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balthazar

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Everything posted by balthazar

  1. balthazar
    Plenty of sheeple buy BMWs (and believe they're FWD) - it's how BMW exists.
  2. balthazar
    toyota should build the hi-CT instead.
  3. balthazar
    That certainly looks far too large/close to the Silverado. I agree that an S-10-sized truck would be very appealing to many, but to make it a functional truck, I don't think the bells/whistles will enable it to get down to that size again. The bulk will (unfortunately) be crew cabs, because you know- everyone has to haul 5 people at all times, so there's another 30" of wheelbase right there. Regular cabs will be 10% of this segment at best, too. I have no doubt this will be too large, and intentionally creating a larger 'small' truck JUST to "make room" for a 3rd (if that's what's being done here) is more of that same that spreads resources much too thin. It's the same with the SUVs; too many too close in size. In order to nail this program, it should absolutely be closer to an S-10 than a SIlverado, leaving more funding to make each that much better/innovative.
  4. balthazar
    Poor weight distribution only made worse with the weight transfer of acceleration, no?
  5. balthazar

    The Tide

    balthazar replied to ocnblu's topic in The Lounge

    Heartfelt condolenses, Bill. You seem to hold well onto the important strains of the things that made an individual in your life significant, no doubt you will do the same here. I too have a single grandfather left, alas the family has split and contact was broken off. He's 97.
  6. balthazar
    The 'Gulk'... Wonder if mercedees is going to follow Cadillac with stronger A&S styling on the next 'Gulk', too.
  7. balthazar
    Mazda gave up the rights to 'GoodLittleCar' ?
  8. balthazar
    Bah- all the alphanumerics basically suck, but at least once it's ingrained, people know what you're talking about. A mid-stream change for change's sake is just confusing. Plus... the infiniti q45 was a flop, and audi already HAS a Q5 and Q7! Q5 <> Q50... is there REALLY such a low-tide of imagination/creativity in autodom?
  9. balthazar
    Chevy wagon trims were Yeoman, Brookwood, Nomad, in ascending order. Nomad got the Impala-esque rocket, by the '58 brochure that green sweetie is a Brookwood. Another greatly-refreshing aspect is; cars OTHER than black/white & 5 shades of grey. The pic is in color and it's colorful.
  10. balthazar
    Big difference RE the Turbine's supposed floated $20K price; keep in mind there were NO cars in the $20K range in 1963, today $70K cars are dirt common & everyone's seen at least 1 or 2 mega-hundred-thousand cars. There weren't even the stratospheric collector prices in '63; the million-plus jobs. IOW, it's not a judgement on the car IMO, but the price. $70K for a very unique Cadillac coupe is certainly within the realm of the realistic. Let's wait & see where it's ultimately pegged.
  11. balthazar
    >>"I agree Drew, I think if they deviate from the current 300 DNA too much, they will loose the folks who are buying the auto's."<< Correct- the implication is that the 200 'is in need of' a major revision.... but clearly the 300 is not. Conflicted message there. Again IMO; you can address the future, well & good, but the current need not be so addressed (from a PR standpoint). thedriver : I don't know that the 'Daimler/Cerebus' ownership period is on many people's 'front radar' today.
  12. balthazar
    I saw elsewhere (where I plug in for B-59 news) that a '59 LeSabre convert went for $74K. It was a sweet dark blue top over med blue body, blue interior. http://www.barrett-jackson.com/application/onlinesubmission/lotdetails.aspx?ln=799&aid=466 Agreed on the 'Exner-Era' MoPars- but this general period is fantastic for details (not just MoPar). Good point RE the catalog & quality pics.
  13. balthazar
    Have caught a few bits of the auction yesterday on TV, seems to me prices have gone up a bit on the staple stuff vs. 2009 when it seemed sharply down. Factory-correct '58 Impy convert @ $110K, IIRC. BTW- the Hudson Italia was production rather than a concept; very very rare, but 26 built. I've seen 2 to date, love the design on them- neat details. It certainly would be cool to go in person, tho I doubt I'll ever get out that way. Have fun, take pics.
  14. balthazar
    ^ You don't have to "prepare" the public, you just unleash it withOUT addressing the strongly implied inadequacies of the current product. Auto executives spend FAR too much time preparing press releases over things no one would think about otherwise.
  15. balthazar
    I get a Dodge vibe from the front end. All in all it'd be what ocnblu obviously omitted ; 'cheeky'.
  16. balthazar
    Technology does need careful observation/implementation in real-world terms, as it moves like kudzu and often for merely technology's sake rather than serving an actual need. Planned obsolescence, perfected. One of my issues with the relentless push "forward" is that the ultimate by-product is less & less capable individuals (not addressing the operationally-compromised here). There are limited uses for driverless cars, but I don't see them becoming commonplace inside of 100 years. We've got what- 15 years in on electric cars for environmental reasons, yet only a 3% penetration in the market. I wouldn't consider electrics to be what I am terming as 'mainstream' here until more like 20%... and at this rate we may be looking at a 50-yr span to hit even that. IOW, driverless vehicles will be a rare curiosity in my lifetime rather than anything to co-exist with. I have no issue where they serve a true need tho.
  17. balthazar
    This sort of corporate commentary always amazes me. All I ever read out of the above is 'Our current stuff is a mistake, trust me that we'll get it right the next time'. You just don't DO this sort of thing intentionally in commerce.
  18. balthazar
    When was the frame updated? That has to be a huge concern to (knowledgable) potential buyers (it would be a deal breaker to me, until a fat chunk of time proved otherwise).
  19. balthazar

    dating & racism

    balthazar replied to loki's topic in The Lounge

    I would say in order to answer the OP's question, you'd have to clearly define the term 'racism'. The culture/race thing is a great point. Still, there are a myriad of reasons behind what makes up an individual's preferences. It is certainly possible to just not be attracted to a particular group, yet bear or feel toward them no ill will or disparagement. Can any one individual love any another individual? Or course it is absolutely happens, but it just doesn't happen unilaterally, with everyone. When it doesn't, that does NOT automatically mean it's 'racism' (or any other -ism). BTW- I don't believe it 'moves things forward' when labels are created that foster a degree of segregation. Race needs to become a non-issue, but various groups seem determined to never allow that (money usually being the catalyst there).
  20. balthazar

    Rant Thread

    balthazar replied to FAPTurbo's topic in The Lounge

    After getting snotty with both my son & wife RE them trying to show me how to make WORD work, and utterly failing to remotely come close to the PageMaker version of the job invoice I designed a few years ago, I used the original to give to a client. I did graphic design professionally for 11 years, so I have a bit of experience here. Ironically, he twice complimented the professional appearance of my (PageMaker) invoice.
  21. balthazar
    There is nothing "dignified" about the cheap c-class... and here, instead of fixing it, mercedes is dumping development dollars on a FWD sedan to undercut the C. No doubt it's going to take a big bite out of the C's sales for the 'emblem value shoppers', too. But that's what you get when your brand mantra is 'sales whoring'.
  22. balthazar
    ^ They're going after the 80% of BMW 1-series buyers (and the 50-some % of 3-series buyers) who wanted FWD. I'm going to bet MB is going to push the fact it's FWD, too. Most mercedees styling is bland and/or dated, this is just so generic. The idea that the CLS didn't become the current s-class was a huge misstep, as it looks far more modern that the clunky s-class, and here MB is morphing that particular language on their bottom feeder FWD box. So weird.
  23. balthazar
    Too bad none of the subjectives in the press release made it onto this; yet another mercedes sedan bringing nothing new to the table.
  24. balthazar
    IMO, the less functions on stalks the better.
  25. balthazar
    I see vents atop the rear quarters- sure looks like a functional vent system for RR wheel well pressure reduction / airflow... but time/details will tell. Corvette sure has the performance where a functional system here would actually do something.
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