balthazar

^ GT Hawk debuted for '62 with the squared-off roof; no "GT" '61 and earlier. Love those. Saw 2 '63 T-birds today, 1 white & 1 black, both very nice, plus a '56 Chevy sedan delivery, quite rough.

Someday I'm going to need a scratch-built, X-piped, 3" system built that conforms to the B-59s chassis.

Yea- I was certainly generalizing. The fabric-wrapped stuff is neat (except when you open it up; lot going on in there). BX is awesome; obviously not as easy to work with from the homeowner standpoint but the meese can't chew thru it.

Romex is what's running thru your post WWII house, making everything cost you money.

Ahh c'mon, man; we're all friends here. Just callin' it as I see it.

Aluminum came & went in an eyeblink (approx a decade) as far as being in code for home wiring. It corrodes where joined with dissimilar metals, and that can cause enough heat where fire can start. AL expands more than copper, which tends to loosen connections sooner. AL also has about half the conductivity of copper and a third the tensile strength. It's NOT a good move really on any front (except weight). Hopefully BMW doesn't cut their corners that hard.

reg is down on anything domestic 6 months after it debuts.....

Whether it's 3 letters or 3 numbers and a letter- it's all the same meaningless glop. Car isn't called "S-class", it's called 8 or 11 different alphanumeric combos, only each has an 'S' in it. No where on the car is it labeled 'S-class', so each engine change, it's a different model. Not to mention when it used to be 350S. Add to that the 'S' in the 'SL' and the 'SLK' (why the cheaper car has more letters is a puzzler) and 'SLS' and who can keep any of the mishmash straight. Mercedees needs to bring in a new letter or two and work a bit of sensibility into it. Same diff.

I admire my father's work ethic and determination to see thru to a goal, and his strong sense of family. And his sense of humor.

Well, BMW didn't start building cars until 1928. Cadillac alpha-numerics predate that easily; the "V-63" line came out in 1923, so I'm not seeing your fix there. 'mercedes-benz' as a brand didn't exist until 1926, but I'm being a smartass there. Regardless, neither BMW nor mercedes was worthy of emulation from Cadillac's standpoint anywhere prior the 1960s, IMO (later WRT BMW).

>>"Most luxury marks (read Japanese and American ones) use alpha-numeric because they want to copy BMW and Mercedes."<< Cadillac was using numerics before there was a BMW or mercedes-benz. Cadillac proper names started in the '50s.

I looked- couldn't find it either....

And the well-earned & recent reputation for building utter crap since their debut here.

1. They may have been sidetracked with technology/electronics, yes. 2. The Gov't is incapable of this. 3. & 4. Agreed.

^ see miata wheel chart link in post #7 for general idea

F-Body component weight list : http://www.bfranker.badz28.com/fbody/weights.htm

That would definitely be an interesting/informative list. We do it now for food....

So does the Fed in general. Don't hold your breath...

What would you suggest? You can't think that the manufacturers haven't been looking at exactly this since the '80s.

general comparison: mazda miata wheel size/weight chart : http://www.miata.net/faq/wheel_weights.html -- -- -- >>"Miniaturization should be able to ameliorate that to a certain degree. I just refuse to believe that this issue can't be conquered."<< I don't doubt that that has been the focus for some time. But try and get a 3033 lb golf back even halfway to 2145 lbs (2589). Fed regs alone won't allow it.

Sheer quantity. Wire can get thinner to a point, but when you add spools and spools of it, it's a net gain. Tire pressure monitors, back up cameras, turn signals in the sideviews, side repeater signals, ambient lighting, heated wiper fluid, heated steering wheel, 12-way power seats, rearview OnStar & temp/compass readout, auto dimming rear view, iPod connectivity, heated & cooled seats............ the features on a modern car aren't all chip programming & code like in a phone; too many tangible sensors & readouts & the like.

Just found this via a quick google : >>"The 1978 VW Rabbit diesel had a curb weight of 2145lbs."<< 2010 golf TDI weighs 3033. We didn't 'lose' something, we gained. [/thread]

Modern gadgets & safety items are absolutely to blame. Glass & lesser & thinner, there's FAR less steel in modern vehicles, plus extensive aluminum; esp engine/trans. Lighting is all plastic, bumpers are all plastic, interior is all plastic.... but pick up a moderate spool of wire and see what it weighs. I use my '64 Catalina 4-dr sedan as a reference point: it had a full frame, an iron V8 block, decent-gauge sheet metal, was 80" wide & 213" long. Had to have less than 15 lbs of plastic. Shipping weight was 3770, and curb weight was probably about 3850. AM radio, no A/C, no PW, no PS, no air bags, no ABS, no TC, no stabilty control. If it had what a Malibu had in it AFA equipment & safety stuff, it would weigh 4800 easy. So in discussions about vehicle weight, the emphasis erroneously falls on 'higher strength steel & more AL', cause no one ever wants to give up their power vanity mirrors...

Yea! more competition to the core Divisions!! >

Note the past tense...that world is long gone. Quite incorrect. There is active usage of the Northstar in hot rod applications today. There are aftermarket companies (CHRF is one), and there are engines running 600 HP reliably. The owner of CHRF has a 1000 HP build. Even the Tucker replica runs a rear-mounted Northstar. They're definitely out there, so 'that world' is still here.