balthazar
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Everything posted by balthazar
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My point was; regardless of how Earl may have worded it, all there is in common is a singular sharp crease running over the backlight on both. That's it. For journalists to repeatedly state the Riviera was 'lifted' or 'a take off' of the Rolls design is ludicrous. If Earl had never said a word, no one would EVER make any connection between the 2. I struggle to make a connection and I'm staring at the pics. That line isn't even a 'cue' (IN FACT, I would preferred it with a bit of radius there). Back to the point; journalists and armchair historians like to take the opportunity to diminish American design innovations whenever possible. It's tiresome and unwarranted. I unilaterally dismiss the association as unwarranted, with all due respect to Mr. Earl. -
…I would certainly call it "inspired by" WELL BEFORE I'd dub it "thievery". That's definitely over the line. 'Theft" in the auto industry refers to other AUTOMOTIVE design cues, not non-automotive. And it needs to be blatant/obvious, not a 'squint your eyes and think you see it' scenario. American journalists love to cut the knees out of American innovation, they live for it by & large; seldom does a retrospective piece on the '63 Riviera get penned that abstains from mentioning the Rolls that inspired the Riviera's roofline. Mores the pity that even with the balanced perfection of the Riviera, it has to have that cold water repeatedly thrown on it. Especially when one digs into the actuality of the claim : 1955 Rolls Royce Silver Dawn, the reputed inspiration : Yeah, a sharp crease. BFD.
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For the most part, this has been the case for, oh, 15 years now. Frankly, I would welcome the breath of fresh air a formal roofline would deliver. Might well be time for the pendulum to swing the other way.
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Most people don't give one blink of an eye where their brand of luxury auto is on the sales charts. It doesn't, in itself, sell any more cars. I would NEVER want Cadillac to be in the top 3 in luxury sales, so yea, (if I cared), I'd be "happy". Crossovers are fine if a brand is going for full-bore mainstream volume. Have a few, that's not a problem. But to split the segment into 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7 slices… it's just a pointless waste of billions. 3, maybe 4 is all anyone in the luxury tier needs. There's just not much difference in these size classes to warrant so many versions.
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• I assume you meant "move" where you typed 'most'. Cadillac sells ATSs, on pace for 20K units this year in the U.S.. I have no problem with that number. It's just not that crucial. • BMW doesn't "cater to driving enthusiasts", they sell badges. They're a badge company for the most part. • Cadillac isn't 'GM', the brands have different buyers; they are not interchangeable for the most part. Gotta accept that fact.
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BMW is not anything Cadillac should emulate. Just because they have 5 doesn't mean it's working. No one buys the X4 or X6, so might as well eliminate them from consideration. X4 is down 17% YTD, only on pace for 5000 units annually. X6 is down nearly 10% YTD, on pace to move 6700 units. Neither of these 2 can be making a profit on the U.S. sales. X5 has volume (around 42K), but it's down 30% !! No doubt the X3 is pulling buyers here. Any X7 is going to struggle to move 1000 units. Pointless. X3 and X1 move well (38K & 24K), and only those BMW CUVs are up this year. The BMW buyer is marching rapidly to the downmarket vehicles, those 2 already are outselling the other 3 (might as well add in the X7 here). I would like to see a XT3, but would burn any XT1 with a flamethrower. There's also room for a vehicle between the XT5 andy Escalade. That'd make 3 CUVs and 1 SUV. No more.
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This is the 1933 Cadillac Fleetwood Aero-Dynamic Coupe, V-16 powered. This is the prototype, with it's chrome-trimmed windows and 4-blade bumpers. It is not known to exist today. It debuted at the World's Fair, Century of Progress event in 1933. Cadillac & Fleetwood built 20 production versions between 1934 and 1938, and V8, V-12 or V-16 power plants were available. They were very high priced; the V8 version was around $5000 and the V-16 was around $8000 ($143K in 2015 dollars). Wheelbase of the Series 452 was 154". - - - - - In that the General Motors XP concept program began in 1945, and the Buick Y-Job appeared in 1938, this is arguably the first concept car, and the first to go into production from GM.
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Font change is an improvement, easier to read.
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"Cadillac makes plenty of profit, so they can afford not to build 5-6 SUVs/CUVs." Chevy only has 3 CUVs, plus the Tahoe/Suburban SUV. That's 4. Why would Cadillac have FIVE??
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MAN is this new board visually busy!!
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Distributor, coil & condenser are in Florida, at the Doctor's, getting checked out. Thinking the coil is bad. When we tested it last, still no spark. Heat finally broke here- had a 2 week stint in the mid-upper 90s, now in the mid 80s. Want to get back on it. - - - - - UPDATE : Distributor & coil are back from rebuilder (08.26.16). Distributor was cleaned, lubed, dwell set & approved. 2 condensers sent both checked out OK. Coil was rebuilt: Ford coil secondary output is supposed to be between 3500 & 5000 V, but mine was outputting 6850. Hope to button it back up & try again in the next few days. Last time I cranked it, gas did leak somewhere around the carb; will be watching that carefully.
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Cadillac La Scala, circa 1973 : - - - - - RE the Escala ~ IMO its very crisp & contemporary, but as with the El Miraj, I find a number of details I don't think are optimum WRT being on a Cadillac. I am digging' the dimensions, but I would love to see the Escala & CT6 next to each other, in person.
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While I get your point, the AMG GT is pedestrian- it's nothing special, stylistically. In fact, from many angles it just looks cheap.
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Cadillac Naming Convention, Time to Show your Marketing Mastery!
balthazar replied to G. David Felt's topic in Cadillac
Not liking it in the least, ccap. First thing I think of is the laundry list of random negatives one could them attach to a model with a derogatory intent. 2nd thing is sports teams. Cadillac has half a century of foreign city names in their past, no real connection with American locations comes to mind other than a short-lived run with 'Park Avenue'. -
Going to weight in here on the maybach : • It has an actual trunk! • The wheels are… interesting. Would like to see them in person; hard to tell exactly what's going on. It could work with 24s, I think anything smaller would throw off the look. But it's going to ride like crap. • I like the 'off' proportions, mostly because I'm BORED with commonplace proportions. • Needs to swap the Buick grille out for something unique/proprietary. • Needs to drop the Rolls Royce pilfered door handles; a blatant copy. • Greenhouse HAS to grow by at least 5 inches, but I'd keep the overall length or close to it. I like it. Keeping in mind it's a pie in the sky concept, I'll give it a 8/10. But it'll never get built.
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The red car will never see the light of day as is. Visibility, especially forward, would be atrocious. It's a concept people, buy a poster if you want one.
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MB is just going to copy Tesla's naming scheme?? ?Why? BMW is still using 'i' for 'injected' 45 years later! lol
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I'm aware… but I only seem to see that critique leveled at General Motors.
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Failed brands are the rage; look at Maybach.
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Right, just like the Exelero- 13 years later and still not in production. Mercedes loves to build concepts they never produce.
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S-class U.S. sales thru June : 8,493. Model S U.S. sales thru June : 12,090 Question I have is, the 'techies' are flocking to Tesla because it's 'new school'. Mercedes s-class, with it's dated styling & stand-up hood ornament, is decidedly old school. I don't see the MB taking sales away from Tesla, just splintering the (dropping) s-class sales. But supposedly MB is bringing out a parallel model, so whatever sales there are going to that, not the dropping S-class… and, if all it does is split the s-class buyer pool, "S-class" sales are going to drop even faster. That's why I say the only long-term plan is to engineer a platform that can handle both, IC and EP.
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Cadillac Naming Convention, Time to Show your Marketing Mastery!
balthazar replied to G. David Felt's topic in Cadillac
You are talking about the same entity that brought out "CT6". -
MY God, at least drop it $10 grand! It's grossly overpriced.
