the Camaro V8 kicks ass...so does the ATS-V with its supercharged V6... And if the ATS-V no longer dominates...its because Cadillac has not improved upon its performance in like 5 years...

Too bad that the luxury part of the luxury equation was missing from M-B in the 1970s... And in the 1970s...luxury was about plushiness rather than speediness...you know...you said it yourself...Oil crisis slowed down the performance in the late 70s, early 80s...

It is also rumored that when Daimler-Chrysler sold off the Chrysler part...and left the Dodge Viper to rot to its inevitable demise in 2017 at the hands of Fiat- Chrysler...it is rumored that the next gen Viper was stolen from Dodge to become the SLS... Just a rumor...and never proven because of lack of concrete evidence...but all rumors have some % of truth to them...no matter how small the %.

I am not sure about a motorcycle carrier on the back of an Avalanche. But there was a wacky British idea during WW2 to put an aircraft carrier on an iceberg... http://99percentinvisible.org/article/project-habbakuk-britains-secret-ice-bergship-aircraft-carrier-project/

Regarding Cadillac. Cadillac was hardly a brand that wanted to flex its muscles on a road course or drag strip. Not in the 1920s, nor the '30s all the way to the 2000s. Cadillac did race in its 115 year history. Even in its early years. But it wasnt part of the brands identity. GM had other brands to do the racing thing...and throughout those 10-12 decades...GM's other brands shuffled the tides with each other for racing dominance. In the late 1960s...during the height of the muscle car era where there was no replacement for displacement, Cadillac had the largest displacement V8 ever...but it never did the muscle car thing. Buick did...not Cadillac. Cadillac did not have to! And you know what? Cadillac still kicked the 6.9 SEL's ass in any metric you wanna make them compete in!

PS: There is a reason why I talk smack back at you SMK regarding M-B and the Italian cars when I say Italians do it better. 1957 with a V12... And although the 300SL was a great race car...it became a Beverly Hills trophy wife's choice... That Ferrari on top...its lineage is legendary to this day... It NEVER ceased to exist either in body nor in engine....unlike the 300SL... The 300SL took a completely different turn by its 5 year of existence and it took the SLS of this century to get back to its roots... The 300SL started life as an inline 6.... The 250TR had a V12 and from 1957...all of the 250TR successors all had the same goal in life all with a 12 cylinder under the hood! And although the 250TR that I showed was a race car and was not the GT California roadster and later coupes inluding the 250GTO...they were not exactly the same vehicle...they were all closely related to one another anyhow...and that V12 was one of the things that tied them together...they shared other things too...this aint a Ferrari thread for me to go further into detail. So yeah...Italians do do it better!

He also forgot that his beloved 300SL also did not come with a V8... First supercar, huh? You go and talk smack When in the 1950s....American cars were all about the V8 Balthy even told you about a certain HEMI powered Chrysler with the same 300 name... It is to laugh!!!

You know what I have noticed? You and I...we have some common ground when it comes to cars, but when we are off...we are miles apart. LOL (BMW comes to mind) This here for instance also. I too saw the DB11 in person and fell in love with it right away. I also remember you saying that you prefer the Vanquish (or was it the DB9?) 10 fold and they were parked side by side so you saw and compared the sexiness right then and there. I also LOVE the Vanquish and the DB9 but...with me...I am ready to move forward with the DB11, V8 and V12. Which do I prefer? In order of preference 3. 2018 Bentley GT Coupe (but the Bentley being in 3rd place does not mean I like it) 2. AM DB9 and Vanquish (tied for 2nd) 1. DB11

OK....I will give it to you. I am nuts! Ill admit...as far as modern 2017-2018 GT coupes go, this one is one of the better looking ones. Id still rather Aston Martin DB11 though.

I second those 2 sentences.

Are less likely...sure. But not impervious. https://jalopnik.com/nooooooo-first-porsche-918-spyder-burns-to-ground-in-g-1640157724 Better fit and finish? Sure! But German styling is soulless. Italian styling has passion...hence why Italians do it better. In a sexual explanation of how German engineering and styling works... A German making love will give you the optimal thrusting speed and frequency per minute to orgasm and ejaculate quicker and more efficiently. Will calculate how many out of breath "Oh God!" were shouted and divide that by how many palpitations he feels his woman is having and then he will proceed to thrust harder. So yeah...they have everything down to a calculated science...which may be a good thing. But it aint hot and passionate...at least to me it aint...concerning some German cars. Porsche is an exception for me. Certain Mercedes models as well...but over all...this is how I feel.

Touché on the Pagani. But... regarding Lamborghini...'tis Lambo that is used for V10 engine tech and the platform work from the Gallardo and Huracan regarding old and new Audi R8 and not Porsche.... And Ferrari LaFerrari successor to come in 2021-2023. You said it yourself that Ferrari will up their game further...but as we speak....in 2017...there is nothing from Germany that touches Ferrari...because simply enough...there is no hyper car from Germany. (Porsche explanation further down...Mercedes/BMW has NOTHING) Or even Lamborghini regardless if VAG owns Lamborghini... There is Porsche... But VAG lets Porsche be Porsche and Lamborghini be Lamborghini...therefore Lamborghini remains Italian... I should correct myself as Porsche creates awesome hyper cars...the Carrera GT and the 918...but like I said...Audi uses Lamborghini for their go fast R8 car... all Porsche gets from Audi is diesel scandals. Until M-B produces its hyper car...Italians do do it better...but by that time...Ferrari will still be better enforcing further that Italians do it better!

yup...half. And? The next Corvette is said to go hybrid... http://blog.caranddriver.com/latest-spy-pics-of-mid-engined-2019-c8-corvette-best-view-yet-of-cabin-and-overall-proportions/ From July 31, 2017 The Camaro will probably get Voltec at that same time....which is a short 3-4 years away... Its incredible how some of you prefer to keep your heads under the ground on purpose...

But isnt there, like, one HUUUUGE successful one... I will admit that the term and definition of "successful" could be argued. Consumer demand and acceptance vis-a-vis profits... In the early days of the automobile industry in the early 1900s...werent there literally thousands of different manufacturers that eventually went broke, merged, collapsed, or disappeared? Why do we insist on shytting upon this new era? Its coming...actually...it is already here! US sales figs only... 9563 Chevy Bolts have been sold YTD through July...another 1500 minimum for August... In 2016...24 739 Chevrolet Volts have been sold and YTD through July, 12 450...add another 1000 minimum for August. Chevrolet alone has sold 50 000 EVs in just 1.5 years... Peanuts for the amount of gasoline powered Silverados and Colorados and Equinoxes, right? That would be the argument, right? (last two questions are not to be answered...its sarcasm...)

Who needs a hyper car from any German when Italians do it better!