El Kabong

I suspect that when links to that MT comparo go up we will find that the Mustang's polish vanishes the instant the straight sections of road do. It's just a hunch... but it's a hunch I'd bet big on

Congrats man. I know it was a long time coming for you. Drive the tires off it!

If it makes you feel any better, it's possible the Malibu will be using a Voltec driveline in due course.

Willful stupidity makes me laugh.

I've been extremely blessed with the means to do stuff like that at times in my life. I actually hesitated to tell the story because I don't want to come off as an uppity asshat. But in hindsight... I'm not sure I would do things that way again. It wasn't fun sitting in that car because I had no idea when I could even take delivery of the thing. Now, when I DID take delivery of the thing it was a bit different again

Ok, cool. Good to know!

Don't hate on me because my Grand Sport had the one model year-only two tone dash. Or something

I don't know what the cost would have been to certify it for sale in Canada or the US. You'd probably have to do crash regs and whatnot. I'm not sure what the rules are like in Mexico. I do know that they have had a bunch of stuff that is not available elsewhere. But these days I dunno.

Dark chocolate-covered cranberries: M&Ms for fortysomethings.

Yup. Gotta love Mexican-market stuff

I'm more interested in where Sergio is planning to get the production capacity. Right now they're desperate for it, never mind a few years down the road. And yes, I could definitely see the appeal of a turbodiesel large SUV. Figure even 2-300 pounds of weight savings off my current truck for a Tahoe-sized jobbie, and keep the air suspension. Hmmmm.

...and I will wait for them to officially post that comparo before I really get into the differences between the two.

If it has the looks in the real world, it will seal enough deals to establish a beachhead in the marketplace. The Continental's success will largely be dependant on how much of the concept makes it to the dealer lot. If it keeps most of that then it may do well. But as I said when both cars bowed in New York: what you see with the Caddy is what you're gonna get. Concept cars are as predictable as Forrest Gump's chocolates.

She was a good sport about it On a more serious note... advance orders are basically an admission that you're willing to pay sticker price for a car, possibly more. Also, if your car is a new intro like this one (or in my case, the Zeta), you're at the mercy of everybody-the plant scheduler, the dealership, the transporters, the vendor who does stuff like ground effects and striping... EVERYBODY. I actually had the weird privilege of sitting in my car in a shipping lot several weeks before I took delivery. I also had an email from an Oshawa Body Shop manager (who was a friend's dad) informing me of my scheduled build date and stuff. Fun paper trail... but aggravating.

Are you referring to the advance ordering, or sleeping with the staff? I made an honest woman of her

I don't do advanced orders anymore. Did one for my Zeta, it was a real pain. But I sleep with one of the girls who works in our local dealership, she's giving me the lowdown on when the first one shows up. That will be instructive.

They were pretty cool when they were in good running order.

Back when I was a starving student I had a chance at one for 10 grand. But ramen noodles and grunge CDs took precedence.

If it wasn't for the money I probably wouldn't go to work as much as I do now.

Fair enough. ...I'm still a bit baffled about why you edited my previous post. I was being sincere-why would someone post stuff that doesn't jive with their real-life circumstances?

So why do you go all Ford fanatical everywhere else?

Sorry guys. But if you like something and you have the means... Again: if I root for one brand all the time and I don't own stuff from that brand? Massive cred hit. That's why I laugh when I get called a GM fanboi. I buy what I like. Conversely, I do not buy what I don't like. Life's too short for that crap.

Then why not buy the Talon?

I OWNED a Zeta Camaro for three years. It was a great car. Full disclosure: I did get the interior pimped out pretty good. But still. As far as oohing and aaaahing as you drive a '16 Mustang: great. So why do you own an old Mopar? I don't get folks who don't walk the talk.

I think the Grand Vitara was still based of the Chevy Tracker at that point.