Intrepidation

June 1, 2009 is turning into the equivalent of General Motors' D-Day, and every day seems to bring new events that are being planned in advance of it. GM had more than 6,000 dealerships at the end of last year, and in the initial viability plan it offered to the government, the automaker pledged to close 25% of those over the next five years. As with the rest of the plan, the Auto Task Force said "That isn't enough." So GM has turned the big guns on its dealership closures, having seen 200 of them shut down this year already. It is not waiting for attrition to rid itself of others, but pin-pointing under-performing locations and "could move to terminate franchise agreements." And GM is doing so with a different payment scale than it had when it closed down the 2,800 Oldsmobile dealerships, which ran up a tab of $1 billion. Also, it appears, the bell tolls louder for a GM bankruptcy. Tucked in the article was this line: "The issue of how many U.S. dealerships GM can support has been one of the hot-button issues for U.S. officials as they drive GM toward a stepped-up restructuring that many observers have now concluded will include a bankruptcy filing." Autoblog

Autoblog is reporting it as well

This day and age is pretty depressing, and while it pains me to see see my fvaorite automakers is such trouble, a lot of which is their own doing, I can't let it consume me. I also can't let the economic and national situation get to me too much. I pay attention to it, but being obsessed with it and the problems isn't good for the health,. So with all of those things in mind, I push them towards the side a bit and focus on what makes me happy, and work towards achieving my goals (large and small).

I'm not big into clothes shopping. I like to go it, find what what I need. Try it on to make sure it fits, and get out. However I do enjoy shopping at electronics stores, Sears, Home Depot, auto parts stores and such. I like to browse Tagret because I find they have an interesting array of items, and the items they carry tend to put a new spin on an boring concept...such as kettles.

I thought about picking it just to be an ass.

Hideki Naganuma - Wrapped in Black

I think it's an entire appropriate word. One of GM's very best plaftroms denied being able to realize its full potential while rolling piles of crap like W-bodies and G-bodies continue to litter Avis lots. And it wasn't being RWD that makes it so great, although for the planned applications yes RWD adds to it. However, the platform was and is so great because the amount of polish it has. It's one of the few platforms where the cars it underpins feel like solid, polished products able to runw ith the best of them.

crotchety old man alert!

So is getting your asses served to you.

Dude, kickass sig!

I learned I may be getting a new engine soon I also learned that my mechanic is very nice...offering to lend me his truck to go pick it up.

NOM NOM

I don't see why I should get dressed up all pretty to get a bottle of milk at 9pm. I'm not image conscious and insecure like that, sorry.

Hey...f@#k you. jeans will never be as comfortable as sweat pants. With that said, I only wear sweatpants around the house, when I'm working, or when I need to run to the store and don't give a $h!. Of course that's only when it's too cold for shorts.

I love it...it's a place where I can photo whore my car.

I have to say, these little chrome pieces really brighten up the interior.

I don't care what anyone says, I think with the chrome accents being added and the 300M seats, this interior looks as nice as any mainstream car you can buy today. No I don't care that the panel tolerances aren't 0.000000000000000001 um apart.

Indeed it does.

PINGAS!!

I wish I had one of them! But I'm not about to pay $200+ for a shifter.

That would make for a hell of center/conversation piece!

Now we'll see if the unions are smart enough to agree, or decline and loose their jobs all together.

Big news It's looking very likely that I will be acquiring a 107,000 mile 3.5 V6 from an `01 300M. They did a compression test on it for me and all 6 cylinders showed 100 psi. Oil pan's good. No white milky oil. I need to look it over with my check list and carefully inspect it some more. However assuming it checks out, they'll sell it to me for $900 I've got myself a Colorado to do the transport work, so I can give a writeup on that too.

REPORT: Cadillac Converj Green Lighted Motor Trend is reportinging that GM has given the Converj the green light for production in 2011. Follow the jump to learn more. http://www.cheersandgears.com/index.php?sh...c=30427&hl=

Pontiac's fate to be decided in 2010 Follow the jump for more details. http://www.cheersandgears.com/index.php?sh...t=0&start=0