balthazar

Have article in front of me from Motor Trend. When that article was written, plastics & rubber were exploding into exterior use on automobiles, prompting the title "Is The Steel Car Obsolete?" The article was published in September 1968.

I was sitting in a '75 Merc Marquis sedan today. Real solid original, on the road, red velour interior with much plood, red ext (tho very weathered) with white vinyl roof. I could not come up with a single attribute, in or out, that I found appealing. Now THIS beats ANY Italian or German car in high style, IMO:

I had a '73 Charger Rallye 440 for a while years ago. I too like all the above mentioned MoPars, but agree that the E-Bodys are too predictable. Ideally, it would be something 56-62-ish with huge power tho.

Levante has moved just about 3900+ units thru September- that's 5200/yr for a brand that has sold about 12K annually for the last 3 years. That's nearly half the brand's volume- if it's getting cut, it's not because of sales. Maserati must have some desirability- in 2010 it's US sales were 1900 for the year.

I am in lockstep with Mr Cube; why go small... when you can go wall-to-wall.

They're selling 12K non-SUV/CUVs in the U.S. now, in a SUV/CUV market. Who knows how a Mazer SUV will do tho.

C.T. was based in Philadelphia and ran from 1907-1928. They had numerous models, primarily electric but also some gas/electric hybrids. Over their existence, they offered 1/2-ton to 6-ton models... but these truck ratings have always been... strangely off. The entry in the Illustrated Encyclopedia of American Trucks mentions "Loaded with 10 tons of paper and traveling at 10 MPH, they silently plied the streets in the early morning hours with nary a puff of exhaust." They commonly used an 85 V, 10-amp system consisting of 4 motors, 1 at each wheel. The Curtis Publishing Co used a fleet of 22 of these for deliveries for 40-some years. As the demand for slow electrics dwindled, C.T. was acquired by the Walker Vehicle Company of Chicago (1908-1942). A fairly good condition 1912 C.T. truck has shown up for sale online, still operable even tho it's now 105 years old. : http://barnfinds.com/electric-1912-c-t-electric-truck/

I have no problem with your suggestions.

Italians buy Italian cars, Japanese buy Japanese cars, that the way it works?

I swear I see 2 or 3 Maseratis a WEEK. I have no theory as to why this is.

EVs and PHEVs have always been grouped in the same segment; both use primarily electric for motivation. Consumers at large also look at them in this manner. We can split that further and start things with the Model S, but truth be told it was the Prius that started the whole discussion/movement en mass. But if we split the segment into pure EVs, the marketshare becomes invisible. - - - - - $450/mnth? Yeah- I'm not doing that. I think the highest monthly at my house has been $230. Current one is $142 on the Liberty.

3 prime factors are necessary for mass consumption of EVs- comparable range, comparable pricing, readily available 'refueling'. It's just going to take time. • Current cost factor can be overcome by educating fuel savings over gas. • Refueling I will agree- in general, factually, it's not a major issue. But perceptually it is. I also see what ocnblu is saying: factually/ right now, 1% of sales is nothing, and we are about 15 years into EV/PHEV cars. If the consumer agreed with the seeming hype levels, I would think that niche should be 15% by now- that would be a gain of 170,000 sales per year. Not happening yet. U.S. is only on pace to eclipse 2016 EV/PHEV sales by 31,000. That's only 620 more EV/PHEV sales per state per YEAR. For all the attention, the growth rate is minuscule. Gov't entities talking about ICE-free cities / countries in 12 years are not looking at the data.

X4 and X6 only move 400-500 units each / month. Versus in the 3xxx range for the X3 and X5 each. Not seeing the business case from here for the former. That said, perhaps there's more room for an 'X2' type at the low end. If it takes off, might as well can the X5/6 and build an X7 instead... but BMW seems fixated on numerology and 'filling the "gaps"'.

X4 and X6- NObody buys. An X2 version is a triple strike against common sense, no? Maybe these sell in other markets, but they flop hard here.

Had your father been killed in WWII, I could see logic to the shame as you described. Not to say your feelings are illogical, but then that's not a cornerstone of feelings anyway. I'm older than you but my father was born a few weeks after Pearl Harbor. His father was not in the War- he was 4-F for an unknown medical reason. But in doing my family's genealogy, there were dozens of servicemen in my tree. My wife's father was 1 of 5 brothers in WWII (all survived). I don't know that I could have made the same brave choice in youth they & your father did.

• I always liked the Kabinenroller. • The VW Thing will always rank in my top 5 of the most offensive motor vehicles ever manufactured. • I see no degree of shame in recognizing factually accurate historical events. "Idolization' doesn't have to be a part of that.

Came close to making this my first car, but was scared off by the frame rot (MonoBilt unibody). - 1951 Hudson Pacemaker Brougham Still love the 'step-down' Hudsons...

In case anyone was looking for a 'barometer'; it took the FBI 3 months and 3 weeks to comply with a rather innocuous FOIA request regarding an individual/ incident from 1952. Typical performance from a federal entity, I suppose.

Mini plug-in sales for Sept 2017 : 80 cars. It was 85 the month before, and 75 the month before that. Not exactly finding buyers...

It's from some sort of factory-sourced piece- might be lesser sales fold-out. I have most of the print ads, this one is markedly different tho:

Looked at a '18 Z51 Corvette on the dealer lot Sunday- sticker price was $102K. Moltar- you could get behind this :: wouldn't it be a hoot to take a car like that Corvette and put a tri-carb Chevy Stovebolt 6 in there from a C1 vette, with like 150 (gross) HP? I can hear you grinning appreciably & nodding affirmatively all the way over here in Jersey.

I consider myself lucky in that my enthusiasm for my '59 Invicta has not diminished, and I've owned it many many years. Besides the fact that it's currently a body shell on a frame as far as being put together. I'm still doing the same recipe : Buick 455, Stage 2 AL heads, headers, Holley 1000 CFM, 4L80E, Dana 60. Period/factory interior, minor shave of emblems, no sheetmetal alterations, street/strip car, would like to do some pro-touring also.

We care, OH442; we care.

IMO, that's YOUR soul, the vehicle's soul/heart is it's powertrain/engine. I think anything built before 1970 should stay IC- but feel free to EV a Pinto, Maverick or Cricket. Or Gran Fury.

I know you are in love with 'pun' car naming, but IMO it's a bit trashy/ groan-inducing. I see the quickest Model S P100D 1/4 mile is 10.4 @ 124. That's right about where my car should be, so I'd be a whisker from the 'fastest sedan on the market' (excluding the Demon). I think I'm already "hot rodded" by using a BBB.