trinacriabob

food

You shouldn't have told me about the first one. I will probably go! And the Charlotte International Raceway tour with that perk costs how much?

methane

corny

emotional

Going to be in both Raleigh and Charlotte about a month from now. What are they like? Are they similar or dissimilar? What's there to do? I've heard that North Carolina is a beautiful state. I've only been near Raleigh for a wedding while I was living in Atlanta. I know I liked Atlanta.

crocodile (I used to think pyramids, and then I saw a nature show describing the Nile crocodile, the most lethal of the species)

I'm sorry to hear that and hope the future is better...some of my friends and acquaintances have had a rough time. Anyone who has had a "rough spot" at one time or another can relate... For me, my earnings are fine. Technically, they should be "better"...that means avoiding comparisons with my friends from undergrad, most of whom I'm not even friends with anymore. So now, I throw away the alumni magazines and don't read them.

the Nile

I think the Coupe de Ville I am describing was badged with a 4.5. I'm almost sure, as it was a 1988. So, they had no problems with the all-aluminum construction? It had to have had steel sleeves.

Right, and that Bonneville's name in the upright notchback G-body sedan was the Grand Le Mans a year or two before. As far as spotting goes, lightning strikes twice: On Saturday, on the same major boulevard, but at a different intersecting signal was a mint-condition 76 Grand Prix SJ or LJ in a darker silver color, a black landau, the 5 spoke rallye wheels and T-Tops. Between the 76 and the 77 I saw over a week ago, I think the 76 had better lines in its grille and taillamps.

That's what went through my head. In 2005, 6, 7, and 8, the LaCrosse was the best looking of the domestic mid-sized sedans. IMO In 2009-10 +, the playing field will change. This is pointing in that direction.

I agree with you on this. The proportions are very nice. I am as GM-centric as they come, but I had to give them credit for the Fusion and Milan's good looks, especially the Milan's. Not only that, the Milan I drove had great road manners. Still, I hope people buy any and all of the American cars out there. The success had been shared in the past and hopefully, it can be shared in the future.

pretentious

accessory

If I was in the market right now, it would be the Pontiac G8 in base form. While there are things about it I am not crazy about, the proportions are more restrained and in good taste than the GP that preceded it (though, for the umpteenth time, I love the engine in the base GP, as I currently own two of those engines). I would take a G8 over the next-gen LaCrosse any day of the week. The G8 looks good from virtually every angle. So that's my answer right now, given what is, and what will be, on the market.

Thanks for the post and the link. That's right...in that year, the smallish FWD DeVille series and the big RWD Fleetwoods coexisted. It saddens me to know that the tufted cloth or leather interiors are gone from our automotive vocabulary. The feeling of a "living room on wheels" is a part of Americana that has "left the station." I once had a neighbor that had an 88 Coupe DeVille (no vinyl top) in that "mauvey" brown with a matching cloth interior. It was stunning. He told me it had 147,000 miles on it. I always wondered how 4.1 or 4.5 V8s with aluminum blocks and heads made for transverse mounting in Cadillacs would fare over the years. Actually, I still see a lot of FWD late 80s DeVilles on the roads. Apparently, these little aluminum V8s have held up.

machine

Right. This was worded very well. I wanted a LaCrosse that didn't invite comparisons to so many other cars. I've read several times that, when Buick first launched the Riviera coupe, there was nothing to compare it to. It set a benchmark. When Cadillac introduced the Seville, it also set off a trend that others followed. Yes, yes, agreed...the quality looks high, the attention to detail is obvious, and I'm sure it will be a very sound car; however, I'm a little disappointed. Like H.E. said, it's the "look" people want today.

awaited

intense

There is a very common term in LA "let's go to the snow"...every kid says it, or hears it. It means that the city will never see it, but adjacent mountains, from about 4,000 ft on up, can get it. I like it that way...no snow anywhere in sea level parts of California.

I will say that the interior is nice. The swooping form of the console from back as it meets the dash is great, as is the curve of the dash cowl and the placement of certain items, such as the A/C vents. However, I still think the outside is a "collage"...of all the cars that have been mentioned. I'm sure it will sell. I thought the bombastic Dodge trucks would flop but apparently there are a lot of "dudes" who work in construction and need an extra shot of testosterone that buy these. It'll be interesting to see who the market niche that is ultimately reached by this new Buick turns out to be.

Well, I would agree that the 2005-2008 LaCrosse is not particulary innovative, but the proportions are to my liking. It's well-balanced. I know people mention the overhang and I now see what people are talking about, but viewed in profile, the hood's relationship to the trunk lid seems better proportioned. I also like the rear view with the crease between the lamps and the C-pillar with the roof rails as well as some sense of verticality. Look at how the timeless proportions have sold cars. The 76-77 Cutlasses, the 81-87 Cutlasses, the 88-96 Grand Prix in coupe form, the 98-02 Intrigues, and others. Even the DTS which harkens back to a more notchback type of sedan picked up in sales over its predecessors...I would have never looked at a Cadillac and then, seeing them around, took note...that's a beautifully proportioned large car. I think the LaCrosse hasn't sold as well because of our crappy economy, the fact the more and more people think American cars are not cool, and, to a point, because the W-platform has been around for a long time. I think the vernacular of the new LaCrosse is trendy and won't be timeless. The roof that's gone through the flattener, the scrunchy greenhouse and the overly angled rear backlite that flows into nothing of a trunk lid will be a passing phase.

Exactly what I think. It's such an also-ran.