balthazar

'48 Tucker #43 : $2.9 million '54 Adventurer II has bounced around with numerous owners over the years- still : $1.43 M '69 Camaro ZL-1 : $451K '65 Shelby GT350 : $385K

Passed on the Verrazano Bridge:

^ Right- my brother's Allison 1000 6-spd barely shifts into 6th unless coasting on level super highways or long de-accelerations.

>>"How many of us go to car shows for the performance characteristics of cars?"<< Granted, but a big part of the personal allure of -say- a GTO is that it is a muscle car. Sure you could hang a GTO hood, grilles & tailpanel on a '66 LeMans I6 1bbl.... it'd look identical, but for whatever reason --with the 2 next to each other-- the GTO is going to garner a lot more appreciation/attention. Allure. I thought I had inspected a 1899 IHC @ Hershey a few years ago- the engine didn't even look like an engine... but that predates the company as a road vehicle manufacturer. Now I REALLY wish I had taken pics; I must've mis-remembered the marque.

I've been bored with Mustangs & Corvettes (except 1st & 2nd gen) since forever. Tho the pre-war / brass era stuff isn't all that exciting from a performance standpoint, they are fascinating mechanical creations from the dawn of the industry.

Wow- it's not a brown derivative. It is sharp... but that 4275 lbs (huh; 1 lb more than my '59 coupe) is shipping weight- this thing is every bit of 4650 lbs. my B-59 Invicta coupe~ shipping weight : 4274 curb weight : 4394 options weight : 110 Actual curb weight : 4504 '76 is going to have more/heavier options, I'd have to believe. Yank the 350 and put a massaged 455 Stg 1 in there with some circa 3.23 gears and you'd have a real sleeper. Cheers.

2500HD turned 100K today. Just breaking in.

twin Kawasaki 6-cyls in the rear

What is the expected number of OD gears in this 10-spd? How many OD gears does the mercedees 8-spd have? A lot of these mega-speed trans never see the higher gears, I'll bet (except on de-acceleration).

what are these "great changes" and how is the sport car segment "changing fast"? Corvette should never be about sales numbers- no other top shelf sports car is. Discarding the iconic identity cues of the Corvette in a primary search for more sales is folly.

smk4565~ >>"...a subcompact car in FWD or AWD won't hurt Mercedes especially when they can offset it with V12 rear drive cars."<< Disagree. MB sells a handful of RWD V-12s; the FWD 4-bangers are going to relatively swamp the roads in comparison. This will 'tilt the windmill of perception' with the general consumer. >>"And Mercedes already sells the A-class and B-class elesewhere and it hasn't hurt their brand at all."<< That is because mercedees doesn't have the same reputation/perception elsewhere that it relies on here in the U.S.. General consumer doesn't see mercedees taxis & garbage trucks & cargo vans and other dumpy utilitarian models all over; most folk here still think the brand is something special & unique & principled.

{hoarse whisper} Its not about the drive wheels; it's ALL about the brand. {/whisper}

Yeah- 8.4 in '95, 10.8 now. It's up. Beyond the statistical.... what's the significance? IOW, what are the (many) causes, and why?

The flaw in that theory is that BMW 'entry models' keep getting bigger & heavier, necessitating new models underneath. 3-series has gained something like 1500 lbs over the years and will soon be the 'middle' line with 2 or 3 models below it. It may not be soon, but no one saw ANY FWD BMWs coming...

^ not sure Mercedes learns from their mistakes- after all, look @ the r-class.

^ And that wave hasn't even crested yet. It's damage & results are as yet unknown.

I heard this on the radio. I was searching for whatever angle may (or may not) have been there, IE; does anyone feel 10.8 yrs old on average is a bad thing? I don't, yet reporting this has to have some significance for those that do...

The 'mercedees Spark' is coming !!

I give huge props to putting a Caddy mill in it, esp the monster 500, but that's as far as I can endorse the outcome.

Original is a stretch, since the overall shape is reminiscent of the BMW 1 Series. I don't see much of anything specific to the 1-series that warrants calling it out as something inspirational here. 130 has an unusually rigid belt line spine, not sure how I fel about it really.

I agree with the above posts: the volume isn't that bad... Question is, does 19K include a bunch of 1st yr impulse sales that won't show up for yr 2?

mercedees is just as messed up really; B, C, E, then S. suvs : G is the most expensive, then GL, then R, then M, then GLK. Then the sprinter, which fit's the 'pattern' nowhere. Personally, I abhor overtly simplistic naming schemes, like it's aimed at children. Lincoln MK( ) is the pits, tho.

^ That's a serious cultural downgrade- what a shame. No one lives forever tho. Municipalities should just let people (AT LEAST over 65) alone and let them live out their lives. The bulldozer will come around soon enough. I drove past an antiseptic mattress & crib store today, on the same highway lot where an old dude ran a hubcap business around his house. For years he had a for sale sign for $1 million. I bought a few sets of caps & rims from him. Miss the place.

Three unrelated manufacturers, but dabbling in the same circles. Company 1 had much success in road vehicles (cars & trucks), and much success in rail vehicles (locomotives). This one is a freebie. Company 2 had much success in road vehicles, and minor success in rail vehicles. Still in bidness. Company 3 had little success in road vehicles (but they were in production under the same name), and much success in rail vehicles. Long gone.