balthazar

I would SO love to get this; I've seen it in person, a stunner even as is today, and the 1 of 1 thing..... http://allentown.craigslist.org/cto/3080581068.html

Yea; I see that. LOT of people will be VERY uncomfortable trying to pilot the barge-like 159" Sonic around. The question remains; where will those uncomfortable with a 145" car go ??

Saw the Cadillac release, not happy. Aiming to be #1 in volume is a mistake, esp at this stage. Aim to be #1 in aspiration, in quality, in performance, in profit...; volume will follow that. The PR doesn't read that way to me.

Have you seen the underhood shot? ZERO engine/plumbing visible- finally a 100% shrouded engine. Not that I'm in favor of that... just remarking. RS looks pretty decent, why do we have the Spark again??

ATS is looking pretty formidable overall. Looking forward to Cadillac stealing marketshare in this segment (as it did with the CTS).

The "moving-up" theory is just that. No one comes into, for EX, BMW on the 3, then moves thru the 5 to the 7. I mean, if you like the 3- enough to purchase one, why would you care if there was a 7-series - what does that have to do with the 3-series? BMW's owner loyalty is only about 30%. They bring in new buyers, but don't retain them or move them up.

Inside of a 383 out of a '72 RS Camaro :

^ Yeah; nope.

^ v

I really wouldn't want any of them. I suppose, as opposed to walking, it would be a dart toss between the Ranger, S-10 & Camino... but I wouldn't be happy with 'em.

Again in New Bumfiss; buddy of mine, dangerous psychopath, but VERY high on the entertainment list :

Good eye as usual, ocn. Didn't show, but it was called out in the hood badge. The '53-56 generation started the F-100, F-250 designations. I had a charming '57 F-250 Styleside years back. Had 2 taillights standard, but only 1 was wired/socketed. Still miss that truck. I couldn't catch a tire size on that mini, but I scrapped an old lawn tractor this spring with larger rubber.

Gotcha. Pretty weird automotive footnote there!

^ no; much larger & different detailing on the GT40. '66 Pontiac is correct (tho is likely dependent on the coachbuilder) : http://www.flickr.co...in/photostream/

New Bumfiss, NJ ::

whoa. mercedees is using that one right now; radio copy : 'A vehicle to suit every budget' (paraphrase).

I must've lost you with "advocate". Let me restate: I did NOT suggest using prior nameplates. The issue is that a LOT of the current general crop of made-up word/names carry no meaning, no image. I don't know if having an "open mind" matters when there's no image to process at all. But there are still a few usable names out there that CAN convey an image, and a 'new' fresh one at that (I'm fairly amazed that 'Sonic' hadn't been used before now). My wondering was if there was anything left in the pool where LeSabre & Electra came from. They have dynamic sounds, and that (like 'Sonic') conveys something. "David" is horrendous. Haven't seen anyone suggest "Dunbar", but that's awful, too. The other thing that absolute MUST DIE is the practice of self-limiting a brand to 1 or 2 beginning letters of the alphabet, as if coming up with invented words isn't hard enough already. Names are not unimportant, but on a scale of 1-10 they rank about a '2' where product is the '10' and marketing (apart from name) ranks around '6-7'.

Made-up names don't convey much more than alpha-numerics, but it is good IMO that Buick has avoided A-Ns for the most part. The real problem is not the process of registering a name- that is unchanged in our lifetimes. The issue is that there's not much left to choose from, hence things like 'Velite' & 'Verano'. What do you think these convey to Buick's sought-after new buyers (which, BTW, they have been acquiring for many years now). THIS is where the time/money come in; clinics & polls, greatly expanded legal searching, just to invent something that sounds 'good'. And if you read my post clearly, I did not advocate using a prior nameplate, but a new one in that same vein. Again- I'm not sure what's left from that pool, tho. 'Enclave & 'Encore' are terrible, tho. My father bought LeSabres, in '89 & '90. Still doing very well & driving everyday. He's got a Lucerne now, and is only a tick above Buick's ABA. Your disdain for heritage has caused you to overstate this greatly.

Original names are fine, as long as they aren't stupid-sounding. BTW- are there any 'original' names left in autodom? In that LeSabre & Electra were named after jets, maybe another jet nameplate?

The BMW (bttm of post #184) reminded me of the Javelin's roof spoiler, so I went looking. The javelin's is factory, is BMWs, and who had it first? I still think the AMX/2 is about the most beautiful sports car design ever:

NOT easy to engineer a 4-pass 2-dr when everything is getting tighter & tighter. Change things to being a 2-seater and it's an instant niche vehicle.

In looking at the 2 pics Roger posted- I like the drawing, and mostly what swings the needle for me is the large rims; changes the proportions. The photo is a straight-up match to the drawing (rim size aside), but somehow the front end is too busy, too 'assembled' rather than 'carved from a solid', and the needle swings back the other way for me.

See, my belief is it wouldn't work as shown - but it IS just a drawing. Here- the inboard 'cut' seems to go right thru any sort of typical steering linkage...