balthazar

There's going to be numerous misc materials / components costs. Heavy cooling system mods (fabrication / plumbing) to cool batteries, conversion to electric power steering, conversion to an electric-driven A/C compressor... LOTS of ancillary costs beyond just the kit. And, of course, LABOR to install. I'd double that price...

You are no longer permitted to your own opinion or to ‘sit back’. Now you MUST be involved in every social /political issue, because your ‘life/soul/very existence’ depends on it (yet AGAIN). Sick of the lies and the spin.

I'm a political atheist. The problem as I see it is a lack of respect & willingness to listen / compromise, coupled with a terminal media functionality cancer. Media as a journalistic 'Hippocratic oath', is basically dead. There is SO MUCH ROOM for a new objective information entity... but the populous at large is so hyper-partisan now, I doubt it would survive economically.

When CAFE was instituted in '78, the goal was to raise the average from 18 to 27.5 by 1985. Except for a dip to 26.0 in '86-88, it remained 27.5 thru 2010. Because it takes YEARS to effect an average change on a scale like that. And I point out that MPG in '78 wasn't ONE MPG; passenger cars had a significant numeric jump on '27.5' already under their belts; it was 18.0 in 1978, so that was a 50% increase in 8 years. A tall order from a manufacturer's POV, but since not that much focus had been executed to that point, there was ample 'room' for improvement. The highest peak (cars and light trucks) in that era reached 26.2 in 1987. In 2004, the CAFE was 24.6, as average vehicle weights increased from 3200 lbs to 4000 lbs- mostly as a result in the increasing market share march of light trucks. In 2007, the EISA bill was passed, raising the CAFE bar to 35 by 2020. In 2012, the Obama Administration proposed to raise the CAFE to 54.5 MPG by 2025, a straight up arbitrary doubling with no consideration or knowledge of the feasibility of doing such. That was a 100% increase in 13 years. While manufacturers had already started gearing for that change (and DID accomplish a significant fleet rise since '78), it was rescinded by the Trump Administration in 2016. There is some degree of 'law of diminishing returns' in play at this point; CAFE isn't a result of simply turning a dial. In contrast, some local politicians are --likewise with no consideration or knowledge of the industry-- proposing to take nearly the same time interval (14 years) and increasing the EV market by around 5000% (2% > 100%). [I think I have that math right.] This, despite the obvious- increasing the MPG of passenger cars was only projected to cost the consumer something like $500-$1000, vs. the current EV consumer cost increase of $10,000-$25,000. These proposals and talks of mandated bans are NOT remotely workable in this time frame.

I'm going to liquidate some vintage stuff I've had for years & don't need. I picked up this '52 Pontiac light-up hood ornament from a junkyard I used to frequent heavily- I'm sure I've owned this since the late '80s. Hope to get $275 for it as is.

^ Have a spare 50 grand laying around? Oh, plus the cost of the truck?

LOL - the problem with that is; both 'sides' are convinced they're 'right' and 'think critically'.

^ The restored red one, and the unrestored one I posted, seem to be the only current / existing examples on the 'net. In all my vintage ramblings, I've only recently become aware of it (maybe 5 years ago), and I've not seen any other post circa '60 pics.

Insider rumor (Canadian Ford union) is that Ford is developing a 415 CI (6.8L) pushrod V8 (derived from the Super Duty 7.3L) for an option in the next generation '23 Mustang. Seems interesting.

Still infatuated with this rig :

The greatest automotive marque of all time. This is just the standard 'J'; then there was the supercharged 'SJ' ~ Eldorado Seville :

I don't see what their wage has to do with it. Give them $5 or $10 more an hour and they're not going to suddenly take better pictures.

I disagree with your price target. That's not going to happen because viable, attractive vehicles aren't coming out in 2025 or 2030 at a 1990 price level. EVs need to MATCH the equivalent IC vehicle pricing to become a considered alternative. They cannot survive against the status quo at 10 grand (or 30 grand) higher than their competition, they must come down in price. So far, none have.

Seems Car & Driver has stepped off the Helium Hypertrain and breathed in a few lungfuls of critical thinking. Of course, you've read these same points from yer pal Balthy for a few years now, right here. Interesting reading : 5% after 25 years of family car EVs being available... and some locales are sabre-rattling they're going to mandate 100% in a scant 10 years more?? It is to laugh. Politicians have little connection to either critical thinking or reality. Mark my words; those mandates WILL fall.

This is erroneous / mis-representative. GM has been gutting their displacement ("big engines") chart for decades. Chevy truck still had a 7.4L and 8.1L engine in the '90s and '00s- both those are long gone. And there was no Trump administration in the early 2000s ("on the other hand GM..."). Automakers CONSTANTLY reexamine plans, as markets are constantly wiggling. Anyone watching Tesla blow thru tens of billions in a long span of profitless years fraught with production & quality issues was only playing it smart by not immediately jumping on that tiny train. ALL future truck EV makers' success is completely unknown at this point.

Few people understand perspective, composition, proportion and lighting, Manufacturer photos always look better than dealership photos.

Ram asks $4995 for their 3.0L TD in the Ram 1500, while GMC is asking $2390 for their 3.0L TD.

Phoenix, 1940 :

Get a Stage II V6 block, It starts at 3.9L, goes to 4.5L, build up a reliable / docile 600-700hp version. Manufacturer says it's strong enough for 2000 HP. At least a few out there have run solidly in the SEVENs in the 1/4. How's 7.1 @ 193 grab ya? I want to like those aeroback Buicks, but I can’t find any appeal to them whatsoever.

But video racing is in addition to actual racing. I’m envisioning full replacement. Autonomously-driven race cars is beyond stupid.

The next step will be... to save on the myriad of associated & tremendous costs; all motorsport vehicles will be 2-dimensional computer renders, broadcast on screens. But you'll be able to toggle thru different camera views, like the underside and cockpit, plus when the car you're viewing from crashes, your phone will vibrate. Idiots will love it.

Buick, Olds, Pontiac & Chevy shared most of their colors, but always had a couple that were limited to one or 2 Divisions. Cadillac had their own unique palette.

'64 Pontiac Skyline Blue :