balthazar
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Everything posted by balthazar
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'56 Chevy Bel Air, 2-dr hardtop, black over white, 350/350, decent overall shape. My buddy's car, needed a new fuel pump to facilitate sale Thursday. Got the chance to hammer it up & down the road- moves well but needs lots of attention in too many areas for a regular driver. '56 Chevy 210 2-dr sedan, light blu over dark blue, 454/700R4, very nice 'local show' shape, in driveway of acquaintance, up for sale soon. '66 Pontiac Catalina convertible, blue over blue, 400/400, exc shape, parked outside it's tent garage. '68 Pontiac Catalina 2-dr fastback, black over blue, exc shape. This one eluded my buddy & I earlier this year, when the 80-some yr old owner sold it suddenly after we talked to him. Spotted behind the fence in the local junkyard, no plates. SImply can't be slated for scrap: rust-free 2-dr, exc interior & undercarriage, no dents or damage, factory air. Investigating tomm morning.
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Many rightfully there, some are a real head scratcher tho...
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^ Already is; BMW is late to the game.
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^ Doesn't have to be- looks to be HydraMatic centered the engine & built the case to accommodate the axle shafts. There may well be room to design a shorter case and come closer to centering a V4... (tho I might prefer the shorter nose approach).
- 57 replies
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- Chevrolet Speed
- V4
- Alpha Platform
- Coupe
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Any possibility in reverse-mounting the engine; putting a V4 behind the transaxle & moving the front axle as far forward as possible, with the transaxle out front, in the name of balance? I guess it would make for a really long hood.
- 57 replies
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- Chevrolet Speed
- V4
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As in the immediate above image, the wreath was in the original logo, used in decal form on the very first 1902 Cadillac Model A's. The 1906 date refers to when the emblem was trademarked (08-07-1906). But the Wreath did appear & disappear over the years & depending on the specific location on the car. In more modern times, it was used in the upholstery of the '62 Series 75s, then on the exterior of the '63 Eldorado & Fleetwood and ever since, depending on model. In some instances, such as the '63s, the hood wore Crest & Vs, while the rear quarters wore Crest & Wreaths. In other years, say '70, the deVilles had only the Crest front & rear. But Cadillac has not gone withOUT the Wreath since '62 ('61 really).
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Check out this awesome ingenuity :
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COE overview, with theory on demise : http://www.kitfoster.com/carport/2005/05/tall-trucks/ Here's an aftermarket '36 COE built on a Ford, before Ford's '38 version : Here's aftermarket builder Montpelier's Chevy version (Chevy's first factory COE was '39) : Note how in both instances they took standard truck cabs & built new hoods & 'foundations' to raise the structure up. •••• Check this historical tidbit out (I think I linked to this before, but the concept fascinates me) : http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2010/03/09/march-military-campaign-double-the-flathead-fun/
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The Wreath & Crest is now 111 years old, Cadillac is NOT going to radically change it's identification. I could certainly go with a wider logo ALA the '50s proportions, but the Crest looks naked without the Wreath, and it won't work in a non-circular shape. I'm not immediately in favor of going back to the V, esp with the V-Series, I think it may confuse some. No doubt the resulting design, IF they go into production under it, will be instantly recognizable & a mild tweak. Dropping the Wreath will be a mistake, however. If I'm not mistaken, Mercedes is still gluing these on the noses of all their vehicles : Wonder how many people polled would associate their wreath with things like the C-series hatchbacks with their airport lounge upholstery, the soot-belching diesels that couldn't outrun a glacier, the 1960s stripped sedans with their top speeds of 82 MPH, or the empty shell cargo van daimler INSISTED on ALSO badging as a 'mercedees'.
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Hmmm, interesting question. COE engine service work is more difficult, and they are 2-seaters vs. 3.... I dunno for sure. Just reading 1947 Chevy truck data sheets- their conventional HD truck & COE share all the same specs; axles, tires, weight ratings, very close in wheelbase.... maybe it was just offering 'choice'- the COEs were later additions, perhaps OEMs wanted to keep the 'traditionalists' happy too.
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Simply: back when these came out (the late '30s) they were marketed as 'city trucks' in that with the shorter cab, they could increase the payload space on the same overall length truck and move about the city with the same degree of ease. I will assume that in the '30s/40s/50s, there were more smaller businesses with less capital, so rather than purchase another truck(s), it made better sense to purchase one with more payload room. I have no figures, but I would not be surprised if the majority of this class of trucks in those decades were owned by farmers/small businesses rather than large companies. The classification system was wonky back in the day. For instance, my generation Ford COE ('38-47), they were called 1.5-ton, but on the 1945 registration card, the registered weight was 15,955 (6 tons). They were the heaviest duty truck Ford offered, tho.
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Might as well shoehorn in this sharp dressed COE : They are a sweetly-detailed truck, Roger!
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^ Good point. We have an excellent ATS, CTS & a pretty impressive XTS- why change up the emblem now? I swear- whomever approves these news releases needs to be reassigned to sifting rubble at one of GM's demolished assembly plants, looking for something the size of a pencil eraser. The last reimaging of the logo in 2002 grew on me over time, tho it still needs crown points. The Wreath absolutely should stay- those polled that say the current emblem makes them think of a 30-yr old mediocre Cadillac will never buy a new one because of a different emblem.
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http://www.barrett-jackson.com/application/onlinesubmission/lotdetails.aspx?ln=760.1&aid=466
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Cadillac has already stickered cars close to $90K. Just looked at an Escalade Platinum sticker via Google at $88K- so somehow the 'brand equity' must be there. IMO, this is a specific vehicle obstacle, not a brand obstacle. I can't pick a base MSRP for a car I have no specs on, but I will say this; IF Cadillac were to put the Ciel into production as shown, they should sticker it at $120K
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Like I said- where did mercedes waste the FULL FOOT of wheelbase vs. the Malibu?? I will have to sit in a current Malibu, because I doubt the figures are lying and there's no way one is "terrible" and the other isn't in terms of interior space. And you know car's aren't packaged like you imply; if addressing the claimed 9" of space in front of the motor, only the nose would shrink- no OEM will shift the powertrain/firewall forward, ESP in a FWD car. Only way to move that is a wheelbase increase. BTW, the previous gen Malibu legroom numbers :: 42.2 / 37.6. It lost three-quarters of an inch in the rear. Being that the WB decreased by 5 inches, packaging has greatly IMPROVED! Bah- I don't give a fig about the intangible of 'packaging'. The real issue in this & most other car-based segments is WIDTH- not enough of it.
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Again reg, the published numbers don't seem to bolster your criticism of the Malibu. Versa leg room :: FRT : 41.8, RR: 37.0, aggregate: 78.8 Malibu leg room :: FRT : 42.1, RR: 36.8, aggregate: 78.9 Not sure how you are seeing 0.2" in your pic. Yes, the Malibu has 5" more wheelbase than the versa. But sitting inside & criticizing the (identical) legroom seems misplaced when really you are addressing packaging, no? I ask this, never having sat in a versa OR the current 'bu; there may be other room constrictions that don't show up in the absolute numbers. Or look at it this way (and ask yourself what's wrong with just about ALL modern vehicle packaging) : The mercedes s-class has a 17 inch longer wheelbase than the Malibu, yet it's legroom numbers are 41.9 & 42.3, aggregate: 84.2. It has a 17-in longer WB but only gives 5" more legroom than a Malibu. :shrug:
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Hey Roger - you were just over a mile from my house- I know that firehouse well.
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"Radio-Controlled" ???
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S-class actual paid base price is elusive. Oh, I realize they publish an MSRP of $95,905 (S550), but trucar lists the average transaction price as 87,522 for that model. PROBLEM IS, there is no reporting for options. s-class major options ~ sport pkg +1 6,650 sport pkg 5,900 Drvr assist 2,950 RR seat pkg 3,040 RR entertnmt 2,450 Active body cntl 4,090 Bang & Olufson 6,400 20" dubs 2,020 ...and a bunch more. Assumedly, most of these 4800lb road whales have a number of these options. Googling S550 window stickers show option loads between 15,000 and 30,000... removing them to extract a true 'base price' of the average transaction price (going with a mean of $22.5K in options) means the s-class --as far as what people are willing to pay-- starts around ...65K. I thought as much. So, $65-70K base for the Omega is smack dab in s-class territory (assuming they don't discount it as heavily as mercedes does)... and I for one think that's exactly where Cadillac should go.
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S-550 manages to look rather dumpy for having the 'design real estate' to work with- disappointing. Ciel is 1000 times more sleek & looks larger with some decent rear overhang, but they are nearly identical :: C: 125/204 vs. M: 124/206. 205" is mid-size in my book... but if Cadillac can give the car Ciel-like proportions (it's 4" wider than the s-clss), that'd be pretty great.
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I can see you did not spend much time driving one. I have and it was nothing special. I've driven one, yes, so no; you 'can't see' here. 2 friends have 1st gen Tempests currently. But the claim was not that it was "special" but conversely, that it was insufficient. It was not. Same with this V4 proposal- it's not necessarily 'special', but it offers some considerable advantages worthy of a serious look. Very very little out there in automotive powerplants is "special", but most OEMs/consumers 'just' want reliable, economical & affordable.
- 57 replies
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- Chevrolet Speed
- V4
- Alpha Platform
- Coupe
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Pontiac Indy 4 "didn't go anywhere" because gas was 30 cents/gal and V8s were trending, not because of design problems with the Indy 4. By the same token, the early Tempest unibody 'didn't go anywhere' as it had the same lifespan as the 194 and was replaced with BOF in '64. That said, it would be interesting to see how well a V4 would perform WRT it's configuration.
- 57 replies
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- Chevrolet Speed
- V4
- Alpha Platform
- Coupe
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