balthazar

Yes; s-class convert in the '60s, almost FIFTY years ago. Just like I said. Pullman / 600 cars weren't "s-classes'. '70s S-class, unfortunately for your point, wasn't a luxury car, it was just priced like one. It wasn't until the '90s that it began to measure up to the 'luxury bar'. Reportedly, Mercedes bought a factory Pontiac Daytona car in the early '60s -one that intact today would be worth nearly a million- to tear down the engine for the 6.9L development. Tho Pontiac's 6.9L had an IBC & right about 475 HP (it was rated at 390-410), MB's version 10 years later had OHCs and a staggering 285 HP. With 4200 lbs, a 3-spd auto & 2.65 gears, it certainly wasn't much in the way of 'muscular'. A 15-yr older Chrysler was just as quick- how come that's not also a 'muscle car'? I guess it was, and was just overlooked here.

Just saying, the upcoming convert was just announced days ago, the coupe is only months old ('CL" isn't an 'S'). For 2 generations of U.S. buyers, the s-class is a 1 body style only model.

Mercedes couldn't even offer interchangeable parts unless it was for Cadillac. General Motors offered ABS & air bags in 1970/1972, when did daimler? What a hoot! Daimler has only offered the s-class in ONE body style for 44 years; what "variety"?? Where's the convert, where's the wagon, and the coupe JUST came out (too little, too late)! Try NO variety of body styles!

T–t–t–they're 1 inch apart in overall length. "Too big to compete"…. ?!?!?!?

You need 7.75-ft, so let's call it 8-ft. Not everyone has that sort of height- was in a garage today that had about a 7-ft ceiling. Standard garage door is 7-ft, and while the car in the scenario we're talking about here would be inside, on a 7-ft door the door tracks (just measured mine) are 7'3" from the floor. Model X doors stick out a considerable distance to either side. Now, if Tesla had mimicked GMC's lead and had fully articulated doors (they only incorporate a few degrees of articulation), I think there would be a lot more clearance room, but probably Fed regs would be a factor on some level or another.

'56 Merc with factory A/C. There are 4 of those chrome roof vents :

T-Bird scoop looks like it was born there: One for Bill:

Right- S starts at $81K… the general assumption, I believe, was that the S was the flagship model. I don't believe most people thought a S-derived-design SUV would be $20K HIGHER that where the S starts.

Curious to see how many depositors pull out now that the pricing has been announced.

Yea, the MB clown face wheel is pretty terrifying. But wait- what do you guys mean there's an outside vendor making steering wheels- no OEMs do their own wheels anymore?? RE: "The three-spoke wheel is so popular because it offers enough spokes to not be flexible, positioned to allow a good view of the gauges & a good resting place for your thumbs at nine and three." That's not it at all. First off, instrumentation viewing thru the wheel has never been WORSE than it is in current times. And I've never had an issue with a wheel flexing, even old 2-spokers. This, plain & simple, is lawyer-influenced homogenization in an industry where copying has become a finely honed art.

Maybe one day I'll own a FWD car. Nah.

It is MIND BOGGLING that SO many different brands have the SAME steering wheel concept : spokes @ 9 & 3 o'clock, then a 'split spoke' at 6 o'clock. Homogenization Gone Wild ™

'36 Ford convertible, VG original condition, FDR's private car with hand controls for braking, in FDR library basement. '46 Buick Super sedan, primer shell, sitting. '64 Merc, red, spotted from the road parked at the back of a very deep parking lot (circa 500 ft).

So who's the "NOBODIES" who bought 26 thousand of them so far this calendar year? And funny how there's no chatter about -say- Jaguar, what with "NOBODY" buying their sedans, which are selling at 25% of what they did 13 years ago.

^ 20+ inch Case steam engine wrench, 1918 ^ General Hardware Mfg adjustable centerpunch Pexto sheet metal hammer (my go-to), post 1947 no-name palette knife Cresent 4" adjustable, 1930-1960 Spoon-ula Craftsman center punch Goodell-Pratt screwdriver Stanley screwdriver Twix angle gauge Boston Wrench adjustable, patent date 1906 Vaughn & Bushnell pullers/nippers, post 1922 ...Boston wrench aside, I use this crew regularly ^ Mmmmmm; knurling….

circa '63 Chevy pickup, slammed, satin black, whitewalls, rollin'. circa '68 Opel GT, med blue, nice unrestored, 3rd car on a trailer behind 2 Prius'.

I wrench on primarily vintage stuff, and that frequently requires a lot of torque. Busted the cylinder heads off my '64 last week; 3/4" bolt heads = solid 24" breaker bar and a foot-long pipe on that… but they all popped loose. I've broken bumper bracket bolts off with a similar arrangement, pushing with my leg and holding on to the car for anchorage. - - - - - I have this Germany-made item. Tho I've never had the occasion to use it, I did use a 3-ft wooden dowel the same way to detect an alternator's bearing was going bad : I've seen slightly older versions with the Nazi Eagle stamped into the 'trumpet' end :

I dunno : the factory buy-back & crushing of like 6 years of Tacoma production is tough to forget.

Configurable chimes set on 'random'.

389 is out of a '64 Catalina. The whole car is coming apart this fall, save what's sellable, scrap the rest. It's no longer worth a resto, besides it's a 4-dr sedan. I sure enjoyed it as a daily driver when it was up & running, tho. I've had 8 full-size '60s Pontiacs to date: 60, 64, 64, 64, 65, 65, 65, 66. I also have a 389 out of one of the '65s left… or is it two 389s? Very good motor.

Just finished a 4-hr stint of removing the cylinder heads on my 389 Pontiac. Car has been sitting unstarted, outside, since 1993, but MAN did all the bolts come loose beautifully. Motor is also amazingly clean inside, even the exhaust system is (was- I Sawzall'd thru it) rock solid. Pontiac built a helluva machine in the 60s.

'64 Buick Electra 225 convertible, white w/ red interior & Buick Road Wheels. Rough, mild rust, lots of dirt but solid, burbling like a BBB does well, tossing around in the chop of the Home Depot lot, ended up parking in the 'contractor loading' spots under the overhang, probably because it was as long as a crew cab-long bed truck.

My son's cousin works as a valet at the local BMW dealer. I asked him what the BMW owners bringing their cars in were like. His reply : "Entitled assholes, every last one of them. Want everything, right away, and for free." Somehow, I wasn't surprised by that.

RE the RWD Fleetwood and the Brougham shown, there may be a minor difference RE the chrome there & on the Connie. The Continental is both closer to the ground, has very wide track (vs. the body) and more 'under-tumblehome' that the Cads- it may pick up more stone damage than those earlier cars… but it's a good point; if it's stainless & well fit, it should last fine. I am lukewarm on the Avenir now. I like it forward of the C-Pillar, but rearward doesn't work for me, even tho it uses great Buick cues. For such a visually long car, the rear deck is way too short. I'd really like to see a long-deck full-size design again. The Adkins song posted above contains a line I've personally been proclaiming for maybe 20 years "My favorite color is chrome".