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balthazar

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Everything posted by balthazar

  1. balthazar
    ^ CTS doesn't compete with the 3-series. 2014 BMW 528i : MSRP : 49500, average paid : 44997, diff: 4503 2014 CTS base : MSRP : 45100, average paid : 42616, diff: 2484 The CTS IS the best bang for the buck, even with less off sticker. YTD 5-series U.S. sales : 37761 YTD CTS U.S. sales : 20639 Perfect. We need to break the mindset that used to say 'Cadillac is part of GM, therefore it should outsell every one of it's competitors'. Neither necessary nor desirable. I would like to see the CTS coupe & wagon continue on the current 3rd gen, tho, regardless of the sales volume. Especially the coupe!
  2. balthazar
  3. balthazar
    We just had a bunch of divisions ash-canned, the call is going up for MORE already?? The only major OEM with a lux brand that has only ONE other is mercedes, and only there because their range topper just flopped. BMW is 3 brands, Jag is part of the Tata conglomerate, audi is part of the VW conglomerate, Lexus is the 3rd cog @ toyoyo…. not sure where 'most have 2 brands' comes from.
  4. balthazar
    Cadillac/Buick joint dealerships are not common. I've not seen any in my travels in my state. GM made a move to pair Buick & GMC dealerships decades ago...
  5. balthazar
    Mini is diving like a submarine.
  6. balthazar
    neither does anyone else, IMO. -- -- -- Back to the ATS.... One wonders how mercedes turns away so many buyers from it's c-class; it has the worst of the 3 (ATS, 3, C) front legroom. It also has LLEESSSS rear legroom than the ATS, wonder the F how THAT escaped so many rag journalists? Why exclude "so many" potential buyers????????????????? BMW 3 : 42.0 / 35.1 = 77.1 Audi A3 : 41.2 / 35.1 = 76.3 ATS : 42.5 / 33.5 = 76.0 <---------- best in class front legroom MB c-class : 41.7 / 33.4 = 75.1 <---------- worst in class overall legroom. Yeah, let's all moan & groan over JUST the ATS rear legroom again- feels so go-oooood to vent those fact-supported frustrations.
  7. balthazar
    what full size sedans??
  8. balthazar
    It's all marketing- no one has any Earthy idea what platforms are under what models and no one cares. If 'K' means 'compact', why was the old C230 hatchback a 'C'?? If the numbers are engine size, why is the S550 not the 'S470'? Daimler is just farting around with alpha-numerics with little direction.
  9. balthazar
    a LOT of folk overlook flaws to protect the status quo…………………… . . .. .. . .. . . .. . .. . . .. . . . .
  10. balthazar
    I stuck this here 'cause I'm not sure what year this might be: I stuck this here because I'm not sure what this intention might be: Saw Rick Dore walking around- 1st tier car builder and on the show 'Masters of the Car Hoard' or whatever it's entitled. Saw a flyer with this car pictured on it: … Dore built it for James Hetfield, tho this car wasn't there.
  11. balthazar
  12. balthazar
    Some stuff from a north Jersey car show, in reverse chronological order :
  13. balthazar
    Not in this neighborhood- industrial zone. Warehousing is all I can see going up. Time will tell.
  14. balthazar
    Today's pics. Plant will probably be totally flat by the end of next week. Compare to old pic above:
  15. balthazar
    Exhaust tacked, final checked, then finish welded. Here's the 'tacked' pics of the 2 driver's-side pieces : Nice smooth mandrel bends for that screaming 105 HP.
  16. balthazar
    Probably not, but they should. It's more appropriate here than even with the Silvie, IMO.
  17. balthazar
    ^ the measurements are posted above; length is pretty much the same, but height & width are up. I agree with summer cruiser; would like to see a regular cab 2WD unit (not that these will ever appeal to me; I'm a full-size truck buyer).
  18. balthazar
    So it's relatively the same length/WB, but it's a foot taller and half a foot wider. I'm not sure it's not a smidge too large- the width is nice but the height is of no advantage.
  19. balthazar
    ^ ...when they finally come in.
  20. balthazar
    Metuchen/Edison did have a good rep, unlike nearby Mahwah (which actually got the axe because of quality & environmental issues.) Wish I knew what plant my '40 Ford was built in. It wasn't Metuchen/Edison- that opened in '48. This is the Metuchen/Edison plant site as of when it was demolished circa 2008/9 (it closed in 2007): That patch of 'grass' to the far left is home to a Sams' club now, the rest of the property is still empty. How many F'ing Starbucks, Targets & pizza places does NJ really need??
  21. balthazar
    On a 2-car trailer going down the highway: 1st gen Corvair convert, black over yellow, very clean, and '60 Eldorado Seville hardtop, pale icy green, very nice shape.
  22. balthazar
    I have witnessed (in that I have seen the before & afters with my own eyes) the demolition of both the local GM Linden plant & the Ford Edison plant here in NJ. GM-Linden is still a huge fenced lot of small piles of concrete rubble, Ford-Edison has the questionable 'improvement' of a Sam's Club and... weeds. My '64 Catalina was built in Linden, so on occasions I would drive by the plant in it, I would yell out my open window '834L88280 STILL ON ACTIVE DUTY!' I'm nuts like that. Just this week I am likewise witness to the demolition of the New Brunswick Delco plant, built in 1946 for battery production to support the East Coast assembly plants. Had a neat, low appearance with a number of rounded exterior 'corners' in a orange-ish brick. My father-in-law worked there for a short while. Delco #12 was a steady producer, getting plant enlargements over the years to at least double it's initial size. Plant enlargements: It was sold off in the GM-Delco spin off, to Delphi, then Johnson Controls owned it. This site has been dormant since 2007. Now it's coming down. I for one will miss it's silent symbolism of iron-backed manufacturing. I doubt anything will go in the hole to replace it- the immediate area will not support retail there.
  23. balthazar
    ...now. But they JUST introduced a FWD econosedan priced under the median new car price, in their most important market in the world (AND killed off their top-shelf lux sedan to boot). They are definitely changing course...
  24. balthazar
    Hard to tell from these pics, but I agree it looks pretty big. Whats the exterior specs vs. an S-10?
  25. balthazar
    Let mercedes follow Chevrolet & toyota in continually pushing global sales (at the expense of perception). Cadillac can stay truly exclusive. Cadillac has no need to challenge anyone on sales volume, that's low-level pedestrian brand territory. Mercedes has no choice. I will be watching maybach 2.0- other than a longer WB, it's not another body style, just a stretched version of the existing. What will really be interesting is the perception of failure around maybach 1.0 and how will that effect sales. I predict it flops again & gets pulled inside of 5 years. MB is willing to blow more billions on this trim package, yet the CLAh is FWD.
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