trinacriabob

It's great to get new windshield wipers. Instead of waiting them to become obnoxiously noisy, I just head to the auto parts store right after Thanksgiving every year and throw on a new set, ideally after scouting a deal. I have Bosch wipers on this go round.

The fact that they chose the Olds 307 (5.0) V8 to power some of the latest and biggest Cadillac Fleetwood Broughams speaks to how good the engine is. When I would drive my parents' cars with 5.7 liter and 4.3 liter Olds V8s over those concrete bridges in California with all the balustrades, I would lower the passenger window to hear the beautiful sound those engines made echo back at me, providing it was a rural road and there wasn't much/any traffic. @oldshurst442 I once saw a '91 or '92 Toro in a small town on the coast and it was the base model in that color called Light Driftwood Metallic (or something like that) and it had the vaned alloy wheels to sporty it up some. Maybe it had a trestle shifter, too, if I recall, but couldn't look since it was moving. Granted, it was V6 equipped by then but, of the final set of personal luxury coupes by GM, that one would have worked for me.

Solid in which way? Cast iron block-heads? Are there 3 variants of V8-6-4 which start out with those different displacements? I always assumed the numbers would look "different." I could have sworn I saw some late Eldos with this body style with a rectangular badge saying 4100 toward the end, maybe 1983 and 1984. There was a Lebanese guy who had a beautiful Eldo of this vintage in tri-dark/medium blue: body color (metallic) - vinyl roof - leather seating. @Robert Hall For some reason, the burgundy leather interior in an upscale white GM convertible just worked. That combo sort of owned that era.

Of the 3, the Riv had a nice real tail lamp assembly. The grille, called the Parthenon by a reviewer of the '77-'78 model, was too much. The Toro was clean looking and its price point was more "reasonable." The Eldo was definitely a big improvement for being a nicely proportioned Cadillac, and also one with clean lines. I'll agree with you there. The issue was the price point (higher). Also, some funky engines that turned out to be problem children found their way into the Eldo during this body style run and that didn't help the car. When I see a nicely kept one on the road, I really appreciate looking at it.

I came across this photo. In an in-demand neighborhood near downtown Atlanta. I should mention that there were 2 of them parked there, one behind the other. Probably a 5.0 L Olds V8. Could also be had with the Buick 4.1 V6, which also found their way into a small number of Cadillacs in that era as a "credit" option. Its sibling, the Toro, was less clunky looking and easier on the eyes.

Well, we're up to 500 pages of random thoughts! Random thought: while inconvenient for a big hub city like New York, the Big Apple sure looks like a postcard when blanketed in snow. Stay safe, all you folks living in areas experiencing adverse weather.

Also seen on different days of the long Thanksgiving weekend. Things CAN be black and white. Dodge Charger, latest rendition, in black, seen in the neighborhood: Dodge Charger, latest rendition, in white, and exactly how I'd order it if in the market today - white, black cloth interior, no spoiler, alloy wheels, the base Pentastar V6 engine, and one helluva car for under $30 K.

Also seen last month was this 1965 Ford Mustang, probably the genesis for the term "pony car." I saw the owner, an early enough senior, asked him questions, and he would answer them with completely unrelated information. There was another person with him who had the answers. My questions: Which engine? Which trans, as in how many speeds? Is it air conditioned? The answers, provided by the younger person with him, were: 1) a 289 c.i. V8, 2) a 3 speed automatic, and 3) yes, it was air conditioned. It had less than 50,000 miles but, when the engine came to life, there was a fair bit of rumbling.

Here's an econobox spotted on November 9 when off to get coffee and found a parking spot in a residential area Note: 1 - one of the very few Chevrolet passenger cars that will remain in upcoming year(s). 2 - having seen one at a dealer, this color is called Passion Fruit. Hey, they also have Toasted Marshmallow. 3 - when equipped with wheel covers, these are going to have manual windows.

Hilarious. Are they still selling these in the States? Evidently so. Has any C&Ger ever driven one? I've rented 2 or 3 overseas because they're the cheapest automatic in fleets and, while most of what I think about them is not that good, they are surprisingly stable and the ride is somewhat composed. Where was this? Maybe with the money he or she saves driving this, they were across the street at Great Clips using a coupon.

I did like the auxiliary jack that was available in some cars. It was available on the Monte Carlo and Impala, and thus a then newish Chevy 3.5 VVT V6 would be under the hood. They did turn out to be fairly good. Sadly, it was not available on the Grand Prix and LaCrosse, and item # 1 was getting the venerable 3800 V6 with a cast iron block and heads under my hood, which has served me extremely well for over 10 years. I'll buy one of these gadgets within a week or so.

It's still November ... as in "when the gales of November came early" Fairly haunting and sort of incredible that Lake Superior is akin to the North Atlantic of the Great Lakes.

Sheez, I missed dfelt's birthday. Blame it on Thanksgiving, "Thanksgiving baby." Happy belated, David.

Hi: When renting cars, Bluetooth and advanced audio systems enable me to play my own music. In my car, I never did because I never looked into it. Buick and Pontiac did not have the MP3 connector in my year, while Chevy did. Okay, so I ask the guy in the electronic department at a (ahem) big box store how to address this and he tells me about an item that goes into your cigarette lighter and might be called an FM transmitter. That's because it works on one FM frequency reserved for this task. Questions: 1. What is this thing called and does it work well? Any features to specifically look for on one I could buy? 2. Does it pull your songs from your phone, recognize which ones you own, recognize which ones are from a subscription to one of the major providers, and use GB of data accordingly? Or, does it not use data? If I recall, when in Bluetooth mode in a rental car, I did not see data usage increase. 3. Do you know of any of these gadgets where I can toggle the steering wheel mounted audio controls to move up or down between songs? Or do I have to tap the device, which would be slotted into my console somewhere, to move up or down between songs? I know this will all be moot on my next car but, for now, let me know about something good and cheap. Happy holidays. Thanks.

Spotted on November 24 while out of town: The front end fascia and Glacier Blue Metallic indicate it's a 2005 to 2007, so a little older than mine. This could be a 12 to 14 year old Buick LaCrosse. Love to see people taking good care of their cars. Also love seeing the heirloom cars that are out there.

I just had a 2019 as a rental. I do not like that dark strip on the C-pillar exterior on the new Sentra, nor on any Nissan. It's a bad signature, as is the Toyota/Lexus shovel nose front grille. The car's exterior lines do look better. Just think what it would look like without that stupid insert. It would look even better. I do not like the interior. Sorry. It looks too much like the interior of the new(er) KIA Stinger. Circular vents are cool when they're subtle and are inserts instead of protrusions which make the car's dash look like it has a case of hyperthyroidism.

Music - YOUR music - is very important when on a road trip. Having music that you've selected for your library coming in through Bluetooth or whatever medium makes a road trip more enjoyable and it's probably even a good thing for your safety because you're less likely to get bored, distracted, or tired.

I had to scratch my head on this one as well. That is one of their better looking cars, especially in its grille a few years back. I don't believe you can use the GM card earnings on these ... but maybe you can. The market is changing so rapidly and I'm not comfortable with making a "next car" decision at this point.

I'm betting it quakes a good bit of money to create those special themed liveries for planes. Wow, even the interior. If it's for advertising, the (other) company pays for it. When Argentina won the cup in soccer and Diego Maradona was thought to walk on water, they put his image kicking a soccer ball on the side of their 747. I wonder who picked up that tab. Alitalia has had 747s painted up in both Baci (those delicious hazelnut chocolates by Perugina) and Bulgari.

Two good one yesterday ... First, during daylight, a pampered 1971 Olds (Cutlass) 442 convertible coupe, that was outpacing me on the freeway. It was silver, had a black convertible top, rally wheels, and was in damn near perfect condition. Of the 1969-1973 fraternal quadruplets, this model was probably a close second to the Pontiac LeMans-GTO as a favorite. As it pulled off the ramp, you realize that it sported good lines and it makes you wonder WTF is wrong with Americans, AND others, as far as their changed tastes in vehicles go. I do not recall what the engine would have been the base engine the 442 that year. Second, at night, a 1975 (or 1976) Olds Ninety Eight Regency coupe with a landau. Those cars were huge. It was copper or bronze and had a white top. I could not make out the wheels but they were not pimpy. Its condition was good, but not excellent. It was nice to see those taillamps resembling the twin spires of a Gothic cathedral as it pulled away from me in the left lane on the interstate. Yep, the days when Olds, and GM, changed their cars a little bit, or a lot, every model year.

A little bit of "freeway music" for me ... and you:

@Robert Hall Wow, to this day?!? I have always liked the unique rear light fascia on this car and the flanks that merged into it. This car looks best from the rear 3/4 view. It's cool to have one ahead of you on the freeway.

Agreed. That last GXP doesn't come to mind that readily. It was a last ditch effort to clean up any clumsiness in the Bonne and, sure enough, the sides are smooth and the rear tail lamps look great. However, one might forget this version because the sticker was a good bit higher and it came with a Northstar V8. The ones that bothered me were some of the SLEs, SSEIs, and blah blahs of the early 2000s. I did not like the cladding and I did not like the lower front fascia scoops and big, circular further inboard fog lights ... too much. The trademark Pontiac twin kidney grille that aligned with the headlamps on simpler models was way better, IMO, as in "less is more." Here's a nice looking Bonne. I guess there was no LE. They started at SE. That amount of ribbed effect is palatable. I could do without the spoiler. The plump seats and crazy dashboard made this an interesting car. It was fairly agile for a full size. I like seeing them on the road when I do.

That does not sound good. I'm amazed at how so many people think modifications away from stock are appealing. I find them pimpy. Most cars look their best in purist form. Just look at the last rendition of the Bonneville, starting in 2000. The more letters got appended to the name, the tackier it got. It took getting a base LE to avoid the much disliked grooved Pontiac cladding of that era. The only problem was that the LE came with wheel covers ... and some type of alloy wheels and a console were necessary to make it credible as a full size sport sedan. Ditto with the Olds Intrigue. I was not a fan of the spoiler. The upward bowed cant of the trunk lid and the crease at its edge were sufficient to make it look good. I found that the Custom Cruiser started you out with cloth seats, so leather must have been an upgrade. I also read that the 5.0 and the 5.7 were produced by Chevrolet. By the 1990s, divisional GM ownership of engines ceased to be; however, most who kept tabs on GM would have known that 305s were made by Chevy and 307s were made by Olds. If I was in the market for this vehicle and my V8 wasn't made by Olds, I don't think I'd buy the vehicle.

I liked these. I didn't love them. So, then, today I saw the last rendition of Olds' Custom Cruiser full size wagon. It was white. Couldn't get a photo. It was in very good condition. This model was only run for 1991 and 1992. That meant I was looking at a 27 or 28 year old RWD vehicle that the years had been kind to. The front end is cool. The rear third is a little on the bloated side. They kept the old school square front fascia all the way through 1990. I was driving and couldn't look at the interior but, wow, this looks like a nicely crafted interior that's quite a few notches above a base GM offering in wagons of that era. There's the vista roof treatment that Olds used to use quite extensively in wagons. I'm guessing V8s of the 5.0 (307) or 5.7 (350) variety, hopefully produced by Oldsmobile Motor Division.