oldshurst442

Ive had this song stuck in my head today. EDIT: I realized it was the Smashes, Thrashes and Hits version that I was humming along to. Not the original version. I have the Smashes, Thrashes and Hits CD...

No...I have never bought any kind of warranty let alone a 'road hazard' tire replacement coverage. The reason being is how eloquently you put it: "you have to balance your fear / chances of getting a flat and being stressed over it vs. an (expected) extremely high price tag every time you buy a new set of airless tires" IE: NOT WORTH THE PRICE OF ADMISSION. By saying that, I get it. The perceived insignificant amounts of times that air-filled tires go flat may seem it unnecessary to re-invent the wheel, literally. But...what if these tires are not as expensive as we say they are. Maybe, an air-less tire is a way forward?

I see your point. Tires dont blow up all that much anymore. Unless you live in an area where potholes, big potholes exist. https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/i-got-scared-cavernous-montreal-pothole-takes-two-drivers-hostage-1.5708859 I dont think its a case of inventing solutions where problems dont exist. Clearly there is a subset of the population out there that wishes that flat tires cease to exist. I havent had a flat tire in ages to be honest. Last time I had a flat tire, I owned the Olds Alero. Nail in the tire. That incident took place over 20 years ago. I believe it was in 1999... Would I be a potential buyer? Probably not. If I bought a vehicle that had these, I drive with them, sure, but I wouldnt willfully replace my current air filled tires for these.

LOL Yup!!! I wont be surprised if they are that expensive!!!

^^^ So...am I to understand that technology to improve tires (for everyday, mundane trips to the depanneur) is not welcomed? Tire tech shouldnt EVEN be a thing? I too, was skeptical about it, by I think Michelin, the world's largest and LEADING tire maker for OVER 130 years, knows what they are doing and Im sure if Michelin is putting this tech forward then this tech is ready for prime time. In my knowledge at least, Michelin hasnt had any product failures due poorly executed engineering or rushed launches. Run flats work well for the President. Just to say... I know I know... The Beast is not an everyday regular car and its duties are not an every day, regular thing either. Supercars, some of them, do use run flats, but I dont think this tweel thing are engineered for supercar duties either...

E-Tense. The styling is intense enough to certainly merit the name. Looks good enough for me to get excited for. The rest of the performance stuff Ill just ignore for now.

^^^ Not me. Knock on wood. Someone very very close to me. My former partner. We have been talking. Ive been consoling him the last three days. ?

Divorce is a very ugly thing.

Roadrunner comes to mind...

^^^ It looks better with the hidden headlights, I must agree!

Could be... But the project itself is fruitful one way or other in getting that car up and running... Quite the opposite of what you said earlier: I looked at the video more closely after I posted my opinion on it... And THAT is the thing... Its not really rusted. The car was used as targeting practice. Full of bullet holes. But the car certainly is not a rust bucket. There are a LOT of bullet holes. I mean, its swiss cheese. It might as WELL be rusted out metal. Actually, its in WORSE condition than a car being rusted out. Ill give you that. You said it yourself though... It probably IS a Youtube channel episode designed to produce view revenue. But it does not matter. Especially if he can pull it off. The reasons behind the restoration has no effect in the car being usable again. His time and money will be compensated if it IS solely for his Youtube channel. And if he succeeds in restoring this car from the dead, he will make a name for himself. And the car gets to live again either in his garage maybe being daily driven or in somebody else's garage as a daily driver. The sheetmetal NEEDS to be replaced, that is for sure. There are several body panels that simple banging them straight is NOT an option. But that option has already been deduced as the guy KNOWS and ADMITS its the WORSE condition GTO on the planet. And we all see that. If he succeeds in making it a running car passing the safety regs, then its NOT a waste of time. It may be a labour of love or it could be a money making episode. But that is no different than what Discovery Channel had with Jesse James and Monster Garage 20 years ago. Some of those projects were total failures. MOST were success stories. But ALL of the projects were USELESS... But it did make Jesse James and Discovery Channel lots of money. At least in THIS case, the GTO may get another chance in being driven again. I respect your view on recycling old relics for their metals to be melted to be used in other ways. And for most of those relics, I do agree on that perspective. But I also have Balthy's point of view in that restoring old relics is ALSO a form of recycling. And for the most part, a more GREENER way of recycling... I also support saving a part of history. Cars were ALWAYS throwaways. But we have come to a point in our automotive history where we DO have to preserve it. Many ancient buildings were destroyed by stealing bricks and marble to build other buildings. Thankfully, some of that practice didnt happen to ALL ancient buildings and temples...

As far as that rust bucket GTO goes for me and my opinion on it. If I was living in an area where the car crazy hobby is not shut down for any amount of time due to winter, I would be doing these kinds of projects ALL THE TIME!!! (If I had the mechanic and body shop/metal forming and metal welding skills necessary for that kind of hobby that is. But I would work soooo hard to acquire these skills. ) I would have acquired and bought all the necessary equipment and tools and would have had the garage space and land to do so. English wheels and welding equipment and ladder frame straighteners and even 3D printers, etc... I would restore cars to be Concours D'Elegance winners and others, just to be nice, clean, road worthy used vehicles. Not necessarily, garage queen, expensive restomodded classics meant for rich collector...but fixer uppers that could get another solid use out of them. I dunno this guy's channel and what he does, but Id take on this project. Id be using donor cars to fix her up from the other junkered cars Id have laying around. And not in the way that junkered cars have been abandoned in a junk yard. But jukered cars that have been cleaned up before hand aand waiting to be used in one way or other. Keep costs as low as possible. If the machinery and equipment that Id be using in my garage had been paid for, then its just my time, really, that would be the biggest cost to do a project like that. And maybe this is his exact same scenario that he is in that I just explained.

^^^ Its the popular narrative to say that Pontiac was dying in the mid to late '50s. Just like its the popular narrative to say that Pontiac was dying in the early 2000s. And the latter sticks as Pontiac was shut down in the mid 2000s. But the mis-information bandits also ignore that Pontiac was forced to shut down by the government, NOT because Pontiac was not selling cars. Pontiac sold half a million cars every year from 2000-2007. Pontiac sold even more than that from the 70s all the way to 2000. Pontiac several times was in 3rd place or even once in 2nd place in units sold in North America even besting Chevrolet in the year 2000. Yeah...I dont like Donuts either. Lots of yelling and talking and dialogue like Seinfeld's Kramer character, but not even remotely as funny or entertaining. Garbage in. Garbage out. I agree!

Billy

I dont like monitoring systems. I dont like having to drive your car at a station for someone to read the mileage done. Many logistical problems with this proposal. Car leases. The ones that are done before the year is up. What happens? The dealership reports the mileage when the vehicle has been given back? The new car is reported how? What about those who rent cars frequently? The rental agency adds another surcharge after the fact when the rental has been returned? And the rental agency then gives the money to the government. I could dream up of many more examples of how it will be easy to ignore, forget and plainly fraud the government out of money this way... It is such a flagrant invasion of privacy it aint even funny. Not to mention an open invitation to tax evasion...

Any vehicle looks good with a black paint job and gold accents here and there. This is no exemption. I especially like the reverse gold Chevy chevron. Usually, the Chevrolet chevron is gold in the middle. THIS time its black in the middle accented by a gold trim. But that is as far as Ill go in liking this truck's colour scheme and theme. The reason why I didnt like the phoenix on the Porsche Taycan is the SAME reason why I do NOT like the phoenix on this one. Is because the phoenix is actually the logo that represents the Firebird. The Pontiac pony car... A phoenix is a burning bird that reborns itself from the ashes of its predecessor. Yeah...Firebird. The Trans Am was created in 1969 to be the top Firebird. Of the racing kind. It was named after the race, but the Trans Am car didnt race in series originally because it had a 400 cubic motor as a standard engine and the limit was 302 like its Mustang and Camaro counterparts(or was it 350? ) Anyway, when the 2nd gen Firebird arrived, the craziness of the muscle car era had fully developed by then and the phoenix bird got a little bit more animated. This was on the Firebird And this was on the Trans Am But in 1973, the phoenix grew to be come bigger and laid out across the hood as we all know and love it. Reason #2 why I hate the truck is because there IS no Bandit Trans Am. That colour scheme came out 1 year prior to commemorate Pontiac's 50th anniversary. Its just that Burt Reynolds as the Bo Bandit Darville was driving a black and gold Trans Am named Ban One. The car itself wasnt even named the Bandit. And thirdly...what kind of shytty phoenix is that? Its an arrow with wings? PHOQUE THAT!!! Ill repeat my #1 reason. The Phoenix is just a representation of the model name of Pontiac's pony car the Firebird. No logo looking like that famous Pontiac screaming chicken should be put ANYWHERE on ANY other car OTHER than a Pontiac pony car. Not even a Camaro... The conversion 5th and 6th gen Camaros that Word Wide Trans Am/Trans Am Depots are doing is fine, BECAUSE they got the license from GM to scrap the Chevy Chevron and to use the Pontiac Arrowhead along with that screaming chicken! The motorcycle that I posted is fine, because its not a 4 wheeled vehicle. Its a motorcycle. And it was done in essence of how and what the Pontiac Firebird Trans Am is all about... Oh... Ancient Greek Phoenix if anybody was asking on a 20 Drachma coin. Hellenic Democracy it reads. The Trans Am is not only the first car I ever fell in love with. It turns out, its part of my Greek Heritage. Its in my DNA!!!

I serenade you both! This is for @Robert Hall with his brrrrrrr photographs. Its a cold video for a cold picture. BTW...I REFUSE to turn to cold! And this is for @Drew Dowdell Aruba, Jamaica, oh I want to take ya Bermuda, Bahama, come on pretty mama Key Largo, Montego, baby why don't we go, Jamaica Off the Florida Keys, there's a place called Kokomo

These pics do not get any +1 votes as its too brrrrrrr for me to give any +1 votes... (Nothing personal...you are adorable as ever...)

^^^ We could use a little of that paradise sun right about now in the North East...

This is my Challenger. A 2015 Hellcat. GT Spirit and its a resin model. Its sealed meaning there are no openings. Therefore the hood cant be opened to reveal the supercharged Hemi 'cause there aint no engine underneath. The paint quality is outstanding. The interior is equally impressive but it aint accessible.