balthazar

Look up the definition of "never".

>>"GM never made anything that belonged up there even though they had a few lame attempts. "<< Light years beyond the Lame Rover:

Not even maybe. >>"wasn't the Batmobile from the Adam West TV show a Bonneville conversion?"<< '55 Lincoln Futura concept car:

Isn't range rover still coasting on a sold-off Buick engine design from the '60s?? Sorry- but the prime factor in owning a range rover is the sh!tty reliability : years-running as the industry's WORST. Translation: range rover doesn't have the engines, the transmissions, the technology or platforms to be range rover, only the illusionary, intangible image. suzuki & mitsubishi build better vehicles.

Have 2 sets: -- -- -- -- -- Set 1 : 18"x36" heavy duty/commercial grade. Long edges are reinforced- they measure 5/16" thick. I stood in the center of one (I'm about 200 lbs) & they barely deflect. Load 'em up with cylinder heads! (9) shelves, (12) 6' uprights, slide-in hanger brackets (+ extras), diagonal crossbrace pieces, nuts & bolts. Minor surface rust on some pieces, but functionally 100%. $50 -- -- -- -- -- Set 2 : 24"x36", also HD (but without reinforced edges), (13) shelves, (16) 5' uprights (2-3 have rusted ends- you could always shorten them), extra hanger brackets, lots of diagonal crossbrace lengths. Minor surface rust on some pieces, but overall completely solid. $50 -- -- -- -- -- Not office store junk shelving- good 'shop-duty' stuff. Disassembled, will help load. Cash- you pick up (or pay me to deliver)

I love it, but I should: I've owned 3 '65s (plus 3 more '64s and a '66). Betcha you could get it down to around $9K no problem.

^ I would agree. Unfortunately, and once again, it's a GM product; so unless it delivers crushing volume, it has to be a flop.

OK- but that's an intangible; I thought we were talking about tangibles. They don't show cameramen on the roofs of GMCs filming gazelles because there aren't any gazelles in the plains states.

When sales of 15 MPG and less vehicles fall to zero, Americans will have broadcasted their needs. Meanwhile, politicians can fold their elite lard asses into the backseats of Geo Metro veggie-oil conversions 100% of the time for business trips- no more helicopters and Lear jets. That's what Americans need.

I wonder how a CAT & mercedees garbage truck comparison test would shake out?

Oh yea they do. I know several family friends who live a more rural lifestyle but also really, really like nice things. They have a Range Rover, and they definitely take it off-road. Anecdotal; 99% of relatively new ones never do in the U.S.. Wait- so people buy RRs in the U.S. so they can air-frieght them to Africa and drive on the plains there? In talking about the Escalade & GMCs, clearly the reference is the U.S. market, as was the 'same token' reference to rangerovers. And why can't a GMC drive thru largely the same African terrain?

^ "By the same token" - no one takes RRs off-road. This is besides the fact that they, like the Escalade, are not equipped for it with 'rubber band' street tires.

Another point to ponder- modern sheet metal is NOT built to endure rusting- painfully thin. You're prolly right on about the rot a-coming.

By the same token- range rovers aren't off-roaders, either. Cadillacs 'aren't really off-roaders' because the Escalade runs 22" street tires and Cadillac owners aren't generally disposed to going off-road. Plenty of GMCs go off-road, and deeply so, and even from the factory you can get decent grip tires that allow such, but plenty of owners swap on real off-road tires, too. Even if the Sierra All Terrain HD was put into production 100% as is, some wags would still say 'it isn't a real off-roader'.

Interesting. I can push aside the knowledge that this is a brand new car, but the pattern of wear still doesn't come off as thoroughly convincing. I think one of the big things for me is, aside from warping & cracks, it's tough to age plastic, which the majority of both fascias are on this. I'm not ragingly against this sort of thing, but it the quality just isn't there. I've seen hot rods, '30s Model As, freshly built and patina'd that you. would. swear. were driven for 20 years and sat in a barn for another 40. Unbelievable work.

2010 sales for the smart were off by 60% from 2009. The sprinter handily outsells it. Dec 2010 volume was only 570 units. It would do far better if it got -say- 70 MPG instead of a measly 36 combined. For the size of it, the mileage stinks.

Good point WRT the cab/roof- getting just a solid roof would be easier and cheaper than picking up a whole solid cab. Welding the roof on would be a breeze too. IMO, it'd be better to secure another hood, but most anything with good workable sheet metal like this truck can be fixed.

'76-ish Cougar, dried puke green, parked & for sale. '70 T-bird, dried puke green, parked on 4 flats, looking very forgotten & unloved. '59 Ford coupe, cream over ice green, gorgeous, stock.

Missing the 2nd grille bar- sure does look like a (hurt) '57.

VW "phaeton". Wondering how close the equus is going to approach that, too.

So seemingly the converging opinion here would put Step 1 at revamping the cities and improving rail & public transit. This would improve & reduce urban traffic and address the issue this thread is about. What it would cost would be undoubtedly amazingly high, of course, thusly, it's not being addressed for the most part. Hammering car owners is at best Step 3, not Step 1. In fact, IF the urban areas could be optimized, the car situation would largely take care of itself. Instead, it just smells like yet another money grab. My township is proposing what they're calling a 'transit village' in place of yet another abandoned industrial complex (a vast J&J factory), but the state DOT seems to feel little motivation to move the current station 2 miles farther south for this. I attended a few of the early proposal meetings, and was not pleased to hear that the light retail that's proposed for the residences would -naturally - advertise locally.... encouraging vehicular traffic to drive there and partially torpedo'ing the concept from the start.

>>"I've been there for a few conferences for 4-5 days w/o a car with no problems getting around..."<< >>"...very easy cities to explore and enjoy w/o a car."<< These comments -it seems to me- are spoken more from the viewpoint of what they are: no-timetable single person. Sure it's fun & easy to stroll around between meetings and grab a latte from the bistro when there's nothing else to do. I walk almost the entire week I spend down the shore (where I have no timetable), but then I go home & have to get to work. It really isn't that simple & easy, people.

I've done some minorly tricky in-air maneuvers, but nothing remotely like this. Those attachments would make it pretty damned stable. Looks wild as hell tho.

Price difference is secondary to product differentiation, IMO. In other words, the spread doesn't have to be all that huge, but if there's an Acadia/Traverse level of difference, it should all continue to work well. Then, the Escalade series needs to keep moving even farther up & away.

This is less about 'what everyone else is doing' and more about 'what's the best thing to do spec-wise'.