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balthazar

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Everything posted by balthazar

  1. balthazar
    That is hilarious. 2015 – 30 = 1985. Here's the interior of an '85 s-class : Giant black rubber steering wheel, mouse fur upholstery, horrible unpainted plastics, it just REEKS of cheapness. Mercedes interiors in the '80s were horrible, horrible, horrible; SL is in a dead heat for the barrel bottom here, too. It was only by benchmarking Cadillac in this era that MB was able to move ahead. You're a full decade optimistic on this claim.
  2. balthazar
    Tesla lost a total of 308 million for 2014. They only managed to move 120 vehicles in China in January. They need billions to continued to even tread water. People are -inexplicably- going to just be SHOCKED when dire financial situations rear up (not excluding bankruptcy). That happens and Tesla finds the mountain they're climbing just quadrupled in size. - - - - - Just learned Teslas are NOT sold in my state, yet I still see them just about daily. I don't have anything like a 'regular commute' (either time slots or routes), so I'm sure I'm seeing different cars. Saw a red S this morning.
  3. balthazar
    That's a bit much in my book.
  4. balthazar
    Have only seen 2 i3's so far, but I see Teslas just about daily. An 'i3-ified 7-series' would be a real hoot. Amazing the company (Tesla) still isn't close to turning a profit- maybe they should constrain their market to NJ.
  5. balthazar
    So BMW already shares the platform between the 5 & 7 (stretched), not sure how a "stretched 5-series platform" ISN'T a "7", but OK…. … but now BMW is proposing using the same chassis under the 3, 4, 5, 6, AND 7?? Career General Motors bashers are going to be eating a TON of crow on THIS parts-binning of a (for some) hallowed brand! Not to mention, but………. The current 7-series is the same stylistically as the last 3 or 4 generations, (also; a complete snoozefest), so the next gen is so very likely to be a continuation of the same old, same old. This has 'dud' written all over it.
  6. balthazar
    They made 58,000 El Caminos for '79. While this individual's treatment of his particular car may well have been unique, 58,000 units is no one's idea of a "rare" car.
  7. balthazar
    This is not working for me, regardless that 'exotics' aren't my cup of mango juice. RE the aerial view: I love the concept of what they were going for, but in profile the whole '1 car driving out of another' is so disharmonious... I want to love the exhaust on the same level as the tails, but something is just not there. Perhaps if the tips were highlighted somehow, such as a subtle red to echo the tails... Leaves me flat. Ford had SO much 'iconic moxie' with the '05-06 GT, and it's all gone here.
  8. balthazar
    So should mercedes "give up" on super high end option trims because "no one buys them"?? Maybach is saddled with the stink of recent failure, I don't see it being a draw of any measurable means. Bringing it back into the 'MB' brand allows MB to hide whatever dismal take rates it manages, and cutting it's price in HALF at least gives it a fighting chance. I just hope MB isn't looking to previous well-heeled maybach buyers to forget the 3rd degree burning they took in hindsight. Mercedes should "give up" on a 'Maybach'. Again. Fact remains; these other models in the same price tier are there because some consumers obviously don't gravitate to the 'Hello Kitty' of luxury sedans.
  9. balthazar
    The 455 block IS back, just not thru Buick nor remotely cheap. Got a hankering for an easy 1000 HP? - - - - - I take issue with the Blackhawk being called a 'concept'. 'Custom' or whatever is fine, but this is neither an OEM stylistic trial balloon or future intended production vehicle.
  10. balthazar
    If NOTHING "competed" with the S-class, there would be no A8, no 750i, no Quatroporte, no XJ... and no other sedan in the general price range. Yet, there are.
  11. balthazar
    There is prolly, somewhere, a 'price adjusted' metric that would show sales are UP xx%. - - - - - People need to get it thru their heads that this is not GM of 1979 and Cadillac is not looking to build 300,000+ units/year anymore. In the old days, that was the driving factor with all the factories and dealers GM had, and the uncompetitive product the Germans were fielding. This is a different era with different goals.
  12. balthazar
    Never took to coffee. Don't like hot tea, except for Chinese tea. Ice tea is my bane, however. And semi-regular small Red Bulls.
  13. balthazar
    The benchmark for weight watching over decades of time is the Corvette. Base coupe was 3223 lbs in 1990, its 3298 25 years later. Just about everything is too heavy, and with more lightweight materials than ever previously. But in absolute numbers, the 2700-3500 lb cars above would not be on my list. The luxury sedans are obscenely obese, however. The days of light weights like years ago are long gone with no path back. My '64 Catalina (iron block/heads, perimeter frame, less than 10 lbs plastic) was 213" long x 79" wide and weighed 3770 (shipping weight). That number is 'right on' for the vehicle & period. My '59 Buick is heavier primarily due to a stronger frame, it's 217" long x 81 wide and weighs 4275 (shipping) and 4445 stock (very few options), at the curb. That's on the heavy side for the vehicle/period, outside of Cadillac/ Lincoln/ Imperial.
  14. balthazar
    In last week's Trivia Tuesday, we learned some interesting facts about the evolution of the Buick Riviera. The Riviera has an encore in this week's quiz. Can you answer the following trivia? The answers to last weeks Trivia Tuesday are below. 1.) What do the letters IROC stand for? 2.) What was the last year / make of a U.S.-built four-door convertible in regular production? 3.) The Edsel brand is often known as being a marketing failure, yet 3 of it's model names went on to be used by other brands. Name them. 4.) 1999 was the last model year for the Buick Riviera. When did that nameplate first appear at Buick, and what did it denote? 5.) On what make & model car was the "Eliminator" package available? 6.) The owner of the car pictured below customized his ride to commemorate what successful retail product that he developed? Answers to Trivia Tuesday January 20th, 2015 1.) Nervous Norvus (1956) 2.) Rickenbacker (1922-1927) 3.) Golden Commando (350) 4.) Triumph (1902-1984) 5.) Riviera 6.) LaSalle View full article
  15. balthazar
    More information about "Trivia Tuesday: January 27, 2015"
    In last week's Trivia Tuesday, we learned some interesting facts about the evolution of the Buick Riviera. The Riviera has an encore in this week's quiz. Can you answer the following trivia? The answers to last weeks Trivia Tuesday are below. 1.) What do the letters IROC stand for? 2.) What was the last year / make of a U.S.-built four-door convertible in regular production? 3.) The Edsel brand is often known as being a marketing failure, yet 3 of it's model names went on to be used by other brands. Name them. 4.) 1999 was the last model year for the Buick Riviera. When did that nameplate first appear at Buick, and what did it denote? 5.) On what make & model car was the "Eliminator" package available? 6.) The owner of the car pictured below customized his ride to commemorate what successful retail product that he developed? Answers to Trivia Tuesday January 20th, 2015 1.) Nervous Norvus (1956) 2.) Rickenbacker (1922-1927) 3.) Golden Commando (350) 4.) Triumph (1902-1984) 5.) Riviera 6.) LaSalle
  16. balthazar
    That's certainly nothing new.
  17. balthazar
    gotcha. Either way, an affordable model is critical for revenue. Hope there's a decent profit in the car @ $35K...
  18. balthazar
    I did; I meant the upcoming $35K car. I don't pay much attention to the company's news (tho I see a ton of Model S's around, nearly daily). It's going to be called the 'Model 3'???? For Pete's sake.
  19. balthazar
    Tesla does seem to be overvalued. They've lost money every year: $56M in '09 $154M in '10 $254M in '11 $396M in '12 $74M in '13 and $187M thru Q3 in '14 Stock is down from it's high of 291/share to 205 today. Clearly, investors are extending great future confidence in the company, and that's not necc. misplaced IMO, but the future market share is unknown and the losses are piling up high. Stock IPO'd at $19, didn't hit $50 until April of '13, no doubt based primarily on greatly LESSER losses at that point (but still no profit). IMO, the entire future of the company is riding on the upcoming Model X. The current business case is not sustainable long-term. This is a new niche WRT investor patience and they have a seemingly very nice product. Very high risk from the stock standpoint, IMO.
  20. balthazar
    Silver Arrow I was 'freshened up' over it's active time, basically twice (tho there were a few other minor changes). I prefer the initial version; blackwalls & wires, and the egg crate grile : The WWWs actually 'push it back' in time a bit. Narrow WWs were already coming into vogue with the '57 Eldorado Brougham.
  21. balthazar
    Back to the bonus question though… chronologically it goes : 1. LaSalle proposal 2. production Riviera 3. Silver Arrow I concept There is an excellent overview of the Riv's development here. - - - - - The Silver Arrow II is quite undocumented; it was built in '68, was never shown publicly, and no definitive photos of it have been released. I've seen one that reported was labeled 'Silver Arrow II' but it looks exactly like a production '70 Riv. The other two are in fine shape today
  22. balthazar
    ^ The Google car has a top speed of 25 MPH. That to me doesn't sound like 'amazing technology' but just enough crash resistance to avoid fatalities. Bring out a affordable 'selfie' car that matches at least all road performance capabilities (IE: highway speeds / 60 MPH), and you're 75% of the way to mass acceptance.
  23. balthazar
    Hyper's answers for questions 1-5 in post #2 are correct. Technically, the answer to #1 is Nervous Norvus, but the judges have deemed it 'close enough'. - - - - - With regards to the bonus question... The Silver Arrow I was built off a production line example of a '63 Riviera. In other words, it came out after the production '63 Riv did, not before. Pretty unusual in that regard. The 'concept that became the Riviera' was originally dubbed 'LaSalle'. It was badged that way in the original Ned Nickles sketch, and in the fiberglas concept that was 98% the production car. Here's those 2 designs, you can just make out the nameplates :
  24. balthazar
    No; 'Riviera' was fine. In the bonus answer tho, I count 3 different vehicle mentions.
  25. balthazar
    ^ Across the board Dave; offer 'em on Crew cabs, too.
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