balthazar

Why I've always said mercedes really wasn't successful/competitive in this country until sometime in the '90s (but not the early '90s) ~

Would it be fair to say the Escala has inspired all these razor-slit headlight clusters, or is another vehicle a more likely catalyst? I've kinda liked the soul's styling all along...

Then they should brand it the 'first influential', not 'we invented". 'Invented' means there was no example prior to. The Seldon had worldwide publicity, it certainly had influence. The Hill, not so much/at all. Irrelevant WRT being the 'first/invented'. 'Had influence' -an impossible to measure qualifier- just says 'not invented here'. 'First with no influence' still means first.

Sorry I let the answer to this slip thru the cracks : Pretty much on the nose, Robert, tho not when you might've thought. Mid-century, there were countless small-town garages that were also car dealers.

I wasn't involved in the building or designing of any motor vehicles; there's no ego involved for me here- either a statement is correct or it's not. I just really enjoy cars. I'll happily walk back any erroneous statements in light of the facts. :D Oh, and ferrari sucks. ;)

First luxury SUV was 'indisputedly' the '63 Jeep Grand Wagoneer. It 'invented' the segment. ^ And how does one come out with 'it's the first except for 2 others that came before it' ??? Grain alcohol, much?

How does a 2nd, 3rd, 4th or whatever copy have ANY relevance on being 'the first'? The qualifier used most commonly is "invented". It don't fly. Lookit me; I'm disputin'. :D

For the first vehicle, I would have to go with the 1870 Hill car out of Pennsylvania - 4 wheels & a steering wheel vs. the Benz 3 wheels & tiller steering- much more modern and 15 years prior to. Most historical accounts don't know about it because there was no company coming forward into modern times to continue to publicize it. The Seldon car also handily pre-dates the Benz's debut (1877), and was very widely known about, tho there is some debate on when the first one was actually built (it's patent application is not in question tho). Also far more modern than the p-wagon.

MoPar 413 Max Wedge factory exhaust system, 1963 ~

IMO, focusing on parts of a conversation apart from the point would be another term you used; deflection. Pontiac is the only brand that didn't drop performance-specific models when even Chevy dropped the Z-28/big block Camaro for 2 years. It was a wretched time, no question. But besides a number of A-Body packages, they had the Trans Am. There's a reason T/A sales went thru the roof going deeper into the '70s and it wasn't all influence from Smokey & the Bandit. Pontiac was the only performance game in new vehicles. Imagine a time when a relatively 'weak' T/A (vs. the earlier SD) was quicker than a brand new Ferrari. The Can Am was a cool machine in that series of A-Body specials, shame it was a 1-year only deal. Pontiac was still the king here. Mentioning the Turbo 231 Buicks was my answer to 'Buick wasn't marketing to younger buyers' - I think these vehicles were. So while the 455 was pulled out of the A-Body for '75 ( I was WRONG earlier- Chiltons does NOT list the 455 being available in the Regal/Century for '75- the '75 Indy Pace car apparently was a non-RPO powertrain. GS ended after '74), Buick was working hard on re-engineering the 231for the Turbo package, as hard as they hit it RE the Pace Car / the '78 turbo publicity, I don't think Buick ever lost sight of the performance Buick here, it just had to be readied for production. As far as I know, there is no other example where engine dies were sold off overseas, then bought back & put back into production. An incredible story, actually.

With the hope of pushing spring-esque weather, have started some more work on the B-59. My buddy has been doing some experimenting with zinc plating, the interior door latches (inside the doors) are bare steel, so doing those and the trunk latching hardware. I saw the trunk latch tonight (no pic) and it looked excellent. Trying to think of other things to plate. BTW, also working on a derusting bath (reverse electrolysis). Still have the parking brake system to engineer (just found the original B-59 cable wheels this past weekend) and the headers to get back on. Temps supposed to break over the weekend (mid 20s today).

Semantics would be if you stated the GS stopped production "in the mid '70s" and I replied "it ended in 1975". These counterpoints are not dickerings over terminology, at least as far as I see them. Thank you BTW for your well wish RE my B-59. I hope so too.

You did; you said you were 46 and 'it was gone before I appeared.' 2018-46=1972, therefore claiming it lasted no longer than 1971, but the 455 CI GS went thru 1975. 4 years is half a decade (minus 1). The next engine you mention after "the 455 went away" was the 231. But the predominant engine was the SBB 350. I'd have to check if the 231 was even offered in this body; IDK so I'll make no claim. While not as exciting as the 455 CI variants, Buick did pace the Indy 500 in '76 with the turbocharged 231, and it was publicized heavily. It was Buick that drove the now dominant forced induction ICE. There was a short lapse - the production turbo didn't come out until '78, then came the T-type, then the GN, and of course the GNX at the end of the platform. That's a 10 year run there. GS's ran '65-75, or 11 years. 21 years out of 23 with dedicated performance-oriented Buicks. I can't fault that track record. Performance was hot and Buick provided to their customers. BTW- Buick also paced Indy in '75, with a 455 CI GS ~ By 12 months. It was the 3rd person in the door at the house party, which would take over the entire block in a few more years (An AMC pony car???).

You mis-interpret. Correcting the factual element of your post neither addresses nor refutes the point of your post. And it's not required to. See- we agree. BTW, I care when the GS went away; not because I love the '73-4-5 GS, but because history is important. Especially Automotive History. [Meanwhile I am contemplating how I can badge my B-59 an 'Invicta GS'...]

Olds, buddy, if certain points are irrelevant to you, then don't call them out specifically (especially if they're incorrect.) If you don't care where a car was developed, then don't say it was developed in (Xxxxx). If you don't care that the GS went out of production after 1975, then don't state it went out of production in 1972. Because if it's incorrect, it's going to get called out irregardless if you place importance upon it or not; one's man's semantics is another man's facts. Buick did not chase the 'youth market', only the youthful Buick customer. There's a difference, and that's fine.

You ran astray on a number of points, which I'd be happy to straighten out, but don't want you to feel someone is playing 'semantics' with you.

That totally depends on the purchase price! It takes many years to offset tens of thousands more spent on Day 1- one can't legally buy a brand new vehicle with Monopoly money (unfortunately). Saving the cost of 2 or 3 oil changes per year is a drop in the bucket if it cost you $25K to do so.

BMW's wishfully-so-called "crossover coupes" [read: diminished headroom & cargo volume SUV] sell at less than 10% of their standard SUVs (X4 & X6 vs. X3 & X5). They're not the 'next big thing', sorry.

V8s aren't going to touch the 1900 HP pininfarina not because it's faster, but because no one will ever see this $2.5 million dollar proposal. Because it's $2.5 million dollars. If it gets built. - - - - - Re an electric pass van operating costs- that depends on it's pricing. Unless Daimler can somehow stop themselves from gouging van customers -- after all, there is zero passion about buying a commercial van; it's all about the bottom line -- and not tack another $25K onto the $40K the sprinter diesel starts at, there is no cost comparison to a TD Transit (which gets 17 MPG composite, not 10, nor does it get the 14.5 MPG the sprinter TD has been demonstrated to return). You'd get AT LEAST 10 years of being ahead of the game in a TD commercial van over an EV. They need to be priced competitively to "be the future".

They didn't sound like that new either - that's aftermarket exhaust, sounds like FlowMasters (founded in the '80s for sprint cars). Also available for the Hellcat, BTW. ;) Check the comments for the Challenger video... see how many are complaining.

I assume via the building lettering in the background, it's an export model. Where that is, I have no clue. - - - - - I was tweakin' ~

Still partially in the wrapper (protective paper on some of the bumper) ~