balthazar

Mercedes vans was the fastest SINKING brand- they conceeded HUGE majority percentages of the segment to the competition from nissan, Ford, Chevrolet, RAM, etc. The rest of the market simply passed them right by and they are lingering in the cellar.

Custom-bodied 1937 V-16 Cadillac, 1 of 2 V-16s exported to Switzerland that year, sitting in a field in soft decay, 1968 (since returned to the US and fully restored).

I like Icon's stuff a lot, BTW : excellent blend of patina'd, under-the-radar performance classics. The Merc looks awesome (duh; it's a '49 Merc!)

camry V6- 301 HP, 3500 lbs, 14.3 in the 1/4. Merc starts out at the same weight stock, but no doubt it gained hundred & hundreds & hundreds of pounds. Tesla Model S is 4700-5000 lbs. I think it'd be much closer to a Camry than people suspect. Something modern/ slippery/ glossy seems fine to me to be dead silent. Something 70 years old and rusty should be making visceral noises; a hot rod. I find this akin to putting one of those Rolls Royce grille hoods on a VW bug.

I'm not 85 either, but driving something from 1940 is an incredible experience. If all one wanted to get out of the vehicle is visuals, one can stay home and look at pics on a screen. The Purist may, but there are other categories of enthusiasts. 'Period' is an excellent example; minor improvements/upgrades but nowhere near making a 70 year old car drive like a Corolla.

"creaky horror" ?

Tundra's story has nothing to do with, for example; how old it's frame is. It's not the 'now', it's that toyota has been constantly trying (I assume) to reach not only competitive grade, but to entice buyers of other brands, but just keeps failing. It basically sells to toyota loyalists, I believe, and not many of them. We've heard excuse after excuse, but the bottom line can only be either of 2 things; 1. toyotoa doesn't care/spend enough, or (more likely) 2. they just don't get it. As far as 'best in class reliability & quality'- those days are over for the brand.

Passed a completely dark car going the other way tonight- I believe it was one of those humpty nissans- no head, running or tails on. On a tree-lined street with only occasional cars, you'd think it'd be impossible to drive in the dark and not realize it.

Probably rides & drives like a hybrid camry. Where's the fun in that?

Looks cool, but it's ruined underneath.

Packard X-24 ~

Ram sales have risen every year since the economy cratered in '09 and they moved 177K. 500,000 were sold in 2017. You've already seen Ram 'rising up the sales chart'.

Can we use 'RoHa'? I dunno, after like 15 years, it's going to be tough. Me; I have to maintain my internet aliases in order to skate when the authorities catch on to me, so I can disavow all my online conspiracy theories. Just recently, it occurred to me that the OEMs might be trying to get rid of tailfins.

Interesting question. I know I've seen a handful of recent Rams in person that had me fluttering. Some years/trims got pretty much everything 'right'. This is a fine-looking machine ~

Who are you, and what did you do with Moltar? What is your goal by assuming his identity?

In 2002, 100% of BMW SUV sales were the X5 (cause that's all there was). And even tho it still is the biggest selling BMW SUV, by the close of this year that share will be around 35%; everything that's come out since the X5 has been downmarket: X3, X1, X2 (and the X4 & X6, but 'BMW doesn't sell any'). The FWD X1 and X2 were mistakes, even if they sell nearly as many of those together as the X5 usually sells. Of course, the X4 & X6 are flops that should be dropped, and the money could have gone into the next X5 to boost it's appeal. That's the moneymaker. Right now, Cadillac is the XT4, XT5 and Escalade. Hopefully clear heads will prevail and there'll be NOTHING below the XT4. XT6 is coming up next too, if I'm not mistaken.

IMO- the '18 Silverado is a mess. It looks somewhat bloated to my eye, and especially irksome are the too many seams in the front end trim. That center bar could have been 1 piece vs. 3. I'd still give the '18 a '6' (I give my '04 a '4', BTW). '19 cleaned a lot of that up, and although it's unconventional, it's cleaner. I give it (in the above pic) an '8'.

The '19s are much improved over the '18s, IMO. - - - - - But wait; I think I figured out my amorous feelings toward the '19s - CHECK THIS OUT :

But the X5 is down, and 53%. BMW's SUV customers are continually shifting downmarket, toward the bottom of their catalog. X7 is going to sell like the X6, in other words; a few dozen. What do you mean by 'if'?

• I like other year Buicks, including '58. A Limited 2-dr hardtop would be wild. But managed to get the one I was willing to own. • Stevens Point; I know of it, tangentially. We should talk in a sidebar...

Horsey- Hope from now & thru 2019 it's much smoother sailing for you. Would like to see pics when you tear down the Oliver. I've watched some turning vids and it looks really interesting/fun. Specials are so common in that era of Buick, I'd always prefer an upper tier model, Century before '59. What part of Wisconsin were you from?

A rising tide raises all boats. X3 is in the same price class as the XT5, which is outselling it handily this year.

Ford Truck know-how?? - - - - - Man, would I love a rig like this; Cat Safari with Grand Prix front clip ~

Supposed to get a bunch of wetness in the Northeast tomm; be prepared!