XP715

It's all about the bottom line, people. Why pay a marketing board to come up with names like Bonneville and Eldorado when you can just name a car yourself by closing your eyes and pounding a keyboard with your fist? $h!, I'll do it right now; watch: XFD GFF SDX MKJ GFC SRD SFD MCX TYK SDE XCF RGF XCN See? Put your manufacturer of choice in front of those letters and in ten seconds I just named all the American, European, and Japanese luxury crossovers to be built for the next 15 years.

I totally agree with ocnblu, Sixty8, and also going with my own knowledge of both new and old cars that the Cutlass is far more dependable than your other options at the moment, and dirt cheap and idiotproof as far as maintenance is concerned. It's also a very cool car; I can think of a million old beaters out there worse than a nice clean G-body. If driving it bothers you that much I can always take it off your hands And as far as all the comments people may make about the Millennia, try and take them with a grain of salt. 95% of the reason they do it is because this is a place for GM fans, so they're obligated to crack a joke even though damn near all of us have owned vehicles of a different manufacturer ourselves. Don't take it personally; we all like you and that's why people mess around with you. If we all had something against you then we wouldn't talk to you at all. Now hum the "Special Feel in an Oldsmobile" jingle to yourself and be merry!

Very true. The very car he crashed into Chappaquiddick Sound that Mary Jo Kopechne drowned in was a '68 Delmont 88. They say she stayed alive for as long as two hours in an air pocket in the car. He swam to a bed & breakfast, slept off the hangover, and reported the accident twelve hours later after calling his lawyers in Washington DC. Our illustrious senior senator at his best!

Hmm, a donk 70's Rolls-Royce Phantom Caprice convertible, or a 1960's Bentley Flying Spur monster truck....... Decisions, decisions....... But seriously, it definitely warms my heart to know that there are others out there with as much irreverence for English cars as I have. Can't wait to have my '68 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow winter beater so whatever $700 nutbucket Cadillac I'm driving at the time won't get road salt on it!

I'll second that

Umm, it works fine..... Here's a 1910 Simplex for you all too!

'32 Peerless

I spent most of my childhood researching this very same subject every day after school when Baywatch was in syndication on a few of the local networks. Now where's my grant money!

You mean the Republic of Dukakis I'm out of this state as soon as humanly possible.

Seriously. I'd love a nice clean G-body to drive instead of always driving my '77 Coupe DeVille

So when we all head out to beat the guy's ass, I call the '50 Oldsmobile fastback and the '59 Buick!

This Boston Bruins plate (seen here on my '89 Oldsmobile Toronado) has been the license plate I've had since day one when I registered my first car at 16 years old. It's been on every car I've ever had registered to me and has been through it all. Other than that, the only other plates I've had registered to me was the set of antique plates that I had on my 1977 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme. I refuse to EVER have a general issue Massachusetts plate because I think that the motto on the bottom of the plate, "The Spirit of America," is the biggest load of bull$h! they could have possibly put on it and I will not advertise their lie. That's why I spent double on my Bruins plate to have the extra money go to something worthwhile like youth hockey programs (bottom of the plate reads "Invest in Youth Hockey")

Hey now! I think this article is not only excellent, but also dead on. I'll have you know that my '13 Scripps-Booth was easily the worst car I've ever owned! I can't tell you how many problems I had with that godawful machine! But seriously, who the hell is writing this horse $h!? I find it hilarious how badly this liberal arts-educated douchebag that has zero pulse on the real world and has probably been buying Toyotas and Datsuns since the days when foreign vehicles were only for hippies and homosexuals failed at attempting to be an automotive authority. First of all, has he ever owned, ridden in, or even SEEN 85% of the cars on the list? Have any of us, for that matter? Maybe I had a different upbringing than he did, but I don't remember many of my friends' parents having an Aston Martin Lagonda in the garage. If I recall correctly, annual production for those cars was somewhere in the double digits. I worked with a guy who inherited one from a former business partner of his; it was a 1983 model that came from the same run as the one that belonged to Prince Charles. Not exactly a vehicle I'd go lumping in with not only mass production but ULTRA (like, everybody's owned ten of them) mass production vehicles like the Model T and Explorer. Honestly I don't even know how he can call ANY vehicle built before the 1930's bad at all because they were all "bad" to an extent. Not because people were into building inferior equipment in those days (I dare you to find a vehicle to this day that has been made with better construction and a higher quality of materials than a Simplex from the teens), but because the technology was so incredibly new to everybody, and the 1930's was about the time that the last of the really weird concepts and antiquated technology holdouts had finally been weeded out. Car manufacturers didn't even have a uniform method of propulsion until this time period; remember, Stanley built steam-powered cars until 1927 and Doble built them until 1931. Before the 1930's, every tin knocker and machinist and bicycle mechanic that went and bought the trade papers and soon after took to the streets with their homemade motorized buckboards were all taking a huge chance with anything they developed and had to innovate as they went. Any problem incurred meant weeks in the shop fixing, fabricating, developing, etc. They had a hundred huge disasters for every little success, but they kept at it and that's why we're at where we're at today. I'd like to see anybody today have an engine grenade on them and go cast a new cylinder head or piston themself! Their endless dedication to getting it right is the reason we don't have to! These fearless men who crank-started their prototype contraptions after filling the grease cups on top of the external valve train and lighting kerosene lamps before roaring down a dirt road with a tiller handle in one hand and an external hand brake in the other are the reason that the jaded pussy writing this article that's taking a $h! in their hard work's mouth can go get f@#ked in the ass on a Lexus that parks itself. Could he be any MORE disrespectful!? Have any of you guys ever seen a Briggs & Stratton Flyer? If not, you can make one in about ten minutes. Got that old wooden toboggan from when you were a kid? Plop a lawnmower engine on the back, attach four bicycle tires and the most crude steering system you can make out of bar stock and baling wire and call it a day. Hard to believe that one might run into a few hangups with such a sophisticated vehicle. Everything on the list seems to have made it because it it's either ugly, a one of a handful, a completely offbeat concept, received bad press at some point, or is a little bit more thirsty at the pump than the average vehicle. All of which are bull$h! reasons. Ugly: I'm not a fan of the Dodge/Chrysler/Desoto Airflow family but I'm certainly glad that somebody finally grew a set and took one of those first uncertain baby steps at trying to make a car that didn't have the aerodynamics of a cinder block. It might be ugly, but what it lacks in looks when you put it next to the other vehicles of its day, it certainly makes up for it in the innovation department. Edsels and Gremlins also look like crap, but I'd like to see any modern-day abomination of a vehicle last as long as these ones do. Limited Production: Anybody know anybody with a Peel Trident (45 total units), Lamborghini LM002 (328 total units), Lotus Elite (998 total units), or Bricklin SV1 (2,854 total units)? Didn't think so. Don't feel bad, because I don't either. But apparently the guys at Time magazine remember everybody running out and buying each and every one of them and their joy quickly fading to disappointment and then utter disgust. Offbeat Concept: Who ever would have thought there was any room for improvement when dealing with mid-century cars that try to be airplanes and boats? Imagine that, your Amphicar (3,878 built in the course of eight years means it's a vehicle we can ALL relate to!) leaks. Well so doesn't that brand new multimillion-dollar luxury yacht you saw at the boat show last month. What do you think a bilge pump is for, decoration? Bad Press: We all know that Pintos explode when you plow into the back of them and that Yugos fell apart on test drives when they were brand spanking new, and that French economy cars from the 1950's couldn't possibly be good, so it's really not a watershed moment anymore when you tell people they suck. I'm guessing this category is where the Ford Explorer comes in, which were pretty damn good vehicles in the eyes of the media until Firestone sold Ford a whole $h!load of defective tires a few years back and a couple of them rolled over (read: not Ford's fault). Gas Guzzlers: I'm sure I'm not alone in being one of those people that would gladly sacrifice a little bit of fuel economy for a little bit of meat in their ride. You may be saving the planet in your Geo Metro, the automotive equivalent of a soda can, but the guy in the H2 or Excursion will still be alive after the two of you collide some day during morning rush hour. The modern day gas pigs aren't for everybody, but to put them on a "worst" list simply for that reason means you couldn't find any REAL problems (safety, quality, etc.) with them. And another media outlet's credibility is flushed down the toilet....

A 1.2 inline four would make it more of a Cimarron than a CTS, and that's the last thing GM needs to be pushing right now. Speaking of the little Cadillac Cavalier, though; there's one for sale in my neighborhood for the paltry sum of only $2100! That's only 800 times what fair market value is!

There used to be a guy around here that had an 80's Chevrolet pickup like that, no idea whatever happened to him or the truck

-1975ish Chevrolet Monza coupe in bright yellow -1957 Chevrolet 210 sedan -The most rotted out 1980 Cadillac Sedan DeVille I've ever seen anywhere, including junkyards!

-1958 Corvette -1951 Ford two-door sedan -1950 Buick Special sedan -1964 Ford Thunderturd and, perhaps the most unusual spot I've ever had, -1920 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost dual cowl phaeton. Two-tone cream body with tan fenders and saddle interior, tan top, and red pinstriping. New Hampshire dealer plate on the back (love to know what dealership it's at!)

I think I blinked!

The Massachusetts State Police have recently picked up a couple Chargers but really only give them to their most senior troopers. My friend's girlfriend's father is a retired MA State Police captain and turned down a new Charger because he liked his Crown Victoria better, as do most of the officers from what I hear. I recently talked to a trooper at work who told me that most of the troopers find them fun to drive, but they don't take the abuse like a Crown Victoria and the old B-bodies do. Here's a link to a neat site of a guy who's compiled a ton of old photos of Massachusetts State Police cars, trucks, and motorcycles. Although I hate our state troopers with a passion (I can count all of the good ones I know on one hand with room to spare), I find their cars to be pretty good looking. All in all, we've had some pretty neat stuff over the years, save for the momentary lapse in judgement someone in the purchasing department had in the early 1980's when it was decided that it would be a good idea to buy Dodge St. Regises http://mysite.verizon.net/vzeopzls/policecars/id11.html

"A Ten-Minute Ride and You'll Decide!" -Pontiac, 1936 "Standard of the World" -Cadillac, 1908-194? "When better automobiles are built, Buick will build them." -Buick, 1911-19?? "Not your father's Oldsmobile." -Oldsmobile, 1980's "Heartbeat of America" -Chevrolet, 1980's-199?

Too many to choose from. Brass-era monsters like the 1910 Oldsmobile seven-passenger touring sedan are amazing, but really any little buckboard will do. Pretty much anything from the Classic era from the lowliest and most basic Chevrolet up to the most outrageous custom-bodied V-16 Cadillac. Everything from late 40's fastbacks to 1950's rocketships, but any old utilitarian sedan is just fine too. Savage pavement-eating 1960's muscle cars and big fat 1970's luxury barges are awesome, but even grandma's station wagon and the school librarian's no frills sedan do the trick. Turbocharged G-bodies and sleek looking F-bodies, but even the Caprice Classic your mom used to drop you off at school in was pretty awesome. And trucks. All of them. Basically what I'm trying to say is that, until recently (last 15 years or so), there wasn't much that GM made that WASN'T cool. Sure they had their small crappy cars whose ownership ensured surefire contraception when new, but I'm sure I'm not alone here when I get a kick out of seeing a Vega or a Monza or some other featherweight POS living a second and much cooler life as a drag car. Only recently has GM dropped the ball and built stuff that's about as exciting as watching linoleum curl. They need to go back to their days of building something for everybody and putting it in exciting packages. They had it right for the first eight or nine decades and can get it back again if they keep plugging away at it. They finally seem to be getting it a little.

808 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts: Peter Fuller Cadillac-Oldsmobile. My 1967 Eldorado was one of the last new vehicles to ever grace the floor of its marble-lined showroom as it shut its doors forever the following year. It now belongs to Boston University which uses the opulent showroom for guest speakers and art exhibits, with space for offices upstairs. Across the street and out of view stands 855 Commonwealth Avenue, the former home of Fuller's rival, Noyes Buick. This building is also owned by Boston University (purchased in 1958) and houses their Arts & Sciences department. And for those of you that may be curious, the dealership in my signature is Scuncio Chevrolet in Greenville, Rhode Island, which sold a fair amount of COPOs and other special GM cars from the muscle era. Anybody else have any old dealership photos from their neck of the woods?

Here's the only orange car that matters to me! If I ever get my hands on it I'll be sleeping in the garage with my arms around it!

Nothing. They can learn the value of a dollar and get a job and buy their own damn car. Driving is a privelege, not a right. Can't tell you how many nice vehicle I've seen smashed up and fixed or replaced (multiple times, even!) on mommy and daddy's dollar. Give it to them and they take it for granted.