balthazar

I sure as hell hope the El Miraj styling isn't used in this class. It's not refined or advanced enough for 2015, never mind 2019 (not that styling advances that quickly at all). Ciel body is the way to go in this segment; tweak the front fascia and it would be an absolute killer.

In that studio shot above, the C interior looks nice, tho it's VERY busy. It's good to see MB finally unburying their wood trim from the gallons of thick laquer they've always used. That said, they still have more work to do, such as integrating the screen, going to a less overwrought vent system (shades of Pontiac there), and I do hate the seat controls on the door- a growing trend. In that they are so infrequently used, they should be in a less conspicuous location.

2015 sees the auto industry creating tech for tech's sake, then expending an equal amount of energy convincing us it's "necessary". Look no further than the decades of emphasis on creating a better 'driver's car', now some are preaching 'autonomous driving', or the exact opposite of driver involvement.

Is the door itself articulated? Can't tell from the pic for sure. GMC had the best solution for this in '55, articulation that folded in on itself for minimal protrusion:

It doesn't look to me (in the pic) it sticks out any further than a commonly-hinged door. I just wonder if such a temporary status (the door when it's open) is going to bring any buyers in by itself. I leave my truck doors open for long periods of time in some instances (up to 2 hours) if I'm working out of it/accessing stuff repeatedly. Overhead shade/cover might be useful in a work truck in that capacity, but in a passenger SUV, that's not the case.

I'll stick to the styling, rather than address any practical use potential. In looking @ Google images of the Rageous, it's coming back to me; I really liked nothing about it. IMO: poor surface transition/flow, disliked the 3-spoke rims, the black chin, whatever was going on on the lower doors, the front fender humps, the wonky belt line, the spoiler… it's a unilateral thumbs down for me. So broken up. Put in ext to the Banshee and it's night & day. I don't know if you are asking about the Aztek concept or production, but the concept is another DOA job in my book. That hood cutline makes it look like another vehicle got smashed down on top of another. The production car is absolutely killed by the black lower section, among many more details. Vibe is a disposable appliance. Just because some folks are yearning for a CUV doesn't mean they've endeared themselves one iota more to me. Boring stylistically.

As if folk weren't confused enough before RE all the MB models, via the name change-up and the reguritated styling, who will actually have much of an idea where this slots in the lineup?? It just looks so 'here's another microscopically-different version of the same thing', then they spin the big MSRP wheel and see if it lists for closer to $30K or $130K.

See; I'm in the opposing camp. I thought PMD was on very solid concept ground right up to the Rageous. I still remember the first image I saw of it, I consciously thought 'uh-oh'; that Pontiac was losing it.

Traditionally, the concepts @ GM came out of the Advanced Studio. I have no reason to think that by the '90s that had changed, but IDK for sure. I know, I know; I'm nitpicking. On a corporate level, IMO GM definitely had the best concepts over time. In the '50s when GM was cranking out multiple functional concepts/yr, Ford was primarily building 3/8th scale models. But I admire a bunch from numerous Companies, all have had their bad & their good. For instance, I find the '55 Biscayne pretty ugly. Of the Pontiacs above, the Salsa & the Stinger are OK, the rest are nice in each of their own ways. I think I would take the Sunfire first, given the choice.

What are the "automatic high beams" supposed to do? Question regarding WHATEVER jaguar may do- will anyone notice/care?

Did I not see Maybach 2.0 interior pics with CLOTH upholstery??

A LOT more BMWs have had "Chevy" small blocks installed in them than you would think. Way more than the other way around, BTW.

This is only potentially an issue if the 2 were in a majority of ways similar, and got cross-shopped. They are not and do not.

Sure it will, I suppose the 3/4 would, too.

And the 1/2 continues to be a waste of resources.

^ Ummm, that's the point; in the lightest of rains people are limping along in 50 MPH zones @ 30-35 MPH. :/

Most are aware there have been significant advancements in autos over the last 25 yrs (let's limit it to that time span). Tires (maybe the most significant), brakes, anti-lock tech, stability control, traction control, AWD, etc etc. So tell me then, why, when it becomes necessary to put the wipers on the slowest delay setting because tiny droplets of water are coming from the sky… are the vast majority (95%) of drivers STILL slowing down to a maximum of 35 MPH??? It's ONE of TWO possibilities. Either drivers are THAT much worse now than 25 yrs ago (question is; is it BECAUSE of all the tech), or is all the tech really totally irrelevant to drivers??

The 'platform' moniker is anachronistic when talking about the 1950s. The equivalent to 'platforms' in the '50-60s would be the car's chassis (or frame). GM did not share chassis's in the 1950s. And in the '60s, it began with the intermediates; the full-size cars still ran proprietary chassis's. It was the '70s when it blossomed to any measurable degree, tho the full-size cars still had mostly proprietary chassis's. This can get confusing to the casual researcher when some cars, such as the "E-Body" (Eldorado, Toronado, Riviera) still had different chassis's in the '60s. That's what you have with Body-On-Frame construction. However, body SHELL sharing at GM between Divisions (to a limited degree) goes back the early 1930s.

Lincoln has had a choppy history WRT public reception & sales success. '46-51 and '58-60 had some solid backlash, but in between they redeemed themselves. The Continental Division of '55-57 made huge positive press, as did the Engel-directed '61s, but there were still missteps; Lincoln never got the transparent roofs that Merc & Ford did in '54-55, and the '61 body shell hung around too long in an era where body shells commonly lasted but 2 years. The Marks in the '70s were a bright spot, but the standard lines got incredibly blocky & ponderous. In the '80s, when Lincoln was making hay on Cadillac's putting the core Devilles on too-small FWD chassis's, they again could not make it last. The Navigator is another example- it made a big splash but once the Escalade appeared & got settled in, the Navigator fell farther & father behind. Not sure any other American brand has had such a ride thru time. But there is one strong advantage. Lincoln isn't so much 'damaged' today as it is overlooked and, to a degree; forgotten. It's far easier to overcome a lack of a reputation than a poor one. Oh sure, internet car boards have plenty of bile to spill over Lincoln (in the occasional threads about such), but by & large the general consumer just hear much in the way of attention-getters from Lincoln. I'm not sure the Continental concept is the best move forward; I still think the MKR was Lincoln's pinnacle; it's post-war Zephyr if you will. Time will tell if Ford is moving the levers for another Lincoln upswing or not.

This is exactly why the mercedes g-wagon isn't a luxury vehicle.

('57) :

Lincoln certainly isn't beyond 'saving' - look at how far mercedes came from the horrible state they were in the 70s & 80s and were building basically junk.

Answers: A : Durant B : Olds C : Buick D : Chevrolet E : Murphy F : Leland - - - - - Going to take Trivia Tuesday on a break for a bit, sit him down in the sand under an umbrella by the salt water & watch him built a sand castle replica of the General Motors Building. Will be back with more in the near future!

That'd be a tough one for me. A 1970 is a bit new for me, even tho it comes with the 455. And… yellow. The truck I would be much stronger for if it was a base, factory job. My buddy had a '62 F-100 he sold a bunch of years back, it was pretty original and for some reason it just begged to be driven for hundreds of miles.

This one is actually VERY helpful (tho my initial request still stands) ::