trinacriabob

Sunday night - I was in a shopping center and had just gone to Trader Joe's for some groceries. Upon returning, I saw an immaculate mid 2000s Impala with everything on it. It had out of state plates (from a state in which I had also lived) and the driver was getting in. So we started talking. It was his late mom's and he had it for a year or so. He liked talking about his car and he was really taken with it. It was a 2005 in a beautiful copper color, with tan leather buckets, a console, and a sunroof. He didn't know what engine it had, so he lifted the hood and I informed him he had a 3800 V6 and that he should take car of it because it could run forever. I didn't comment but it said Series II on the shroud. Since Series IIIs were in Pontiac Grand Prixs the year before, I was surprised to see this. I'm hoping they had cured the Series II of its issues with faulty intake manifolds by 2005. Last night - I was getting a haircut and, as I was seated with my back to the glass, a late 60s/early 70s mid size Buick Skylark convertible went whizzing by. The guy sitting next to me and also waiting also turned around and looked at it. I asked him if he knew the year. He definitely said 1970. He had a Chevy Silverado as his daily driver, so he knew GM. And that made sense. It was the same color as my dad's 1970 LeMans base coupe of the same year, in that metallic aqua called "Bimini Blue." It had a black top (in the up position) and the typical Buick sport wheels. Nice! (I wish I could have taken a photo of it.)

Maroons are funny - they can be too "candy apple" or be deeper and uptown. In the SS, that would have looked sharp with beige buckets. In Caprice form, it would have looked great with a corresponding maroon interior.

I get a grace period. It's actually June, but I spotted this one in May, on the 18th to be exact. It belongs to someone I know. It is a 1994 Impala SS (same as the 1994-1996 Caprice) and is equipped with a 5.7 V8. It is a hobby car for this individual and not a daily driver. It has the buckets and a non-operating console, so the shifter is located on the column. It was explained to me that the shifter was on the console in 1996 ... where it should be. Familiar shape (Caprice) but different execution (Impala SS): This bas relief applique on the rear fender came standard: Old school - turned the "right" way, with the transmission behind it and lots of room. Identical to the 4.3 "baby" V8 of the same years in appearance. The placard is the only way to distinguish them. Don't be scraping off the placard: Look at the clearance between the radiator/fans and the engine. Also, note the pulley diagram. It's a weird one ... all the stuff is on the left: Nice ... only the speedometer is digital (along with the odometer) but everything else is analog. Presumably less to go wrong: Old school center stack, with a cassette player, and a huge glove box bin. Buckets, in leather, but the shifter is not on the console:

Heard this one this morning when discussing investment banker types and the "business card scene" from the movie "American Pyscho" ... Q: What do you call going golfing instead of going to church? A: Christian bail (I don't golf. I'm not the best about going to church, either.)

So, I'm assuming they didn't "force" '70 to '72 buyers into the 455, meaning the 400 would continue as the base engine ...

I did not know that it was production issues that caused the Chevy engine to be swapped in. I figured it would be on the 88s since 98s did not run with that "small" of an engine. Owners of the 98s would have blown gaskets if they got a Chevy engine. We all know the diesels put in these Olds in these very same years were blowing gaskets ... and more. Also, this whole thing supposedly came to be when owners brought in their larger Olds sedans for warranty or repair work and the R&Rs required that items be fetched from the parts department. With all the GM brands doing well in those years, you didn't see multiple GM brands at one location unless it was a hick town. With that, customers had to be told that their 350 was a Chevy 350 and not an Olds 350 and that they had to get the parts elsewhere. When people graduated from Chevy and went up to B-O-P, like my dad, they didn't want to take a step back. So, based on that, these customers were really mad. With the Seville, the only engine that went in there at the beginning was an Olds 350 but, since it was modified via fuel injection, it was only Cadillac that used it that way, so it sort of became a Cadillac engine. (It was funny to see a fuel injected engine with a massive round air cleaner housing atop the engine as if it had a carburetor.) I'm figuring these units in the early Sevilles lasted a long time. It would be interesting to know how many miles, on average, early Seville owners who kept these cars for the long haul racked up on their "baby Cadillacs," as they were called at their introduction.

The seating position in that Riv was a little low. There was a lot of hood and a lot of trunk on that one. I think it would have looked better as a slightly shorter car. Move over, Cutlass convertibles. Today, a late 60s/early 70s Pontiac GTO convertible coupe went whizzing by. The top was up. I thought it was a 70. Someone opined it was a 69, or maybe a 68. I wondered what the engine might be. I was told it was unlikely it would be a 350. And that it was most likely a 400. The color was a lighter metallic green. The convertible top was white. I couldn't see the interior and am not sure as to the wheels. I'm hoping they were the PMD rally wheels. The honeycombs were great ... but on later cars.

Haha. Good photo. It's hard to get pets to look right at you when taking photos. This looks like one rambunctious critter.

Yes. And I like those the best after an Olds V8. And because the small block 307 has the great attributes of a small block Olds Rocket 350.

You have to give Buick some credit on this one. This was definitely one polarizing car. The Riv has gone up and down like a yo yo in terms of being polarizing. This car had some great angles and some not so great angles. The coolest thing about it was the dash, which sloped away from the driver and stayed under a wrap-around ridged cowl, had all the gauges, and had some nice wood appliques, even though they were probably fake.

What is it with the nicer weather and Cutlass convertibles? Today I saw a 1972 Olds Cutlass 442 convertible in white, with color keyed rally wheels, a black interior, and buckets but the automatic shifter on the column. The guy was real nice, as he was parked and not moving with traffic. He told me it had the 350 V8. The car looked good in white. This guy also told me he had a 1985 Regal Grand National, also a coupe. Then, I saw a 2000+ last-gen Pontiac Bonneville in black and in perfect condition. It had wheel covers and a spoiler. I'd prefer alloy wheels and no spoiler.

There was an "institution" in the L.A. area called the Helms Bakery truck. I remember the jingle. It was way more popular than the ice cream truck. Can you imagine a moving Dunkin' Donuts, with exceptional and better baked goods, in a contraption like the one above? The Helms Bakery itself then became one of those commercial hubs with leased space and a huge antique mart, which smelled frumpy just like an antique mart. I had no use for it without the baked goods.

Thanks. And all because I placed a cube type shelf perpendicular to the desktop, and a little further away! I know I'll be able to use it for other things at one time or another.

This became a random issue all of a sudden. I've got electrical extension cords but, for the first time in my life, I need to buy a male-to-female (or vice versa, whatever) USB 2.0 extension cable about 6' to 10.' The big box stores with recognizable names charge ridiculous amounts for these. From unknown third party retailers through known merchants, they run from $3 to $10. Just as good? Never bought one before. Thanks!

Q: What's the first thing a sorority girl does in the morning? A: She goes home.

Random thoughts? I just had a random thought. Damn, do I ever miss mid-sized GM coupes. * sigh *

Hahaha! The inline 6s would have been 170, 200, or 250 cubic inches. The price leader would have been a 170 L6, a 3 on the tree manual, no carpeting, no cigarette lighter, plaid seats with horrible fabric texture, one metallic driver's outside mirror, blackwalls, and moon styled hubcaps. And they probably ran forever if taken care of. I knew this guy who worked at the same place I did when I lived in SoCal and he was an ass, albeit a funny ass, and he remarked to someone that their Maverick looked like a toad. It very much does! Seeing a Maverick IRL always brings on the biggest of laughs.

I'm posting now because I uploaded and cropped the photo. I saw this yesterday. It drove down two major (perpendicular) major thoroughfares near me. It's a 1970 Cutlass Supreme convertible, obviously in red with a white top and a white interior. I don't know if color keyed Olds rally wheels were around that far back. Our family had the color keyed rally wheels on a mid 70s Cutlass Supreme and on a mid 80s Cutlass Supreme. I was able to ask them if it had a 350 or a 455. The exhaust noise was more raucous than expected. It had the 350 V8. I appreciate this model for being better than the other quadruplets, though only a tad better than Pontiac's LeMans. It was actually better looking than the 71 or 72 Cutlass, owing to the more vertical rear taillamps. I still much prefer the 76-77 and 81-87(partial 88) Supreme coupes.

Yes, the Grand Am was part of that group and retained a canted front grille, with the others being vertical and cubed before it later became a 2.5 liter Iron Duke powered small car. I'll never forget having one of these Grand Ams later on (white exterior - gray interior) and driving it around NYC and routinely crossing the GW as I explored the area from a relative's house. Since it was newer and in a rental fleet, it performed great and, for the first and only time, I drove around Manhattan in a more manageable, smaller car. Gosh darn, look at those red calipers! For some crazy reason, I like(d) the slightly elongated Alfa Romeo 147 coupe of the 2000s.

Shared by Pontiac GP and (G) LM. It lacked the curves of its predecessor, but still a cool little dash, provided it has gauges and not idiot lights. https://www.classiccarcatalogue.com/P/Pontiac 1979 LeMans19.jpg

Saw a '71 or '72 Chevy Malibu coupe. In perfect condition. Olive green metallic and black vinyl roof (full, not landau). The wheels were sporty, though possibly not stock, so I'm assuming it was a 350. I couldn't see the badge. I doubt there were all that many 454s.

Very cool. The photos show both the new (ridged cowl) and old (Regal like) dashboard for the Insignia. That brick-maroon interior is pretty nifty. Since Volvo seemingly does well with their wagons stateside, the same could be true of a rebranded Insignia wagon.

Photos: 1. Sort of front 3/4 view on the Gulf side of FL 2. Sort of rear 3/4 view on the Gulf side of FL 3. Side view with Stone Mountain (Atlanta, GA) area looming beyond 4. Front view with Stone Mountain (Atlanta, GA) area looming beyond 5. Rear view in Stone Mountain (Atlanta, GA) with peak azalea and dogwood blooming time around Easter 6. Love the instrumental cluster, the stitched leather wheel, the colors, and the ease of use 7. A great vibe, whether in the cockpit or a passenger 8. Not a bad center stack. The climate control section (lower) is fairly intuitive. Anymore, the audio section (middle) takes more time to figure out 9. Now THIS is why it's not a Chevy Cruze 10. I've got a thing for opera windows or facsimiles thereof 11. Where the hell do you propose finding bucket seats articulated like this in this day and age? They remind me of the early Cutlass Salons. This car was so comfortable that I didn't want to give it back to them! - - - - - Mileage readings (mpg): 30.23 24.34 (low) 35.20 (high) 26.42 27.06 29.20 31.28 27.40 - - - - - Yes, perhaps a little OCD. C'est la vie.

That interior looks very Vegas ... as in bad Vegas ... I wondered where this vehicle might be ... and I see the license plate is an Italian one ... Overall, this is scary.

Has anyone seen the movie "I, Tonya?" Interesting take on things. Except for her hometown and its environs, most of America didn't like her and thought she was culpable and a joke. This movie paints her in more of a victim of circumstances light. She was that - the smoking waitress mom who had many husbands and had no problem just whacking her across the face at least weekly. The movie sort of makes you feel sorry for her but she also had a choice in the company she chose. One would think that, if she's in her line of work, she would ratchet up her diplomacy level by observing others and choosing better role models. She had the skills down. The movie cited that, after Clinton, she was either the next best known or most discussed name in the world for a while during those years. Also, you didn't take a dig at her in her hometown while that stuff was going on. I did and was glared at. Locals turned a blind eye to the gravity of it all, swept it under the rug, and went to bat for Tonya (no pun intended). When I saw this, I figured it had to be Niagara Falls, ON and not Niagara Falls, NY. Niagara Falls, ON has some high real estate prices (glanced at a throw away home magazine - whew) while Niagara Falls, NY changes into a place down on its luck once about 5 to 10 blocks inboard from the falls. Most of the amusement venues are on the Ontario side, as are the nice hotel towers and good buffets.