balthazar

I might have been possible to save the entire front and do whatever on the backside, keeping the same basic new square footage & all of the charm of the original facade. There is a HUGE swath of empty land (at this point anyway) to the right where that scenario could've still been standing. I'm not bitter or angry, just saying. It's kinda Frankenstein-esque.

A V-12 didn't save the first maybach revival...

I did see the other week that they sectioned it off about 2/3rds of the way thru the 'vestibule' of the original building. IMO 'architecturally pleasant' is more applicable than "significant"; for if it was the latter, they would have kept the whole front section rather than cutting it as they did. The dead flat side is a bit unsettling, aesthetically… will see if I can get a pic soon.

I for one think the XTS hearse looks pretty damned sharp.

I just got back from the E-town tonight, helping my buddy tow a trailer there. Spring swap start tomm.

I have a story for Roger/everyone else. My grandmother lived in Florida years back, and she knew I was going into automotive design. Apparently she told her friend about it, and her friend said her cousin (IIRC) used to design cars. I asked my grandmother what he designed, she didn't know for sure, thought maybe it was Edsels. I said 'ask; find out his name'. She did and got back to me to say his name was Alex Tremulis (the in-house designer of the Tucker). I about fell over; even at that young age I knew all about Tucker. I wrote him a letter about design, both general & specific, and he was nice enough to respond, going point by point to my letter, and included pictures, his home address/phone, a neat package. That was a thrill for me, of course the correspondence is well cared for in my Tucker file.

I'm a 'car guy', not a 'driver guy', so for me, NASCAR was interesting when it was manufacturer's competing. Unfortunately, this was before my time, so I've never been. Talking about the roar of engines tho; I have been to a Summernationals top fuel event- that's insane. Imagine 8 NASCAR engines strapped together on a pallet & running WOT.

Someone in a condo complex is driving a DeLorean; no cover, obviously getting used, and painted a dull red color.

^ I dunno; Pontiac advertising in the '60s -specifically for the GP- always pushed an international scene as opposed to an 'American way of life' (whatever that is). Even if they didn't seem overtly 'european', they showed 'vacation' or exotic locales… not really different than ads in general today (when they show background scenes, as opposed to -say- a nondescript road thru the woods or the desert).

Have # 1, 2, & 4, not the 3rd one tho. This speaks right to me; having owned (1) '60, (3) '64s, (3) '65s and (1) '66.

The stance nailed down but other than that, it looks like another car's front clip attached to something else. I also don't care for that front clip at all, looks kinda cheap to my eye. What would this go for in the U.S., MSRP-wise?

Are there really any measurable quantity of buyers waiting for a Alfa-Romeo??

"cramped coupe" : you aren't talking about rear seat room/ floor pans in a coupe, are you?? You want to put full-size people in the back, get a sedan; no coupes are roomy in the rear. FRONT legroom is better than an A4 (in the ATS sedan) as it is. RWD/2.5L ATS sedan starts at $34K, not $51K. If you want an ATS sedan, there's no reason you have to pay $51K. And we're still talking MSRP- no one pays sticker price even for a mercedes S-class! ATS ~ 2.0T / 6A : 21/30 A4 ~ 2.0T / 8A : 24/32 A difference, but certainly not "like a V6". I would post the 6-cyl audi A4 MPG numbers, but it doesn't offer a 6.

MBUSA sold 115K trucks last year; it certainly is their business. The laughable SprinterBox proves that hand over fist. "Downmarket… or Nothing". This 'luxury rebadged nissan-benz' is a horrible joke. And I can't wait to see it.

Why not just buy a CTS, or another brand? Once again- ATS has the same total legroom as the NEVER complained about audi A4. It has 9" more total legroom than the exact same overall length MBCLA. There is NO need for an ATS-L because there is the CTS, and AFAIK, there is no other sedan in this segment with an 'L' version on the US market AND the ATS is wholly competitive in legroom in this size segment. An 'L' version sets up a 'tweener' scenario because the CTS's wheelbase is only a mere 5" longer. Overlap & confusion. Pointless, also. It's also not going anywhere in 3-4 years; you missed the idea that the NAME is slated to change. Still outselling the A4 to boot. Interior is one of the nicest in its segment, certainly no glaring deficiencies. CUE I have not experienced so cannot address. A small diesel would be a nice addition, tho I note the A4 has only ONE engine avail. and the same price class (non-AMG) CLA has all of ONE engine avail, whereas the (non-V) ATS offers THREE. These non-issues pointedly point to one underlying factor; this is not the car for YOU. - - - - - On another point, there seriously needs to be a de-coupling of the 'AWD' designator from models names. There's already more than enough alpha-numerics going on in general that adding a '4' or 'X' to it all only makes the 'system' that much easier to hate. Decouple.

You've got that backwards! Feb A4 sales : 1743 (down 21%) Feb ATS sales : 2028 Audi needs a Crest on it's grille!

Finished the pass side rear brake hardware assembly today. want to do a final 'hose out' of the differential, then I will button that back up. Going to try and drop my tires off this week to get them broken down. - - - - - No- they are Atlas Plycron 7.00 x 20 10-ply 'Truck & Coach' tires. If anyone is familiar with tire sidewall date codes, they follow a week/year format. For EX, '2711' would be the 27th week of 2011. Mine, in that inset oval where modern date codes go, says '12108'. No. 1, there are but 52 weeks in a year. No. 2, I've owned the truck since '03, and I certainly didn't put tires on it. Guess what I am looking at is something other than a date code.

I have both domestic ads in my collection.

All right, going to spill it here. I never did get a year from you guys, and subsequent research shows it spans more than one model, so I think it's due. Answer is 1966 Pontiac. The GTO & GP both had plastic grille work (and bezels), tho for '67 the GTO reverted to metal grilles. Everything built before this had metal grille work. I had heard it credited to only the GP, but I see GTO had 'em too. Thanks for playing- see you next Tuesday!

Edsel & Rambler are incorrect. Perhaps a CLUE :: This brand in question debuted another front-end innovation within a few years of the plastic grille.

I would disagree RE Rolls; it's not extreme at all but the proportions/blockiness of it look like nothing else IMO. Bentleys look cheap IMO; there's no external detailing. Watched a video of a Tesla vs. a Bentley GT3/R (or whatever) and it looked FAR worse than the regular model. Hokey. I agree with your point RE Cadillac expectations, tho. In a way I don't wonder if a great portion of those 'dissatisfied' with the CT6 really DO harbor Great Internal Hope that Cadillac really does blow their socks off. It's like they know Cadillac can do it, whereas they have no hope BMW/MB/Audi can, or something along those lines. Just a theory.

Do I get to pick your guess from your FOUR CAR ANSWER….? - - - - - '64 'cuda is incorrect. Crosley & Allstate are incorrect also. Avanti gained a grille in '64, it's down under the bumper. It's steel.

Your fear is they have no earthly idea how to compete in this segment, and the bones of a nissan underneath it would provide YEARS of negative criticism and brand erosion/image degradation. The mere fact they are considering going with a nissan base proves MB would be half-assing it from the start.