oldshurst442

I think its because I have never equated pick-up trucks, SUVs, CUVs as status symbols. Even the Escalade. I have always view these vehicles as work vehicles, tools. Appliances for hard work. Blue collar stuff. The off-roading 4x4s as enthusiast toys. Sure...those can be status symbols, but not of the snobby kind. Because mud is the farthest to aristocracy in my mind. To each his own. I will continue to laugh at what this world and this society has become.

I guess its how one wants to view what this world is becoming.

That is what I was thinking.... I do find it a great idea for the work truck thing for Europe. Actually, I might even say its about bloody time! M-B produces some pretty mighty, hefty work horses for Europe and 3rd world countries. A European market knows how rugged those commercial trucks are. And deep rooted in European history going far back before WW2...so a light to medium pick-up truck to claim market share form Toyota Hilux, Mazda B2000, Nissan Navarro (which ironically underpins this new thing) and VW Amarok is a smart move... But...to offer this in North America would be quite silly and embarrassing in any which form. Hypocritical you are calling me because its OK for GM and GMC and Cadillac and Lincoln? Well...just like M-B has a deep rooted history for work and military trucks in Europe, as does GM with Chevy and GMC along with Ford in North America. Also...Lincoln and Cadillac no longer offer pick-up trucks, the Caddy EXT/Avalanche was sold as a SUV but one could argue it was a pick-up truck more than it was a SUV... Ford and GMC/Chevy has an image of blue collar people...selling a Denali to these people is akin to what M-B is in Europe...is contradictory to M-B's image in North America is what Im saying.

Sprinter vans aside, and other commercial stuff that Mercedes produces, is this pick-up truck a competitor to the Chevy Colorado work truck or is it a GMC Sierra Denali/Cadillac Escalade EXT type vehicle? Because as a commercial medium duty truck, it makes sense for Mercedes to do this, especially using a Nissan, but if this is to impress the blue bloods, it is asinine, especially using a Nissan platform. If they want to go the Lincoln Blackwood route, maybe a pure bespoke M-B chassis would be better suited... Whatever I says, not that Id be impressed with it either way. I am not a truck guy, I dont really care. But I got to laugh at the ridiculous rate Mercedes Benz wants to whore itself unto every possible real or imagined niche there is. Yes Ms. Temple, it is quite a silly and embarrassing idea, isn't it ???!!!

And CCAP...like I was sayin' Im surprised refs dont get hit more often... Lucic, former Bruin now LA King, punches ref accidentally in the mouth trying to punch another player... This happened yesterday. Lucic's firstgame back from a suspension no less...

You are not the only one to think this way CCAP. This was a post from me a while back concerning the Cascada. http://www.cheersandgears.com/topic/85635-buick-news-2016-buick-cascada-priced-at-33990/?hl=%2Bbuick+%2Bcascada "Sharp little car...very European in flavour. Why is it that Im thinking that this car is 20 years too late? Why is it that Im thinking that this car would have made an excellent Saturn...or even a nice early 2000s Oldsmobile but why is it that dont I like it has a 2016 Buick? When I heard news of this last year, I was happy for Buick, but fast forward a year later with viewing it with Buick clothes on instead of Opel clothes, and Im in the least bit interested and kinda disappointed in it... Maybe the Avenir is giving me thoughts of grandeur for Buick and maybe I need to settle down my expectations of Buick... Or maybe...Buick should start getting with the program a little bit faster with products that make us salivate...this wont make anybody salivate...even the aforementioned ladies between the ages of 40-50. Because even those ladies...they probably salivate thinking about driving around in Bimmers..." I even got a thumbs up on that post....so somebody approved what I said! That would be 2 for the price of 1 right there in 1 post!

Was I the only one that thought the Buick Avista with Opel badging would be the Opel GT? Guess I was wrong, huh? Do I like this thing? I dont know. Looks like a Hot Wheels toy. Part of me enjoys the youthful exuberance of if it. Part of me just says, man that thing looks dinky. Ill hold on to my opinion a little longer as I think I have a stick up my butt currently that prevents me from enjoying this car presently.

At the Montreal show, there was a lone GT350R. White with blue stripes. NOBODY was around it! I dont think anybody realized what it was. I think people just thought it was just a regular Mustang. I mean, sure it was locked and nobody could get in it, and no hoopla advertisements announcing it, but the regular Mustang and the Convertible had a considerable flock gathered around them... The GT350 was by itself far from the other Mustangs, which should have signaled the people in the know thsat something is up with this machine...but no. I was the only guy drooling over it for at least 10 minutes before another gear head asked me if it was indeed the GT350. After I confirmed to him that it was, he nodded, took a brief look at it..and he left, just like that, he left... What is even crazier, that cross check that Wideman gave the linesman. Pretty intense. Im amazed that refs dont get hit accidentally more often actually.

@ DFELT Thanx a million! Looks like I aint that crazy after all. Like BLU said...maybe Im scary, but not crazy! On the other hand, there is that.

Stop flip-flopping... its evident that Cadillac, in general, could use a bit of "Designo" type capabilities. Customization if U will.. for people who have an issue with certain palette choices. I'm of the opinion that JDN and Associates need to get on that aspect lickiety-split.. as it is a huge profit generator. Second.. Lexus did do its due diligence in "sweating the details," but Lexus was an upstart LUXURY brand.. Cadillac, tho still proving itself as a DESIRABLE brand to Millennials and GenX..has never lost the title of a luxury brand, it did, however, fall from its lofty position as preeminent luxury brand, or Standard of the World. It is looking to reclaim that. Problem is that now, the definition of luxury, or rather the respect of being luxury seems to come from desirability being measured more by sales than the price point people are interested in paying. Cadillac as an overall brand commands a price average that is almost on par with the current leader in luxury, but because its sales have been down, or not on the level of the Benz, BMW, or Lexus.. it is levied a bit of disrespect and second guessing on PRODUCT. As if to say the ATS, for instance, is not a great entry level luxo because its sales are not on par with the 3Series. Up until the 80s.. Cadillac was the leader in luxury hands down. Not Benz, not BMW, not even Rolls held the same capabilities as Cadillac mass selling while still retaining tier one status. They became complacent.. and also decadent, leading them to where they are now. Some wish to blame the Diesel debacle, 4-6-8, or the Cimmaron, but in reality Cadillac's biggest faux pax was not CHANGING to what they are now when they were most relevant. Had Cadillac made the changes they started making with the CTS in 2003, in 1983, or even 1993, they would currently be viewed as a real Benz/BMW competitor, and would still own the American market, and most likely China, with a real presence in Europe too. Why does Cadillac get such a chance??? Why are they being cheered on so much as they are??? Well.. an example of what I say lies in the past.. recent in fact. This Fleetwood interior, IMO outclassed the SClass and 745's.. in terms of LUXURY, but they had it on SPORT Seriously. Which do U see as more luxury.. more rich? Notice the contrasting of the Cadillac?? LOL To the New York Move JDN has recruited proper folk away from the competition and industries that cater to luxury people. It is an absolute necessity. One can not have a luxury brand run by NASCAR people. In other words, the same execs that run/ran Chevy/Holden/Pontiac.. can not run Cadillac. No way.. no how. They new recruits were also most likely also lured in by the attractiveness of rebuilding this storied brand. A Brand that has more automotivefirsts than I can think. Even in skeletal form, Cadillac now shows unbelievable potential. Six vehicles for sale, with only one having a variant (ATS Coupe) and they still manage to NOT be last in the luxury race, with ATPs that top the #1 selling luxo brand in the U.S., furthermore it managed to sell, just under, a smidge less than Audi, which has DOUBLE its line-up Yeah...Ill stop flip flopping. LOL! The customization of interior colours and materials would be a huge and much needed improvement, I agree! Like you said, not to mention a boost of money in the coffers. But the customization of the interior, I dont want that to happen right now. I want that to happen when they fix the dealership experience...when they perfect their sales staff along with the dealerships themselves. Which JDN has hinted many times that he will be on that fix soon enough. As for the Cimarron and the V8-6-4 killing Cadillac... Im with you on that thought. 'Twas not that that killed Cadillac's mojo. The idiots that ran GM and Cadillac at the time did not fully commit to the transformation that they themselves envisioned. The transformation came before 2003 with the CTS....it came even before 1997 with the Catera. Actually, it came by the way of the late 1980s Allante and the FWD STS Northstar of 1994. They had the 1992 and 1993 STS with that other V8, but the STS was really transformed with the Northstar. It did not matter if it was FWD. If they had introduced a RWD Euro oriented mid-sizer also in the ealry 1990s, like you said, we wouldnt have this conversation today. And the Fleetwood land yacht would probably still be here today, and it probably would have been the CT9 about a decade ago... About the the STS. I alwys felt the STS of the 1990s had a better interior of any German car of that same time frame. But unfortunately, many things conspired against the STS. One thing that did not help was every single American enthusiast car magazine such as Motor Trend, Road and Track and Car and Driver were drooling idiots over the German brands while self-hatin' on the American cars. But that is for another conversation.

Im flip flopping with this issue. Although I dont have a problem with it like I did earlier, Im still bewildered at the fact that Cadillac could have made that trim and airbag colour choice a better one, base trim level or not. Cadillac, to me, should give NOBODY ANY reason to criticize ANYTHING! There WILL be detractors no matter what...no matter how trivial a black plastic trim might be.... I understand that Reuss had a big fight over door handles...and this is a car that Ellinghaus and JDN had almost no control over as this car was already done by the time they were in charge....but going forward, trivial stuff like this needs to be eliminated. Lexus, correct me if Im wrong, went over and beyond with these types of details while undermining their price tags on their vehicles for a good 15 years...sweating out the details... THIS is an area where Im sure JDN understands very well. Im positive of the future for Cadillac in that regard. Hyper mentions the move to NYC. I also believe the move to NYC was because corporate still does not understand the importance of the little details.

OK...I see the point. Ill agree to the fact that the Intrigue's interior does lack depth, although that interior did have two tones, not enough to make a visual impact of the wow factor. On that particular CT6, there is enough brown accents with the leather and the wood that adding more brownish tints will look lackluster. Maybe the black route was the best way...

I was probably conceived with Zeus' juice. I aint being silly. Im proud of my daddy. So I plugging his supremacy...which is the lightning bolt...ELECTRICITY!!! Go Stamkos Go!!! The Lightning win the Stanley Cup! Its like Thunder, LIGHTNING! The love you will have for EVs one day WILL be Frightening!

Yet another 5 year update... And the 200 and Dart are done with....but no plans to replace them, because obviously 30 dollars a barrel of oil is surely a permanent thing...with no plans of any EVs either, because the Chevy Volt and Bolt and Prius and all the other Electric Hybrids are not what the future hold because that future is all about Trucks...SUVs too... Good... Now that Sergio has graced us with that info that Trucks are the future, with SUVs...I take it he is pushing for this its because its the money making machine that Chryco offers for his Italian brands... He might as well just kill off Dodge, since RAM is its own brand, kill of Chrysler as Jeep could inherited the Pacifica and call it the day...no more 5 year update updates every 2-3 weeks...

That is elegant, Casa. From the school of less is more. The FWD STS interiors from the 1990s all the way to the early 2000s were elegant, and the direction that Cadillac is taking now reminds me of that time. But with better materials and fit and finish. They are finally finishing what they started from when the STS was introduced in the early 1990s.

That aint cool. Its boring. I bet you somewhere on this planet, somebody already has done this... As much as I love LS swaps myself, its at a point where it aint special or unique anymore. LS swaps have been done to death. An electric conversion Suburban would be the shiznit though.... There arent many of those.... Festiva with Zeus juice flowing, now THAT is what I wanna see... Give the Bolt a run for its money.

Ill be the third to complain about that too. Is it that expensive to just nix that black plastic trim and make it the same beige colour like the surroundings? Oldsmobile had the right idea in the late 1990s to early 2000s.

So much anymore cars are totaled because of the cost involved. I do not think this will change much. I had a co worker with a large luxury car that was still derivable after the crash get totaled. The car was tweaked enough it was not worth fixing. He was ok with that as he is getting a brand new one. This is true for all types of consumer objects. It has been true for the last 20 years. And with some objects, 30-40 years. Cheaper to buy new to than to repair... Is that a good thing though? I aint an eco zealot, but one still has to wonder what in the world are we doing here?

I like how Casa broke down the marketing strategy for the CT6. Its dead on. And seeing how Cadillac positioned the 1st and 2nd gen CTS, this strategy seems similar. I think the CT6 will kill it and I think it will steal some sales away from the Germans... Maybe the CT6 dashboard does not have the wow factor of the Germans,namely the Bimmer and the M-B...but to me...that kind of flash is like silicone breasts...nice to look at, nice to fondle, but you do tire of them quite fast. A little movie clip that the CT6 made me think of... And this scene too. Germany never could build a quality Whiskey! Im sure SMK will defend that statement by bringing in

Yes, there is a hidden message to this particular GIF I chose to state and salute my approval of the CT6...

Yeah. Dark Blue for me too. Beautiful shade of blue. Made the Malibu look very upscale. I also sat in a Chrysler 200. It was a 200C. Strangely enough, I dont remember what the exterior colour was, nor the interior colour. I do remember it was two toned with white being one of the colours. I liked the fit and finish and the way the two tone hues blended together, but Id rather my Fusion and the Malibu over the 200. I did not feel comfortable in the 200. The Fusion is my wife's car and she chose it for herself. I guided her towards it, I STRONGLY suggested we get it for her, but ultimately she decided that she wanted for herself. With that being said...if we were in the car market NOW for a car, I think Id STRONGLY suggest the Malibu over the Fusion... But for me the order of preference is as follows: 1. 2016/2017 Fusion Sport 2. 2016/2017 Malibu 2.0T Premium 3. 2013 Fusion 1.6 liter Ecoboost 4. 2016/2017 Malibu 1.5 liter 5. 2016/2017 Fusion 2.0 or 1.5 liter ecoboost

I sat inside a 2.0T Premium at the Montreal Auto Show. I was impressed by 3 things. 1. The amount of space the car has. Up front. In the back. The trunk. Its a 'family perfect' car. FINALLY! 2. Keep in mind this was the Premium trim, as that was the badge it wore. 2.0T Premium. The fit and finish and the materials in the car. Impressive. Better than my 2013 1.6 liter ecoboost SE Fusion. 3. The driver's door opens very very wide making it very very easy to get in and out of the car. I liked that for some reason. The car looks nice in person, it has a nice look about it. But you could tell its Johnny Come Lately in the looks department. You could tell that GM is a follower rather than the leader in this insytance. This look has been done before...3-4 years ago. Sure it looks fresher than my 2013 Fusion. My Fusion has also been on the market for 3 years now... The back end is the nicest angle. The side profile is nothing new as we've seen this before with Hyundai, Ford and the countless of other cars in this class...even Toyota beats the Chevy by 1 year with this type of look. The front end is bizarre. Its pleasant. But bizarre. It reminds me of the Pontiac Aztec. But the Aztec was ugly. The Malibu is pleasant. I think its a front end that Id tire of very fast..I dont think the front end will age gracefully.

You really do do the extremes. From lake effect winds and snow and hurricanes, to extreme cold and hot to extreme humid all the way to extreme dry. To extreme heights (Colorado is a high elevation, non?) The only thing you are missing is the extreme low...(New Orleans) Maybe that is your next stop? PS: Just to say that as cold as it was last year, Montreal had it easy as compared to other parts of North America last year. Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota and Ontario (Toronto region) were all colder than the Montreal region...again, we was lucky. (I am not including Calgary, Edmonton, or Winnipeg because these guys ALWAYS get that cold.)

Which ones...the ones from Galapagos or the ones from DeMet/Nestle? I prefer the pecan, caramel ones...although the ones from Galapagos are very interesting specimens themselves.

I've seen a 6000 STE around here a few times in the last 6 months or so..very well worn, bumpers cracked, not sure what the original color was..very sun faded (kind of blueish gray) A/C likely not working (windows down)...still rolling. Summer is surreal here, but some keys to surviving: Cold A/C at home, in the car, in the office Plenty of cold beverages of your choice and lots of water big hats, sunscreen, cotton/linen clothes access to a swimming pool good tires, cooling system, and battery (car batteries last 18-24 months max here) covered parking is great, underground parking even better You know what is funny? THAT is the SAME list for Quebec. But slightly different. Opposites. For the Winter obviously... HEAT... at home, in the car, in the office Plenty of hot beverages of your choice to help you stay warm, especially of one skis or skates outdoors. big hats, scarves, gloves, clothes that breathe so you dont sweat...and layered clothing to peel off if one gets hot... - access to a swimming pool - I dont have anything that comes close to that....OK...maybe warm shelter to keep away from the wind. Montreal has the biggest underground city in the world....its on the same level of our Down Town subway stations. Lots of shops, corner stores, restaurants, boutiques that are NOT connected with the shops and restaurants on street level. Some stores are connected by street access via their basements...a couple of cinemas and the like...very cool place to be in the wintertime. good tires, winter tires preferably, but now they are mandatory, cooling system for heat and for the constant defrosting of the windows, good winter window wipers and battery because when the temps drop 40 below F or C...same temp at 40...the engine needs lots and lots of juice to turn...the oil is practically frozen at those temps...not quite, Im dramatizing, but the oil is very sludgy... (car batteries last 5-6 years here, so not so bad...) covered parking is great, underground parking even better...same here. Especially when there has been 2 feet of snow that has fallen over the course of 12 hours or so...see New York City over the week-end...we was lucky in Montreal. Or when the temps dip...40 degrees F PLUS the windchill factor. This year, we have been lucky. I dont think we will see that this year. But the last 2 years was brutal...