trinacriabob

I hear you. Those have more of a creepy leering quality to them. This had the "gotta close the deal within a finite time" element, as do the Starbucks/Borders/B&N cafe multi-level annoyances.

True, that's what's always kept me behind the wheel of a 2-door GM mid-size coupe. First, it's nice NOT to have a door pillar in your peripheral vision...a large door makes for a large window! Second, these set-ups with a console make for a cockpit style seating arrangement, which can be nice. When the Monte went to blue lighting for 06-07, it was even nicer.

Wow, I am +1-ing an ocnblu post. True, the very last revise was a clean fix and that front end works better on Monte than on the Impala. They could have easily fixed the rear hump. The CHMSL could have gone inside the back glass, or even in the upper part of the trunk like as they did on the last 2 gen Devilles/DTSs...either way would have worked.

Being chatted up while in line...it can be tolerable or it can be annoying. It's tolerable only when there is NO ulterior motive. That is, you find out that the person you are in line next to is from the same part of the country, went to a high school or college close to the one you went to, if not the SAME one, or is in the same occupation. The conversation is not strained. It ranges from annoying to sickening when you have NOTHING in common with the person and there is a general edginess about it (read "multi-level.") Yeah, I know, I've complained about this before. Last Friday, I'm in line for a Safeway deli sandwich (they can be damn good). This guy behind me starts talking to me nonstop. I'm on the defense and then eventually ask him what he does for a living. He said he has a home business that does interntional shipping. Actually, he lived in a decent neighborhood. At this point, I'm suspicious ... and tell him it's great to have casual Friday so I don't have to walk blocks and blocks in a suit to my favorite delis or dives. At this point, he backs off a little bit. Yep, it was way too friendly and too forced to be anything other than a sales pitch. Agree? That if someone edgily forces a conversation with you while in line or sitting in an eating establishment, it's PROBABLY multi-level or a sales pitch? When will it ever stop? *sigh*

Today, I saw a bunch of last(2)gen Monte Carlos on a major boulevard in my area. They ranged anywhere from early 2000s up to the 2006/2007. Some of them, unfortunately, were kind of "blingy(sp)." I look at this car and study it. It has some good angles and some bad ones. The overall side profile is good. The frontal 3/4 view is good, too. The rear hump is not at all good and the too-low and too-heavy fender sculpting is not good, either. This is a car that could have been much better. I think that it was "sort of" intended to be a Cutlass Supreme price-point personal coupe, though it was not marketed that way. I think the GP 2-door that ran through 2002 was way too different in that it was more of a fastback and lacked the more formal lines of the Monte Carlo...and the Cutlass. I put down "Meh." It's too bad. Had the styling been a little less quirky and had there been a 3800 V6 under the hood, as there was in the early 2000s SS coupes, there's no doubt I would have bought a Monte Carlo. Just thinking out loud...with this poll...

ricochet

provocative

racy

distance

sofa

starvation

Ambien

night (someone told me to watch "The Big Night"...they said I'd like it)

chicken

Thanks for posting the pictures, von. Surely, coming from AB, you must have really appreciated the change in weather and stark contrast in scenery. Sheez, I had no clue Goldwater lived to be over 90! I don't know about AZ...for me, anyway. One of my really good childhood friends moved from SoCal to Las Vegas where she could afford a (new) home, in nice quiet suburb actually, and she seems to like it. I went there in August 2007 and I can do without the 106 F. It feels like your skin is burning when you step outside in the middle of the day. I still maintain that a humid South Florida summer in the low 90s with high humidity is a little easier than a desert Southwest summer. Any agreement on that from those who know Miami, New Orleans or Houston? By the way, what kind of a rental sled did you ultimately get (in case I missed that currently)?

baked

saturated fat (gotta stay away from the cashews...damn)

cartoon strip

I was going to say that, for me, the dividing line seemed to be the type of upholstery. For some reason, those GM luxo-boat cars with plush velour interiors of yesteryear (Cutlass Supreme through 87, Cadillac DeVille and Fleetwood Brougham up until they still had the cloth seats with the Cadillac wreath) all smelled great...a little less so for the leather ones, IMO.

It is without a doubt that GM makes the best-SMELLING new cars. Check out the smell of an up-level GM brand like Cadillac or Buick, for example. I remember the great smell of our new Cutlass Supremes, so much so that I would get up on weekend mornings, in pajamas, put on a bathrobe, and go SIT IN THEM. I can't explain it...but they smelled new, clean, and neither sweet nor harsh. I am bringing this up because I just dropped by a Ford dealership this afternoon. I checked out some new Fusion 4s (not buying, just test-sitting). They don't smell that good. They (cloth seat equipped) smell just like a new athletic gear from REI. Kudos for being a great car that got everything right, but they didn't get the smell right. Same goes for most Japanese cars. They also don't have a good new car smell. Can't comment on Chrysler products, since there are none that interest me. Your take on this?

skeleton

retirement

future

telepathy (in pain part of today)

The Japanese have a lot standing reputation for organizational excellence. They will go back to the drawing board and resolve what's ailing their organization(s). Let's face it, Toyota is the land of "red dots" in Consumer Reports. They have produced reliable cars needing little work up to 200,000 to 300,000 miles. Those people will continue to stand by Toyota. With cars like Malibu, various Buicks, and Fusion/Milan, the Americans are finally reaching "red dot" land. I'm very happy about that. I'm also very happy to own two "mostly red dot" cars. So, at the end of the day, Toyota will figure it out. However, they will not be able to curb the improving quality of American vehicles.